Jon Jones is making Stipe Miocic out to be a tougher test than Francis Ngannou.
That’s according to former UFC middleweight champion Michael Bisping who was commenting on the impending heavyweight debut of Jones.
Jones appears set to face Miocic next, especially given that current heavyweight champion Ngannou is recovering from surgery.
“Bones” has also claimed that a win over Miocic carried more value than one over Ngannou in a now-deleted tweet.
“At this point I’m looking to fight Stipe, I think it proves more,” he said. “Fighting a fairly one-dimensional fighter fresh off knee surgery. I don’t know, I believe beating Stipe says more at this point.”
Is Miocic a tough fight? For sure. Is he tougher at this point that Ngannou? It’s certainly up for debate.
But as far as Bisping is concerned, Jones is doing the right thing.
“He knows Francis isn’t going to be back anytime soon,” Bisping said on YouTube (via MMA Mania). “He had ACL surgery, he’s gonna be out for a while. If that’s the case, what he’s doing, he’s hyping up Stipe Miocic. He’s hyping him up saying this is a tougher fight. He’ll be getting a nice cut of the pay-per-view, so you wanna hype it up, you wanna make it seem like the toughest match available.
“You don’t wanna say ‘Oh, I wanted to fight Ngannou but he wasn’t available so I’m fighting this guy.’ No, you make it sound like that’s the top guy. You make it sound like that’s the tougher challenge. You make it sound like you wanna go out there and have the toughest fight possible and that’s what he’s doing here.”
Michael Bisping: People Will Say Jon Jones Is Terrified Of Francis Ngannou
With those comments, Bisping understands that critics will eventually claim Jones is scared to fight Ngannou.
That said, even if he agrees that Ngannou is a bit one-dimensional, that one dimension is enough to keep every fighter on their toes.
“People will say that he is terrified of Francis Ngannou,” Bisping added. “Because the critic would say, ‘Well what are you talking about? How can Stipe Miocic ever have more to offer than Francis Ngannou?’
“Because Francis Ngannou is the undisputed heavyweight champion of the world and that’s true. And one dimensional? Maybe. But so what, that one dimension will knock you into another dimension. It will. It’s scary, it’s ridiculous, and one shot is all it takes. Francis Ngannou doesn’t even need to land flush. I think one of the only times he landed flush was when he nearly decapitated Alistair Overeem. But the reality is, I don’t think he’s fighting anytime soon.”
What do you make of Michael Bisping’s comments?
