With no plans of fighting at 205-pounds again, Jon Jones’ future lies in the heavyweight division.
Jon Jones’ says his days as a 205-pounder are up, as his move to the UFC heavyweight division will be permanent.
Jones (26-1, 1NC) has fought at light heavyweight ever since making his MMA debut over a decade ago. The 33-year-old has defeated some of the best fighters at 205-pounds during his time in the UFC. ‘Bones’ now faces a new challenge as he is set to move up a weight class, likely to fight for the title in his first fight.
Talking recently to Bleacher Report, Jones said that he didn’t want to dabble between the two weight classes and has instead pledged his future to the heavyweight division.
“The reason why I decided to vacate the light heavyweight belt and not hang onto it is that I knew my move to heavyweight was going to take a really long time,” Jones said. “I didn’t want to be one of those athletes to slow down the division. I feel like I’ve held onto the light heavyweight championship for so long—I’ve ruined so many people’s dreams of being the light heavyweight champion—and now it’s time for someone else to have it.”
In the past fighters, fighters such as Henry Cejudo and Daniel Cormier have held belts in two weight classes which sometimes stalls title fights in the divisions. Jones said he didn’t want to hold on to the light heavyweight belt and “lie to fans” as he has no plans to return to the weight classes.
“I thought it was the right thing to do for everyone else. I could have done the selfish thing and held onto it and come up with a bunch of excuses and lied to the fans and said I was going to come back down to light heavyweight and made all these guys wait. I didn’t want to do that. I have no intentions of ever going back to light heavyweight.”
Jones is rumoured to face the winner of Stipe Mioicic vs Francis Ngannou 2, which is not booked yet but will likely take place in March.