The Heavyweight division is gearing up to get back into motion as the title will be on the line at UFC 260 when the champion Stipe Miocic takes on Francis Ngannou.
One key factor into the equation at Heavyweight over the past few months has been the imminent divisional debut of former Light-Heavyweight champion Jon Jones.
While UFC President Dana White had shared in the past that Jones’s debut would be for the title during a recent interview with BT Sports White shared his plan in regards to when this fight could take place.
When asked for a timeframe White simply replied “Summer” after sharing that it would all rely on the outcome of the upcoming title fight.
“Francis deserves this shot and if you look at what Stipe has accomplished it’s impossible to not call him the greatest Heavyweight of all time,” White said. “So we’ll see him and Francis square off again, imaging if he can beat Francis again he’d just look like an absolute killer, then you’d get Stipe Jon Jones or Jon Jones versus Francis.”
“He’s ready as soon as he sees what happens with the Heavyweight championship,” Dana said. “I think he would come in right now and fight for it but you can’t jump over Francis, Francis has earned the shot.”
Jones was last to compete in February of 2020 when he defended his Light-Heavyweight title against Dominick Cruz, however, since then the champion chose to vacate the title in search of new challenges in the Heavyweight division.
The last time the Heavyweight title was on the line was back in August when Stipe Miocic successfully defended his title against Daniel Cormier to settle the trilogy between the pair.
Immediately after that fight all eyes turned to Ngannou for the next shot as he had compiled an impressive winning streak all coming via knockout within the first round.
Ultimately, while we may have to wait a short while, Jon Jones will make his Heavyweight debut in 2021.