Photo by Mike Roach/Zuffa LLC/Zuffa LLC
Reigning Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) light heavyweight champion, Jon Jones, had to choose between Dominick Reyes and Corey Anderson when it came to his next 205-pound title defense, as both fighters are ranked in the Top 5 and coming off big finishes.
True, one came over a former middleweight (Chris Weidman) and the other was against a combatant who wasn’t even ranked in the Top 10 (Johnny Walker), but “Bones” has done a pretty good job of cleaning out the division, so beggars can’t be choosers.
“Just finished a coaches meeting studying Dominick and Cory‘s careers,” Jones wrote on Twitter. “Established Dominick’s definitely the more dangerous fighter. Beating his ass next. Cory moves when I say move.”
“Ha. Okay Bones. I wouldn’t wanna fight me either,” Anderson responded.
While it makes sense for the division, mixed martial arts (MMA) fans are likely to be disappointed with either booking when you consider that Jones has been previously attached to high-profile showdowns against the likes of middleweight champion Israel Adesanya, as well as heavyweight power puncher Francis Ngannou.
In addition, Jones is coming off back-to-back decision wins against Anthony Smith and Thiago Santos, two former middleweights, so I think I speak for a good portion of the UFC fan base when I say I was hoping for something with a little more hype.
Then again, I said the same thing when Anthony Ruiz fought Anthony Joshua, so who knows.