Jon Jones fires warning to Stipe Miocic: 'My whole world is going to be focused on him'

Jon Jones has warned Stipe Miocic to be more prepared than he has ever been when they clash inside the octagon, with the new UFC heavyweight champion expecting to be even more dangerous than he was in his staggering victory against Ciryl Gane at UFC 285.

Jones, 35, marked his return to the UFC following a three-year hiatus with a devastating display against Gane in the headline bout in Las Vegas on Sunday morning, when he dispatched the No 1-ranked contender by first-round submission to claim the vacant belt.

Jones, who had not competed in the promotion since February 2020, required little more than two minutes to dispatch the Frenchman by guillotine choke. A former light heavyweight champion who holds a litany of UFC records including youngest ever champion, Jones was making his debut at heavyweight.

After becoming only the eighth athlete in UFC history to capture belts in two different weight classes, Jones set sights on Miocic, a two-time heavyweight champion considered the greatest of all-time in that division.

The pair have been touted to meet at UFC 290 during International Fight Week in July.

“I’m excited for the future. I think some of my best performances are coming within the next year or so," Jones, 27-1 in professional MMA, told reporters at the post-fight press conference. “I believe in my next fight, I’ll go into it with a different level of confidence, an even higher level of confidence.

"I believe that I’m going to look really great. I’m going to have even higher endurance than I had today, which is going to be hard to beat, because I’m in really great condition. The next fight is going to be awesome.

“I say it respectfully to Stipe: I would take time off from being a firefighter right now. And I mean