Despite potentially having to wait even longer than he already has, coach Mike Winkeljohn thinks Jon Jones should absolutely get an immediate UFC title shot at heavyweight.
With Ciryl Gane capturing the interim heavyweight title on Saturday with a dominant finish of Derrick Lewis at UFC 265, the next move seems to be a title unification bout with heavyweight champion Francis Ngannou. So with Ngannou’s first title defense seemingly set, Jones will be forced on the sidelines if he wants a direct shot at gold.
In a recent interview, UFC president Dana White claimed that former two-time UFC heavyweight champion Stipe Miocic is willing to welcome Jones to the heavyweight division, but Winkeljohn is not too keen on that option.
“It doesn’t really excite me,” Winkeljohn told Submission Radio. “I would assume – it has nothing to do with what excites me or not – I would think the same thing, from the outside looking in, I would think that wouldn’t excite Jon. I think Jon wants the big one. He wants to get the big one. He wants the big challenge, and right now Stipe is not there. Stipe is awesome, don’t get me wrong, but Jon wants the biggest challenge out there. That’s how Jon Jones thinks.”
Jones’ ongoing rift with the UFC has been well documented. He failed to reach a financial agreement with the promotion for a move to heavyweight, and the buzz surrounding his move up a weight class has since fizzled a bit.
But Winkeljohn thinks that with the accolades that the former UFC light heavyweight king has amassed, fighting for the title should be the only option.
“Makes sense to go after the title,” Winkeljohn said. “Because honestly, Jon is the best pound-for-pound of all time, so why would he have just a normal fight? Unless we felt we needed that to get used to our new body. I don’t think we’re going to need that. I think Jon is already getting used to his new size, so there’s not a necessity to take a step-up fight. Jon’s ready to go. He wants the challenge.”
Jones hasn’t competed since edging out Dominick Reyes at UFC 247 in February 2020. After opting to vacate his 205-pound title, Jones has been putting on some size, but his heavyweight debut has taken longer than expected.
Prime years of Jones’ career are being wasted, however Winkeljohn isn’t worried. He’s confident that we’ll eventually see him compete and that the 34-year-old will hash out his problems with the UFC sooner rather than later.
“I think so; I do,” Winkeljohn said. “Both sides know what they’re doing. It’s to be expected, but it’s going to happen.”
He continued, “Heavyweights can fight for a long time. Honestly, Jon could take three or four years off and still come back at heavyweight. It’s just the problem is the sport continues to change and people are getting better every year. At first it was changing quite a bit. It’s kind of slowing down, the upward climbing curve, so you have to stay on top of the new techniques that are out there and stuff. But heavyweights are fighting until they’re older, so I don’t know. I think time’s actually on Jon’s side.”