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With the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) light heavyweight division running out of viable contenders, reigning 205-pound kingpin, Jon Jones, has a little flexibility in terms of his next fight, which means he can jump up to heavyweight and challenge this murderous power puncher, or stay put and let Israel Adesanya move up in weight.
One scenario missing from the desk of most fantasy matchmakers is Jones vs. Chris Weidman, which is understandable when you consider the “All American” has yet to compete at light heavyweight and recently dropped four of his last five, all by way of knockout.
I guess the former middleweight champion didn’t get the memo.
“I think Israel Adesanya did a great job in his last fight,” Weidman said at the UFC Boston open workouts. “I think he’s trying to bait [Jones] into coming up and taking a big fight because Adesanya became a big star. I think it’s a big fight for Jones. I think he’s just trying to egg him on, but I’m probably going to ruin all of that.”
Adesanya is fresh off his Robert Whittaker knockout at UFC 243 in Melbourne.
With so many options available, it’s unclear why the promotion has yet to book Jones, which leads me to believe it’s waiting to see what happens in the UFC on ESPN 6 main event this Friday night (Oct. 18, 2019) inside TD Garden in Boston, Massachusetts, live on ESPN2.
That’s where Weidman will throw hands with undefeated 205-pound contender Dominick Reyes. The 11-0 “Dominator” could earn a potential title shot with a win over Weidman, though I would imagine he would need a lights-out finish after going to the judges’ scorecards in his last two fights.
Weidman takes the cage on Friday night as the +150 underdog.