Jon Jones prefers to fight Stipe Miocic over "one-dimensional" Francis Ngannou "fresh off a knee surgery"

From left to right: Jon Jones, Stipe Miocic, Francis Ngannou [Images courtesy @jonnybones, @stipemiocic, @francisngannou on Instagram]

Jon Jones made it clear that he wants to fight Stipe Miocic in his heavyweight debut. Responding to a fan’s tweet, he wrote that he prefers to face the former heavyweight titleholder over the current incumbent Francis Ngannou.

‘Bones’ was very active on social media during UFC 276, commenting on the fights and replying to fans’ tweets. One fan stated that the former UFC light heavyweight champion could easily beat both Miocic and Ngannou. Jones responded with the following statement:

“At this point I’m looking to fight Stipe, I think it proves a lot more. Fighting a fairly one-dimensional fighter fresh off of knee surgery. I don’t know, I believe beating Stipe says more at this point”

At this point I’m looking to fight Stipe, I think it proves a lot more. Fighting a fairly one-dimensional fighter fresh off of knee surgery. I don’t know, I believe beating Stipe says more at this point twitter.com/tunde_orko/sta…

UFC president Dana White recently appeared on The Jim Rome Show, where he announced that Jones will make his heavyweight debut against either Miocic or Ngannou. The fight depends on when both potential opponents will be ready to go.

Miocic has hinted at a return in September. Meanwhile, Francis Ngannou underwent ACL reconstruction surgery earlier this year and will be out of action until the end of the year.

Jon Jones is the second-most tested fighter by USADA

Israel Adesanya was recently rewarded by USADA for passing 50 drug tests.

A tweet by TSN’s Aaron Bronsteter listed the most-tested UFC fighters, and Jon Jones was second on the list with 83 tests. At the top was former bantamweight champion T.J. Dillashaw, who has been tested 86 times.

Athletes who have submitted 60+ samples to USADA

TJ Dillashaw 86
Jon Jones 83
Paulo Costa 81
Misha Cirkunov 77
J. Aldo 76
A. Nunes 73
D. Poirier 69
H. Holm 66
K. Usman 66
RDA 64
D. Cerrone 62
D. Cormier 62
C. McGregor 62
S. Miocic 61
S. O'Malley 61
F. Edgar 60
Derrick Lewis 60

Jones has a history of drug usage in his career. Cocaine metabolites were found in a sample taken prior to his UFC 182 fight with Daniel Cormier. 'Bones' was stripped of the title and later said that he'd "messed up."

He won the interim light heavyweight title at UFC 197 but was once again stripped of the belt. This time, the infraction was testing positive for clomiphene and letrozole. This led to the cancelation of a rematch with Daniel Cormier at UFC 200. After an arbitral hearing, ‘Bones’ was issued a one-year suspension by USADA.

He and Cormier eventually fought at UFC 214 in 2017, where 'Bones' won the title via third-round stoppage. However, he was later flagged for violating anti-drug policy. Jones tested positive for the anabolic steroid turinabol. The bout was overturned to a no-contest and he was once again stripped of the light heavyweight title.