MMA Fighting - UFC 309 Timeline: Jon Jones vs. Stipe Miocic

Episode Date: November 11, 2024

Before Jon Jones and Stipe Miocic battle at UFC 309, check out the roads each fighter took to the UFC heavyweight championship headliner. Subscribe to MMA Fighting Check out our full video catalog Like MMA Fighting on Facebook Follow on Twitter Read More: http://www.mmafighting.com Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

You're listening to the Vox Media Podcast Network. MMA Fighting presents timeline. John Jones versus Steepa Meachichich. August 9, 2008, UFC 87, Seek and Destroy Minneapolis, Minnesota. The 6-0 John Jones makes his UFC debut on the prelims of UFC 87. Jones wins via unanimous decision over Andre Guzmael. Jones goes on to defeat UFC Hall of Famer Stefan Bonner at UFC 94. And then the 11 and 2 Jake O'Brien at UFC 100 by second round Gillotine.

Jones goes on to stop Brandon Vera by brutal elbows and punches in the first round at UFC on versus 1 in Jones's first UFC main event. Jones returns to the headline spot and stops Vladimir Matsushenko by elbows. in the first round yet again in a showcase bout in San Diego at UFC on versus 2. December 4th, 2009, the Ultimate Fighter finale 10, Las Vegas, Nevada. John Jones faces Matt Hamill in the co-main event of the tough 10 finale at the Pearl at the Palms. And John, there's obviously a lot of excitement surrounding this fight. A lot of people are excited to see you fight again. I'm curious because the last time we saw you in action UFC 100, I mean, obviously you looked very good there.

but it seems as though your career and your life has changed a lot since then, a lot of notoriety, a lot more publicity. Would you agree with that? Yeah, absolutely. I'm excited about it. You know, I have a goal and I have a dream in the sport, and that's to make it to the very top of the ladder. And I understand that, you know, getting to the top of the ladder,

a lot of this stuff is going to come with it. So I accept what it is, and I just try to do my best at it. You know, my main focus is just being a provider for my family. You know, being the best man I can be, being some sort of leader and a role model to, you know, younger athletes who want to do the same things or similar things. And, you know, just do the best to make it to the top of that ladder. Jones would suffer his first and very controversial loss.

After completely dominating Hamel, Jones would lose by disqualification for using illegal downward elbows. I try to look at everything in life for the best. And now I'm not worried about being another. defeat it anymore so I go out there and be more relaxed I think I him so many times I just do I understand why I wasn't getting stopped like is he wait for me to gas or something like what is this um I looked at him like twice I was like why am I still hitting this that February 5th 2011 UFC 126 Silva versus belfort Las Vegas Nevada John Jones is booked against

top ranked and undefeated Ryan Bader are you surprised that you you are a four to one favorite that so many odds makers yeah are are picking you and that really not a lot of people are actually picking him wow that is uh that's four to one that's that's that's big you know i try not to plan to odds you know gambling is against my religion um and i just don't gamble to us and i've tried it a few times i suck at it every little relet but i'm trying to call you out on gambling i'm just saying are you surprised that you're such a big favorite yeah i'm glad people believe in me and uh hopefully no one loses their money i'll say that In what would be his breakout performance of his career,

Jones dispatches Bader via second round guillotine choke. The UFC would offer Jones a short-noticed championship fight immediately after his victory. There are a lot of moments in UFC history that will always remember. I think that was one of them right there when you were offered a title shot. Did you even know that that was at stake? You know, I knew a shot had gotten hurt, but I didn't see that coming. You know, it was awesome. And yeah, God is really good.

And this is going to happen on March 19. right? Yeah, I got six weeks, so I have an after-party tonight, but I definitely won't be drinking. It's right back to the drumboard, and I'm just so excited. I'm so grateful for this situation, and I think everything happens for a reason, and I'm not afraid of this moment. I feel as if it's my moment. I know it's not ideal, but do you think six weeks is enough time to prepare for Shogun? Yeah, I think six weeks will be great. I didn't get hurt at all. I'm actually my big toe. I might have stubbed it on the way out, but I feel great. I'm already in shape, so right now it could only bring out an even tougher, more vicious, more fit John Jones.

John Jones now fighting March 19th for the UFC light heavyweight title. How did this whole situation come about? We literally made this fight down by the octagon. It happened. You know, I found out this afternoon at like 2 o'clock that Rashad was out. And, you know, this is what we do, man. It's one of the cool things. It's not like boxing where if a guy falls out, you know,

You got to postpone the fight. Any concerns that six weeks, his age, this might be too soon? Listen, the guy's proved himself over and over and over again. I mean, he's taking everybody out. Every challenge that's been put in front of him, he's finished. Is he still a young guy, 23 years old? Yeah, he is, but, you know, he's so talented. He's so talented.

And even tonight in such a big fight, he was in there. I'm sure he was nervous and had all those things, but he was so calm and cool, you know, and he did walk through Bader. March 19th, 2011, UFC 128, Shogun versus Jones, Newark, New Jersey. As promised, Jones returns to the UFC Octagon a little over a month after his previous victory in the main event against Shogun Hua for the UFC's 205 pound championship. A lot of people were surprised when they found that you've been signing your name as champ 2011. How did that come about?

You know, I believe in the law of attraction, and I believe that you can speak things into existence. And I believe that when you know where you're going and you know what you want, the universe has a way of stepping aside for you. And me signing my signature with champion 2011 on it, it can't hurt me. It can't hurt me. It could only help me to believe it even more, you know. So, so, so yeah, I mean, it works for me. Question for John Jones. Could you please stand up? Uh-oh. Do you really think you could win this fight? Have you? Have you seen? Have you seen? Have you seen absolutely? Have you seen him in front of this day?

Oh, hey, what's your name? What's your name? Anthony. And it comes. Come on. Come on. Come on. Come on. And, uh, absolutely. Absolutely. I wouldn't, uh, I wouldn't, uh, I wouldn't be sitting here if I didn't think I could be showgun. So, uh, Jones defeats Hua by third round TKO. and becomes the youngest ever UFC champion. Mr. Hammer, you know, we just saw John Jones dismantle Shogun Huah. What do you think of that? What do you think of that? I think we saw a transition tonight, you know, a transition of a new generation of fighter.

His skill set is unbelievable. And all due respect to Shogun, it was just amazing because everybody knew to John at this incredible arsenal of weapons and his ground game is, you know, also incredible. But still to see him actually dismantle him the way he did. it was incredible. One of my co-managers, his name is Glenn, and he has a family that lives here in the New Jersey area. So before my fights, I'd like to find a really beautiful site, whether it's the top of a mountain next to a stream, anything gorgeous. Nature-wise, I like to, you know, associate our nature with different levels of energy and all this. But anyways, it's a different topic.

So we find a place in Patterson, New Jersey, where there's a bridge, and there's very powerful. powerful waterfall. There's almost like a little mountain. It was beautiful, but around this waterfall and everything, it was a really ghetto area. And as the guy pulls us up in his car, he's like, you know, I'm in the passenger seat, Greg Jackson and Winkle-John's in the back seat. He's like, listen, guy, before I drop you off here, I want to let you know, this is a pretty bad neighborhood, so you might want to be careful. I'm like, dude, we're at, you know, we're all MMA guys. And he's like, he's like, well, I'm just letting you know a lot of people get mugged here. Just as he said that, I turned to pull off my seat.

bell and the guy I see an old Spanish couple like screaming and they're like running they look like they're out of breath big time and I'm like dude they just got mugged and he's like uh no no and I'm like maybe not I'm tripping and you just put that in my mind um so Mike Wingojana hops out of the car and he's like you know the guy just he just he just broke my window open he took all my stuff and he's running and so I'm like what so Mike Wingojohn without hesitation he's just starts running right and like holy crap and then Greg Jackson he just like he just starts running and they both start running so I'm like what is happening right now um so next thing you know I have a sweatpants on I have a iPod and my droid X um a wallet I'm like you're like what is like where

am I what is going on so I'm like okay it's time for me to take action so I like take I like take my hands in my phone because I throw my stuff on the floor and I told our driver I'm like dude take care of my stuff. I threw another floor and I just started running, right? And you know, I got these gazelle legs. So I'm running, right? And I'm running. And next thing you know, you know, I catch up to my coaches and I'm jogging and there's a sprint, right? I'm like, what are we doing? We're going to catch this guy? And he's like, he's like, he's like, John, you get back. He's like trying to swim move. He's like, get over me. He's like, get back. You don't need to be involved with this, right? And I'm like, now, coach God,

I trust me, man. I'll be okay. I'll be okay. So then I put the jets on, you know. I went T-O-L. So I put the Jets on and I catch up to the guy and like, how you doing? You're going to do? No, I'm so joking. I'm joking. So, anyway, so the guy, like, we're getting, I'm like closing in on this guy about 20 yards away. And the guy's like, you can see that he's starting to get winded. So it's like, you know, he got this stuff and he's running. And he looks back and he usually sees me, you know, 6'4. You got Greg and wink like behind us. Yeah. Greg and he wicks behind me and I'm just running like, you know, I'm going to catch you, right? So, uh, so the guy looks back.

And then he trips over his own foot. And so at the time we tripped over his own foot, I got so scared because I didn't know what I was going to do when I actually caught him. So I actually started barking like, I'm going to get you like, ha! You know? So the guy's like, he looks back at the old crap,

but he's trying to stand up. And when he was standing up, I approached him when he's like in a, you know, in your march, just said, go type of stance because he's like trying to get his momentum back. And one of his behind feet, I just came up with my foot and like scooped it out from under him with my foot.

like just kicked him from the bag, like kind of kicked his ankle out. And he fell down, and when he fell, he, like, you know, scraped his hands up pretty good. And so he's down on the floor, and, you know, I'm thinking, like, I hope I don't get stabbed right now. So I'm just, like, ground upon him. And Greg Jackson just comes out of nowhere and jumps on the guy's back. And he starts speaking Spanish, like, cleav-a-da-but-a-bud, you know. And, like, I'm like, you know Spanish? All right?

So I'm like, let me do something, right? So I, like, I grabbed the guy's feet, and then I put him in this move because I went to college for criminal justice. And I had a class defensive tactics. So I grabbed him and I, like, figure forward his legs and I sat on his legs. And he's screaming at us. And Greg's like, you know, speak of Spanish. So as I'm sitting on this guy's leg, catching my breath a little bit because we're spreading uphill, I realized that I'm in, like, this Spanish neighborhood. And like, all these people are coming out of their houses yelling Spanish across the street.

I'm like, oh, Lord, here we go. Like, what is happening? Like, Greg's yelling like Spanish to people. And then a guy walked up to us, and he's like, he's like, yo man, that's. could have been my mama's car. And once he said that, I was like, yes, they're on our side. Like, I'm like, yeah, you poke. That could have been his mom's car. And then we went and we all felt like superheroes. We just had the best meditation session ever. And, uh, and I just felt really good after that. I was like, I got it win this fight. I got the hard work dedication. And now I got

karma on my side. So it was, it was crazy. It was good. September 24th, 2011, UFC 135 Jones versus Rampage, Denver, Colorado. John Jones returns for his first title defense against former champion Rampage Jackson. How sick are you of just being around Rampage? They're sort of forcing you guys to be on this traveling circus here. You know what? I'm actually liking it. I'm liking it a lot. You know, Rampage's personality is very unique personality. And if you're not familiar with it, it can almost come across as it can be, it can take people back, a lot of people back, you know, has that, you know, in your face, you know.

Oh, I'm going to, but I'm going to knock you out, kid, and all this, Mr. T-talk. And the more I'm around it, the more I've humanized them, the more I've realized that he's just some heavy-handed Mr. T. want to be, you know, that's, I'm getting ready to fight instead of this intimidating, I'm Rampage Jackson, and I'll knock your head off, type of thing, you know? So now I'm like, all right, like, no fun in games, let's see who's a better fighter, you know, so it's actually helping humanize. It's actually helped me humanize them a lot being around it. He and others have fueled this sort of, this notion that you are cocky and trying to get fans to go against you because you've accomplished so much at such a young age? Honestly, I think that's what it is.

Literally, it could be anything, it could have been any other word and that would have tagged and kind of stuck, but they chose the word cocky. And the reason why they're calling me cocky, I think, it's because of my age, you know. I'm a guy who's confident in myself and I feel good about myself. I've accomplished a lot at it so far and just really getting started. And it's sad, but it's two African-American men that's calling me cocky. So maybe they're hating on me for being the new fresh black face on the map. I don't know.

Jones retains his title via fourth round submission. Basically, a strategy was to just fight long and to make each shot count, you know, use a lot of the low kicks to set up higher kicks and, you know, shoot straight, you Rampage, he's knocked out some of the best in the sport, but he tends to knock them out when they're swinging hooks, and he has that shell defense. So we figured if we shot straight, our chances of landing things would be more successful. So that's why I do a lot of up kicks and a lot of straight punches because, you know, he does the best when he's rolling off hooks. So what about John Jones impresses you? He has a lot of weapons, a lot of technique. He's quick. He's very athletic.

He has tremendous potential. And, you know, but I'll tell you something, Rampage had the best head movement he's ever had and really impressed me tonight. You know, if he would have let his hands go tonight, it would have been something. For some reason, he didn't. Now, what about John Jones's in terms of his legacy? Do you think that he could actually be one of the best fighters of all time? Because right now, no one has ever even come close to really putting a jig in his eye.

I'm not going to say that about anybody. I don't know, you know, anybody here that I'm going to say, you know, is going to be one of the best fighters of all time, because of all time is a long time. He's a great young man with tremendous potential. Are there people out there who could beat him, maybe? You know, very, you know. I noticed him actually go for the front kick to the face there. Did you see that as well? Yeah, him and I did talk about that, but he hasn't, you know.

He hasn't learned it yet. You speak to him? Yesterday, the before yesterday. So you actually have a relationship with John Jones? Well, he's a kind of a friend. Right. Yeah. October 8th, 2011, UFC 136, Edgar versus Maynard 3, Houston, Texas.

Steepe Mietich begins his UFC career with the fight against Joey Beltran. Beochich wins via unanimous decision. December 10th. 2011, UFC 140, Jones versus Machita, Toronto, Ontario. Jones is set to defend his title for the second time against former UFC champion Leota Machita. My little baby girl. You're kids. Jones puts Bichita to sleep with a nasty second round guillotine choke. I think it's safe to say it's the toughest fight since I've learned how to fight. You know, my UFC debut was pretty tough, only because I was actually engaged in a really

tough fight, and I didn't really have tactics or have philosophy. Now I have tactics, I have philosophy. I feel as if I'm a seasoned fighter, I know what I'm doing. And I still went through a pretty strong fight. So I think it's safe to say that it's the toughest fight since I've known how to fight. I just set up that choke. That was one of the more impressive moments of your career. All right, I'll show you.

So what you do is just grab it here and you, uh, uh, you okay? I'm great. That felt great. And you just walked away like, ain't no thing. Like, it felt like you had a little swag in your step when you walked away there. Just let him fall to the ground. Hey, it was a good fight, and I'm just grateful that I won it. Would you say this is the greatest run, 365 days, calendar year in UFC history? Yeah, no doubt about it.

He feels as though Jones gets the respect that he deserves. And I know he gets a lot of hype, but considering who he beat in those last three fights, I mean, and considering the fact that he finished them, too, how can you not say that he's the best fighter in the world right now? Yeah. Well, the thing is, again, to call him the best fighter in the world, if you look at Anderson Silva's run since 2006, you know what I mean? John Jones is still young.

He's had an incredible year, probably one of the greatest years in UFC history. He is on his way. April 21st, 2012. Well, UFC 145 Jones versus Evans, Atlanta, Georgia. The UFC light heavyweight champion is set to face former training partner and former UFC champion, Rashad Evans. You know, the reason I say that I felt as if Rashad's fight and out of anger, it's not that he's going to be in the cage looking like this at me,

like giving me a rampage. You know, he's, uh, what I meant by that is that he's focused so much on, on the storyline, so much on the storyline and telling him the story about. about Greg and Wink and how I'm so cocky and things like that, you know, where me, you know, I'm kind of feel like I'm being more reactive instead of really trying to attack his personality because I really don't care about defending my personality. You know, I have a very strong fan base and I have a very strong hate base and it is what it is. So I realize that I'm here to complete a mission and that's to have my hand raised. And that's why I said he's kind of fighting out of anger

because all that pre-fight drama stuff is just shouldn't take too much of your emotion, too much of your effort. I've been focusing on tactics since I signed that contract. Tactics and strategy. Jones dominates cruising to a unanimous decision. You know, I think I was a little intimidated

at some points to just believe in my ability and speed and coordination. So I think as a result, I didn't fight as clean as I would like to have. But it was a great fight. I respect to Rashad a lot and thank him for taking this fight. What did you learn about yourself tonight? You know, I learned that I need to just trust my stuff a little bit more and not be intimidated

you know, by people what they have and just to trust what I have. You know, like I said before, I definitely move very fluently when I'm going against a heavy bag or a coach with Mitz and tonight I kind of felt gangly and north and uncourable. coordinated at some points. I know that came from slight insecurity in my attacks. May 26, 2012. UFC 146 Dos Santos versus Mier, Las Vegas, Nevada. After a quick knockout of the night performance in Nebraska against Phil DeFries, Miyich returns to face heavyweight prospect, Shane Del Rosario. And they offered you Shane Del Rosario. He's making his UFC debut coming over from Strike Force. How much did you know about him when you got the call?

I knew he was. You know, I knew he was a great fighter of Strike Force, great player in Strike Force. And, you know, when I got the phone call, and I didn't hesitate to take that fight. I asked him on Monday if he knew you, what his reaction was when he got the call. I said, you didn't know you,

you had to Google you to find out about you. Is that surprise you? Yeah. I mean, I'm still a little back, you know, working my way up. So it doesn't surprise you? I don't know. I don't know.

I'm not worried about, you know, keep fighting, you get better, keep winning. Mietchich wins, via TKO in the second round. You're such a humble fighter, such a humble guy. How do you remain humble now?

You're an undefeated UFC heavyweight. You've won three and no inside the octagon. I have good coaches, you know, good teammates, good friends and family. You know, I just have good people around me. September 22nd, 2012, UFC 152, Jones v. Belfort, Toronto, Ontario. Originally scheduled as John Jones versus Dan Henderson

at UFC 151, three weeks prior, Henderson pulls out of the fight with an injury less than two weeks before the fight. Jones declines to face Chale Sullen as a late-noticed replacement. Soon afterwards, the UFC cancels the entire card. Jones is rebooked against yet another former UFC champion, Vitor Belfort. Jones, what's the relationship right now between you and Dana? Because we've heard so many different things going on. You guys love each other, you hate each other.

I hate them. I hate them. I hate everything about him. Yeah, I'm joking. Dana White's awesome, man. You know, like I've said before, Dana White is a very passionate guy. You know, he takes the passion, his passion,

and he goes to, like, big meetings, and he's talking to a lot of people about getting MMA, you know, legalized and having people endorse MMA. And, you know, he has this passion. And his passion is honestly the reason why we're all here right now. So when he's upset with you, you know, He's going to be passionate. So, you know, I forgive Dana White for any insults he might have given me and I'm looking

forward to him and just moving forward. You know, it's like I've said before, you know, me and Dana White are both ambassadors of this great sport and two of us not being on the same page. It really makes no sense for anyone. I really want to get this sport as far as possible and get the word out. And I think working along with Dana and the UFC is a great way to do that. So I'm looking forward to just moving forward, putting on this great fight, UFC 152, and you know, putting this past dishes.

Ultimately, you know, why wasn't it a good enough, a great car? You know, what was wrong with that car? Why did it have to get canceled? You know, I watch bar fights. I love fights no matter what level it is. So I think it was more of an insult to the other fighters on the car that, you know, pretty much, you know,

it was almost like saying they weren't good enough to host the car without me and Dan Henderson. And I think it was more of an offensive thing. They should be mad at at the superiors, not mad at me. You know what I mean? So, yeah, I think at the end of the day, I probably would have done what was best for my career.

And I can't really carry the weight of what happened because it really wasn't my thing. You know, I showed up to fight. My teammates was on that card. I would have loved to be able to watch them fight. But, you know, I think some real questions need to be asked to Dana about why the fight got canceled. How do you think the fans here in Toronto will react to you?

Because obviously you've become sort of this polarizing figure, But if it wasn't for your decision, they wouldn't have a chance to see a UFC light heavyweight title fight. So do you think they will actually greet you with cheers as opposed to booze here in Toronto? You know, I'm hoping that people are grateful for me being here and being able to entertain them ultimately. But I'm predicting that I'll probably get booed more than cheered. But I'm okay with it. I've come to terms with it. And I'll still compete the best.

I'm here with the champion, ladies gentlemen. Good through all this. John, this is a real experience opponent and taking on. A guy who's been around the game for a long time. Give us your thoughts on Vitor and what tomorrow night means to you. Well, I honestly believe that Vitor's one of the best in the world. You know, it's just going as it gets. And I'm excited to go out there and do my best, do what I always do.

I'm excited watching, sir. Good luck to you. The champion, ladies and gentlemen, Johnny Bowles Jones. Jones taps Belfort by Keylock in round four. I would rate the performance. I think it was a good performance, but there's definitely a lot of room to improve. You know, Vitor had me second-guess to myself.

I just got to get more comfortable in the Ottegon. You know, I worked so hard on my stand-up and so hard on my wrestling and things. I definitely need to embrace Jiu-Jitsu more and be a person who practiced what I preach. I definitely preach being a mixed martial artist and, you know, being passionate about all martial arts. But I can admit that, you know, Jiu-Jitsu isn't something that I do every day. So I thought my top game looked really poor. I think the ground and pound was pretty good. That's something that Greg Jackson really prides themselves on is having good ground and pound.

Striking was fair. And as far as getting the fans behind me again, I think I have a lot of fans behind me. Obviously, there's going to be people who support you, and there's going to be people who want to see you fall. And that just goes with being in the position that I am in. But the biggest thing is just to focus on the people who is pulling for you, rooting for you, and want to see you make it, and just focus on them. The performance like that, considering how resilient he was, he didn't tap, obviously, and he fought out of it. Does that sort of win the fans back? Do you think that all is forgotten now?

I sure hope so. You know, John is a really good guy. He's such a tough warrior. And to see, you know, he was in trouble. And, you know, he showed a lot of heart and a lot of guts. And some other people might not have done that. And I hope he inspired a lot of people tonight. He came out to Bob Marley's, Could You Be loved. What message was being sent there? I think he was asking if he could be loved. September 29th, 2012, UFC on Fuel TV 5, Shrewv versus Mietchich, Nottingham, England. After a 3-0 start in the UFC, Mietchich is booked in his first main event against Stefan Struth. Mietchich goes on to lose by second round TKO, but takes home fight of the night honors.

April 27, 2013, UFC 159, Jones v. Sunnen, Newark, New Jersey. Despite coming from a title loss as a challenger at middleweight, the UFC books Chil Sunnan as John Jones' next opponent. Thank you, gentlemen. Oh. Oh. Thanks for him on a shake. Sorry.

See it. He's changed a little bit as far as his public persona. He's changed a lot. John Jones has changed a lot. What you have to understand is, is that, you know, he's changed a little bit. is that, you know, he came into this business as a kid. I mean, he's a young kid. And all the fame and all the pressure and all the start.

I think he's really starting to catch his stride now. I mean, look at the shape he's in for this fight. Yeah, I couldn't be happier with John Jones. Does he have any shot in hell against you? Do you give him even a 0.01% chance? Chell is a great fighter, man. He's a great fighter. You know, people are just disregarding him completely.

And I'm not. My camp is not. You know, we've seen what he did to Anderson. We see what he did to Brian Stan. I saw what he did to Nate Mark Hort. You know, he's legit. He's legit. He doesn't always come out on top, but he always brings a fight, you know, and I've never fought in a guy who's Southfall who actually shoots from the Southball stance and things like that.

So Stahl makes matchups, and I'm taking this very seriously. I believe that this could be the fight of my life, to be honest with you, or I could just dominate him and eat him alive. One of those are true, and we'll find out which one is going to be true. for both of them. Jones successfully defeat Sonnen by finishing him via TKO late into round one. June 15, 2013, UFC 161, Evans v. Henderson, Winnipeg, Canada. Miyachich makes his return to the cage as the co-main event against Roy Nelson.

You're coming off a loss, first loss of your career. How does that change, you know, the way Fight Week feels for you, their mindset, you know, how you approach this fight? I think I'd approach every fight the same. just going to win. Of course, last fight didn't go the way I wanted it to, but that's why I'm hearing, that's why I took the fight. You know, obviously, that one of the biggest upsets in the NCAA tournament,

Cleveland State was a part of it, back in? 86. Yeah, yeah. You can be the next Cleveland State guy to pull up and up? Who did that against? I can't remember. Syracuse? Was it Syracuse?

I think it was. Maybe Indiana? Indiana. I don't remember. But, yeah, I know you tell me. It was a Cleveland State. I remember talking about, yeah. So you could channel it.

some of that. I'm in for that. As the underdog. Give it to me. Let's go. Post fight at UFC 161, alongside Stepe Miochich, who just pulled off a huge upset over Roy Nelson, and Steepa, I'll ask you off the bat. Was that an upset? In your opinion, did you pull off an upset, or was that supposed to happen?

Well, on the boogie's part, it was. On the betting odds, I guess, you know, I mean, I was confident going to have the best coach in the world. They told me what you know, what they're doing. You know, I felt confident. I thought I was going to win the fight. The biggest athletic achievement of your career tonight? Oh, yeah, of course, man. You had some big ones, but this is big. Come, man.

Co-made man, Winnipeg for a time. Let's go. It's awesome. Don't get better on this. Who do you want next? My bed. Enjoy it. Enjoy it.

This was a huge win. Mietchich goes on to win his next two bouts in the UFC. In Chicago at UFC on Fox 10, Henderson versus Thompson, Mietchitch defeats Gabriel Gonzaga by unanimous decision. Who do you see next for you in the heavyweight division? Obviously, somebody higher ranked than you, but do you have any preference? No, I just go home, heal up, get better, and wait for a call. All right.

And in Sao Paulo, Brazil, Mietchich knocks out Fabio Maldonado in the main event at Tough Brazil. September 21st, 2013, UFC 165 Jones versus Gustafson, Toronto, Ontario. Jones meets the Swedish fighter and number one contender Alexander Gustafson in the main event. So my job is to respect him wholeheartedly, train, give it my all. But with that being said, you know, because I respect him wholeheartedly and because I study so much, I see exactly where he truly is. I know where I am. I know what I've done. And I believe in my training. So I would just say I have a really honest assessment of what I've accomplished and what he's accomplished, the way he's performed, the way I performed. And I speak about it honestly. And every fighter has a chance to win a fight.

But my job is to make sure he has very, very small chances. And I think I've done that. Personality-wise, I think he seems like a great kid, a great young man. As a fighter, I believe that I'm better than him in literally every way. We are still buzzing here in Toronto because we just witnessed an instant classic between the reigning and defending UFC light heavyweight champion John Jones and Alexander Gustafson. Who'd you have it for?

Well, I scored a 3-2 for Jones. I had a two, four, five for Jones and one and three for Gustafson. I think a lot of people I talked to had something similar to that. But obviously it was a very close fight. So a lot of people were kind of going back and forth. I did hear a couple people who had it for Gustafson. So, I mean, we talked before this fight happened. We said, who's going to be this guy's rival?

He doesn't have a rival. Who's going to be his Joe Frazier, that sort of thing for Muhammad Oli? I don't know if this is the guy, but that was the event that needed to happen for Jones to sort of establish that with somebody. Now, when they roll it back and they have a rematch, which it seems like that would be, depending on how things go, the way that the UFC would look at going for it, we might have the seedlings for something like that, which is kind of a cool thing because in John Jones era, so far we haven't seen that. Jones would go on to defend his title once again at UFC 172 against Glover Tashara. December 13, 2014, UFC on Fox 13, Dos Santos versus Miyich, Finlay. Arizona. Junior Dos Santos returns to face Steve A.

Mietich in the main event. You know, I've talked to you before. We've done interviews, Winnipeg, whatnot, and you don't seem to love doing media. And then I see you on Twitter, and you're like the most prolific Twitter, tweeter out there. I mean, you're nonstop. I'm like, I'm like, what do with my hands?

What do I do with these things? You know, I'm terrible interviews. So I'm wondering, are you the one actually tweeting? I'm actually going to go out there and call you out and wonder if you're the one tweeting. This is prolific stuff that you're doing. You're nonstop. It's easy. It's right stuff. Just when I have a camera in my face, it's terrible. Like I could, you can, you talk to my coaches. If I'm, I'm not. Look at the camera. Just look right here. You put me in the

spot. No, man. No, I, yeah. Yeah, man, I just, I don't know. With cameras in my face, I have a hard time and I'm like, eh, you know, and I get real shy. I don't know what it is. I just, I'm terrible. You just see me on the news. When I go on in the news, I'm terrible. I'm like, do you want to get better? I try. I'm trying. I'm getting better. I feel like the Twitter has really brought out your personality, though. I I mean, you really come. I have a good personality. That's what I'm saying.

I want to see more of it on camera because there. There he is. That's the guy I'm talking about. And, Sean, we have to start with the main event. Of course, it was super close. In the end, JDS beat Steepay Miyochic, razor-thin decision, I thought. Who do you have it scored for?

I actually had it scored three to two for junior. I gave Steve A the first two rounds and then junior the last three rounds. I wouldn't oppose the other way I wouldn't oppose, 48, 47 for Steppe. I think it was maybe different in the arena because the crowd was a very pro-junior crowds so any time he landed hard, the crowd really swelled and it kind of created this environment

of it. But yeah, it was a very, very good close fight. Obviously, you disagree with the decision. Can you talk to us a little bit about what you thought of the scoring, obviously? Yeah, I mean, like Danes, I slowed down a little bit, especially the third and beginning of fourth. You know, I started

down anymore. I'm in the fourth, fifth round. I mean, at least I went two of those rounds, for sure. Maybe somewhat decently close, but apparently not. Like you say, don't let me go to the judges. And you're the better man than night and he has a hand race. So that I can do about it. January 3rd, 2015, UFC 182 Jones versus Cormier. Jones is finally set to face his rival, the undefeated Daniel Cormier.

This is the Ali Frazier. I've never had more people interested in a fight in my entire career. It's just the most random people, old ladies, and just, you know, almost everybody I run into. I feel like this fight is definitely elevated me and Daniel's exposure level. And so as far as just publicity-wise, this is the alley-friger, supposedly. You don't feel that way deep down? You don't feel the tension there, the world is watching. The world is definitely watching.

but I don't feel too much, too much tension. I've been in these situations so many times before and I don't think people are really grasping that. You know, I think to the fans and to media and to everybody else, you know, this is just so crazy. The only thing that's been crazy about this fight to me is what happened at the press conference and the amount of exposure this fight's getting got.

I've thought, you know, it's a little wild. But to me in my camp, this is what we do, man. This is what we do. Do I have nerves? I have nerves going into this fight. But I have nerves going into every fight. Okay. But, you know, you got to really try to put yourself in my mind for a minute and think about

what I've been against. You know, this is not the first guy that's supposed to be a monster. And every time I go out there and I do my job. And so just through proving myself over and over again, my confidence and my self-belief, is on an all-time high. Why are people so obsessed with the real John Jones and your image and what you say, they scrutinized? Why do you think that is?

You know, I think because... I think it's because no one really knows me. No one really knows me. And you can't really criticize or scrutinize my technique because I do do things right inside the act, you know. So I think it just gives people something to talk about. I think it's just something. it's something for the trills, it's something for the fans to engage in, it's something for

the MMA community to have something to blog about and stuff like that. Not to say that I'm the center of everything, but for the people who like to talk about me. It's just, I look at it as it's just something to have people talking. Well, you can't say that I gas out in my fights. You can't say that I do steroids or I, or there's nothing to talk about when it comes to me as a fighter. You know, I do things right. Jones wins the fight and retains the title by unanimous decision. You know, my plan is to become the greatest fighter of all time,

and it's so feasible, it's so attainable. All I got to do is you stay focused and keep believing just the way I believe and to keep working. And I do believe 2015 will be the year I solidify it. And as far as beating him and somewhat of his, his own style. You know, I watched him fight so much that I actually absorb who he is. I absorb grinding. I absorb, you know, I watch him hold my boyfriend from here against the cage. And I was just like, see what you're doing there. And just watching my opponent so much,

I start to subconsciously inherit their talent and their gifts. And so a lot of times you see me do exactly what they would want to do to me, I'd end up doing it to them. I am proud to say that this team is unbroken. So everyone who brought breaking bowling shirts, saw what happened? Feel free to buy yourself an unbroken shirt from Reebok. April 28, 2015, John Jones is stripped of the title. The UFC strips John Jones of the UFC light heavyweight title

in the wake of his arrest on felony hit and run charges. Jones was slated to face Anthony Rumble, Johnson at UFC 187. Jones was arrested early that week in Albuquerque on a felony charge of leaving the scene of an accident involving death or personal injury. And, you know, I see like the light turned green and I assumed that it was my green light, but really it was a green light for, you know, people that were going straight in traffic. And I was actually turning.

So I just stepped on the gas when I saw the green light. and I find myself driving right into ongoing traffic. And, yeah. Did you get hurt? I didn't get hurt. I didn't get hurt, no. So it was a three-car accident, right? Yeah, I think I hit one car,

and then that car provided into another car. Do you remember what was going through your mind when you got into the accident? Like, were you aware, like, what have I done? Like, what were you saying to yourself? What were you thinking? You know, it all happened so fast. Yeah.

I initially I knew I messed up big time. I started thinking about, well, first I realized that wasn't hurt. Yeah. So, you know, I think subconsciously I just figured, all right, nobody's gotten hurt. You know, I'm not hurt. Maybe we didn't hit that heart. I just thought to myself, man, I went out last night. I haven't been home yet.

I probably still smell like the night before. I need to get myself out of here. You know, this is going to be. going to be terrible. This is going to be messy. I got to go. I was afraid, man. I freaked out. And I was afraid to talk to the police at the time. So I just thought, let me get myself away from this. May 10th, 2015. UFC fight night 65, Mietchich versus Hunt, Adelaide, Australia. Mietchich headlines yet another UFC car, this time in South Australia against Mark Hunt. In what would be a historic night,

Miyich lands a total of 361 strikes, the most of any fighter in UFC history. Miyachich officially wins by TKO midway in the final round. January 2nd, 2016, UFC 195 Lawler v. Condit, Las Vegas, Nevada. Back on a wind streak, Miichich is set to face former champion Andrei Arlofsky in the pay-per-view co-main event.

Have you been told if you win this fight, you're getting a title shot? No, I've not been told anything. After what Overeem did a couple weeks ago against JDS, do you feel like you have to top that? Listen, all I care about is getting a W. I'm going to win, as I know I'm going to win because I have the greatest coaches in the world and training partners, and I have great confidence in myself and my coaching.

I'm ready as well. I wish it was Saturday ready, honestly. Miyachich makes quick work of Arlovsky, knocking him out in under a minute in the first round. I know you can't go be a different person, but have you made any kind of a decision that you want to try to be more outspoken? Was this? I guess. I don't know.

I think I'm a funny guy. I mean, my friends think I'm funny. I don't know what I say. I'm a fireman. I mean, you know, I like fighting. It's fun. April 13, 2016, UFC 197 Jones versus St. Peru, Las Vegas, Nevada.

John Jones makes his return to the UFC to face late-notice contender, Ovin's. St. Peru for the interim UFC light heavyweight championship. Jones was originally scheduled to face champion Daniel Cormier in a rematch. Yeah, I definitely have a lot of pride and being bouncer on number one. I mean, who wouldn't want to be number one at what they do? So it makes me really happy. It's something that I will train hard to protect. But at the same time, you know, I'm not a guy who fights. you know, not to lose. I fight to win every time. Not only win, but dominate. So, so yeah.

Jones cruises to a decision victory and becomes interim UFC light heavyweight champion. I gave Daniel the finger leaving the octagon. It felt great to do. It creates buzz. It gets people ready for the fight. You know, it's like, okay, you know, me and D.C. don't like each other. He's been in my sights this whole time. We had a minor bump in the road. We had to take a little detour. And now it's back to, you know, this beef with D.C. So it wasn't, it wasn't, there was not too many emotions involved with me doing it.

It was more for fun. It was more to get a reaction from the fans and restart this story line between me and D.C. May 14th, 2016. UFC 198, Verdume v. Meachichich, Kuratiba, Brazil. After 10 fights in the UFC, going 8 and 2 and on a two-fight win streak, Steppe Mietchich gets his shot at UFC Gold against the heavyweight champion Fabricio Verdume. Miyich wins the title in what MMAFighting.com declared the 2016 knockout of the year. Mietchich becomes the UFC heavyweight champion at 2 minutes, 47 seconds into round one.

Actually, tonight on ESPN for 30 for 30, they had Believeland. There was a documentary about how Cleveland sports did win on championships. So I knew I'd put it into it. You know, I had to stop the curse for us. And, you know, it went well for me tonight. Does the time that you commit yourself 100% to fighting and push the firefighting to the side? Or are you still going to keep that recipe together? I'm going to keep that recipe together, man.

I love being a fireman. I love helping people. I can't change, man. I'm, you know, I'm a champ, you know, but I'm going to keep being a firefighter like I am. I love helping people. I train too hard. I want to keep this ball for a long time, you know,

and, you know, I don't Cleveland's got the curse. And, you know, I'm bringing a championship back home to Cleveland. But, yeah, I'm going to keep this belt for a while. I promise you that. July 9, 2016, U.S.C. 200, Tate v. Nunes, Las Vegas, Nevada. Originally scheduled as Daniel Cormier versus John Jones as the main event for UFC 200, Jones would be pulled off the card due to a positive PED test announcement just days before the fight. Jones would subsequently be stripped of his interim title.

Marker was a surreal sight in many ways, especially when you consider the kind of mood John Jones was in less than 24 hours ago. In the best mood possible, just 72 hours away from his fight. Now here we are a complete 180. He's crying in front of the media. Didn't say too much as far as what the substance was. What's, you know, the next step for him? But I'm curious just right off the bat,

what was your biggest takeaway from what we saw here moments ago? It's just kind of sad. The whole thing is kind of sad. And like you said, it's amazing how quickly things can turn in this sport where less than 24 hours ago, John Jones was on another dais and another part of MGM brand talking trash to Daniel Cormier, talking about a fight that's going to play. probably make him a lot of money. Now that fight is off. Now he's possibly facing a two-year

ban from the sport just like that in less than 24 hours. It's unbelievable. John, I'm just wondering, have you had a chance to communicate with DC at all? And if you haven't, what's your message to him? What would you say to him? Yeah. I haven't had the opportunity to talk to him. And, you know, I just wanted to tell him. I'm sorry. That's really it. I know this fight meant a lot to him. September 10th, 2016,

UFC 203, Miyach-Ve, versus Overeem, Cleveland, Ohio. The UFC comes to Cleveland for the first time, and their hometown fighting hero and heavyweight champion, Steepa Mietchich,

is matched up against Alistair Overeem in his first title defense. After getting dropped and surviving a submission attempt, Mietchich recovers and defeats Overeem by knockout. four minutes and 27 seconds into the first round. Yeah, you had a lot harder than I thought. You know, he put me on my ass.

But, you know, I was okay. You know, he put me down. You know, first was like, oh. But then you got me that friend. I got out of it. I felt fine and then took over. It's probably impossible to kind of quantify this, but I'm going to ask you anyways.

What was the better feeling? You know, winning the title in Brazil or feeling what you felt tonight in front of your hometown crowd? Oh, HIO, baby. That's all I going to say. So if they come to you and say, look, we want to do Kane versus you here

in Cleveland, would you really say no to that? No, I want to say no. Well, you said you'd rather? Well, I'd rather fight, of course, but I mean, listen, man, I'm not going to pick and choose who I fight and where I'm going to fight. If you tell me I'm going to fight on Saturday and I'll fight on Saturday and I don't really don't care. I mean, whatever they want me to fight, I'm going to fight. I mean, I'm the heavy way champion of the world. Right.

That's where there's a reason. I'll fight in front of 45,000 Brazilian people. And I fought in front of how many people are here tonight? 18,000 people, almost 19,000 people, all for me. I'll do whatever they want me to do it. May 13, 2017, UFC 211, Mietich versus Dos Santos 2, Dallas, Texas. The champion, Steppe Mietich is set to even the score with the challenger, Dons, as the main event in Dallas, Texas, at UFC 211.

And here's the other thing I have to talk to you about. The last time we spoke, we made a little bit of news. You were unhappy. I never heard you like this before, right? You said, you are coming? You're like, I'm like this, hormone. No, but you're telling me, there's a lot of emotion. One minute here, you're the most obnoxious person of all time that you're a man about this.

I'm like, what do you want to do? Listen, you're somewhat stoic, so anytime you give us an inch, it's a big deal. You take it like 30 miles. Well, it's a big deal. You're the heavy, you're the baddest man on the planet, right? Yeah. You were unhappy. You said that they, they mistook your kind.

How do you feel now? How are things? I'm funny, aren't I? Yeah. All right, we're good. Are you under duress a little bit? Like, do you want to clear up things afterwards? Oh, good.

We're good. I'm the next thing. or back to one word answer. Once again, Miyich retains his belt via first round knockout. He makes history. A lot of people didn't even know that this was actually a record within his grasp going into this one.

He successfully defends his heavyweight title for the second time that ties the record. But the big story, of course, is that once again, the first round, he looks very impressive, finishes Junior Dos Santos. He knocks him out and he's able to avenge that loss from two and a half years ago. How impressed were you with his performance?

I mean, it's hard not to be impressed, right? Like what he, what he's been able to do over the past couple of years is really quite remarkable. Four, four wins in a row, I mean, five wins in a row, but four first round knockouts against legends of the sport. I mean, Verdume, Overheim, Arlowski, and then tonight, it's really quite incredible. And the way he's doing it, too, almost making it look too easy. You know, we've always been looking for this guy who's going to be able to hold that heavyweight title for a long time. For a long time, we thought it was Kane. Yeah.

And maybe it is steepe now. I mean, he's, like you said, he's won away from Bray. breaking the record already. And who knows, he might be able to do it. And so on Friday, I asked you, is he in that discussion for the greatest of all time? When you mention those names, it's pretty damn impressive. And after what he did tonight to JDS in a rematch, do you now feel comfortable putting him in that discussion? I feel comfortable putting him in the discussion.

I'm still not ready to quite go, you know, on that level. That's fair. Yeah. But if he does the next one, let's say the next one is Kane. Let's just throw it out there and the next one is Kane. and he wins again in a very impressive fashion, I would have to really rethink that because at that point, what he's been able to do, the sustained level of excellence,

that's quite remarkable and relatively unprecedented in this division. Like I said, I admire him, you know. And like I said again, you know, if I'm not the champion, I'm happy he's the champion. He is a nice guy and he represents very well the sport spirit. Stepe wins his next fight, wherever it is and whoever it's against. Will that cement him as the greatest overweight of all time? Yeah, unfortunately, three will do it.

That's pretty crazy. But yeah, it would be tough to say he's not after defending the title three times. And if he gets beyond that, he's a fucking amazing Hall of Famer, I guess. It's crazy. I didn't realize that. I thought Kane had held the belt longer. until you know uh we found out that uh it was too i'm a champ you know the reason why i'm the champ i i worked my ass off to get where i'm at you know if it wasn't for my coaches my wife my family

my teammates my friends just they went backing me up my city have my back i won't be where i'm at you know it's uh it's a midwest thing you know how it is july 29th 2017 ufc 214 courmier versus jones two Anaheim, California. John Jones returns to action after a year's suspension to once again face Daniel Cormier for the UFC Light Heavyweight Championship. How long do you think I've been doing steroids?

Well, you're probably about, well, you've earned a title fight, you know, so I imagine you're about three and only UFC, so those first few fights. Ovent, St. Peru, Guzmael, and Forrest Bauer or whatever his name is. What's that guy's name that he'd be? Yeah, Stefan Bonner. Those three fights is when you didn't do steroids, but everything else in the middle is eliminated.

When I, when I started a powerlifting, four days a week, and I started, you know, with these chicken-ass legs with my bad genetics, I started deadlifting, 600 pounds, squatting 500 pounds. You saw it was in full effect. So how did I get away with that? You did, I'm not saying you did it last year versus Ovent St. Proof. You were clean last year when you fought Ovent St. Proof. When I was the biggest ever. That's why you look like you look.

Why do I look? You're a bum. That's why you look like a bum last time. How do I look, D.C.? Hey, all that, that's all just, hey, listen, that's all just for show. That's all just for show. Who looks like a junkie here today?

Hey, I, hey, that's just all for show. You can show your six-pack. Who looks like a junkie here today? You can just show your six-pack. That's fine, that's all for sure. Who looks like a junkie here today? I look like a, I'm not, right. You look like a crackhead with a suit on.

Was that? You're like a crackhead with a suit on. I could look like a crackhead with a suit on, but I've never been a crackhead like you don't. So you can say I look like one, but I've never been one. I've never been one. Next question. And in the main event, we saw the return of John Jones.

He is now, once again, the light heavyweight champion of the UFC. He finished Daniel Cormier in the third round. It all started with a left head kick, and then eventually some ground and pound, a knockout for John Jones six and a half years after he became the youngest champion in UFC history once again now he is the reigning champion in the 205 pound division

yeah yeah I felt like this was one of those fights that the world had to see I was the biggest fight of the year and I haven't heard rumors that Donald Trump was going to show up did any pressure that yeah yeah so I mean to be a part of that it's inspirational it lets me know that that my

story is one that the world could look at and get something from. It lets me know that all the faith and all the hard work and consistency and pushing through. It's something that intrigues the world. I mean, there's never been a champion like me, a young champion. Well, there has been, actually. I would see my career is kind of comparable to Mike Tyson, and the guy who had it all, a guy who made a lot of mistakes. And I think I'm not like a modern situation. And I think people are interested to see how I'm going to handle it. And I think that's what's most intriguing is to see how someone can come back from so much bullshit.

How is this second title reign going to be different than the first one? What's going to, you know, what's going to change for this one going forward? Well, my effort, my effort. I think I'll make a conscious effort to just do better. I'm also a lot more aware of who I am and the responsibility that comes with being a champion, a UFC champion. And so I don't want to sit up here and make promises

and say that I'm going to be a saint because I'm a wild motherfucker at the end of the day. God bless you guys. However, Jones would fail his Fight Week drug test and would be stripped of his third UFC championship title. The fight would also be overturned to a no contest. January 20th, 2018, UFC 220, Mitychich versus Inganu, Boston, Massachusetts. Mietchich is set to defend his title against Francis Inganu as the main event in Boston, Massachusetts.

You were on my show a couple weeks ago, and that comment about you saying that you felt like the UFC wanted you to lose, that thing has taken a life of its own. It exploded. I guess so. I mean, listen, I worry about winning it so I care about. You stand by it though. Yeah. Dana White was on a local radio station yesterday and someone asked him about it and he's like, look, that's crazy. Steve Bay's a great guy. He's a fireman, but he did say we butted heads business-wise over the last couple years.

Business? What do you want? You can't be friendly about it. I mean, what butt heads? What is he talking about? What are budding heads? I thought that was butting heads and I don't know what it is then. I felt it was negotiations. They're not supposed to be, like, great, like, best friends. Like, oh, my God, hey, good times, hey, awesome. Oh, I always talk about butt-aheads, whatever. Okay, sure, we're butt-a-heads. But it ended well, right?

Yeah, we're fine, man, I don't know. Whatever. I mean, since we butt-ed heads, he was texting me during FaceTimey during the Boston, Cleveland, like, Celtics playoff games. I'm like, okay, so we're butt-a-heads. But you're Face-timing me, like, okay, sure. All right. Did you engage?

Did you, like, talk smack with him? Oh, yeah, I joke around. I have fun, you know, but whatever. There's no animosity on your end. No, man. I'm a lovable guy. A Midwest guy likes people. I'd like people, but you also like hitting people. That's true.

An interesting night. History was made, Dave. As you know, Steepameyotich is now the winningest heavyweight champion of all time. He defeats Francis Engano v. unanimous decision. It was a somewhat dominant, one-sided fight, but really that doesn't tell the story. When you talk about the scorecards, yes, he won, you know, 50 to 45, 50 to 44 and a couple. but the first round of that fight was, at least for me, one of the most mesmerizing, frenetic, nerve-wracking,

somewhat terrifying rounds that I've ever seen. What were you thinking you were inside as you were watching that first round? Francis is dropping those bombs and steepa's not going down. I think I went five minutes without taking a breath in that first round. That was absolutely incredible. with one of just the most electrifying rounds of heavyweight fighting I've ever seen. I just want to go back to your previous answer about taking the belt and giving it to your coach. You said that guy respects me.

So I'll ask you flat out, do you feel like Dana White doesn't respect you? I don't know. I don't really care. Where's my coach at? My family. They all respect, I respect them. They come with me. We go to war.

No matter what happens, wouldn't lose their draw. that's my family. We all respect each other. What the situation is. I don't really care. Honestly, I got so much on the plate right now. I'm so happy. You know, my beautiful wife as a child, very lucky. You know, I got my coaches here. Amazing. Listen, man, I'm not worried about repairing anything. I don't know. Apparently, I call him out when you told me he said he was talking about we were butting heads. I call him out of that. That's pretty funny. He said, what are you talking about? I don't know. How'd that go? Not even denied it. Can you kind of reveal to us how much did it mean to you? Were you sincere that the record doesn't really mean that much to you? Well, now it means something to me. You know, I beat the guy that I couldn't beat.

So it made it that much sweeter. This guy's a phenome. He's one of a million, blah, blah, blah. Well, guess what he lost. He lost to a Midwest boy that's 40 pounds later than him. And I'm the greatest heavy weight. I were defending the three times. No one's ever done that.

Right. You truly believe that you're the greatest of all times? Fuck, yeah, you know. The ones that were defended it three times. I've done, I, I had the role, the killer's role of fighters to get to it. I had a hard path to get to the title. And I had a hard path to defend the title.

I had top dudes, you know. I had to fight Arlowski. Then I had to fight Redoom in Brazil and 45,000 people. I mean, crazy. Next guy. Overim, Killer, K-1 champ. He's like a ton of bricks. Next guy, JDS, where I lost you.

I got a guy that's a phenom. I mean, nothing's like, I know it's funny anything easy, but I never had an easy row. Everything was hard. When I got a great deal on a great gift at Winners, I started wondering, could I get fabulous gifts for everyone on my list? Like this designer fragrance for my daughter. At just $39.99, how could I resist?

This luxurious will throw for my sister. This gold watch for my partner? A wooden puzzle for my niece? Leather gloves for my boss? Ooh, European chocolate for the crossing guard? At these prices, could I find something for everyone at winners? Stop wondering, start gifting. Winners find Fabulous for less.

July 7, 2018, UFC 226, Mietchich versus Cormier, Las Vegas, Nevada. Daniel Cormier moves back to heavyweight to challenge Stipe Mietchich for his heavyweight title as the main event of UFC 26 at the T-Mobile arena. They can't put back to heavyweight. Yes. Is that the biggest payday ever? No, it's cool. I love it, you know, especially because for my family, but I'll give about the fight, you know. It's great that we're working stuff out and worked out great, and I'm happy. Finally.

Because it's the first time when you think when you walk in that cage, you know you're going to be happy with that check you get? 100%. 100%. 100%. I mean, I've already got a challenge in the back. Derek Lewis told me that he was going to knock me out right before we walked out here. So I mean, Derek Lewis may knock out Francis and then knock me out after. I don't know. I know they got guys that are lined up to fight me.

He's been sizing me up since I got back there and called me small. He's like, well, you're a lot smaller than everybody up here. That's rude, Derek. He said it. Like, wow, you're a lot smaller than everybody else. Derek, what's your issue with Daniel? I want to know too. He disrespect that Popeye's chicken on a commercial few years ago.

Daniel Cormey is now your UFC light heavyweight and heavyweight champion. and stopping Cibamyotich with the right hand in the very first round. Frankly, one of Daniel Formier's easier UFC fights if you actually think about it, your reaction to him becoming the second now champ champion. It's just unbelievable. It's surreal how much one night can change in this sport

or how much one night can change your whole career, your legacy in this sport. Daniel Cormiye comes into this fight. As someone who was always the bridesmaid, I mean, he was the light heavyweight champion, he is the light heavyweight champion, but he always had that John John Steyn on. He was never going to lead.

And now within one night in what, three and a half minutes, all of a sudden he has a completely different legacy. He is maybe one of the greatest heavyweight fighters ever. I think that's fair to say. I think he's possibly a top two all-time fighter, if not one. I wouldn't put him there yet, but I'd say top too easily. He's one of the greatest just fighters of his generation, all with just one night. He washed away all of this and completely changed the narrative of his career. It's utterly amazing.

Oh, it sucks. Losing is not fun. I mean, losing is not fun at all. I mean, it sucks. But, you know, in perspective, I look at it. I'm going home right now. My beautiful wife is having my child. Better things like from losing.

You know, it sucks. You know, I want to come back and rematch, of course. Listen, right now, it's D.C.'s day. Good for him. December 29th, 2018. UFC 232, Jones v. Gustafson 2, Inglewood, California. Originally set to take place in Las Vegas, Nevada, The UFC makes an unprecedented move, relocating the entire card to California, citing licensing issues with the Nevada Athletic Commission.

The vice president of athlete health and performance, Jeff Novitsky says, can't make everyone happy, but it was the right thing to do. Jones is set to face Alexander Gustafson, the man who gave Jones the toughest fight of his career for the second time, with the UFC light heavyweight championship on the line. You know, I am an interesting spot in the UFC. You know, I feel like I'm a polarizing athlete and it's just going to follow me. You know, it's going to follow me. The way I deal with that is by waiting to, waiting for Ysada and Alvada to continue doing their research

what's going on in my body. And I think through their study I'll be vindicated. and just continue trying to stay on the right paths, you know, trying to do the right things and just focus on the things I can't control. Whatever this guy is saying, it's just bullshit, he's just terrible, man. This guy is terrible, I'm telling you, he's terrible. You know, I'm here to fight. It was nothing else. I was just here to fight.

But the thing is, I'm just like, you know, it's, I'm flexible, it's all good, but you know, we have friends, family, fans coming in, to downtown having plans they had their budgets and they have to they have to like reschedule your planning everything whatever I mean whatever this guy is insane it's you can't take a serious you can't take it all he's just terrible he's terrible and he will eat it he will eat it on Saturday night I'm telling you he will eat everything on Saturday night I'll ask you again do you believe John Jones is a cheater yes I do yes I do

This guy is not confident. He has to push shit in his body to be confident. That's how he is. So Dana, I wanted to ask you, has there been any compensation that's going to be given to the fighters since they'll have an increased income tax? Any conversation, what? Compensation for the increased income tax in California for the other fighters? Who's going to pay my income tax in California? What? And the increase for the medicals for California state.

Yeah, it is what it is. It's either that or not fight. Nobody gets paid and nobody does anything. It is what it is. We had to move it. And listen, it's costing everybody more money. It is what it is. So me, I was no genius throughout schooling. So I'm learning.

I'm learning. I'm learning all these things about pictograms and picograms. See there? See there? Exactly. Exactly. I'm learning as we speak, I'm still learning what this stuff is. And the funniest thing is someone trying to convince me as an undefeated father

that I'm not confident because of a pictogram. Say it again. Pico pictogram. I think this is so funny that the person who lost is making an excuse of a microscopic chemical chemical. that instead of just saying John Jones's balls is way bigger than mine's and that's why he beat me this this guy this guy this guy who has the small balls here this guy this guy is this guy is not not highly illegal shit in my body this guy i say i have balls you don't have balls my friend this guy has found you get illegal shit in your body this guy has found a way to justify why you

he lost. It's hilarious. I heard you and Jeptovitsky say and Andy Foster said it as well that you are 100% sure that this isn't as a result of a new ingestion. This is the same metabolite that was in his system back in July of 2017.

The question I don't seem to find the answer to is how do you know that? Because that's what the experts are saying. The experts are telling us, that's what they do. How else would I know? The experts are telling us. And I don't expect you to know. But who are the experts?

Ask Novitsky. Call Novitsky and set up an appointment to have an interview with him. He'll tell you. I can help you with that. No, you probably can't, actually. Let Novitsky answer that question for you. Novitsky's the expert on that. John Jones is calling it a pictogram, for Christ's sake.

Okay? Unfortunately, he's not here. I don't think he can answer that question. So talk to Novitsky. Okay. He's also said that there's 12 to 14 other cases of this happening. Yeah, you've got to talk to Novitsky. If you want to talk drugs, talk to Novitsky.

Okay. Can I just ask John what he wanted to say? John, what did you want to say? I want to take the advice to my boss and have you talk to Jeff. Let Novitsky talk about that. I think through science, I think I will be vindicated. I've passed a polygram test. With pretty much the FBI, which means if I was lying, I go to jail for perjury.

I passed a polygraph test saying that I'd never. intentionally taken anything illegal to enhance myself and now that science is starting to show itself you will realize that I mean people half the people that are judging me haven't opened a chemistry book since high school and so so so I mean it's true it's it's so true and so people are if people are are ignoring the fact that a picogram they people are ignoring the fact this This shit is so small that it almost should have never been brought up. It's so small.

It's such a small amount. It has no effect. There is something in my system that is microscopic, that is so small, that does not help me do shit. There we go. A soul. I like that. And there's no reason to come at you side about this.

What I am is a guinea pig for our sport. What I'm finding out is that this shit is happening all across sports. so many athletes right now that has the M3 metabolite in their body and it's coming in pulses and it's coming in waves and but my situation is the most public but the reason why I'm here today being able to fight is because it gives me no advantage. Science is getting so good that they're finding shit I guarantee you there's there's many people in the audience that has shit that's on the band list that's never done that's never done any that's never done any type of steroid that wouldn't even know what this shit

is so the fact of the matter is there is something in my bloodstream. It does not give me any advantage. And I'm grateful that you side have found it because I'll be able to educate myself and know more about it. And for fighters in the future, it's going to help out a lot of people. I think the sciences are so strong. They're fighting and shit that, that, you know, it's like, it's hard to explain. But I know for a fact that this is going to help fighters of the future and our sport. And no one said it should be easy being who I am. I accept the difficulty in it. and I'm up for the challenge.

And like I said, through science, I feel like I'll be vindicated. So no words. This is all going to be a blessing in disguise for me. Jones once again regains the UFC light heavyweight belt by defeating Gustafson by TKO. When it comes to Daniel Cormier, he's always quiet unless he's speaking out to discredit me, my legacy, my achievements. You know, every time he opens his mouth and it works against him. fans reaction. They were just like, dude, leave John Joe alone for once. Dude, he beat you. You

sound so bitter. He works his hardest to try to discredit and try to delegitimize the fact that I beat him twice. And the only thing I want to delegitimize as a retaliation is his claim of being a light heavyweight champion. He was never the light heavyweight champion. He never beat me. This has been my era since 2011. I want to make that loud and clear. DC is no champ champ. When we talk about an asterisk next to my name, there's going to be always an asterisk next to the idea of him being the champ champ. The only way he can shut me up of what I'm saying right now is to beat my ass. Simple. Me going to heavyweight would be making it extremely personal. And for me, I have no problem with DC. I have a problem with

he comes out and says, see, I told you guys he's a cheater. I told you he's a cheater. I have no real problem in D.C. I'm not going to go to Heavyweight and try to take everything from him and destroy his legacy and all that type of stuff. Is it possible that I could do that? It is possible. But I'm fine having mine and he can have his.

D.C. needs to admit to the people that he was never the Light Heavyweight champion. Or face me at Light Heavyweight and shut me up. March 2nd, 2019, UFC 235 Jones versus Smith, Las Vegas, Nevada. John Jones is set to defend his title against Anthony Lionheart Smith as the main event for UFC 235 at Team Mobile Arena. Mainly like his last two fights is when I started noticing and noticing who he was. I never, I never knew who he was a few months ago. But I do respect him. I respect him tremendously.

I respect every fighter. You know, last time I looked past the fighter. I almost lost the house and got up and said, I'll never do that again. So, yeah, we're up for the fight for sure. Do you feel like he is using PDD? Do you think he's a doper? To be honest with you, I don't care. You know, it doesn't matter to me.

Number one, I was fighting for years before you saw it was a thing. I've been fighting people on steroids my whole career. So it just genuinely doesn't matter. And I think with it, without it, John Jones is one of the greatest talents we've ever seen in MMA. And I don't think that any of that other stuff matters. I don't think that that stuff would change that. With it or without it, John Jones is going to be the world champion.

That's just how it is. And that's the guy I'm preparing for. So it's all just a big distraction. And that's why I tune it out and I don't talk about it. And I just genuinely don't care, man. Jones wins the bout via unanimous decision. I don't know, man, I don't know what happened. I did exactly what I told everyone I wasn't going to do.

I let John Jones sit back and beat John Jones. You know, I guess sometimes just go in there. It's not your night, I guess, but that's just not good enough for me. I don't know. I just couldn't pull the trigger. When I did, I didn't combo up like I was supposed to. I don't know, man. I didn't do anything I was supposed to do, except for defendant takedowns. And I think I did a much better job of checking kicks than I have in the past.

But my cardio held up so all you fucking idiots can stop talking about it. I mean, that's really the only positive I can take from this, man. It's a whole fuck ton of negatives, that's for sure. I was in there, you know what I mean? And it wasn't, I don't feel like I got ran through. I just kind of got shut down. And I mean, I don't feel like John Jones just went in there and beat the shit out of me.

I just couldn't get going, you know. And I mean, that's John Jones though, I guess. You know, he, you know, I said I needed to force John Jones to fight me and I didn't do that. You know, I, you know, he didn't fight me, he nullified me. And it's going to haunt me for a long time. And, you know, I'm going to have to get back

to the drawing board and sit down with Mark and Scott and figure out what the fuck happened. It was great, you know. It was a lot of fun. I felt really familiar tonight at work. A little bit too familiar, actually. Like in my warm up, there was like no nervousness. And that was making me uncomfortable.

You know, the fact that there was no nervousness. I was almost questioning myself, am I ready? Am I taking this seriously enough? And I know that I have done everything, my power to be prepared for this, but, you know, I think a little bit of nerves are actually a good thing. Tonight I just felt so doggone comfortable in there. But, you know, I feel like, I feel like that's God's grace too, you know. Like, you know, he be blessed me to, to have a sound

mind. And so I can't ask for it and then be confused with my mind is sound and at peace with what I'm doing. You know, I feel like in the last round, yeah, I definitely could have done more. I'm not really proud of my fifth round holding them against the cage like that. But at the same time, you know, there's a beloved Randy Gattourer who made a whole career out of the way I fought in the last round, holding people against the cage and just chipping away at them. I totally fought Anthony. If you look at the stats, the stats will show that I totally fought Anthony. I feel like it was his job to get off the cage. It was his job to make it a fight.

He was the one losing. Anthony is very durable, and he's known to come back and win, even in the worst situations. You can beat the crap out of him for three rounds, and at the very end of the third round, he can knock you out. He's known for that. So in a world championship fight, if he's going to allow me to hold him against the cage,

I'm going to do that. At the end of the day, you know, it's about impressing. the fans and being entertaining. I have a lot of pride in being that. But I feel like rounds one through four was what the fans wanted to see. And the fifth round was for me and my camp just to take home that new belt. July 6th, 2019, UFC 239 Jones versus Santos, Las Vegas, Nevada. John Bones Jones returns to Las Vegas, Nevada to defend his title against former middleweight and now surging light heavyweight contender Tiago Santos.

I just want to start by thanking my Lord and Savior Jesus Christ for bringing me this far, for bringing me back. And I pray that God's will is done. I'm excited to just do my work and use my gift. Despite Santos suffering a horrific knee injury, Santos gives Jones a really difficult test. However, Jones retains the title via competitive unanimous decision. Yeah, you know, he was extremely powerful. You know, his kicks were powerful.

His punches were powerful. And I wanted to play a smart game. It probably would have been a lot smarter to get them to the ground and test them there. But I felt like I was winning at what he was absolute best at, you know. I feel like his team had him ultimately prepared. His cardio was great. His punches and kicks were great. And I felt like that was his best, you know, that was his best.

And I found a way to do. win on the feet at what he's the absolute best at. And so in a rematch, if that were to happen, obviously I need to make some adjustments and make smarter choices. Look for maybe attack him where he's a little weaker. But I am proud because his kickboxing and his stand-up is what he's known for. I faced it head on 25 minutes and I found a way to come out on top. So, Hey guys, God bless you. Get home safe. You're in Vegas having a little fun.

And I love you guys. Love the fans that are listening. I love you guys so much. Thank you for the support. It means everything you are my motivation. And God is good. Jesus is number one. August 17, 2019.

UFC 21, Cormier v. Meitchitch 2, Anaheim, California. Daniel Cormier will attempt to defend his heavyweight title in a rematch against the person he won the belt from, Steep A. Mietichich. What's the last year been like for you? It's been almost exactly 13 months since your last fought. What has the last 13 months been like for you? Awesome. Honestly, you know, unfortunately, I lost a bell with stocks. No one likes losing, but honestly just could enjoy life, get them a mind rest, my mind rest, get to enjoy my daughter, watch, I grow up.

It doesn't get any better than. Honestly, it's just been awesome. It's been a great year. How much did having that child taken away from you just kind of like, I don't say reinvigorating, because I don't want to sound like you weren't motivated, but you know what I mean? Like that, that hunger is a challenger again. I'm always hungry, you know, that's not going to be a champion. You know, like being a champ, like being a coached and the home round. That's why I'm going to be a belt that place. It's more than that, dude, like, I'm a better fighter, so that's why I'm going to see

I want to be there. I think there are a lot of questions. There was the one I poke in the first fight that was the referee called. But if you go back and watch that, there were a lot of, there were a lot of more, I think the referee missed. So in my opinion, there's, there are questions that need to be answered. What if that fight did get out of the first round? What if there were no eye, I, I see this playing out any other way besides Daniel Cormier leaving the Octagon with the belt still? I think it's going to be a lot longer. I mean, we asked Daniel Cormier media day. Like,

the way the fight played out, it was so, it was such a definitive finish that you've got to go into this matchup thinking, well, you know, it's going to be a lot longer. It's going to be a lot harder. I heard a fascinating thing before. Chal Sondon was talking about their weights. Both Daniel Cormier came in a lot lighter, as did Sipe Amirchich, and he sort of is attributing that to potentially Steve Mierch, over-training. We know how long he's been wanting this rematch, and if that's the case, that could be interesting.

It also seems like Daniel Cormier, you know, why would he come in lighter for this fight? Maybe he's sort of on the way down to 205, and he's sort of ironed this John Jones fight. Also, he's been exhausted-looking this entire media week. I agree 100%. The assholes that we are, made him get out of his comfy chair on media day to stand,

and he wasn't very happy about that. And I don't know, I kind of feel like Daniel Cormier is just very much on his way out. Same question to you, Dennis. Like, do you agree with Casper that maybe Daniel Cormier feels the end is obviously near, but he's starting to show it. Like, he might be over this fight week already. Dude, we had this crazy chat with his coach Javier Mendes. And Javier said that it took about six weeks for them to get down and wait,

just so he could be the old Daniel Cormier of old because of the injuries that he's had. He also spoke about how he wants to see Daniel Cormier retire because He's got all these other opportunities that he can make money from, and he's really only sort of fighting for the money at this point. And then Daniel Cormier brings up during the open scrum the fact that he's not really associated to John Jones anymore, because that was his primary way to make a living. Now he's got these other things. And then I ask him, I go, what is your motivation when we were talking to him during Media Day to fight?

And he's like, well, you know, Stipe said this and that about being better than me. But it sounded like a bit like bullshit to me. Like it wasn't legit. So I don't know what his motivation is here, man. It kind of seems like he's going through the motion. is a media day. He looks really, really tired. The weight is lower. I think it's because he's got a whole bunch of injuries. He wants to move around. And I think at 260 is back and all the all the other injuries sort of pop up. This is going to be a very interesting fight. I think it could look a completely

different. I would not write off Steepai at all. I think there's a good chance. He wins this weekend and we unfortunately see Daniel Cormia retire. This time, Stepe Meitche mitych defeats Daniel Kormier by TKO late into round four. Meachich evens the series and regains the UFC heavyweight championship belt. You went to the body shots. Did the corner tell you that or was that something instinctively that you saw? I mean, it's on my side. I actually talked to my cordial in a week about it.

I was like, man, I was like, I remember when he was putting his arms up when he throws punches or box punches. And I was like, you know what? I mean, no one really tests his body. I'm going to start going. And I remember when Anderson Silva fight at USC 200, you call him with a body shot to the kick. I'm like, you know what?

It's a little weaker than I thought, you know, so, and I hit him with a couple of minutes. Where did you learn that celebration after the time? Dude, honestly, I kind of, you know, they were going to old school. We watch it today, and I kind of frank to taint it. I just, like, had no idea what I was doing. I kind of just, like, lost. I don't know why I did it. I feel really dumb, and I did it.

And I did, like, the sock game. I don't know why. I don't just, I don't know, do something with my hands or my feet, and I just, I don't know. I'm a idiot. I just, I'm dumb. You had, I think, the second largest statistical comeback in a championship fight in terms of being, like, outlanded and then finishing the fight. What's going through your mind?

you know when maybe you're getting hit a lot he hit you with a lot of big shots what was going through your mind at those points that's probably like a bitch i was funny like a bitch that we really was and uh you know i can't take nothing from dc man dude's tough you know he's like he's like for the best really beat the best in the world and uh you know just finally you know it took me a little time to get like my my mojo and i just couldn't feel it just couldn't be in and uh my one coach somebody man he walked in that fourth round i knew it was gonna be over he's like i just see your face the way your swag or your hips are moving. He's going to do what it was really good.

You said you don't want to think about what's next, but I know D.C. tried to kind of stick it to you a little bit about waiting out for the rematch and all that kind of stuff. If he does choose to continue fighting, is there any part of you that kind of wants to stick it back to him a little bit? Yeah, I mean, whatever, man. I'm down for whatever.

Like right now, right now, I just want to heal up. I'm going to be 37 on Monday. I feel like I'm 98 right now. And, yeah, we'll figure out. February 8th, 2020, UFC 247, Jones versus Reyes, Houston, Texas. John Jones is set to defend the UFC Light Heavyweight title

against the undefeated Dominic Reyes at the Toyota Center. You know what I mean? When you were a world champion, he wasn't even fighting professionally yet, so I'm curious if it's difficult to get excited for, you know, it's not like a marquee name or somebody that you've seen for you.

No, it's not difficult to get excited. You know, Dominic's starting off this whole thing with talking about party favorites and bringing up my past and stuff like that. It was exactly what I want. and what I need it, somebody who's tall. People think I do bad against tall people, so I'm excited for this challenge.

He's undefeated. So yeah, this guy tickles my pickle, and I cannot wait. Pause. I cannot wait to put my hands on him. He's an elite level athlete. I believe I am as well. He has a lot of power and his left hand.

but to call him different than anybody I've faced before, I don't know if I can do that at all. I've faced so many people with way more advanced striking. I've faced so many people with extreme knockout power. And I just got to go out there, respect him, believe, and just do what I do. I don't really care. I don't really care at the end of the day. My job is to destroy this dude and start focusing on 2020. You know what I mean?

I'm going to have a great 2020, and it's going to start off by destroying Dominic. I don't know. This guy. This guy. Hell of a drug, huh? Stupid. That's going to follow me for a long time, huh?

But yeah, man, I don't know what I want to do to him, man. I don't know if I want to knock him out, choke him out. But, oh, dude, I'm going to get him. I'm going to get him. I promise you guys. I do feel like Dominic has everything to win in this situation. You know, he's relatively unknown. But that's why I'm going to, that's why I'm training as hard as I can.

You know, I was 240 last week. I'm 2.30 this week. I'm taking him extremely seriously. I watch his fights every single day. And because he's unknown, you know, people would expect someone in my position to take him lightly. and that's what guys in my position would fall. You know, I'm reading a book called Relentless right now, and it talks about being a cleaner.

And I'm trying to be a cleaner, dude. I want to dominate for years and years to come. And so I've got to take him very seriously. I read that book like three years ago. It's a good book. It's a great book. I'm glad you did. I'm reading it right now.

It might have helped me get here, to be honest. You know, I'm reading it right now. this train to camp leading into beating your ass. Not gonna happen. Not gonna happen, Johnny Boy. Not gonna happen. Great response, Dominic. I don't know. Is there a spy on my camp, John? You're not that important, Dominic. All right, John. We'll see what happens, though, man. We'll see how important I am when you're on

your back, though. We'll see how important I really am. I'm taking you serious, bud. I'm taking you serious. Just know that. I'm taking you serious. But you're a pawn in this game, bro. I've been talking about it for a long time like DC like all of them bro you're a pawn in this game say I'm a pawn you're a pawn in this game bro how so you're just a piece in the puzzle bro I'm trying to I'm trying to be great bro you're just a part of it you're a small part of as am I and you're just another pawn in my puzzle that's fine everyone's undefeated before they fight me bro you're no they're not they're not though they're really not though trust me fought one undefeated guy trust me bro

But that doesn't matter. Daniel Kormier was undefeated. What does Daniel Kormier have to do with me? Brian Bader was undefeated. What does Brian Bader have to do with me? You're not special, Dominic. Oh, I'm the one. I promise you.

You're the one. You will see. You knocked out Chris Wyman. He's been knocked out so many times. You knock... Good job. When was the last time you knocked anyone out, ever? I don't have to knock out people.

I don't have to knock out people. I have a gigantic sense. So you say I don't have to knock out people, but then you kind of knock out people, but then you kind of knock out people. knocking out people. Okay. We all know the only way you can possibly win this fight is to catch me with the left. We all know that. I could submit you. I could outrestle you. I can kickbox you to death. Bro, I want to get you. I'm going to get you, Dominic. All right. We'll see. You know it. You're a one-trick pony. I don't know it actually. You're a one-trick pony. You think you know.

Bro, we saw your highlight real. It was straight left. Straight left. Straight left. Straight left. Hey, home runs work, baby. Yeah, they do. They do. At a certain level, they do. Yeah, this level. Good response, Dominic. I feel like if it's not broke, don't fix it.

And so much has been going right in the light, heavyweight division. I feel like there's always going to be great competition as long as guys are dreaming and aspiring it to to achieve great things. And it's going to be my job to stay where I'm at and to be a dream killer. in a way. So I got a lot of more years at the light heavyweight division, but I'm also excited to challenge myself. I know at the end of the day, it's about the fans. It's about giving the fans what they want. And unlike boxing sometimes, you guys like that, unlike boxing, sometimes, sometimes they hold off great fights. Like, you know, Mayweather and Pachial. That was, that fight waited too long, you know, so I want to be a part about, I want to be a part of giving the fans what

what they want when they want it. And so if you guys are desiring me to go to the heavyweight division, then I think the UFC is going to fill that demand and we're going to make it happen. John Jones retains his title in one of the most controversial wins in UFC championship history.

I know I won that fight. I know I won that fight. I was in that fight. I don't have to watch the replay. I was there. I made John Jones look like just a man. I brought the fight to him. And this fucking man, I don't have like all kinds of big coaches and all this.

I don't train at a big gym, you know. I kind of just work in the dark. I kind of work just in the basement in a sense. You know, and this is kind of, this, for me, this is a huge validation, you know. It's my very first time going five rounds in my entire career against John Jones, who was arguably the greatest of all time. And I put it on them, you know, I took it to him. I, man, I feel like I'm the people's champ.

You hear people say, you don't lose, you learn. And I'm really grateful to have a win and such a learning experience. Dominic did a tremendous job. I respect him dearly. I respect him wholeheartedly. And what a way to put yourself in the history books. Doing it with such a hard-earned fight. You know, David Goggins, he wrote me last night.

And I can't repeat what he said verbatim. But the basis of his message was be the guy who embraces the ugly, the miserable. be the guy who embraces hard work, the grind. Don't be afraid of being hurt. Don't be afraid of sacrifice to some blood. You know, and, you know, the whole week I was thinking, I want to finish this fight. I want to finish this fight before the championship rounds.

This is, you know, I should be able to smash this guy. You know, Gaghan's message was for a reason, you know, his reason. And Greg Jackson's been saying it for years, be comfortable, being uncomfortable. But Godgans gave me a really good reminder. It's just, John, you should want this fight to be miserable. You should want this to hurt. You're the guy who thrives in that.

And I felt like I was that guy tonight. I had to earn this position. I think about the first person to climb Everest. I'm sure people died. Lots of people died. I respectfully say that. The first man who ran a first man who ran a for, four-minute mile. I'm sure he was hurting. Bad, you know, to be the first person to do anything,

you should look like this. So that makes the victory even sweeter. August 15, 2020, UFC 252, Mietich versus Cormier 3, Las Vegas, Nevada. D.C. will attempt to take back the UFC heavyweight championship from the man who took it back from him almost one year ago to the day, Steppe Mietich. This time, due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the trilogy will be held at the UFC Apex in front of essential personnel only. You've been thinking about this guy for almost like three years at this point, but what's it like to finally know that you're nearing the end of that?

Thank God we're done with this, you know. It's been great and been fun and I going on, you know, rubber management, whatever wants a trilogy, you know, but it's also then that it's going to be over. Listen, we're both competitors and we don't want to lose. I like winning. You know, I, like I said, I train my butt off to you where I'm at, and I'm not giving it up. You know, I work too hard to give it up.

You know, I put a lot of time to act. I'm not just me with my coaches, you know, they get away from their families, you know, their families let them go away with me in these camps or go train somewhere. And then, you know, it's not just me. It's all of us. In a fight marred by eye pokes, Mietchitz defeats Kormier in D.C.'s final fight by decision and retains his title. Well, I thought bad. It wasn't trying to be intentional.

I even told like 45 times I said I was sorry during the fight even during the fight I'm like hey I'm sorry I mean but what you do he did it to me multiple times you know whatever you said it wasn't on purpose and like mine wasn't on purpose I wasn't trying to you like I mean I honestly didn't realize I poked me eye I looked up and I saw on the replay I'm like oh I totally poked me eye that was my bad are you comfortable saying I am the greatest heavyweight of all time yeah man uh we'll see how money then you're gonna change your opinion but I always get shit on it's like so uh listen man I'm I'm just happy to cement my legacy. Like everyone's not with his legacy. Only reason I'm happy to submit my legacy is to show my daughter. If we have more kids, it's showing that hard work pays off. You know, listen, if you do something and you put your mind and effort into it, you do good things. There were two eye pokes.

They both got poked in the eye. And Cormi, that eye was hurt before the poke. I was, we got a big group text that goes on. And I was like, there's something wrong with Cormius eye. And then he got poked after that. That didn't help. But they both got poked. you can't use that as a as an excuse obviously we're not going to match make tonight as usual

but john jones jumped on twitter and said coming to heavyway you know i'll see that title soon as you sit here i mean does that make sense a heavyway title fight for john jones or you got ingano out there who certainly believes that he's next i mean is there something that stands out to you right now is like this would be the way to go francis is definitely next i mean you can't jump over francis has been out there destroying everybody and if you look at how long long ago it was that he got that title shot. He's worked his way back. It belongs to Francis Inganio. But yeah, John Jones going to heavyweight is very interesting. March 27, 2021, U.F.C. 260, Mietich versus Inganu 2, Las Vegas, Nevada. Steppe Mietchich will attempt to defend his title

against the man he defeated back in January of 2018, Francis, the Predator Inganu, as the main event in front of limited media and personnel at the UFC Apex. France is a great guy. He's a great fighter. And he has pulled himself up by his bootstraps out of Africa to become one of the best heavyweights in the world. But if he doesn't win the belt tomorrow, then that's what he's going to be.

Just one of the best heavyweights in the world. It's a guy that wasn't a champion. So he's to be commended for what he's done. But tomorrow he's going to have to show a different level to his game to beat Steepei Miotich. Stepe is that good. he's got to be more careful early than he was in fight one. In fight one, he was 35 years old, maybe 34.

Him and I beat each other up for three fights. You know, so he's got to be careful. And now, I've got small. He finds himself trapped against a big guy like Francis early. It could be lights out. There's always a debate about, you know, who is the best heavyweight of all time, you know, and who are some of the bad. There was.

I think it's over now, but yeah. For sure. And that's what I want to ask you, Francis. Do you think, do you think Steve A has cemented himself right now as the best heavyweight of all time? Well, his record says he surf, you know, you can argue about that. He's the most, he has defended more target in the UFC Heavyweight Division than anyone else. I might go for change it, but as for now, yes, he had it.

That night, did you think, man, this is a guy I'm probably going to have to see. again at some point my career. Did you think you sent a statement enough that night that like, hey, we know who the better fighter is here? I hope so, but, you know, he's definitely gotten better. You know, we all evolved and he's definitely evolved. And of course, I knew how I see him down the road again. And, you know, listen, there's a hell of fights Saturday. His last few opponents, they don't last two minutes, then they go away. So if you're, if you are watching these fights, are you seeing something, just one mistake that Francis's opponents keep making that you know you can take advantage of? Yeah, of course. Just like his coaches are watching me fight and you

can see there's, there's holds in my game. I mean, that's just, It's a chess game, and it's honest. And I think whoever couldn't exploit the one person moves and, you know, they can take it. So, you know, definitely, we worked hard the last few months and I've been working at it and hopefully can exploit it. Engano evens the score and wins by devastating knocko late into round two. Francis Inganu is the new UFC heavyweight champion. He looked incredible, man. And obviously, you saw a lot of things from him tonight.

that we hadn't seen from him in the past. Head kicks, leg kicks, really good grappling, take down the fence. Scary. If I'm John Jones and I'm home watching this fight, I start moving to 85. You think that's a fight that you'd like to put together next? I mean, I don't matchmake,

but that sure doesn't seem exciting. Listen, I can sit here all day and tell you, you know, what show me the money me. I tell you guys this all the time. If you can say you want to fight somebody, you know, but do you really want to? Yeah. March 4th, 20203, UFC 285, Jones versus Gone, Las Vegas, Nevada. After vacating his UFC light heavyweight championship in August of 2020 and over three years away from competition, Jones makes his return to the cage, this time as a heavyweight.

After Francis Ngano made the decision to vacate. the heavyweight title and depart from the Ultimate Fighting Championship, Jones is set to face the 11-1 Cyril Gone for the vacant title. I feel awesome. I feel awesome. I feel like I move really well. I have great pride in my endurance. I do a lot of endurance training, whether I'm on a row machine or in the pool or on the bike or sparring or heavy mids, jih Tjitsu, jogging. I work really hard. I feel great. Honestly, I feel like a stronger version of myself. You know, I'm not super lean. I don't have a mean six-pack like I used to.

That took me a while to get used to. You know what I mean? Like back in the day, I would judge like my fitness level by the way I looked in the mirror. You know, I'm a heavyweight now. That's why my team may say, John, you're a heavyweight now. And it's not about what you look like. It's about how you perform. And I feel like I'm performing really well. You know, I've, I've had some close knockouts this camp, knocking out other people. That's something that never happened in camp in the past. When I decide I want to get guys down to the ground, they go down, I have a pretty much 100% take down rate in my training right now. And I feel really good. I like it. Get to eat what I want, feel good, you know what I'm saying? Life is good. There's a dog inside of me. It was interesting

because during the countdown, his coach was like, you know, for the Taito's Divisify, we focused on bringing out Surreal's dog. And I don't feel like that's something your coach has to, should have to, like, teach you about being a dog. Either you have it or you don't. And I know that I'm a dog. I have a dog at me. I have a lion in me.

I have a vicious warrior inside of me. It's who I am. And losing is not an option. This is not just a sporting event to me. This is my life. This is my image. This is my legacy. This is me.

And my reasons why are really big, you know. My reasons why are really big. And I don't know if his energy matches minds when it comes to the seriousness of how I take this fight in this game. You know, a lot of my opponents would say, John is just a lot stronger. He was a lot stronger than he looks. And now that I've put so much work into the weight room, now I actually, I believe in my strength more. My plan is to have that same energy as a heavy weight.

Some guys are just naturally muscular. They've been muscular their whole life. And some guys really have to earn the size and strength that they have. And I feel like I've earned this size and my strength. And I predict that Surreal will think that I was incredibly strong after the fight. I think he's going to know that when I get on top of him. when I get on top of him. Jones dominates and wins easily by guillotine choke

two minutes into round one. John Jones is now the UFC heavyweight champion. Not only is he the greatest light heavyweight ever, it looks like the greatest heavyweight ever too. So, I mean, there were a couple of interviews leading up to this fight where he was saying, I'm going to make this look easy. And I thought that was a silly thing

to say. The guy is un-fucking believable, man. He really is. I don't know what's going to happen from here on out, you know? I'm just happy we got to see what we saw tonight. It's just, and many of us that have been in the game for a long time, some of you might disagree, some of you might agree. I'm a big believer in ring rust and what it does do. We didn't even get to see any ring rust. Who knows if there was any ring rust tonight. He just went in there and literally made it look like nothing. Like it was

the easiest thing in the world for him to do. He's a total freak of nature and he's the best ever. This is what you get when you're dealing with John Jones. I know he wants to fight Steepa. He wants to fight Stepe. He's interested in that fight. If that fight happens, awesome. We get to see this talented freak, you know, perform again. If not, I don't know. Who knows? I told Hunter, charter a jet and send him right back to New Mexico right now. Let's get him home, safe and sound. You made it clear that you said you won Steepa next. A timeline? Is there anything? I mean, you have a date circled on the calendar yet?

Or do you have an idea, like, what would make the most sense for you? I got to talk to my coaching staff and see, you know, what they think. But we took zero damage tonight and I'm getting right back to practice. My buddy Murray's screen has a fight coming up in the PFL. York and DeCastro has a fight coming up in the PFL and I owe it to my team to to take the back seat and be the training partner. And that's exactly what we got to do. We get right back to work. And I believe in my next fight, I'll co-into it with a different level of confidence and an even higher level of confidence. I believe that I'm going to look really great.

I'm going to have even higher endurance than I had today, which is going to be hard to beat because I'm in really great condition. and these guys in the bag acting like nuts. I can't take you. I can't take you guys anywhere. Oh my goodness. Yeah, the next fight is going to be awesome. I say it respectfully to Stipe. I would take time off from being a firefighter right now.

And I mean, that would all do respect. My whole world is going to be focused on him. This is the biggest opportunity. in my life to beat the heavyweight goat. And I'm going to give it everything I got, absolutely everything I got. Stipe is talking about the fact that he's heavier than me right now. You know, his head, 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. And I'm going to not only beat Steepi Miochich, I'm going to finish Steepi Miochich before this championship rounds. November 16th, 2020. UFC 309 Jones versus Mietchich, New York City, New York. Despite the availability of Tom Aspinall, the UFC interim heavyweight champion, Jones and the UFC opt to book Jones opposite former champion Steepi Mietchich as the main event

at the world's most famous arena, Madison Square Garden, for the UFC Heavyweight Championship of the world. Thank you.