Twelve months ago, Jon Jones missed the opportunity to compete in the World’s Most Famous Arena when a devastating injury forced him out of his first UFC heavyweight championship defense.

On Saturday (10 p.m. ET), perhaps the most talented fighter in UFC history gets a mulligan when he faces originally scheduled opponent Stipe Miocic in the same arena – Madison Square Garden – as the big, pay-per-view attraction from UFC 309.

“I didn’t expect the sport to wait for me,” Jones, who was forced out of the headliner of UFC 295 less than two weeks before fight night last year by a torn pectoral muscle, recently told The Post via Zoom. Dana (White, UFC CEO) showed me the respect I felt I deserved – both Stipe and I. He knew how much we both wanted to fight each other, and he gave us the opportunity to do it a year later, and I’m just very grateful. I didn’t take the opportunity for granted. I took my recovery quite seriously. Right now I feel like I’m in the shape of my life, and I’m excited to give the fans, the patient fans, what they’ve been waiting for.

As usual, the UFC reached into its bag of ingredients last fall and made a delicious meal from what could have felt like leftovers after losing the main event.

A light heavyweight bout for the vacant championship between ex-champ Jiri Prochazka and former middleweight king Alex Pereira moved up to the top, and an interim title was created for the big boys with Jones on the shelf between hulking finishers Tom Aspinall and Sergei Pavlovich.

Pereira was crowned two-weight champion that night – the fastest in UFC history – and Aspinall emerged with the temporary title that usually leads to a showdown with the primary title winner.

But if the latest revolution around the sun has made anything clear about the UFC heavyweight division, it’s this: A fight with Aspinall is of little consequence to Jones.

“He really has nothing that entices me; nothing,” Jones said. “He reminds me of some of the other newcomers I fought… it doesn’t do anything for my legacy; really nothing.”

Instead, Jones (27-1, 17 finishes) pegged the other big winner from the Garden in 2023 as a more attractive foil.

“Pereira, that’s someone who interests me though,” Jones says of the man who currently holds the light heavyweight title that Jones held for most of the 2010s — when he wasn’t separated from the championship amid legal troubles or suspensions . “… This man is a champion killer, just like me. Things like that attract me. We are both 37; we both weigh pretty much the same now.

Some in the MMA media and social media were intrigued by the Pereira idea, but a vocal contingent panned the idea to ‘dodge’ a unification fight with Aspinall.

Jones continues to insist that Pereira is the only man on the UFC roster who intrigues him – provided he gets past Miocic, a two-time champion who has won six title fights in the promotion – and has continued to defy and dodge all the ‘quacks’. emojis that have been thrown around online.

Is there anything that makes Jones intrigued by Aspinall? “Really, nothing,” Jones said.

“I find him annoying,” he says of the 31-year-old from England, who has repeatedly tried to attract the legend’s attention and secure the logical title uniform. “I’ve been here so long and he just joined the UFC not too long ago. If he wanted to fight me, he could have been here. I thought, ‘Where have you been all this time?’ ”

Full disclosure: Aspinall was a prospect who made his UFC debut just five months after Jones’ last fight at light heavyweight — a highly competitive decision win over Dominick Reyes in February 2020 — and was recovering from a blown-out knee while Jones dispatched Gane.

And Jones told Sportsnet’s Aaron Bronsteter on Monday that he would be willing to give up his title if it meant greasing the wheels for the Pereira fight – although he suggested a BMF title is up for grabs between the two doubles champions, intrigues him.

None of this will matter if Jones doesn’t successfully defend his heavyweight crown for the first time against Miocic (20-4, 15 finishes), who despite being 42, has one of the most well-rounded skills in the division.

“At the end of the day, no matter how much competition there is in the world, they can only fight me one at a time,” Jones said. “So I’m taking it fight by fight, focusing on beating Stipe first, and then who’s next, and I’ll give them my undivided attention.”