Top UFC brass Hunter Campbell reveals Jon Jones was "resistant" to agree to Stipe Miocic fight at UFC 295
Hunter Campbell recently opened up about Jon Jones' potential matchup against Stipe Miocic at UFC 295. The pay-per-view event took place on Nov. 11 at Madison Square Garden in New York City. According to Campbell, Jones was hesitant to fight at MSG.
The MMA organization has released new behind-the-scenes footage for their three-part series, 'Fight Inc: Inside the UFC' on Roku. Throughout the documentary, the UFC Chief Business Officer was continuously making moves and attempting to make the biggest fights happen.
The footage from one of the episodes showed Jones and Campbell discussing the heavyweight champ's booking versus Miocic at UFC 295. Campbell said:
''One of the reasons this deal was sort of wasn't getting done is we all wanted Jon Jones to fight in Madison Square Garden and he is been very resistant to back to New York and fight for whatever reason, superstitions, taxes, whatever the reason is.''
Ultimately, Jones vs. Miocic was booked for UFC 295, with Campbell saying:
''Biggest fight in heavyweight history just got made in a car in a parking lot.''
Check out Hunter Campbell's comments below:
Just over two weeks before the bout, though, 'Bones' suffered a pectoral muscle injury that forced him to withdraw from the fight. The promotion stated that the 41-year-old would challenge for the title once the heavyweight champion recovered, therefore, he was removed from the card.
Both fighters have made indications that they will square off at UFC 309, which is set to take place in Nov. 2024 at Madison Square Garden, even though the fight has not yet been officially announced.
Jones' last octagon appearance was at UFC 285, where he faced Ciryl Gane. He submitted Gane in the first round, capturing the vacant UFC heavyweight title. Meanwhile, Miocic has not competed since a second-round knockout loss to Francis Ngannou at UFC 260 in March 2021, losing his heavyweight title in the process.
Jon Jones got emotional as Hunter Campbell and Dana White gave the news of one-year layoff
Jon Jones almost broke down in tears after hearing that his torn pectoral injury might keep him out of the octagon for up to a year.
Until recently, fight fans had no idea how Jones discovered he had torn his pectoral. The UFC heavyweight champion felt the injury throughout training, of course, but Jones wasn't sure of how serious it was until he spoke with Dana White and Hunter Campbell behind closed doors. Jones nearly burst into tears after learning of his anticipated recovery time.
In the aforementioned documentary, Campbell revealed Jones' injury timeline, saying:
“I got the results. You’re out six months to a year. You have to go have surgery.”
Check out Hunter Campbell, Jon Jones, and Dana White's conversation below: