The closer we get to Saturday’s UFC 309 pay-per-view card inside New York’s Madison Square Garden, the less we seem to be talking about the full-time firefighter and UFC legend who makes up one half of the main event.
As Jon Jones sets out to make the first title defense of his heavyweight crown in his return to the Octagon after 20 months due to a torn pectoral tendon, the fight week narratives have, instead, largely surrounded what Jones will do next if he wins and whether he will retire before giving interim titleholder Tom Aspinall a chance to unify against him.
Luckily for Stipe Miocic (20-4), the most accomplished heavyweight champion in UFC history with four title defenses over two reigns, riding below the radar is exactly where he wants to be.
“I’m too busy for that,” Miocic told CBS Sports last week. “I work fulltime and have two kids and a wife who are crazy and awesome. There is always something going on. It’s never ending and I love every second of it so I have no time to sit there and hurt someone’s feelings on social media.”
The soft-spoken and blue-collar Miocic will square off against Jones (27-1, 1 NC) in the native of Ohio’s first appearance since losing his title to Francis…
