With UFC heavyweight champion Francis Ngannou expected to spend nearly a year on the sidelines due to injury, Daniel Cormier has explained why Stipe Miocic and Jon Jones should fight for the interim title.
Ngannou fought last month at UFC 270, where he defeated Ciryl Gane by unanimous decision to make his first successful title defence, after winning the belt by knocking out Miocic in the second round at UFC 260. Jones last fought in February 2020 at UFC 247, where he successfully defended his light heavyweight title against Dominick Reyes by a razor-close split decision. He vacated the belt a few months later and is planning to make his heavyweight debut this year.
Daniel Cormier On Why Jones vs Miocic Makes Sense
Jones wants to fight Ngannou for the belt, but ‘The Predator’ is expected to spend the rest of the year on the sidelines due to a knee injury. Speaking on the DC & RC show on ESPN (as transcribed by BJPenn.com), Cormier explained why an interim title fight between Miocic and Jones makes sense under current circumstances.
“I think we’ll see another interim title. For me, what makes sense for that interim title is Stipe Miocic and Jon Jones,” Cormier said. “I think you put those two together and then no matter who wins, when Francis comes back, you have a massive fight waiting for you.
“If Jon Jones fights at heavyweight, you want a belt on the line. You don’t want him just fighting. I used to think that, oh, put him against Curtis Blaydes or somebody else. No, you put him in a fight where if he wins, the end visual is the belt getting strapped on him, even if it’s an interim title because then it just elevates the next fight. So I think Stipe-Jones is the fight to make, and I can see a world where Ciryl Gane fights against Curtis Blaydes. The heavyweight division is interesting right now, and the champion being away doesn’t really hurt it all that much.”
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