Jon Jones declares Stipe Miocic fight at UFC 309 is 'very personal'

NEW YORK – Jon Jones’ demeanor toward Stipe Miocic has taken a turn during UFC 309 fight week, and with the fight more than 48 hours away, it’s clear things have gotten personal.

Jones (27-1 MMA, 21-1 UFC) returns from a more than 20-month layoff Saturday when he puts his heavyweight title on the line for the first time against former two-time champion Miocic (20-4 MMA, 14-4 UFC) in the main event at Madison Square Garden (ESPN+ pay-per-view, ESPNews, ESPN+)

After initially displaying respect toward Miocic in the months leading up to this week, reigning champ Jones said he got riled up when Miocic called him a “b*tch” – “bring it on, b*tch” were his exact words – on the UFC 309 “Countdown” show. Jones also claims Miocic said he was a poor example for his children given his history of personal missteps, and now Jones’ attitude has changed.

“Everyone likes first responders, and I actually respect men and women in the armed forces and law enforcement, things like that, so I made it a point to try to be very respectful to him,” Jones told MMA Junkie and other reporters at the UFC 309 press conference. “There’s been two scenarios now. First scenario, he said ‘my kids will never look at me like I’m an a**hole.’ That was a direct attack at me and my family and my relationship with my kids. Second attack was him calling me a b*tch. So the respect is a little bit out the window, and we’ll see that on Saturday.”

When asked outright how things have changed, Jones said, “It’s very personal to me, yes.”

Miocic appeared dumbfounded by Jones’ comments. He said with Jones claiming he would defeat him in front of a sold-out crowd in New York and in front of the world, he told him “bring it on, b*tch.” How that made things so personal is lost on Miocic, but it also doesn’t matter to him.

“I don’t even remember saying that, ‘My kids won’t look at me like an asshole,'” Miocic said. “That was no direct thing to him. And when I said ‘bring it on, b*tch,’ pretty much he was calling me out, telling me he was gonna beat my ass in front of a whole arena of people. So, sorry for defending myself. I apologize. …

“I think every fight is personal no matter what. You’re fighting another man in the octagon. It’s always personal.”

For more on the card, visit MMA Junkie’s event hub for UFC 309.