Stipe Miocic Says He Wasn’t Given Option to Remain on UFC 295 Card

Stipe Miocic claims he wasn’t offered an alternative fight when scheduled opponent Jon Jones pulled out of UFC 295.

Jones (27-1) was slated to defend his heavyweight title against Miocic (20-4) in the main event at UFC 295 on Nov. 11 at Madison Square Garden. However, “Bones” was forced out of the card after sustaining a pectoral muscle tear during a grappling session hardly two weeks away from fight night.

An interim heavyweight title matchup between Tom Aspinall and Sergei Pavlovich has been added to the card as the co-main event. Meanwhile, the original co-main, a light heavyweight title clash between Jiri Prochazka and Alex Pereira, has been bumped up to the main-event slot.

While Jones was forced out of the card due to an injury, Miocic saw himself removed due to no fault of his own. The former UFC heavyweight champ, who hasn’t fought since losing his strap to Francis Ngannou in March 2021, was expectedly disheartened upon hearing the news.

“How did I feel when I woke up today? Like I got kicked in the nuts,” Miocic said in a video on his OnlyFans account. “In the morning, I woke up to my phone vibrating. It was dark, I had my son on top of me, trying to move and get my phone. I finally got my phone and had a text message from my manager saying my fight was off. I couldn’t sleep the rest of the night.”

Asked if Miocic had been offered a replacement, Dana White said an interim title clash offer would be disrespectful to the former champ. Instead, the UFC CEO plans on rebooking the fight with Jones sometime next year.

Miocic confirmed that being removed from the card wasn’t his choice. However, the 41-year-old doesn’t exactly have a problem with it, as the Jones matchup remains his primary focus.

“I don’t know why I didn’t get picked, which is fine,” Miocic said. “I understand they have a direction they want to go. I’m OK with that. Every guy in the division is tough. I definitely want to fight the biggest fish, which is Jon Jones. It wasn’t my choice, it was theirs. Listen, everything happens for a reason. The fight being canceled, it sucks. No question about it. Unfortunately, that’s just the game we’re in. It happens. Like I said, I hope he’s okay. You want to be the best; you’ve got to beat the best. I want that belt back. It’s my belt. It’s going to happen.”