When you hear the name Jon Jones these days, one of the first things that comes to mind is a horrific visual of the nasty toe injury he suffered in his fight against Chael Sonnen at UFC 159.
The light heavyweight champion has been mostly laying low since then. He took a trip to Russia to give a seminar alongside Fedor Emelianenko, but he’s been staying out of the public eye in the United States.
But today, Jones tweeted that he has a big decision to make.
Then a fan followed up asking Jones what his options were.
During a Google Hangout on Wednesday night, Bleacher Report asked Jones’ manager Malki Kawa if the UFC was considering him for the UFC on Fox 1 debut in Boston on August 17. Kawa said he could not comment on any specifics, but did say that with what the UFC has in mind for Jones, he would have to start a training camp in the next three weeks.
A good training camp is almost always eight to 10 weeks, with eight weeks being the average. If Jones starts his camp in the next three weeks, that would have him completing said camp anywhere from a week before the UFC on Fox Sports 1 debut in Boston (if it’s eight weeks) to a week before UFC 164 in Milwaukee (if it’s 10 weeks).
It stands to reason that the UFC wants him for one of those two events. A third option: They want him for UFC 165 in Toronto on September 21. But if they wanted him for that fight card, then they wouldn’t necessarily need to rush him into a training camp, especially with him still recovering from the injury.
Does the UFC want Jones for UFC on Fox Sports in Boston or UFC 164 in Milwaukee?
While promoting UFC 159 in April, UFC president Dana White said that the Fox Sports 1 card was “going to be the best television card we’ve ever done.”
Headlining the card with Jones would certainly give Fox Sports 1 a huge launching pad and accomplish the stated goal.
The question is, do they really want to give away that much for a televised fight card? After T.J. Grant punched his way into a lightweight title fight by finishing Gray Maynard at UFC 160 this past weekend, some speculated that the UFC might want to book Benson Henderson vs. Grant as the Fox Sports 1 main event. At the UFC 160 post-fight presser, Dana White said, “There’s four fights we’re looking at right now for that show. That’s one of them.” White would not name any of the other fights under consideration.
It’s a fight that makes a lot of sense but also would not fully accomplish what Dana promised.
The UFC announced today that Josh Barnett would be making his Octagon return against Frank Mir at UFC 164, a card that also features Chad Mendes taking on Clay Guida and Erik Koch vs. Dustin Poirier. Adding Jones to that fight card seems like overkill, given that Milwaukee is not a big market. Boston?
That is a very big market and thus makes more sense for a star of Jones’ stature.
Who will Jones fight? Kawa said during the Google Hangout that Jones wants to fight Alexander Gustafsson, who squared off with Jones during a kickboxing event in Russia. Both fighters want the fight, and Gustafsson is the logical next contender. Not only that, but he’s also the only contender who makes sense from a timing perspective.
So it would appear that all of the pieces are in place for Jon Jones vs. Alexander Gustafsson on either the UFC on Fox Sports 1 debut or UFC 164. As long as Jones gets a clean bill of health for his toe injury, expect him back in the cage against Gustafsson at one of the August events.
Stay tuned as the main event for UFC on Fox Sports 1 could be announced at a moment’s notice.
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