Could Jon Jones finally be making his move to the heavyweight division following his next UFC light heavyweight title defense against Dominick Reyes at UFC 247?
Jones (25-1 MMA, 19-1 UFC) said he was ready to pull the trigger for his first fight of 2020, so he definitely sees it on the horizon.
“I think it’s a very strong possibility,” Jones told reporters, including MMA Junkie, at Friday’s UFC 247 news conference in Las Vegas. “Absolutely. There’s always going to be someone next. I feel as though I’ve cleared the division and I’m not waiting around. I’m taking new challenges. I’m not sitting on the title. I’m not hiding from anybody. I chose Dominick because he appears to be the best out of all my contenders and I’m just ready to take over the world.”
Jones will meet Reyes (12-0 MMA, 6-0 UFC) in the main event of UFC 247, which takes place Feb. 8 at Toyota Center in Houston with a main card set to air on pay-per-view. It will be the third defense in the latest title reign for “Bones,” and one that could give him the UFC record for most championship fight victories (14).
At that point, it would seem fair for Jones to pursue some unique challenges. He said he was ready to do following his win over Thiago Santos at UFC 239 in July, as he claims to have pushed for a showdown with heavyweight king Stipe Miocic after Miocic took the belt from Daniel Cormier at UFC 241 in August.
According to Jones it didn’t materialize because of the UFC’s intent to make a trilogy bout between Miocic (19-3 MMA, 13-3 UFC) and Cormier, so that’s he he ended up fighting Reyes.
“I was trying to get a Stipe Miocic fight and I thought that maybe that would happen,” Jones said. “But instead we have Stipe vs. ‘DC’ 3. But at the moment I was so ready to go to heavyweight and stick my hands in some of those big fellas.”
Jon Jones wanted Stipe Miocic fight; 'strong possibility' of heavyweight move after UFC 247