You're taking the one guy who didn't play the games and punishing him - Chael Sonnen explains why booking Jon Jones vs. Francis Ngannou will be unfair to Stipe Miocic

Chael Sonnen recently weighed in on the current landscape of the UFC heavyweight division and opined on how a potential matchup between Jon Jones and Francis Ngannou wouldn't do justice to former titleholder Stipe Miocic.

Speaking on an episode of Beyond the Fight on his YouTube channel, 'The American Gangster' insisted that Miocic is the only one of the three men to not play any games with the promotion. Sonnen explained that leaving the former champion out of the title picture would be unfair to him:

"If they choose to come back, it does appear that Bisping's original prediction that he made almost four months ago that we're going to do Jones versus Francis [Ngannou], it does appear that that seems like a very strong option. But if you do that, you're taking the one guy who didn't play any games, who didn't sit out, who didn't attempt to say, 'I'm bigger than all of this' in Stipe Miocic, and you're punishing him. Unless there's something behind the scenes with Stipe that we don't know about."

Watch Chael Sonnen discuss Stipe Miocic, Francis Ngannou, and Jon Jones in the video below:

There have been talks about a potential interim title bout between Jones Jones and Stipe Miocic for months now. Both fighters have been inactive for a long period of time. However, there's been no official word from the UFC or Dana White on if the fight is still being considered.

However, it is also likely that Jones could match up with Francis Ngannou upon the champion's return to the octagon.

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Curtis Blaydes takes aim at Jon Jones and Stipe Miocic for keeping the division "stagnant and directionless"

Heavyweight contender Curtis Blaydes recently took aim at Stipe Miocic and Jon Jones for their delayed returns to the UFC. Taking to Instagram, 'Razor' took out his frustrations on the two fighters, blaming them for the lack of action in the division:

"The heavyweight divison is back to be being stagnant and directionless"

Check out Blaydes' Instagram post below:

Miocic hasn't competed inside the octagon since his loss to Francis Ngannou at UFC 260, back in March 2021. Jon Jones, on the other hand, last fought nearly three years ago when he defended the light heavyweight title against Dominick Reyes at UFC 247, back in February 2020.

Meanwhile, Francis Ngannou left his title fight against Ciryl Gane earlier this year with a damaged ACL and torn MCL, which required him to undergo surgery later. 'The Predator' told ESPN MMA last month that he is targeting a UFC return in 2023.