Heavyweight champion Jon Jones already knows his preferred opponent if he wins at UFC 309

Twelve months ago, Jon Jones missed the chance to compete at 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), arguably the most accomplished fighter in UFC history gets a mulligan when he faces off at the same arena — Madison Square Garden — against originally scheduled opponent Stipe Miocic as the marquee, pay-per-view attraction of UFC 309.

“I didn’t expect the sport to wait for me,” Jones, who was forced out of the UFC 295 headliner by a torn pectoral muscle last year less than two weeks away from fight night, recently told The Post via Zoom, “but Dana [White, UFC CEO,] showed me the respect that I feel I deserved — both Stipe and I. He knew how badly we both wanted to fight against each other, and he gave us the opportunity to do it a year later, and I’m just very grateful. I haven’t taken the opportunity for granted. I took my recovery pretty 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 is custom, the UFC last fall reached into its bag of ingredients and made a delicious meal of what could have felt like leftovers with the loss of its headline act.

A light heavyweight fight for the vacant championship between ex-champ Jiri Prochazka and former middleweight king Alex Pereira shifted up to top billing, 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 that night as a two-weight champion — the fastest in UFC history — and Aspinall emerged with the placeholder strap that typically leads to a showdown with the primary titleist.

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

“He really has nothing that entices me; nothing,” Jones said. “He reminds me of a bunch of other up-and-comers that I fought that … it does nothing for my legacy; like, really nothing.”

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

“Pereira, though, that’s somebody that interests me,” Jones says of the man who currently holds the light heavyweight title Jones had held throughout the bulk of the 2010s — when not separated from the championship amid legal troubles or suspensions. “… This guy is a champion killer, like myself. That type of stuff entices me. We’re both 37; we both pretty much weigh the same right now.”

Some in the MMA media and social media space were intrigued by the Pereira idea, but a vocal contingent panned the idea of “ducking” a unification bout with Aspinall.

Jones remains steadfast that Pereira is the only man on the UFC roster who intrigues him — provided he gets through Miocic, a two-time champion who has won six title fights in the promotion — and has continued to defy all the “quacks” and duck emojis thrown his way online.

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

“I find him annoying,” he says of the 31-year-old from England, who has made repeated attempts to get the legend’s attention and secure the logical title unification bout. “I’ve been here for so long, and he just got to the UFC not too long ago. If he wanted to fight me, he could’ve been here. I was like, ‘Where have you been all this time?’ ”

Full disclosure: Aspinall had been a prospect who didn’t make his UFC debut until five months after Jones’ final fight at light heavyweight — a highly competitive decision victory over Dominick Reyes in February 2020 — and was recovering from a blown-out knee while Jones dispatched Gane.

And Jones on Monday told Sportsnet’s Aaron Bronsteter that he would be willing to relinquish his title if it meant greasing the wheels for the Pereira fight — although he suggested a BMF belt being up for grabs between he two dual champions intrigues him.

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

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