Morning Report: Daniel Cormier worried Jon Jones vs. Stipe Miocic might not happen: ‘It needs to come together’

Jon Jones’ first UFC heavyweight title defense is still unknown.

Since winning his second divisional crown this past March with a first-round guillotine choke of Ciryl Gane, Jones has made it clear that he wants to fight Stipe Miocic. All signs pointed to International Fight Week for the battle of all-time greats at UFC 290 on July 8. Unfortunately, the boat was missed for that event and there hasn’t been any clarity toward striking a new potential agreement for that matchup, or Jones in general.

Familiar with both men inside the octagon and following the heavyweight division a bit closer, Daniel Cormier believes it’s time to be concerned. The Gane bout saw Jones return after a three-year layoff, and Miocic could lead to retirement.

“Still nothing. It really just feels like we’re gonna miss this one too and that’s unfortunate,” Cormier said on his YouTube channel. “We just missed Francis Ngannou vs. Jon Jones, one that we’ve wanted for a long time. Now we got Jon Jones talking to Tyson Fury, which Dana said, ‘We’ll make it happen.’ But now we got those guys talking, Tyson Fury and Jon Jones, and for the record, Tyson Fury in a full-on fight has no chance against Jon Jones. That’s no knock on Fury. In a singular skillset with boxing gloves, Tyson Fury will beat Jon Jones every day of the week. But if by chance they ever go into a full-on fight, Fury has about as much of a chance as a guy walking into a convenience store at the end of your block to beat Jon Jones in a free fight. It’s not gonna happen.”

Coincidentally, Miocic’s last victory came over Cormier in August 2020 in what was the final fight of the two-division titlist’s career. Miocic then went on to drop the title to Francis Ngannou and has sat idle since.

When Jones decided he was ready to make the move to heavyweight in early 2020, the then-light heavyweight kingpin was awaiting any possible combination of Miocic, Ngannou, and Cormier. With the latter quickly removed from the equation, Jones began his bulking while Miocic and Ngannou had their rematch in March 2021. All the talk began for a Jones megafight but terms ultimately could never be agreed to on multiple occasions, leading to Ngannou vs. Gane and Jones vs. Gane. The heavyweight division has just been a tricky one to organize in recent years at its peak.

“It’s exactly what happened whenever Francis Ngannou and Jon Jones was the talk of the town and all of the sudden it started to shift,” Cormier said. “Because we as humans, we have short attention spans, there’s something that way, I look and I’m gone. We’ve got to make this happen [with Jones and Miocic]. Otherwise, we’re gonna miss out on another one. This is too big of a fight to let fall by the wayside.

“I don’t know what’s happening right now on the backend that’s not allowing for this to come together, but it needs to come together for the sake of the heavyweight division. Because right now we can’t afford to have Jones missing for as long as he was last time or even a fraction of that. He seemed to be wanting to right away. It’s up to now Stipe Miocic, the challenger, to make it happen.”

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Split. Mackenzie Dern, estranged husband’s domestic violence allegations revealed in court docs

Negotiations. Manager: UFC ‘stalled’ Francis Ngannou from fighting out contract earlier, was still “very close” to re-signing

Legal. Cain Velasquez attempted murder trial date setting delayed again until August

Phrasing. Aljamain Sterling sends message to Dana White: “Once again, I’ll show up and piss in everyone’s Cheerios”

Gimmicks. Dana White: “If Tyson Fury really wants to fight Jon Jones in the UFC, I will make it happen”

Perseverance. Zion Clark opens up on suicide attempt at 10 years old: “There was no other option”

TV. Dana White working with Adam Sandler to develop new UFC comedy

Platform. Endeavor president teases possibility that next UFC broadcast deal could splinter across multiple networks

Recovery. Gordon Ryan reveals sickness, surgery that continue to delay his return to competition indefinitely

Confidence. Amanda Lemos promises to ‘“set the octagon on fire” and finish Zhang Weili at UFC 292: “I want that belt for me”

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The MMA Hour.

Full fight.

Wonderspeed!

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Cheerios.

Tea and punches.

Shark week.

Uncle Sean.

Hinting?

New day.

Old school.

Olympics.

Who?

Prediction.

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John Castaneda (19-6) vs. Muin Gafurov (18-4); UFC Vegas 74, June 3

James Gallagher (11-2) vs. Cris Lencioni (11-3); Bellator 298, Aug. 11

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Jones vs. Miocic is fun as a fight, of course. It would have been better when Miocic was still an active champion though. No interest in any form of Fury nonsense. Give me the Sergei Pavlovich fight for Jones instead. All day.

Thanks for reading!

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