“That fight should have been cancelled, it was f— stupid and now look where we are. Now look where we are. We had Jon Jones fight a f— corpse, making a pretty dollar, which fine, he’s entitled to make money for his services. But for doing f—- nothing, for doing nothing…” The famed combat sports analyst, Luke Thomas, has revealed his stance on the fight between Jon Jones and Stipe Miocic. Of course, it was a matchup that most fans opposed, claiming that Jones was fighting a 42-year-old who should have been retired already. 

Instead, UFC 309 should have included Tom Aspinall. It was only natural for Aspinall to be the perfect opponent for the heavyweight champion. Why? He had become the interim heavyweight champion and had defended his interim belt against Curtis Blaydes. Have you ever heard of anyone defending their interim belt? Absolutely not! But that’s not really the reason why Thomas stood against Jones vs. Miocic. For him, the blame was all on the firefighter. 

During a recent conversation with Denis Shkuratov from Submission Radio, Thomas was asked to weigh in on his stance regarding the UFC 309 main event. The host asked how much of a mistake it was to make the fight between the two. Thomas said, “Oh God! Dude… F— everybody who supported that fight. F— every last one of them. I’m looking at some of you right now. And if you admit the mistake, then I’ll let you live. But what a stupid a– argument. He didn’t deserve a title shot to begin with, right? This is not an indictment of Stipe’s career, because his career is legendary. He has had a very distinguished UFC heavyweight run. And we all thank him for that.” 

He pointed out that it was okay when initially the UFC planned to make it like the best light heavyweight vs. the best heavyweight fighter. But later on, after Jones took about a year to recover from his torn pectoral muscles, Thomas believed that the UFC should have put someone else in instead of Miocic. Of course, the bout was a success at the Box Office. But it was like a replica of Canelo Alvarez vs. Edgar Berlanda, where the champ couldn’t even secure a finish. 

Thomas continued, “And in a similar way, we did get a finish, obviously. Jon did look good for his part or whatever. But the point I wanted to make was, if you never make the rematch, or sorry- if you don’t go through with the second booking essentially, we have solved this problem already. We’re not here anymore. It doesn’t exist.” 

Well, while most people stood against the notion of Stipe Miocic vs Jon Jones, the heavyweight champion had a different opinion. According to him, ‘The Silencer’ was the perfect opponent for him at UFC 309. But why did Jones think so? Let’s find out!

Jon Jones stands in defense of Stipe Miocic prior to their battle at UFC 309

During a conversation with Kevin Iole prior to UFC 309, Jones defended Miocic’s title shot. He said, “I feel that it’s unfortunate that we live in a world where one bad performance discredits a person so much. Stipe has beat everyone. I mean, Junior dos Santos, Francis Ngannou, Daniel Cormier – some of the biggest names, you know? Many champions he’s defeated. I feel like I’m wise enough to know that one bad night doesn’t make a man or break a man. Stipe is every bit of worthy as my opponent.”

‘Bones’ declared that winning back-to-back championships in the HW division wasn’t an easy task. And Miocic has already proven himself as a worthy opponent. He continued, “I know fighting me, for a lot of athletes, is a really big deal. If anyone deserves to be in there with me, it’s Stipe Miocic.” On top of that, Jones believed that it showed Dana White’s loyalty towards his fighters. He went on to argue that if Miocic vs. Francis Ngannou excited the fanbase, why shouldn’t his fight against ‘Stone Cold’ do the same? Jones claimed, “I believe guys like Stipe and I, we help take the UFC to a new level, and just because we’ve been out for a while doesn’t mean we’re not great athletes and we don’t have strong fanbases.”

Needless to say, Jones dismissed the difference in their ages. He didn’t mind fighting a 42-year-old fighter while being 37 years old. According to him, it was the styles that made the matchups and not age. Nevertheless, Jones did end up winning the fight in a spectacular fashion. But one thing was certain. Miocic’s age was reflected in his performance at UFC 309. 

What are your thoughts on the bout between Jones and Miocic? Do you think ‘Bones’ should have fought Aspinall instead of Miocic? Let us know what you think in the comments down below.