Ahead of UFC 309, Jon Jones has dropped a bombshell ultimatum to promotional brass — claiming they can either grant him a title fight with Alex Pereira following his bout with Stipe Miocic, or he will hang up his gloves from combat sports.
Jones, a former two-time light heavyweight champion and the current heavyweight gold holder, returns to action this weekend in the headliner of UFC 309, taking on former gold holder, Miocic in the pair’s rescheduled championship matchup.
Out of action since March of last year, former pound-for-pound number one, Jones most recently landed the vacant heavyweight crown with a dominant opening round guillotine choke submission win over French contender, Ciryl Gane.
And earlier this week to boot, Rochester native, Jones confirmed his interest in a long-speculated title fight with current light heavyweight kingpin, Alex Pereira — suggesting a symbolic BMF title pairing between himself and the Brazilian.
“Fighting (Alex) Pereira for the ‘BMF’ belt, that would be cool,” Jon Jones explained. “We both have two belts in two weight classes and the night we fought we’d both be fighting for our third belt, which would be the ‘BMF.’ How cool would that be?”
Jon Jones issues massive ultimatum to UFC ahead of Stipe Miocic clash
However, during his media availability today ahead of UFC 309, Jones once more put the kibosh on a pairing to unify the heavyweight crowns against Tom Aspinall, claiming the promotion can either book him against Pereira, or he will ride off into the sunset.
“If the UFC doesn’t want [the Alex Pereira fight] to happen… then it won’t happen and I’ll just move on with my life,” Jon Jones told assembled media. “Would you guys rather lose me, or get one more superfight? And that’s with Alex Pereira.”