Brandon Gibson is treating UFC 309 as though it is Jon Jones’ final match. Jones (27-1 MMA, 21-1 UFC) will defend his heavyweight title against former champion Stipe Miocic (20-4 MMA, 14-4 UFC) at Madison Square Garden in New York on November 16. Gibson agrees with Jones’ suggestion that Miocic is most likely his retirement match, even though Gibson feels Jones is at his best.
I do. This is a dangerous game. It’s a dangerous game, and it does not treat an aging fighter kindly. I always encourage all my fighters to be out before being able to pick their exit. Jon, more than any other fighter, I believe, has earned and deserves to be able to pick and choose when he leaves. I think he has plenty more in the tank. I see his skill set every week against high-level opponents, Gibson said in an interview with From The Stands.
I think right now he’s better than he’s ever been. Oh, my goodness. He’s really developed into an amazing heavyweight. In the Ciryl Gane fight, we were going from light heavyweight to heavyweight, which is the biggest size gap. So, to see him truly in his heavyweight form is incredible. I think he can continue to fight the very best for a long time to come. But he also deserved to exit if he chose to do so and focus on his family and his next career endeavors, he insisted.
It’ll be hard for Jones to top his heavyweight debut after running through Gane for a first-round submission at UFC 285, but Gibson predicts Jones to defeat Miocic once more with great style. I believe Jon is better than he’s ever been at heavyweight right now, Gibson added. His eyes, his skill, his technique, his game plan, his strategy. I’m looking for November 16th to be the most dominant performance we’ve ever seen from Jones, he stated.
Meanwhile, Nassourdine Imavov believes that Brendan Allen is not in a position to be making so many demands. UFC Fight Night 243 features a middleweight co-main event between Imavov (14-4 MMA, 6-2 UFC) and Allen (24-5 MMA, 12-2 UFC) at the Accor Arena in Paris on September 28. At first, Allen stated that unless it was a major event, he wouldn’t fly into enemy territory to battle Imavov. Then he said that Imavov had turned down a five-round bout. Imavov admitted that five rounds were never on the table and expressed confusion over Allen’s requirements.
He wanted a lot of things, but it doesn’t matter, Imavov told reporters. He’s behind me. He doesn’t have hype. I have more hype than him; I’m better ranked than him. So, he has nothing to claim for. He’s coming to my city. The contract that the UFC sent was three rounds, and I’m not afraid of five rounds, the 28-year-old Frenchman added.
If you see, my last fight against Jared was initially a three-round fight, and then they came back to me two weeks before the fight to ask me to take a five-round main event, and it was no problem. If Imavov gets past Allen, he has his sights set on former champion Israel Adesanya. I heard the media say that a fight with Adesanya would be good, and the people seemed interested. It’s two correct styles, so I think it could be a great fight, he concluded.
On the other hand, American Allen will look to extend his seven-fight winning streak when he battles Imavov on Saturday. Ideally speaking, if I go out there and beat Imavov, especially if I finish Imavov within three rounds in his hometown, in front of his people, I think I’ve checked every single box except for one: to fight for the title, Allen told MMA Junkie.
