'I'm hearing strong rumors that...' - Former UFC star talks about Jon Jones vs Stipe Miocic clash 'up in flames'

The Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) heavyweight champion and the legendary MMA fighter Jon Jones called out former champion Stipe Miocic for a title shot after defeating Ciryl Gane in the main event of UFC 285. Interestingly, Jones made a comeback inside the octagon after a 3-year gap but the way he won against Gane it didn’t look the he was away for a long time.

Meanwhile, the fight between Jones and Miocic which was about to take place on July 8, 2023, is on the verge of getting cancelled. Former UFC fighter turned analyst Chael Sonnen revealed that the much-awaited fight will be cancelled as Jones will be fighting Sergei Pavlovich in August.

“I’m hearing strong rumours that Stipe and Jones are going to go up in flames and that Sergei Pavlovich vs. Jones is happening in August. Strong enough that I can tell you that’s at least being pursued. I don’t know where they are in agreeing, but that’s at least being pursued. And if you did have partners in Australia, you promised them ‘Izzy’ and you said, ‘Look, I can’t deliver but I can bring you, Jones and Pavlovich, are we good?’ They’d probably say, ‘Yeah, we’re good.’," Sonnen was quoted as saying by mmamania.

I have to give Jon Jones credit: Chael Sonnen

Sonnen further added and said that he has to give Jones credit for not taking the retirement and prove the people wrong who were saying that he’d be retiring after the fight with Miocic. Sonnen believes that Jones was ready to fight anyone for the heavyweight championship.

“I have to give Jon Jones credit, I really do and that pains me, I got to give him credit here because people have said he was going to fight Stipe then he was going to retire. It’s like well, hold on, people. Let me remind you of one thing. When you talk about the mindset, you talk like Jon Jones doesn’t have the courage, let me just remind you he thought he was fighting Francis, he agreed to fight Stipe, and he ended up in there with Ciryl.” he continued.