Junior dos Santos: Stipe Miocic Will Be Jon Jones’ Greatest Challenge at Heavyweight

Junior dos Santos knows Stipe Miocic well after having fought the former heavyweight king twice under the UFC banner.

With that in mind, “Cigano” expects Miocic to present a far more formidable threat to newly-crowned heavyweight champ Jon Jones than did previous opponent Ciryl Gane.

“I was pretty sure he would impose his game against Gane or [Francis] Ngannou, but against Miocic the challenges will be different,” dos Santos told Sherdog.com. “Actually I see Stipe as the challenge to Jon Jones.”

The Brazilian believes Miocic’s wrestling ability will force Jones to take more risks.

“If he insists on taking Miocic down, he must use a lot of strength,” dos Santos said. “Now, as a heavyweight that may take its toll in the later rounds. But I do believe Jones is the favorite, I would say 60-40. I’m really excited to see that one.”

Dos Santos also says that Jones hasn’t faced an opponent who possesses knockout power comparable to Miocic’s. While “Cigano” has squared off against the likes of Shane Carwin, Mark Hunt, Alistair Overeem, Mirko Filipovic, Cain Velasquez and Ngannou, he points to Miocic as the hardest puncher he has ever faced.

“What produces the heavier punch is not the size of the hand, weight or arm. A counter punch with speed and precision like Miocic has hits harder than any one of those guys,” dos Santos said. “I remember in the second round of our first fight, he hit me with the worst punch I’ve ever received. I immediately saw everything black. I was lucky he grabbed me during that sequence, and I won via decision. Jon Jones will have to deal with that.”

After suffering a shoulder injury in the third round of his fight with Yorgan De Castro at Eagle FC 47 last May, dos Santos was forced to undergo two surgeries. Now he has returned to sparring and is considering a boxing proposal for July.

“I love the training routine and I can tell by the level of the sparring I have here at ATT what I can deliver,” he said. “Sometimes my wife asks me to retire and I just tell her, if I stop now you will have a sad husband for the rest of your life. But of course, my priority is to recover 100% and return in perfect condition.”