Stipe Miocic responds to Jon Jones accusing him of dodging

Jon Jones and Stipe Miocic have seemingly agreed on a date for their highly-anticipated heavyweight title clash.

A clash between the two was originally being targeted for Jones' return fight, which was supposed to happen last year. However, the fight never came to fruition and 'Bones' recently returned to the octagon at UFC 285, dominantly defeating Ciryl Gane to win the vacant heavyweight strap.

In his post-fight interview, 'Bones' called out Miocic and the fight was seemingly being planned for UFC 290 on July 8 at International Fight Week. However, Jones recently claimed to have heard rumors about Miocic backing out of the UFC 290 clash. The UFC heavyweight champ wrote:

"Yo @stipemiocic only you the UFC and I know the truth, you dodged me all of 2022 - July, September & December. Now I’m hearing rumors that we may not be fighting this July."

Miocic dismissed all doubts with his reply, confirming the July 8 date.

Check out the tweet below:

Jones has also previously accused Miocic of ducking him for a UFC 282 clash last December. The former heavyweight champ's latest comments will certainly provide some relief for expectant fans.

Meanwhile, Miocic hasn't fought since losing his title to Francis Ngannou via a brutal knockout in 2021.

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Sean Strickland offers to help Stipe Miocic beat Jon Jones in potential UFC 290 clash

Sean Strickland has been a staunch critic of Jon Jones owing to the UFC heavyweight champion's problematic past. Strickland believes that the MMA G.O.A.T contender's achievements don't count due to repeated doping scandals and that he should never be allowed to fight again.

Regardless of Strickland's opinion, Jon Jones and Stipe Miocic are seemingly set on a collision course. Strickland now wants to help Miocic beat Jones and has even offered to be the former champion's "punching bag." The 32-year-old middleweight recently told Helen Yee:

“Stipe [Miocic], bro, please, man. Do it for me,” he continued. “Stipe, if you want to train, come here, I’ll be your punching bag, we can fight every day. Whatever the f*** you need, Stipe. I’m your man. Come train with me. Come to Xtreme Couture. I f****** got you. I’ll wrestle you all day long, dude. All day long.”

Catch Strickland's comments below: