Stipe Miocic Will Fight Jones-Gane Winner for UFC Heavyweight Title, Dana White Says

Former UFC heavyweight champion Stipe Miocic will take on the winner of Jon Jones vs. Ciryl Gane for the title.

UFC president Dana White confirmed at Friday's press conference that Miocic is the next challenger for the championship after UFC 285.

"He's absolutely the next one," White said. "So, whoever wins on Saturday night will face Stipe next."

Miocic had been campaigning to get a shot at the winner of Saturday's heavyweight showdown.

When UFC announced the Jones-Gane bout in January, Miocic tweeted he wanted the winner in July.

White didn't announce a potential timeline for Miocic to get his shot. UFC 290 is likely going to be the promotion's marquee July 4 weekend event. It's scheduled for July 8 at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas.

The timeline will also likely depend on how the winner of Jones-Gane feels coming out of the fight and how quickly they want to go back into training for a title bout.

Jones is making his heavyweight debut on Saturday. This will also be his first fight since defeating Dominick Reyes at UFC 247 to retain the light-heavyweight title in February 2020. The 35-year-old weighed in at 248 pounds for Saturday night.

Gane is challenging for the heavyweight title for the first time since losing a unification bout to Francis Ngannou in January 2022. He did rebound with a victory over Tai Tuivasa at a UFC Fight Night show on Sept. 3.

Miocic hasn't fought since losing the title to Ngannou at UFC 260 in March 2021. He initially pushed to take on Jones at UFC 285, but the company opted to go in a different direction.

Arguably the best heavyweight fighter in UFC history, Miocic is a two-time champion and has a 14-4 career record with the promotion. He is the only heavyweight to successfully defend the UFC title three consecutive times.