Henry Cejudo says former UFC champ needs to learn defense

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• Henry Cejudo breaks down Jiri Prochazka
• Jiri Prochazka’s weird training
• Join the new Bloody Elbow

The UFC took a night off this past weekend, ceding the spotlight to Francis Ngannou and his boxing debut against WBC boxing champion Tyson Fury. It was an electric night for the former king of the UFC’s heavyweight division, walking out with spirited split decision loss in a fight many felt he should have won. But, even if Ngannou proved the UFC and his doubters wrong, that doesn’t mean the world’s largest MMA promotion doesn’t still have some big fights of their own on the horizon.

Just around the corner, in fact, is UFC 295, going down next month in New York, NY. There, the PPV main event is expected to showcase a light heavyweight title fight between former LHW champion Jiri Prochazka, and former MW king Alex Pereira. It’s an action-forward matchup that should be a thrill for fans.

Henry Cejudo breaks down Jiri Prochazka

With the fight on our immediate Horizon, Henry Cejudo shared his thoughts about Jiri Prochazka, and his skills inside the Octagon. Cejudo made his return to competition this past May after a three year retirement from MMA. During his time off, however, ‘Triple C’ made a name for himself, both coaching fighters and providing fans with insight into the technical side of mixed martial arts.

In a recent video uploaded to his YouTube Channel, Cejudo took some time to talk about Prochazka’s technique. Or notably, his lack of it on the defensive end.

“The technique, as good as you are with everything, there’s one area where I feel like you really need to get better at – two areas,” Henry Cejudo remarked (transcript via MMA Junkie). “Your defense, with your hands: I don’t like seeing you get hit because that may cost you against a guy like Alex Pereira. Then the other thing, too, is your takedown defense. Your takedown defense is still a little suspect.”

“If there’s an area where I feel like he really needs to get better, it’s (technique) – particularly his defense. And the other thing is his takedown defense.”

Jiri Prochazka’s weird training

If Jiri Prochazka’s game seems a little unorthodox, or perhaps has a few more holes in it than it feels like it should, that’s probably because the fighter himself seems to take a very unorthodox route to fight training. Back in October of last year, ‘Denisa’ made headlines when he announced that he had recently spent three days in total darkness, meditating and exploring his own psyche.

“That’s all in darkness for three days, and there you can work with your demons and train what you want. I don’t want to talk about a lot, because that’s like my personal things,” Prochazka explained.

“That’s the biggest fun, because you have to go to the point where time is ending, and I can’t speak about that, because it’s so, not intense, for me, these things are so personal … and holy.”

Prochazka has also trumpeted the value of traditional martial arts training techniques like punching a tree 500x a day or taking a page out of Conor McGregor’s book and doing some movement and form training, Ido Portal style.

UFC 295 takes place on November 11th at Madison Square Garden. Originally intended to be headlined by a heavyweight title fight between Stipe Miocic and Jon Jones, the event will now feature Prochazka vs. Pereira atop the card. An interim heavyweight title fight between top contenders Sergei Pavlovich and Tom Aspinall is expected for the co-main event.

Dana White explains why not Stipe Miocic at UFC 295; Miocic says it ‘wasn’t my choice’

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• Dana White suggests UFC didn’t even call Stipe Miocic about a new fight
• So what’s the interim champ going to do?
• UPDATE: Stipe Miocic says not fighting for interim belt “wasn’t my choice”
  • Join the new Bloody Elbow

The UFC’s end of the year PPV plans have been absolutely ravaged. What was supposed to be Islam Makhachev vs. Charles Oliveira 2 in Abu Dhabi on October 21st was shifted to Makhachev vs. Alex Volkanoski on just a few days notice. A December PPV expected to feature Conor McGregor taking on Michael Chandler off the back of their TUF coaching stint is now set to feature Leon Edwards vs. Colby Covington, with McGregor’s return still pushed indefinitely out into the future.

The last remaining big fight still on the books for 2023 was meant to be a heavyweight title fight between Jon Jones and Stipe Miocic. That bout is now also in tatters, with Jones having suffered a torn pectoral muscle in training that will require 8-months of rehab. In its place, top contenders Sergei Pavlovich and Tom Aspinall will vie for an interim belt. But why not Stipe Miocic? What’s wrong with the former two-time heavyweight king?

Dana White suggests UFC didn’t even call Stipe Miocic about a new fight

A full-time firefighter alongside his MMA career, Miocic hasn’t been seen inside the Octagon since his knockout loss to Francis Ngannou back in March of 2021. If that seems like it would leave him itching for a chance to fight again, it doesn’t seem to be the case. In fact, at least to hear Dana White tell it, the UFC didn’t even consider offering the 41-year-old Ohio native a crack at the interim title. To do so, according to the UFC CEO, would have been disrespectful.

“Stipe’s not fighting for an interim title. You know what I mean?” Dana White told reporters after a recent Power Slap event. “Jones said, ‘I want to fight Stipe.’ I said, ‘You’re fighting Stipe.’ You have the greatest heavyweight of all time vs. the greatest mixed martial artist of all time. This is a legacy fight for both of those guys.

“I mean, to even call Stipe and ask Stipe to fight for an interim title is complete disrespect,” Dana White argued. “This is a fight for two legends; legacy, two of the greatest to ever do it. Fans want to see it, I want to see it, and they both want to do it.”

“Obviously, Stipe’s been in training camp; he’s spent time, energy and money on this thing,” Dana White said later, when asked about Miocic’s emotions on getting the fight cancellation news. “Obviously, he’s very, very upset about it. And these fighters go through a ton of emotions… Yeah, he’s upset, but, you know, he’s the greatest heavyweight of all time; this fight makes sense for him. This is a fight that, for both these guys—for Jon Jones, to beat Stipe at heavyweight, it’s massive for his career. For Stipe to beat Jon Jones and regain the heavyweight title? Why would you not want to do that. Why would you want to do anything else.

“Stipe Miocic is gonna fight in an interim title fight? He’s upset and he deserves to be upset, but it’s one of those things. It’s nobody’s fault. Jon Jones wants to fight. Jon Jones doesn’t want to have surgery. We don’t want the Jon Jones fight to go away, with Stipe. But, it is what it is and we all have to deal with it,” Dana White said.

So what’s the interim champ going to do?

With the UFC set to crown a new interim heavyweight champion at UFC 295 in Madison Square Garden on November 11th, the question has to be asked: What then? Does the winner just have to wait for Miocic vs. Jones to happen someday, probably, maybe?

“100%,” Dana White responded when asked if the Aspinall/Pavlovich winner would just need to sit and wait for Stipe vs. Jones. “Here’s the deal: Jones & Stipe were supposed to fight. Jones gets hurt, right? 8-9 months, he’s gonna be out? You don’t strip him or take him out of the rankings for a year.

“So if you’re Sergei and Aspinall, you’re getting the opportunity to fight for the interim title anyway, now. So yeah, they’re going to have to wait until this fight happens. This fight was set up, this fight needs to happen. Two of the biggest legends in the sport want the fight. The fans want the fight.”

As for what happens if both Stipe and Jones retire after their fight, when (or if) ever it ends up happening? For now, Dana White is just hoping that’s not the outcome.

“Listen, to be the man, you gotta beat the man,” Dana White responded when asked about Jones and Miocic potentially both retiring. “So, whoever wins that fight, it would be nice to see them stick around and defend it. That, we can’t determine until it happens.”

UPDATE: Stipe Miocic says not fighting for interim belt “wasn’t my choice”

Soon after Dana White’s comments, Stipe Miocic said he didn’t have a say in the matter.

“I don’t know why I didn’t get picked, which is fine,” Stipe Miocic told MMA Fighting. “I understand they have a direction they want to go. I’m okay with that. Every guy in the division is tough. I definitely want to fight the biggest fish, which is Jon Jones. It wasn’t my choice, it was theirs. Listen, everything happens for a reason. The fight being canceled, it sucks. No question about it. Unfortunately that’s just the game we’re in. It happens. Like I said, I hope he’s okay. You want to be the best, you’ve got to beat the best. I want that belt back. It’s my belt. It’s going to happen.”

Jason Silva / ZUMA Wire, IMAGO

Gordon Ryan reveals two ‘very shocking’ things he learned about Jon Jones’ BJJ game

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• Gordon Ryan doesn’t see anything ‘special’ in Stipe Miocic’s grappling ahead of UFC 295
• Gordon Ryan reveals two things he was shocked to learn about Jon Jones
• Cain Velasquez feels Miocic is a legit threat to Jones
• Join the new Bloody Elbow

Jon Jones is getting set for his first title defense as the UFC heavyweight champion and training with BJJ great Gordon Ryan.

The longtime Jackson-Wink talent recently returned from more than three years of sitting on the sidelines to take on Ciryl Gane at UFC 285—for Francis Ngannou’s vacated crown. ‘Bones’ broke down Gane’s wrestling and grappling game almost immediately in their bout, defeating the Frenchman via submission, just two minutes into the first round.

That victory set the 36-year-old up for a matchup years in the making. A bout against former divisional king Stipe Miocic. Miocic hasn’t competed since losing his title to Francis Ngannou back in 2021 via second round knockout. But that doesn’t mean Jones is taking the Strong Style Fight Team trained athlete lightly. In fact, Jones that’s why he has brought in Gordon Ryan, who is one of the world’s best grapplers to sharpen his game.

Gordon Ryan doesn’t see anything ‘special’ in Stipe Miocic’s grappling ahead of UFC 295

Louis Grasse IMAGO/ZUMA Wire

Recently, a number of videos have surfaced featuring Jon Jones’ grappling sessions with multiple time ADCC world champion Gordon Ryan. Jones may not necessarily be getting the better of Gordon Ryan on the mat, but Ryan has been impressed by Jones ability to learn new moves and change up attacks. When it comes to Stipe Miocic’s grappling, however, it seems Gordon Ryan, the longtime Danaher Death Squad disciple, doesn’t see much to worry about.

“Stipe, there’s nothing really special that he does as an MMA grappler,” Gordon Ryan said in an interview with Morning Kombat (transcript via MMA Mania). “He’s not bad, but it’s not like he has an amazing ability to hip heist up or an amazing triangle or armbar or gets mounted on you, you’re never gonna get up. He’s kind of like a good, generic, all-around guy. So, I think that — obviously, Jon studies a lot of tape on him as well — at this point, Jon is just interested in doing things that he wants to improve upon as an athlete himself.”

“If there was one thing I saw that Stipe did that was dangerous to Jon, or that I think could give Jon problems, then I would force Jon to be in those positions,” Gordon Ryan said. “But Stipe’s not known as a super dangerous grappler so I think it’s just overall Jon is just trying to improve as an athlete.”

Back in 2019, Miocic actually did participate in a professional grappling match, losing to Springfield police officer Aaron Howard at a Fight 2 Win event in Cleveland. The BJJ match was a charity event for Miocic, but even so, he was disappointed not to get the victory.

“I didn’t know the rules,” Miocic told the News-Herald after losing a judges decision. “He’s a tough guy. Not taking anything away from him. He won.”

“We’re gonna grapple again. I want a rematch.”

Gordon Ryan reveals two things he was shocked to learn about Jon Jones

While Gordon Ryan didn’t seem too impressed with Miocic, conversely, he says Jones was shockingly good at two things.

“The two things that impressed me to a very shocking degree with him was No. 1, his ability to learn moves,” Ryan added. “Because most guys at his level who are successful, and most guys who are in their mid-30s and they already have an established game over two decades, they have their game then once you teach them something they don’t really retain. It’s like they have their game and that’s it.

“With Jon, he’s always looking to integrate new things into his game and if he has five different topics he asks me about and I teach him five things, he might disregard three of them but if he likes two of them, he will immediately be like, ‘Okay. That’s a part of my game now.’

“I’ll teach him a move, and by the end of the week, he will not just use it, but he will find ways to integrate it into different part of his game for MMA. I’ll teach him a move from a certain position, and three days later, he’s using the move from three other different positions, or three different set ups that he came up with intuitively on his own. So that was really impressive.

“Another thing is he has an incredible ability to intuitively change pace and change game plans through the course of a round, or over the course of days or weeks,” Gordon Ryan explained. “I was having success with a few moves and then he kind of picked up on that pattern without me even telling him, and he changed that. Next time, I can’t do it, so now I have to change my game.

“So we have this whole dynamic thing that we do, where we are changing what we do to adjust to each other the whole time. The game we play in the beginning of the first round will look nothing like the game we’re playing in the fifth round.”

Cain Velasquez feels Miocic is a legit threat to Jones

At the moment, Jon Jones is sitting as a pretty comfortable favorite over Stipe Miocic (in the -370 to -420 range on various sports books). But despite those numbers and Gordon Ryan’s feelings on the fight, that doesn’t mean everyone thinks that Jones is a shoo-in for victory. In a recent interview with The Schmo, former UFC champ Cain Velasquez gave his thoughts on the matchup, and on Miocic’s skills.

“I mean, Jon Jones: the greatest ever. The greatest ever that you’re ever going to see—especially somebody at that weight class, 205, and now heavyweight,” Velasquez explained (transcript via MMA Junkie). “Obviously a complete fighter, mentally the strongest competitor that you’re going to face out there, but there is always that puncher’s chance. There’s always that maybe chance.

“That’s what continues to bring interest in the fights. Stipe, the greatest heavyweight out there, arguably. He brings so many threats to Jon Jones. Obviously, your gut will tell you that Jon Jones may come out of this on top. But there’s always that maybe, and Stipe’s one of those guys that can bring out that big maybe in this fight.”

To Velasquez’s point, Miocic has only been bested four times in his 13-year MMA career, and avenged two of those losses. Daniel Cormier managed to knockout the longtime firefighter in their 2018 matchup, but Miocic returned the following year to beat DC and take back his title, defeating the AKA fighter once again in 2020 to retain the title. That said, while Jones technically has one loss on his record, no one has ever gotten the better of him inside the Octagon. And at 41-years-old time is no longer on Miocic’s side.

UFC 295 takes place at Madison Square Garden in New York City on Nov. 11th. Alongside the heavyweight main event, Jiri Prochazka will face off against Alex Pereira for the vacant light heavyweight title in the co-main. A women’s strawweight top contender’s bout between Mackenzie Dern and Jessica Andrade is also expected for the card.

Jon Jones’ first UFC heavyweight title defense is official

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• Dana White announces Stipe Miocic vs. Jon Jones
• There were doubts
• UFC 295 finally set

UFC champion Jon Jones is set to defend his heavyweight title belt for the first time. Jones won gold in his first fight in his new weight class back in March, when he defeated Ciryl Gane via first round submission. That victory marked the only trip to the Octagon for Jones since dropping his light heavyweight title back in 2020.

In the months since that victory, the big question was: Who would Jon Jones face next? Francis Ngannou’s negotiations with the UFC had fully fallen apart (finally resulting in Ngannou’s signing with the PFL in May). Curtis Blaydes got blown out of the water by Sergei Pavlovich back in April, potentially making the Russian phenom the number one contender in the process. But there was always an obvious answer, provided the UFC could get the deal made.

Dana White announces Stipe Miocic vs. Jon Jones

Much like Jones himself, former multiple-time heavyweight champion Stipe Miocic has been fairly inactive of late. The Ohio native has had his own, less public squabbles with the UFC over money, and made it clear after losing the belt to Ngannou back in 2021 that he was only really interested in setting foot inside a cage again if he was going to be fighting for gold.

Unfortunately for fans, that’s meant the 40-year-old professional fire fighter has spent the last two years riding the pine, waiting for just the right opportunity to present itself. With Jones now champion and Ngannou out of the picture, it seems that opportunity has finally come.

“For the heavyweight championship of the world, Jon Jones—the greatest mixed martial artist of all time—will defend his title against the greatest heavyweight of all time, former champ Stipe Miocic,” Dana White announced in a video press release. “They headline UFC 295, on Saturday, November 11th, at ‘The Mecca’ Madison Square Garden, in New York City.

“This is the fight that Jon Jones wanted, it’s the fight that Stipe wanted. It’s a legacy fight for both of these guys. It’s official, it’s done. Make your plans now, and I will see you at the fights.”

Dana White announces Jon Jones vs. Stipe Miocic.
Nov 11 #UFC295 pic.twitter.com/ZSFQadegLC

— Jed I. Goodman © (@jedigoodman) July 7, 2023

There were doubts

Despite the obviousness of the booking and the fact that both men seemed interested in the fight, there were still a lot of questions as to whether the bout would actually come together. Back in May, former UFC heavyweight champion Daniel Cormier let slip that he was hearing that Stipe vs. Jones had fallen apart.

“It’s exactly what happened whenever Francis Ngannou and Jon Jones was the talk of the town and all of a sudden it started to shift,” Cormier explained, as the reason he was doubting the fight’s future. “Because we as humans have short attention spans. There’s something that way, I look and I’m gone. We have got to, guys, Stipe Miocic and Jon Jones, we got to make this happen. Otherwise, we’re going to miss out on another one. This is too big of a fight to let it fall by the wayside. 

“I don’t know what’s happening right now on the backend that’s not allowing for this to come together, but it needs to come together for the sake of the heavyweight division. Because right now, we can’t afford to have Jones missing for as long as he was last time or even a fraction of that.”

Chael Sonnen only added fuel to that fire, suggesting that he had heared rumors that the UFC was pursuing a fight between Jon Jones and Sergei Pavlovich for August, instead of the expected November booking for Jones/Miocic. Fortunately for all of us, it looks like the clash longtime stars has come together as planned.

UFC 295 finally set

Along with the news of a new heavyweight title fight, White’s announcement also serves as the long expected confirmation of a 14th UFC PPV event this year. As has been the case for the UFC going all the way back to 2016 (with the exception of 2020’s abridged COVID schedule) the promotion has held a PPV at the Madison Square Garden in early November each and every year.

Given Jones’ ties to the area, as well, it only made sense that the UFC would be looking to him to headline their November PPV card in New York. As of yet, no other bouts have been announced for the event.

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