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If the mountain won’t come to Junior dos Santos, then Junior dos Santos must come to the mountain.
Jon Jones has been teasing the possibility of a run at the heavyweight title for years now. But, with each passing fight, the odds that he finally takes the plunge into the 265 lb division never seem to get any shorter. It seems there’s always an exciting new challenge on the horizon in the light heavyweight division for ‘Bones.’
So if Jones won’t put the pounds on, it may just be that a few UFC big men will have to start taking them off. Former heavyweight champion Junior dos Santos recently posted a picture of himself on his new keto diet, on the way down to 238 lbs. Back down to the kind of trim condition he was in when he won gold with that dramatic KO over Cain Velasquez. Could that be a sign he’d consider slimming up a bit more and taking the drop down a division?
Only for the best possible opportunity it seems; a fight against, none other than light heavyweight champion Jon Jones. While JDS admitted that getting down to 205 “would be really, really, really hard,” in a recent interview with MMA Fighting, he also said he might just do it one day to get that superfight.
“My main curiosity of one day making 205 is not about how I would feel at that weight, but to be able to face the man that is the greatest of the moment, Jon Jones,” JDS told Fighting. “Who wouldn’t like to fight Jon Jones one day? I’m no different. One of the goals before I end my career would be to fight Jon Jones. But that’s part of the plans, our wishes, my dreams, so let’s see how things play out.”
“I would sit down with my doctors, make a plan, a strategy,” Dos Santos added. “I would obviously need a bit more time to make weight well, but we would make that happen.”
The Brazilian former champ is currently on a two-fight losing streak, having been knocked out by both Francis Ngannou and Curtis Blaydes in his last couple bouts. It sounds like he’s hoping that a leaner, meaner physique will help him maintain a better speed advantage over his future foes. Currently no date for his next MMA bout has been announced. But whenever he does return, expect to see a lighter version of JDS in the Octagon.