An athlete as brilliant as Michael Phelps might find it hard to leave the sport behind and adjust to his retirement life. But Phelps seems to be making the most of it after having his time at the center stage. These days, the swimmer spends most of his time with his family of six in Arizona. As a child of divorced parents, he enjoys doing small things with this family, like eating dinner together, as he was not used to this before. “As a kid, I always wanted to have dinner as a family, but with my parents separated, that didn’t happen,” he revealed to Style.com.

However, his quieter life doesn’t mean Michael Phelps has left his passion for sports behind. The legendary swimmer has previously expressed his love for baseball, golf, and lacrosse. Interestingly, Phelps also has a keen interest in MMA and has frequently been spotted in the audience at major fights. Ahead of the highly anticipated UFC 309 main event, the tournament’s social media team reached out to Phelps for his prediction. Unsurprisingly, he sided with the fan favorite to take the victory.

Michael Phelps picks Jon Jones as the winner of the main event of the UFC 309

The UFC social media admin messaged Michael Phelps on Instagram and asked about his predictions for the main event heavyweight fight between Jon Jones and Stipe Miocic. He was one of the numerous celebrities like Shaquille O’Neal, Steve-O, and Channing Tatum who got asked their opinions. Phelps chose Jon Jones without any hesitation, saying, “My guy, Jon Bones Jones!!! LFG!!”

This was shared by UFC in an Instagram post along with the opinions of other celebrities. Michael Phelps shared it on his Instagram story, reiterating his opinion, saying, “Lfg @jonnybones.” It seems that the Olympic legend is really fond of the UFC fighter, who is considered the greatest MMA fighter of all time by a section of fans. Jones’ record of 27-1, which includes 10 title defenses of his light heavyweight belt, a category where he spent most of his career.

In UFC 309, he will defend the heavyweight belt he secured against Ciryl Gane last year, facing off against Stevie Miocic for the first time. While Miocic is widely regarded as one of the greatest heavyweights in UFC history, many fans aren’t favoring him to win. At 42 years old and returning to the octagon after a three-year hiatus, his chances appear slim compared to his younger, more active opponent. Michael Phelps’ prediction reflects his thoughtful and educated take on the matchup. It’s refreshing to see the legendary swimmer maintain his passion for sports, even eight years after his retirement. But his history with the UFC is much bigger than this.

Michael Phelps’ encounter with UFC fighters

Michael Phelps has always had an interesting history with UFC fighters. While some encounters have been flattering to the swimmer, others haven’t been so kind. One such story is his meeting with former champion Ronda Rousey, who ended up disliking the swimmer. In a ten-year-old video published by ESNEWS, Ronda had described her meeting with Phelps during her visit at the Olympic Village during the London games.

The swimmer apparently did not attempt to make conversation with her, instead talking to basketball stars who were also present. “Michael Phelps needed his own private section of the club to be like private for him, whereas all these NBA guys who were bigger names were hanging out with the rest of us,” she said. This irritated Ronda, and she decided to confront him about it. “Hello, we are your teammates; we’re not a bunch of groupies; come hang out with us; who the hell are you?” She also claimed that NBA players like Kobe Bryant were hanging out with them and the other Olympians, but Phelps was sitting in his own private space. Thus, this encounter didn’t end well.

However, the swimming GOAT seems to have bromance with the MMA GOAT Jon Jones, as they have interacted over social media before. In August, Jones had uploaded a picture enjoying the holiday with his family. In the comments, Phelps playfully challenged him to a swimming contest, saying, “Can we do laps??”

Jones replied ecstatically, “Hell yeah, we can! I’d still love it if you came down, bro. Or like I said, I’ll come to you.” Thus, while his relationship with Ronda Rousey might not exactly be great, Phelps and Jon Jones really like each other. This is great to see for both swimming and MMA fans, as top athletes of their sport love interacting with each other.