"He'd be happy not fighting and just doing his thing" - Former UFC title challenger not surprised with Stipe Miocic not fighting for the interim belt

UFC CEO Dana White recently announced that the highly-anticipated heavyweight showdown between Stipe Miocic and Jon Jones, which was set to take place at UFC 295, is not happening anymore.

White uploaded a video to social media sharing that 'Bones' had suffered an injury and, thus, had to withdraw from the fight. The UFC CEO further shared that Sergei Pavlovich and Tom Aspinall will now compete for the interim heavyweight title on the same night in the co-main event of UFC 295.

The light heavyweight title clash between Jiri Prochazka and Alex Pereira will now serve as the headliner for the event that is set to take place on November 11, at the prestigious Madison Square Garden in New York.

The news led to many MMA fans speculating as to why Miocic was not a part of the interim title fight announced by White.

Former UFC fighter and bantamweight title challenger Megan Anderson has chimed in on the issue. The 33-year-old took to social media to share that she was not surprised by Miocic's exclusion from the interim title fight. Anderson then claimed that Miocic might have been okay staying on the sidelines if it wasn't for the fight against Jon Jones:

"Likelihood of Jon coming back after 8 months against either Aspinall or Pavlovich? Not really surprised Miocic isn't fighting for the Interim belt either... kinda feels like if the Jones fight hadn't been booked, he'd be happy not fighting and just doing his thing," wrote Megan Anderson.

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How long has Stipe Miocic been out of action?

MMA fans have long been awaiting Stipe Miocic's return to the UFC as the former heavyweight king has been out of action for quite some time.

Miocic's last UFC outing took place more than two years ago when he faced Francis Ngannou for the heavyweight throne at UFC 260. The fight, which took place in March 2021, was a short-lived affair as 'The Predator' delivered a spectacular knockout in the second round to be crowned the new heavyweight champion.

Prior to that fight, Stipe Miocic had only competed once in 2020 as well as in 2019.

So, the recent inactivity combined with Miocic's age (41) might be concerning for MMA fans as it is uncertain whether the former champion will compete again in the UFC or not.