Jon Jones Says Move To Heavyweight A “Strong Possibility” After UFC 247
The light heavyweight champion has teased a move up to heavyweight in the past, but now Jones says its a “strong possibility” that it happens after UFC 247.
“I think it’s a very strong possibility — absolutely,” Jones said at a UFC 247 pre-fight press conference (via Marc Raimondi of ESPN). “Absolutely. There’s always gonna be someone next [at light heavyweight]. I feel as if I’ve cleared the division and I’m waiting around and I’m taking on 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 of my contenders. And I’m just ready to take over the world, man. Really.”
Jones has spent his entire professional MMA career competing at light heavyweight, never venturing above or below that weight class.
It was after a victory over Thiago Santos at UFC 239 that Jones started to strongly think about a change in weight class.
“After the Thiago Santos fight, I was at a place where I wanted to start entertaining the heavyweight division,” Jones said. “I’ve been wrestling my brother [former NFL offensive lineman Arthur Jones] my whole life. I’ve been [training] with Andrei Arlovski and [Alistair] Overeem and all these big guys my whole career, and I’ve always done well. At 240, I move just as fast as I do at light heavyweight. My versatility I realize is not things most heavyweights would do — spinning things, flying knees. Things like that. I feel really good. I think the timing is gonna be really close. I wouldn’t be surprised if it happened [in 2020].”
UFC 247 takes place on Saturday, February 8 from the Toyota Center in Houston, Texas with Jon Jones and Dominick Reyes headlining. Fightful is providing live coverage of the event, with a post-show podcast to follow.
