Ahead of his proposed move to the UFC’s heavyweight division, former two-time light heavyweight kingpin, Jon Jones appears to be continuing with his rigorous strength and conditioning program, posting a new image on his official Instagram which displays a much bigger frame.
Relinquishing his light heavyweight championship last August, Jones announced his intentions to finally move to the promotion’s heavyweight ranks following years of speculation, with Jan Blachowicz eventually scooping the title with a second round knockout win over common-foe, Dominick Reyes on ‘Fight Island’ in September.
Initially earmarked as the next title defence opponent for either Stipe Miocic or Francis Ngannou prior to their UFC 260 re-run by promotional president, Dana White, a title challenge against Ngannou has hit the rocks for Jones it appears, with the organization reportedly targeting a rematch between defending gold holder, Ngannou and Derrick Lewis instead.
White has claimed that Jones, who is now representing himself in regards to negotiations after splitting from Malki and Ibrahim Kawa at First Round Management, was pursuing a guaranteed paycheck of $30 million to take on Ngannou for the undisputed championship, which Jones has since denied.
Whilst targeting a rematch between Ngannou and Lewis, White has also noted that the promotion could possibly pair Jones with the above-mentioned, Miocic in the Rochester native’s divisional bow.
“Well, a lot of people didn’t think (Stipe Miocic) was the heavyweight G.O.A.T,” White said. “He is the heavyweight G.O.A.T. He is, the guy is. He’s put in the work and done all the things you need to be the heavyweight G.O.A.T. He is, that’s a fact. And I don’t know, we’ll see what’s next (for him). I like that he’s fired up and wants to fight again. But yeah, I mean listen, we could do Jon (Jones) and Stipe too.“
In a series of deleted tweets, however, Jones has refuted the idea of a matchup against Ohio fan favourite, Miocic.
“I’m sick of hearing the same sh*t, you’re not a big enough star, you don’t bring in enough paper (sic) view,” Jones tweeted. “I’m ready to fight fights that will bring in the pay-per-view. The world wants to see some black-on-black crime right now and I’m ready to give it to them.“
Posting on his official Instagram account today, Jones shared some images of him partaking in strength and conditioning training, as well as detailing his current training regiment.
“Right now my training is focused around weightlifting, gaining weight and physical fitness, once I actually shift my focus to doing more martial arts it’s going to be a problem,” Jones posted. “Please don’t mistake this as my best ladies and gentlemen. Hope you enjoy.“