Jon Jones to Fight Stipe Miocic at UFC 295 to Defend Heavyweight Title

Jon Jones will defend his UFC heavyweight title against Stipe Miocic this November, UFC President Dana White announced Friday.

The title fight is set to take place on November 11 at Madison Square Garden in New York City.

Jones returned after a three-year layoff to win the heavyweight championship on March 4 with a Round 1 submission win over Ciryl Gane. In 16 title fights, he has claimed 15 wins, the most in UFC history.

Miocic last fought at UFC 260 in 2021, where he lost in a second-round knockout to Francis Ngannou. The two-time former heavyweight champion has a record of 20-4 with 15 knockouts.

The upcoming bout is set to pit Jones, who has established himself as one of the best light heavyweights in MMA by defending his title 11 times, against Miocic, who White described as "the greatest heavyweight of all time."

"This is the fight Jon Jones wanted. It's the fight Stipe wanted and it is a legacy fight for both of these guys," White said.

Jones is ranked No. 1 pound-for-pound by the UFC and No. 3 in the world by ESPN. His only career defeat came via disqualification in 2009.

White first teased this potential matchup on March 3 ahead of Jones' and Gane's battle for the belt, per ESPN's Marc Raimondi.

Following the March 5 title win, Jones told reporters he would be focused on facing Miocic, per MMA Junkie.

"I say it respectfully to Stipe: I would take time off from being a firefighter right now. I mean that with all due respect," Jones said. "My whole world is going to be focused on him. This is the biggest opportunity in my life, to be the heavyweight GOAT, and I'm going to give it everything I've got – absolutely everything I've got."

Jones then referred to Miocic's comments following Jones' heavyweight championship win. Miocic said he had wanted to take the March title fight against Jones, and noted that he weighed more than both Jones and Gane.

"Stipe is talking about how he's heavier than me right now," Jones said. "His head is already in the wrong spot if he thinks weightlifting is going to beat me. He'll never be younger than he is right now. He'll never be faster. I'm going to not only beat Stipe Miocic, I'm going to finish Stipe Miocic before the championship rounds."

The anticipation for this match has been building for years. Miocic and Jones have expressed interest in fighting each other since their overlapping title runs in 2016, especially following Jones' shift to heavyweight.