Stipe Miocic, Jon Jones Headline UFC 282: O'Malley to Face Nurmagomedov Cousin
LAS VEGAS, Nev.
The UFC has officially announced the main event for UFC 282, which is scheduled to take place on December 10 at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas, and Stipe Miocic will take on Jon Jones for the UFC heavyweight title.
Miocic (20-4) is a former two-time UFC heavyweight champion and is widely considered to be one of the greatest heavyweights of all time. He is coming off a unanimous decision win over Francis Ngannou at UFC 260 in March. This will be his first title fight since losing the belt to Ngannou at UFC 220 in January 2018.
Miocic prepares
Miocic has been preparing for this fight for over a year and is confident that he can defeat Jones. He has been working on his wrestling and jiu-jitsu, and he believes that he has the cardio to go the distance with Jones.
"I'm excited to get back in there and fight for the title again," Miocic said. "I've been training hard and I'm ready to put on a show."
Jones (26-1, 1 NC) is a former UFC light heavyweight champion and is considered to be one of the greatest fighters of all time. He is coming off a unanimous decision win over Dominick Reyes at UFC 247 in February 2020. This will be his first fight at heavyweight.
Jones has bulked up for HW
Jones has been bulking up for his move to heavyweight and is now weighing in at around 230 pounds. He has been working on his strength and conditioning, and he believes that he has the power to knock out Miocic.
"I'm ready for this challenge," Jones said. "I'm going to be the best heavyweight in the world."
The co-main event of UFC 282 will feature a bantamweight bout between Sean O'Malley and Umar Nurmagomedov. O'Malley (15-1) is one of the most exciting prospects in the UFC, and he is coming off a TKO win over Kris Moutinho at UFC 264 in July. Nurmagomedov (15-0) is the cousin of former UFC lightweight champion Khabib Nurmagomedov, and he is coming off a unanimous decision win over Brian Kelleher at UFC Fight Night 202 in February.