In the past, Jon Jones has sounded hesitant about a move up to heavyweight. But, with continued interest in a third bout against Daniel Cormier, it seems he’s warming to the idea.
Is it really a rivalry when only one person wins? Jon Jones’ time in the Octagon has been marked, in part, by his battles against Alexander Gustafsson and Daniel Cormier. The two opponents to come closest – excepting Chael Sonnen – to dethroning Jones. At least, the first time around.
In his second bouts with both men, Jones left no doubt about who the better fighter on the night was—stopping Gus and DC in the third rounds of each of their respective fights. Gustafsson has since retired, on the back of a disappointing defeat to Anthony Smith. But, in the case of Cormier, there’s still a little fuel left to burn. A failed drug test, from a sample collected on fight night, saw Jones’ second win over the now-heavyweight champion overturned to a ‘no contest.’ With Cormier having gone on to capture the title at 265, the fallout has left many fans wondering just how well Jones would do if he were to move up a division and take on the man he twice bested at light heavyweight.
For their part, it’s seemed in the past, like a bout that neither athlete has had much interest in. Jones has teased and talked about moving to heavyweight before, but – as was the case in his recent ESPN interview – that talk always seems to come with a couple caveats (transcript via MMA Fighting).
“There’s a lot of big fights that people want to see me have in the light heavyweight division, so there’s really no need for me to go to heavyweight,” Jones said. “I’m doing well where I’m at, I’m making weight really easily. And I feel like when the UFC approaches me about a fight they feel will be a ‘mega-fight,’ and they come with the numbers that would make sense for me to do that, I’ll totally do it.”
“…it’s gonna take that checkbook for me to bounce up to heavyweight,” he added eventually.
Likewise, when asked, Cormier has made it clear that he largely considers his rivalry with Jones to be a thing of the past. “I don’t really need [a fight with Jon Jones] anymore,” Cormier admitted back in November of 2018. “I’ve come to terms with everything.”
However, in an era where superfights have become more a norm than an exception – and where the UFC is always in search of exciting potential PPV headliners – talk of a DC/Jones trilogy bout refuses to die down. And lately it seems like something Jones is more interested in considering.
Despite telling ESPN that he’d need the UFC to open their checkbook to get him up to 265, Jones also sounded like he’s giving a lot more consideration to the possibility that a third fight with Cormier could be made, even if he doesn’t see the appeal.
“There’s still a lot of interest in me fighting Daniel Cormier for some reason. I don’t really know what it is. The first time I won by unanimous decision and the second time I won by knockout,so I don’t know why people want to see us fight again so bad. But, at heavyweight I guess that would add a few different factors. So yeah, if that’s the fight the world wants to see, I know one thing about the UFC, we give the fans what they want.”
Of course, before that can happen, Jones will need to defeat Thiago Santos. The Brazilian is scheduled to contend for the light heavyweight title against ‘Bones’ this Saturday, July 6th, in Las Vegas Nevada, as the main event of UFC 239. A win for Jones there, and perhaps he’ll set his sights on the winner of DC vs. Miocic on August 17th. A loss, and any thoughts of going to heavyweight likely go out the window.