UFC light heavyweight champion Jon Jones has long considered a move to heavyweight at some point during his career, but could that time come soon after his next fight?

Jones is taking on rising star Alexander Gustafsson at UFC 165 in Toronto this September, but like always, the questions about his future are asked whenever the top pound-for-pound fighter in MMA has a microphone in front of his face.

On Tuesday during a media stop in Los Angeles, Jones was posed with the question about moving to heavyweight again, but this time had champion Cain Velasquez sitting directly to his right.

“No, I have a lot of work to do in the light heavyweight division,” Jones answered when the heavyweight question was asked.

There are certainly still challenges ahead for Jones at 205 pounds if he decides to stay there, assuming he gets past Gustafsson in September.

Brazilian light heavyweight contender Glover Teixeira has been storming his way through the division, and if he can get past former Ultimate Fighter winner Ryan Bader in his next fight, that would make a strong case for title contention against Jones.

Former Strikeforce heavyweight Grand Prix winner Daniel Cormier will also enter the discussion if he can defeat Roy Nelson at UFC 166 in October. Cormier has already stated that once he fights Nelson, his next bout will be at light heavyweight and he’s planning on asking for an immediate title shot.

Later in the press conference when the subject about a move to heavyweight came up again, Jones joked that he didn’t want to speak out of turn with Velasquez seated right next to him.

In reality, Jones knows that a move to a higher weight class is inevitable, but he’s not going to set a time limit for when it has to happen.

“I just said that cause Cain [Velasquez] is next to me, I didn’t want to be awkward,” Jones said with a laugh. “Eventually, I’m getting older, I’m growing, I’m getting stronger. Why not? Yeah for sure [I’ll go to heavyweight].”

With his next win, Jones will officially hold the record for the most title defenses at 205 pounds in UFC history, but like any weight class, there will always be new challengers stepping up to try and stop his reign.

Whether or not Jones will target a move to heavyweight any time soon remains to be seen.

 

Damon Martin is a Featured Columnist for Bleacher Report.

Read more MMA news on BleacherReport.com

UFC light heavyweight champion Jon Jones has long considered a move to heavyweight at some point during his career, but could that time come soon after his next fight?

Jones is taking on rising star Alexander Gustafsson at UFC 165 in Toronto this September, but like always, the questions about his future are asked whenever the top pound-for-pound fighter in MMA has a microphone in front of his face.

On Tuesday during a media stop in Los Angeles, Jones was posed with the question about moving to heavyweight again, but this time had champion Cain Velasquez sitting directly to his right.

“No, I have a lot of work to do in the light heavyweight division,” Jones answered when the heavyweight question was asked.

There are certainly still challenges ahead for Jones at 205 pounds if he decides to stay there, assuming he gets past Gustafsson in September.

Brazilian light heavyweight contender Glover Teixeira has been storming his way through the division, and if he can get past former Ultimate Fighter winner Ryan Bader in his next fight, that would make a strong case for title contention against Jones.

Former Strikeforce heavyweight Grand Prix winner Daniel Cormier will also enter the discussion if he can defeat Roy Nelson at UFC 166 in October. Cormier has already stated that once he fights Nelson, his next bout will be at light heavyweight and he’s planning on asking for an immediate title shot.

Later in the press conference when the subject about a move to heavyweight came up again, Jones joked that he didn’t want to speak out of turn with Velasquez seated right next to him.

In reality, Jones knows that a move to a higher weight class is inevitable, but he’s not going to set a time limit for when it has to happen.

“I just said that cause Cain [Velasquez] is next to me, I didn’t want to be awkward,” Jones said with a laugh. “Eventually, I’m getting older, I’m growing, I’m getting stronger. Why not? Yeah for sure [I’ll go to heavyweight].”

With his next win, Jones will officially hold the record for the most title defenses at 205 pounds in UFC history, but like any weight class, there will always be new challengers stepping up to try and stop his reign.

Whether or not Jones will target a move to heavyweight any time soon remains to be seen.

 

Damon Martin is a Featured Columnist for Bleacher Report.

Read more MMA news on BleacherReport.com