UFC heavyweight champion [autotag]Jon Jones[/autotag] and former champ [autotag]Stipe Miocic[/autotag] are little more than a week away from squaring off, which means their training camps are starting to wind down.
Jones puts his title on the line against Miocic in the UFC 309 main event on Nov. 16 at Madison Square Garden in New York (ESPN+ pay-per-view). The matchup is being hyped as an important legacy fight for both men, with Jones, who spent the vast majority of his career ruling the light heavyweight division, widely considered the greatest fighter of all time and Miocic, who holds the UFC record for consecutive heavyweight title defenses (3), widely regarded as the promotion’s greatest heavyweight of all time.
The pause, however, is that neither Jones nor Miocic has been very active in recent years.
Starting with 37-year-old Jones, he had just one fight in the past four-and-a-half years, and that was 20 months ago when he submitted Ciryl Gane in his heavyweight debut for vacant title at UFC 285. Jones also is coming off a torn pectoral tendon one year ago and has had multiple surgeries since then.
For Miocic, the layoff has been even longer. Now 42, Miocic hasn’t competed since being knocked out in a rematch with Francis Ngannou to lose the title on March 27, 2021 at UFC 260.
Suffice to say, it’ll be interesting to see how Jones and Miocic look when they step inside the octagon for a scheduled five-round fight. In the buildup to UFC 309, both men have offered glimpses into the late stages of their training on social media.
You can watch their videos below:
Nov. 5: Jones cracks mitts, shows off spinning back kick
https://www.instagram.com/p/DCBGA_VRkFB/?img_index=1
Nov. 6: Jones hits bag, works ropes, does cardio in snow
https://www.instagram.com/p/DCDKSoOPYfn/?img_index=3
Nov. 6: Miocic works intense gym cardio
https://www.instagram.com/p/DCAW4l4SM33/
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For more on the card, visit MMA Junkie’s event hub for UFC 309.