3 reasons why Jon Jones vs. Stipe Miocic is terrible, no good, very bad for UFC

There are at least three reasons why the headline fight between Jon Jones and Stipe Miocic at UFC 309 is terrible, no good and very bad for mixed martial arts as a whole. The fight does a disservice to the sport, the UFC, the fighters and the fans, even if it tops a major pay-per-view event at Madison Square Garden in New York City next month.

It holds the heavyweight class

The fight would be fine if the UFC championship wasn't on the line

Jon Jones is the Saul “Canelo” Alvarez of mixed martial arts.

In boxing, Canelo is one of the most popular fighters in the entire sport and has been the de facto face of boxing since Floyd Mayweather's retirement. Canelo has every major world championship belt at super middleweight. However, he appears to be refusing to engage David Benavidez – certainly his biggest challenge – in a fight.

Jones is the guy in MMA. He refuses to face his biggest challenge, Tom Aspinall. Instead, he takes on Stipe Miocic – a once-great fighter, to be sure. But someone who hasn't competed since 2021 and hasn't scored a win over anyone in the top 10.

Jones himself last fought in March 2023, when he quickly defeated Ciryl Gane to win the UFC heavyweight championship. Although it is 18 months later, Jones has failed to defend the title. This has led to a stalemate in the heavyweight division, with Jones effectively holding the belt hostage.

He is an inactive fighter and shies away from the responsibility of being a great champion.

If the heavyweight championship wasn't on the line, it would be a great fight between two all-time great fighters. Instead, only chaos ensues.

It continues to let Tom Aspinall down

The British firecracker is the interim champion and his shot at the full title is long overdue

The chaos caused by the heavyweight situation described above has resulted in Tom Aspinall being virtually parked on the sidelines.

Aspinall won the interim heavyweight title when he knocked out Sergei Pavlovich in the first round of a fight last year. Typically, the interim title is a temporary honor and pretty quickly guarantees the incumbent a shot at the full championship. However, this has not been the case for Aspinall as he continues to wait on the sidelines.

The British puncher even defended the unprecedented interim title in July. While the full champion was waiting to face Miocic, an inferior challenge in 2024. If the champion is injured, an interim defense is permitted. However, since Jones isn't even injured this year and is fit and able to fight another opponent, it makes the sport and the organization pointless.

It takes away the momentum from the sport

The UFC had a big year, but this fight won't be remembered

The UFC had a banner year thanks to great fights at the UFC 300 anniversary show and exceptional production at UFC Noche, which GIVEMESPORT attended at The Sphere in Las Vegas. We were impressed that night by what the UFC pulled off in a state-of-the-art $2.3 billion venue. UFC boss Dana White even told us that he spent more than $20 million on production alone to make this event a success.

Every year, the UFC's annual event at Madison Square Garden is a celebration of combat sports with icons like Conor McGregor, Nate Diaz and Jorge Masvidal. There are notable fights on the schedule in 2024, such as Charles Oliveira vs. Michael Chandler and Bo Nickal returning at middleweight against Paul Craig.

But a main event between a pound-for-pound guy who hasn't fought in 18 months and another who was last seen three years ago steals the momentum from the big year the UFC has had. It's likely that this main event will be the UFC's most memorable in 2024.