Jon Jones declares Stipe Miocic fight at UFC 309 ‘very personal’

NEW YORK – Jon Jones’ behavior towards Stipe Miocic has taken a turn for the worse UFC 309 game week, and with the game more than 48 hours away, it’s clear that things have gotten personal.

Jones (27-1 MMA, 21-1 UFC) returns from a more than 20-month layoff Saturday when he puts his heavyweight title on the line for the first time against former two-time champion Miocic (20-4 MMA, 14-4 UFC) in the main event at Madison Square Garden (ESPN+ pay-per-view, ESPNews, ESPN+

After initially showing respect to Miocic in the months leading up to this week, reigning champion Jones said he was upset when Miocic called him a “b*tch” – “bring it on, b*tch” was his exact words – on the UFC 309 “Countdown” show. Jones also claims Miocic said he was a bad example for his children given his history of personal missteps, and now Jones’ stance has changed.

“Everybody likes first responders and I actually respect the men and women in the armed forces and law enforcement, stuff like that, so I made it a point to try to be very respectful to him,” Jones told MMA Junkie and other reporters at UFC 309 press conference. “There have been two scenarios now. First, he said, ‘my kids will never look at me like I’m an a-hole.'” It was a direct attack on me and my family and my relationship with my kids.

When asked directly how things have changed, Jones said, “It’s very personal for me, yeah.”

Miocic seemed stunned by Jones’ comments. He said as Jones claimed he wanted to defeat him in front of a sold-out crowd in New York and in front of the world, he told him to “bring it on, b*tch.” How that made things so personal is lost on Miocic, but it doesn’t matter to him either.

“I don’t even remember saying, ‘My kids don’t want to look at me like an asshole,'” Miocic said. “It wasn’t anything direct to him. And when I said ‘bring it on, b*tch,’ he basically called me and told me he was going to beat me up in front of a whole arena of people. So, I’m sorry that I defended me..

“I think every fight is personal no matter what. You’re fighting another man in the octagon. It’s always personal.”

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For more on the card, visit the MMA Junkies event hub for UFC 309.

This article originally appeared on MMA Junkie: Jon Jones declares Stipe Miocic fight at UFC 309 ‘very personal’