Don’t expect Stipe Miocic to get into a war of words with Jon Jones.
With days left until the two men meet in the main event of UFC 309, the seemingly respectful showdown took a strange turn after the UFC countdown aired before fight week. During the feature, Miocic said to Jones, “Do it, bitch,” which seemed to upset the current UFC heavyweight champion, who hit back at his upcoming opponent on social media.
“Hiring a black warrior to imitate me doesn’t help, Stipe,” Jones wrote. “And you shouldn’t have called me a bitch, no disrespect. Let’s play.”
Hiring a black fighter to imitate me won’t help Stipe. And you shouldn’t have called me a bitch, there was no need to belittle. let’s play. #UFCCountdown
— BONY (@JonnyBones) November 11, 2024
Miocic doesn’t know why Jones was so upset by such an innocuous comment, but he doesn’t spend much time thinking about it.
“We keep talking about it,” Miocic said at UFC 309 media day. “He was literally telling everyone he was going to punch my ass. I’m mostly positive. Didn’t he say that before (I called him a bitch)? Sorry. Please tell me anything about me.”
What made Miocic even more heated was Jones’ claim that he was “hiring black players” to help prepare for the fight.
“It was bullshit because they’re my teammates,” Miocic said. “They say, ‘Aren’t we getting paid?'” Apparently they’re also recruiting. Anything. “
Jones has had several tense rivalries throughout his career, perhaps none as ugly as his long-running feud with Daniel Cormier. After Jones became UFC champion, he went through something similar with former teammate Rashad Evans, who originally trained under the same coach.
Perhaps Jones’ comments about Miocic are a way to further pump him up for the fight, or maybe it’s just a promotional tool to further fuel the pay-per-view buy. Either way, Miocic doesn’t really care what Jones says about him.
“Maybe (that’s what he needs to motivate himself), maybe not,” Miocic said. “I don’t know what he’s thinking, but for some things, I’m fine. I literally had no idea[what he said]until someone told me. It’s funny. It’s just comical. It’s actually very funny.”
His philosophy of not paying too much attention to what is being said about him turned out to be an epiphany for Miocic that changed his career forever.
Although he previously admitted that he was bothered by the unkind comments from fighters and fans, over time Miocic has learned that none of that matters.
“At the beginning of my career, I was a little sensitive about this,” Miocic said. “You don’t know me, and I don’t know you, so why are you saying such horrible things to me?” I sometimes received horrible messages (direct messages). What’s wrong? you don’t know me
“But I literally stopped caring because I realized they don’t know me and I don’t know them. I’m just trying to hit it off. I don’t really care, to be honest. It’s the best thing I’ve ever done in my life.”
Just because he doesn’t make harsh comments doesn’t mean Miocic is immune to such vitriol. The difference these days is that Miocic has largely ignored it and moved on, much like Jones had to say about him.
“Hate is always going to be received,” Miocic said. “I always get DMs like, ‘You’re shit, I wish you were dead.'” Whatever. that’s reality. “
