Speaking on Ariel Helwani’s The MMA Hour, former UFC heavyweight champion, Stipe Miocic expressed his disappointment for not being offered a chance to fight for the interim heavyweight championship.
In March, at UFC 260, Stipe was on the end of a brutal KO finish by Francis Ngannou resulting in him losing his heavyweight belt. After the fight, he made it clear he would be taking the rest of the year off. With that, the UFC then booked an interim heavyweight championship fight between Derrick Lewis and Ciyrl Gane.
The former champ made an appearance on The MMA Hour on Monday, where he explained that he would have “loved to have been asked” if he wanted the fight.
Feeling snubbed, he went on to say, “I feel like I understand what the UFC’s doing, it’s a business, but at the same time I think that I deserved a trilogy fight. I wasn’t even asked for the interim fight. Who knows if I would have taken it but just it would have been nice to be asked. Just toes in the water. I don’t know [if I would have taken it]. We don’t know. It’s over with.”
With the disappointment behind him, Miocic made it clear that he is still hoping for the trilogy against, now champion, Ngannou. With both fighters having a win over the other, it’s understandable why the 39-year-old would like a chance at revenge.
“Listen, I’m used to it,” Miocic said. “It is what it is. It’s business. I get it but at the same time, I feel like I was deserving of a trilogy fight. Everyone else has gotten one but me… “I’ll fight anyone like I always say [but] I really want that trilogy fight. That [title] was mine. I want it back. Definitely get a trilogy [in 2022]. Get my shot back at the title. Get my belt back. Back to normal. Everything’s back to normal.”
If the UFC don’t push for the trilogy then he has also stated he would be more than up for a fight against former light heavyweight champion, Jon Jones. Talk of a potential bout begun after the events of UFC 260 and Stipe has made it clear, this does interest him.
“I’m down,” Miocic said about fighting Jones. “I don’t think he wanted it. I don’t know the whole story but I’m down. Then he wants a title shot. I know he’s done well, he’s probably one of the greatest of all time but you’ve still got to wait your order. That’s like me going to light heavyweight and being like I want a shot.”
It’s unclear who we will see the former heavyweight champ fight next but a meeting with the UFC bosses in December could provide us with answers very soon.
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