Jon Jones is continually teasing his Heavyweight debut.
The former two-time Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) Light Heavyweight kingpin hasn’t stepped foot inside the Octagon since his controversial unanimous decision victory against Dominick Reyes at UFC 247 in Feb. 2020 (watch highlights). Shortly after the successful title defense, “Bones” vacated his title, making his intentions clear; it was finally time to test the waters up at Heavyweight.
Unfortunately for the fans, that goal for Jones has yet to be achieved as he’s bulked up in his off time while current divisional champion, Francis Ngannou, recovers from injury and hopes to sort things out with his UFC contract as soon as possible.
Today (Thurs., Aug. 4, 2022), Jones took to Instagram to show off some pad work as he left the gloves to the side.
“Right now I’m exactly where I need to be,” Jones said in the caption of his post embedded above. “I’m excited to see myself in a few months when things actually start to ramp up. Feeling sharp across the board.”
Despite Ngannou’s future being up in the air at present, Jones’ potential debut at Heavyweight has also been linked to former champion and arguable all-time best in the weight class, Stipe Miocic. UFC President, Dana White, recently shared that Jones is “ready to go” and it’s just a matter of who he’ll face first.
As for Miocic, the proud Ohio native has also been out of action for quite some time, last competing when dropping the title to Ngannou in their March 2021 rematch via second round knockout (watch highlights). Like Jones, Miocic is also a two-time UFC champion and holds the record for most consecutive title defenses in his division with three (four total).