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Stipe Miocic has always been proud of his work as a firefighter, and he won’t let a few Jon Jones wisecracks throw him off.
Jones made a triumphant return to competition at UFC 285, quickly submitting Ciryl Gane to capture a vacant heavyweight title. During fight week, Miocic and UFC President Dana White both said Miocic — the record-holder for the most succesful consecutive UFC heavyweight title defenses (3) — would challenge the winner of this past Saturday’s main event.
A matchup between Jones and Miocic is now on track, and Jones used some of his post-fight press conference to joke that Miocic may want to “take time off from being a firefighter right now” to better prepare for their fight.
Miocic responded to the jab on The MMA Hour on Monday.
“I think everyone tries to say that and they realize they’re in a world of hurt when it’s not happening the way they want,” Miocic said. “I don’t know if he knows this, but I’ve been a fireman the whole time I’ve been in my career in the UFC. But whatever, that’s none of my business. I don’t really care.”
Miocic currently works as a part-time firefighter paramedic in his home state of Ohio, something he’s done the majority of his 12-year UFC run. The job hasn’t appeared to hinder his fighting career in any significant way, as he’s compiled a 14-4 UFC record with four successful heavyweight title defenses across two reigns.
Though Miocic expects to be fighting for the title again at UFC 290 on July 8 to cap off the UFC’s International Fight Week in Las Vegas, he wasn’t sure if it would be against Jones or Gane.
“I thought I was going with Ciryl in beginning of the week, but the more I talked about it with other people, the more I thought about it, I thought it was more even,” Miocic said. “I just said if Ciryl keeps it on the feet, he picks him apart, him all day. It’s still going to be a great fight, but I thought if Jon used his wrestling it’s going to be a long night for Ciryl. I was not ready for that. I thought it was going to be a big war for five rounds, but I was definitely wrong. Good for Jon.”
The July 8 date isn’t set in stone (post-fight, White said the date is in play but remains unconfirmed), but Miocic is gearing himself up for another shot at the belt, whether it happens in the summer or later this year. His next fight will be his first since March 2021, when he dropped the title to Francis Ngannou at UFC 260.
Despite the long layoff, Miocic is confident that he’ll be the one to hand Jones his first true loss.
“I’m going to win, there’s no question,” Miocic said. “There’s no question.”
“I know that [he’s never lost,]” Miocic added. “It sucks that he’s going to lose. He’s going [to have] a big ‘one.’ I’m not going to imagine it, it’s going to happen.”
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