Chael Sonnen believes Jon Jones made a bad business decision by accepting a possible Stipe Miocic fight 17 months after it was originally offered to him.
It's been heavily rumored that Jones will fight Miocic for the UFC heavyweight title in his first fight back since February 2020. Sonnen believes the matchup will happen, but said Jones had waited too long to accept an offer that was available to him 17 months ago. During an episode of his YouTube show, Sonnen said:
"Jon Jones is going to fight Stipe [Miocic]. They're going to fight for the belt. Jon is going to make a whole bunch of money, they're going to do it in the heavyweight class. All of those things I just said were also true the first time 17 months ago. We are still gonna get what we wanted. We want to see Jon fight Stipe. We waited 17 months, we still got what we wanted. [But] he is out $12 million."
'The American Gangster' also thinks it's absurd that Jones appears to be excited about fighting Miocic now, considering the matchup has always been on the table. Sonnen added:
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"The very same thing that Jon has been smiling, shaking hands, and saying thank you for, he was offered 16, 17, 18 months ago. Sixteen, 17, 18 months ago to do the same thing while you're still in shape. You're ready to go, you're saying senses are there, you haven't taken time off, you're still with your team."
Watch Chael Sonnen chime in on potential Jones vs. Miocic matchup:
Daniel Cormier explains why Jon Jones vs. Stipe Miocic makes sense
There have long been rumblings that Jon Jones is going to fight reigning UFC heavyweight champion Francis Ngannou. However, the ship has seemingly sailed on that potential dream match as Ngannou is believed to be departing the UFC after his contract expires at the end of 2022.
In the absence of 'The Predator,' a matchup between Jones and Stipe Miocic would make the most sense, according to Daniel Cormier. During a previous episode of EPSN's DC & RC show, Cormier argued:
"[Stipe Miocic] and Jon Jones, that was a fight that people were pining for whenever Jones was the champion and Stipe was the champion. So now you make that for the interim title fight, and you also allow for people to see whether or not Jon Jones can compete at 265 pounds."
Watch the latest episode of DC & RC below: