Nick Baldwin

Rakhmonov accuses Usman, Covington of 'empty call-outs' for UFC 310

Warning: Video contains coarse languageThings are heating up between Jon Jones and Stipe Miocic as UFC 309 fight week gets underway.Jones, who will defend the heavyweight title for the first time against Miocic in Saturday's main event at Madison Square Garden, took issue with the former champion calling him a "b---h" on a recent "UFC Countdown" episode."See the disrespect, you're calling me a b---h, Stipe," Jones said Sunday night in a video on Instagram. "The disrespect didn't have to happen. You're gonna wish you didn't say that." Jon Jones sends a message to Stipe Miocic after he called him a “b*tch”“The disrespect didn’t have to happen. You’re gonna wish you didn’t say that.” 😳🍿🎥 IG / @JonnyBones #UFC309 #UFC #MMA pic.twitter/6jsXviO5Uy— Championship Rounds (@ChampRDS) November 11, 2024 Jones also commented on Miocic's choice of words on X: Hiring black fighters to mimic me will not help you Stipe. And you shouldn’t have called me a bitch, the disrespect wasn’t necessary. Let’s play. #UFCcountdown— BONY (@JonnyBones) November 11, 2024 Jones will step into the Octagon for the first time since finishing Ciryl Gane at UFC 285 in March 2023 to capture the vacant heavyweight title. Miocic, meanwhile, is set to end a 44-month layoff.

Warning: Video contains coarse languageThings are heating up between Jon Jones and Stipe Miocic as UFC 309 fight week gets underway.Jones, who will defend the heavyweight title for the first time against Miocic in Saturday's main event at Madison Square Garden, took issue with the former champion calling him a "b---h" on a recent "UFC Countdown" episode."See the disrespect, you're calling me a b---h, Stipe," Jones said Sunday night in a video on Instagram. "The disrespect didn't have to happen. You're gonna wish you didn't say that." Jon Jones sends a message to Stipe Miocic after he called him a “b*tch”“The disrespect didn’t have to happen. You’re gonna wish you didn’t say that.” 😳🍿🎥 IG / @JonnyBones #UFC309 #UFC #MMA pic.twitter/6jsXviO5Uy— Championship Rounds (@ChampRDS) November 11, 2024 Jones also commented on Miocic's choice of words on X: Hiring black fighters to mimic me will not help you Stipe. And you shouldn’t have called me a bitch, the disrespect wasn’t necessary. Let’s play. #UFCcountdown— BONY (@JonnyBones) November 11, 2024 Jones will step into the Octagon for the first time since finishing Ciryl Gane at UFC 285 in March 2023 to capture the vacant heavyweight title. Miocic, meanwhile, is set to end a 44-month layoff.

UFC heavyweight champion Jon Jones said Monday he'd relinquish his title if it was the only way he could set up a superfight with light heavyweight champ Alex Pereira.

Major MMA promotions are down to their last handful of events in 2024. However, big fights are still set to unfold before the calendar flips to a

Report: Fighters to wear old gloves at UFC 309

Jon Jones returns from a 20-month layoff this weekend to defend his UFC heavyweight championship for the first - and perhaps final - time against former champ Stipe Miocic.

Interim heavyweight champ Tom Aspinall's character is one of the reasons Jon Jones isn't interested in facing him in the Octagon, the UFC heavyweight champion revealed Wednesday."If I'm being completely honest, I feel like Tom's been such an asshole that I don't want to do business with him," Jones said at UFC 309 media day, per MMA Fighting. "His fans have been so annoying. Obviously, you don't get this far in a career being affected by fans and whatnot. But he's just an asshole. He's 31, so he's from this influencer generation where you hop online and the T-shirt sales and all that. I'm past that type of stuff. I'm like, 'Bro, if you had a little bit more respect, then maybe we could've worked something out.'"But I just don't want to even do business with him. At the end of the day, this is a business. Fighting me gives him an opportunity to change his life forever. And I don't even wanna give him the opportunity. He just played his cards wrong with me, personally."Jones returns to defend his title against former champ Stipe Miocic at UFC 309 on Saturday in New York. The 37-year-old has said it could be the final fight of his career.Jones said last week he was unlikely to unify the belts with Aspinall if he decides to continue his career and would prefer a superfight versus light heavyweight champion Alex Pereira. "Bones" said Monday he'd even be willing to vacate the heavyweight belt in order to fight Pereira.Some fans have accused Jones of ducking Aspinall. But Jones believes a victory over Pereira would do more for his legacy - and he went into more detail Wednesday."For me, if you were my manager, if you were on my team, why not fight against Pereira?" Jones said. "A guy who's the same age as you, and we walk around the same exact size. ... And he has magnificent accolades. Business wise, it makes more sense. Fight the nobody that may be more dangerous, or fight the guy with all the accolades who's incredibly dangerous, but it actually will affect your legacy?"Me beating Ciryl Gane didn't change anything for me. It just gave me a few more millions. And it would be the same for Tom Aspinall - where when you look back and it's like, 'Jon just beat Alex Pereira,' it's bigger. It's just much bigger. And anybody who can't understand that logic simply doesn't want to."Jones said he'll walk away if the UFC isn't interested in the Pereira fight."The main goal is to get past Stipe, and if I can do it in a really dominant, devastating fashion, then the desire in my heart will be like, 'OK, now it's Alex Pereira,'" Jones said. "And if the UFC doesn't want that to happen - because, ultimately, it's the boss' decision - then it won't happen, and I will just move on with my life."

UFC 309 - and Jon Jones' first heavyweight title defense - is upon us.

It's looking increasingly unlikely that former UFC welterweight champion Kamaru Usman will be stepping up on short notice to face Shavkat Rakhmonov at UFC 310.