Jon Jones’ UFC career has seen him dominate the light heavyweight division. Perhaps the greatest mixed martial artist to ever live, Jones won the UFC light heavyweight championship in 2011 and hasn’t lost since, as he only ever been stripped of the title during his various stints atop the division. He most recently won it in Dec. 2018 and has successfully defended it twice since.
His next title defense will come on Feb. 8 at UFC 247 in Houston, where Jones will take on the undefeated Dominick Reyes. Should Jones come out on top, the thought of a new challenge interests him. And seeing as how he’s dominated the light heavyweight division for years, all that’s left for him to do is go up.
The news conference for UFC 247 occurred on Friday, and Jones was asked about the possibility of fighting at heavyweight. While he made clear he’ll fight anyone at light heavyweight, Jones is very open to the possibility of fighting in the heavyweight division.
“I think it’s a very strong possibility, absolutely,” Jones said, per 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.”
It’s hardly the first time Jones has flirted with a move to heavyweight. He called out Brock Lesnar following his win over Daniel Cormier at UFC 214 and teased a fight with Stipe Miocic on Twitter earlier in 2019. Plus, Dana White has said he’d like to watch Jones fight Cormier at heavyweight, although that was back in 2018 and Cormier looks primed to call it a career following one more fight against Miocic. While it hasn’t come to fruition, perhaps this time will end up being a bit different and Jones will make the move after his fight with Reyes.
