Dana White doubts Jon Jones and Stipe Miocic will retire without unifying UFC titles

Dana White doesn’t see Jon Jones and Stipe Miocic riding off into the sunset just yet.

Jones, the undisputed UFC heavyweight champion, fought in the Octagon longer than most, making his promotional debut in 2008 before winning his first world title in 2011. After a decade of title wins, “Bones” won the heavyweight belt against Cyril. Gane at UFC 285 last March.

Jones has since had to postpone his first title defense against Stipe Miocic a year ago to UFC 309 at Madison Square Garden. Of course, they have interim champion Tom Aspinall breathing down their necks, who has made it clear that he is the No. 1 guy in the heavyweight division with three wins in a row, one of which was a rare interim title defense in more than a year of Jones. absence.

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Even though Aspinall is in contention for a unification fight against the winner, there is no guarantee that Jones or Miocic will continue to fight after UFC 309 concludes. Both men have almost done it all in their careers: Jones, 37, is in his mid-40s and Miocic is already 42.

However, age is just a number and UFC CEO Dana White believes veterans will give a young fighter like Tom Aspinall the chance to fight for the undisputed title, something the Brit has been asking for for the last 12 months.

“I truly believe that whoever wins this fight, just competitively, given the way these guys are programmed and the reason they’re both huge legends in the sport, they’re not going to just ride off into the sunset without settling their beef with Tom Aspinall,” White said. TNT Sport.

When not competing, Jones showed no interest in unifying the titles against Aspinall.

On Friday, Jones confirmed to Kevin Iola that he “probably won’t” fight Aspinall after Miocic, saying the interim champion may be “cool today” but “maybe quit tomorrow,” preferring a superfight with UFC light heavyweight champion Alex Pereira. (a superstar in his own right).

On the other hand, Miocic is not focused on retirement at all (at least in recent interviews) and is completely focused on the Bones fight. So, where will the veteran heavyweight’s head end up after another championship win at UFC 309?

“When you think about Jon Jones becoming the youngest champion in (light heavyweight) history and all the things that Stipe achieved, they were given opportunities, you know, when they were young, and I think they will respond reciprocated,” White said of Jones. Miocic will potentially unify the title against Aspinall.

“People will lose their minds if one of these fights happens.”

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