White: Jones-Miocic targeted for UFC 309

UFC CEO Dana White all but confirmed one of the worst-kept secrets in MMA on Tuesday night: Jon Jones and Stipe Miocic will throw down in November.

White told reporters that the promotion is targeting the heavyweight title fight for UFC 309, which is scheduled to take place Nov. 16 at Madison Square Garden in New York. But White wouldn't make the matchup official just yet.

"We still have fights in October that are coming up," White said. "We're still working on the card. So it's not just about announcing a fight. It's about, we'll announce the card when the card is ready. But yeah, I mean, that's what we're targeting."

Later, White went as far as to say that Jones and Miocic "are going to fight in November."

Jones, who'll be defending his heavyweight belt for the first time against former champion Miocic, has teased the November date at Madison Square Garden for months.

Jones and Miocic were scheduled to headline the UFC's annual New York pay-per-view event last November, but Jones withdrew from the fight after suffering a torn pectoral muscle. Jones, who underwent surgery to repair the injury, hasn't stepped into the Octagon since capturing the throne against Ciryl Gane in March 2023. Miocic last competed in March 2021.

White went toe-to-toe with reporters Tuesday over his desire to keep Jones-Miocic intact in favor of a unification bout against interim champ Tom Aspinall, noting it wouldn't be fair to take the title shot away from Miocic because of Jones' injury.

"This fight's set up," White said of Jones-Miocic being originally booked last year. "Jon Jones gets hurt. It's not his fault. He has to wait and go back into f-----g training camp again. He was training. So do I just yank it away from Stipe and say, 'Hey, go f--k yourself and sit on the sidelines for two more years.' If I did that, you guys would be like, 'Oh, you f-----g disrespected the greatest heavyweight ever' and so would the f-----g fans. So I should just shit on Stipe because Jon got hurt and (couldn't) make the fight that he was already supposed to fight."

White added he believes Jones will opt against retirement and fight Aspinall should he defeat Miocic.