Jon Jones Plans To Be In ‘Peak Condition’ Come July

While the former UFC light heavyweight champion doesn’t have a fight offer, he’s preparing like he’ll be fighting in summer 2022.

Jon Jones has been talking about a move to heavyweight for years, and now we may finally be months away from it becoming a reality.

The former light heavyweight champion has ramped up his Twitter presence over the past week, sharing training photos and glimpses into his mindset as he prepares to move up a weight class and grab a second UFC title. While there’s nothing official from the UFC to point to, Jones has just laid down a timeline for himself: to be in tip top shape for summer 2022.

“You been offered a fight yet?” a fan asked Jones over social media.

“Nope,” Jones replied. “But my plan is to be in peak condition come June/ July.”

There’s a lot of prime real estate around that time which could benefit from Jon Jones atop a card. June’s UFC 275 pay-per-view in Singapore seems booked solid at the top with Glover Teixeira vs. Jiri Prochazka for the 205-pound title and Valentina Shevchenko vs. Laila Santos for the women’s flyweight title. But July has UFC 276 on July 2nd (also International Fight Week) and UFC 277 on July 30th … both events without confirmed main events.

With Francis Ngannou out for the rest of 2022 with a knee injury, UFC president Dana White has already said there’s a good chance an interim heavyweight title will be up for grabs soon. Stipe Miocic vs. Jon Jones sounds pretty good to us … and Jon Jones.

With Jones’ domestic battery charge dismissed and felony ‘headbutting a police car’ charge pleaded down to a misdemeanor, the only hurdle left to getting “Bones” back in the cage is a deal with the UFC. Jones dropped his light heavyweight title and disappeared from the spotlight after the UFC shut down talks of a Jones vs. Ngannou superfight, pre-emptively claiming Jones was demanding $20 million.

Since then Dana White has suggested Jones may never fight again, all while Jones continued to state his desire to fight for the heavyweight belt. In May of 2021 Jones hired boxing promoter Richard Schaefer to handle negotiations with the UFC, but no meaningful movement occurred. White did start suggesting Jones could walk into a title shot when he returned in 2022.

More recently, White declared Jon Jones’ return at heavyweight to be one of the big fights he’d like to pull off.

“It’d be good to see Jon Jones back this year,” White told BT Sport in the leadup to UFC London. “He says he wants to fight heavyweight. I’d like to get a Jon Jones fight at heavyweight this year if possible.”

What do you think, Maniacs? Are we going to see Jon Jones step back in the Octagon this summer?