Jon Jones already knows the preferred opponent after the UFC 309 heavyweight title defense

Twelve months ago, Jon Jones missed out on the chance to compete in the world’s most famous arena when a devastating injury forced him out of his first UFC heavyweight championship defense.

On Saturday (10:00 p.m. ET), arguably the most skilled fighter in UFC history gets a mulligan when he takes on the same arena — Madison Square Garden — against originally scheduled opponent Stipe Miocic as the UFC’s marquee pay-per-view attraction 309.

“I didn’t expect the sport to wait for me,” Jones, who was forced out of the UFC 295 headliner by a torn pectoral muscle last year less than two weeks away from fight night, recently told The Post via Zoom. “but Dana (White, UFC CEO,) showed me the respect that I feel I deserved – both Stipe and I. He knew how badly we both wanted to fight each other, and he gave us the opportunity to make it a years later, and I’m just very grateful. I haven’t taken the opportunity for granted. Right now, I feel like I’m in the shape of my life, and I’m excited to give the fans, the patient fans , what they have been waiting for.”

As is its wont, last fall the UFC reached into its bag of ingredients and made a delicious meal out of what might have felt like leftovers with the loss of its headliner.

A light heavyweight bout for the vacant championship between former champion Jiri Prochazka and former middleweight king Alex Pereira moved up to the top bill and an interim title was created for the big boys with Jones on the shelf between big finishers Tom Aspinall and Sergei Pavlovich.

Pereira was crowned that night as a two-weight champion – the fastest in UFC history – and Aspinall emerged with the placeholder belt that typically leads to a showdown with the primary title holder.

But if the latest revolution around the sun has illuminated anything about the UFC’s heavyweight division, it’s this: A fight with Aspinall is of little interest to Jones.

“He really has nothing that entices me; nothing,” Jones said. “He reminds me of a bunch of other up-and-comers that I fought for … it doesn’t do anything for my legacy; nothing like that.”

Instead, Jones (27-1, 17 finishes) captured the other major winner from the Garden in 2023 as a more appealing foil.

“Pereira, but that’s one that interests me,” Jones says of the man who currently holds the light heavyweight title that Jones had held for most of the 2010s – when he wasn’t separated from the championship amid legal issues or suspensions . “… This guy is a master assassin, like myself. That kind of thing attracts me. We’re both 37; we both weigh about the same right now.”

Some in the MMA media and social media were intrigued by the Pereira idea, but a vocal contingent panned the idea of ​​”dolling” a unification bout with Aspinall.

Jones remains steadfast that Pereira is the only man on the UFC roster that intrigues him — assuming he gets through Miocic, a two-time champion who has won six title fights in the promotion — and has continued to defy all the “quacks ” and duck emojis that have been thrown around the web.

Is there anything that could make Jones intrigued by Aspinall? “Really nothing,” Jones said.

“I think he’s annoying,” he says of the 31-year-old from England, who has made repeated attempts to get the legend’s attention and secure the logical title collection. “I’ve been here so long and he just came to the UFC not too long ago. If he wanted to fight me, he could have been here. I was like, ‘Where have you been all this time?’ “

Full disclosure: Aspinall had been a prospect who didn’t make his UFC debut until five months after Jones’ last light heavyweight fight — a highly competitive decision win over Dominick Reyes in February 2020 — and was recovering from a knee that was blown out as Jones sent Gane.

And Jones on Monday told Sportsnet’s Aaron Bronsteter that he would be willing to give up his title if it meant greasing the wheels for the Pereira fight – although he did suggest that a BMF belt was up for grabs between the two dual champions, which intrigues him.

None of this matters if Jones doesn’t defend his heavyweight crown for the first time against Miocic (20-4, 15 finishes), who despite being 42 offers one of the most well-rounded skill sets in the division.

“At the end of the day, no matter how much competition there is in the world, they can only fight me one at a time,” Jones said. “So I’m just taking it one fight at a time, focus on beating Stipe first and then the next one will come and I’ll give them my undivided attention.”