Jon Jones räknar inte med att Stipe Miocic blir en barnlek.
Jon Jones tror att Stipe Miocic blir tuff motståndare
I november kommer UFC:s tungviktsmästare Jon Jons att försvara sin nya titel mot den tidigare mästaren i viktklassen. Vid 41 års ålder kommer Stipe Miocic att återvända efter 32 månaders frånvaro. Oddsmakarna ger inte Miocic några större chanser dock. Jones är dock inte ense med dessa och säger inför matchen vid UFC 295 att han tar motståndaren på största allvar.
Jones sade följande via podcasten OverDogs:
I feel like when you get to a place when you don’t feel anything is probably when it’s time to hang it up and try something different. At this point, I still get really nervous, man. I have nightmares about my opponents. About every hour, Stipe Miocic will cross my mind. He will cross my mind. I could be having a drink, you name it, he crosses my mind. I could be at my kid’s volleyball game and I thinking about Stipe. There’s a lot of mental that goes into it that I don’t think people realize. But the goal is to just conquer that.
Även om han är känd som en av de främsta tungviktarna i UFC:s historia. Miocic har inte fightats sedan han knockades av Francis Ngannou i deras rematch under UFC 260. Trots detta och mängden av andra på uppåtgående potentiella utmanare så insisterar Jones att Miocic är den mest logiska motståndaren. I och med vad båda herrar har åstadkommit i sina karriärer så antas det att Miocic kommer att pensionera sig efter matchen.
Stipe has balls. He has courage. He’s not the youngest fighter, but that is a man. That is a man. I’m not the youngest either. In sports’ years, I’m over the hill, that’s for sure. Especially in combat sports. Stipe, he’s an honorable dude, and I know that he’s a man at the end of the day, and I know that he wants this fight.
Everyone else thinks that his back’s against the wall and this is a David and Goliath situation for him. I disagree. I think Stipe is a very capable athlete and I think I owe it to Stipe to give him that chance to fight the best fighter ever. And I think Stipe owes it to me to give me a chance to fight the greatest heavyweight ever. I think we owe it to each other. I feel like we both would feel like we have unfinished business if we walked away not competing against each other.
I understand where Stipe is at, just being looked past by a lot of people, and I respect him even more for training his ass off. I know that in his camp, he expects to win, so I respect him.
Är inte lika driven att möta Pavlovich och Aspinall
Efter Miocic är det dock frågan vad som skulle vänta Jones härnäst. Svaret kan vara att följa denne i pensionering. Detta då Jones erkänner att matcher mot de lovande Sergei Pavlovich och Tom Aspinall inte är något som lockar honom lika mycket. I vilket fall inte med tanke på var de befinner sig i sina karriärer just nu.
As far as these younger fighters, I look at guys like Aspinall and I look at guys like Sergei, dude, they’re amazing. Don’t get me wrong, these guys are amazing. They’re starching people in the first round. But as I get older, I have to look at it as a business and not just speak out of pride, I have to speak out of my legacy and as a business. If the hardcore fans know who these guys are, that’s great, but at the end of the day, I need to fight people that the mainstream public is going to be excited about, because there’s always going to be this new challenge that’s younger than you and everyone is going to want to see if you can do it one more time. It is what it is.
Om Jones lämnar sporten efter UFC 295, permanent eller temporärt för att ta ledigt ett tag, så tror han att viktklassen kommer vara i gott skick under hans frånvaro.
Tom Aspinall, I think he has the potential to do something really special in the heavyweight division. I think he’s going to be hard for the majority of guys to beat, I really do believe that.
UFC 295 äger rum den 11 november i Madison Square Garden i New York City.
