Ben Rothwell Believes Jon Jones Would Do Just Fine At Heavyweight

UFC light heavyweight champion Jon Jones would have no problems at heavyweight according to Ben Rothwell.

Jones has been teasing a move up for many years but has yet to do so. However, a number of light heavyweights have been making the move up in recent times with Rothwell recently booked to face a few such as Gian Villante only for them to fall through amid the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic.

The latest will be Ovince Saint Preux as he meets Rothwell on the May 13 card and “Big Ben” believes these fighters are moving up because they feel the heavier fighters aren’t as good.

“I already went through that with [Villante], so I already went through all those emotions about these guys are moving up to heavyweight,” Rothwell said on MMA Fighting’s The A-Side live chat. “They think the heavyweights suck. Jon Jones is beating everybody, they’re running from him. I kind of got over it.

“I see that guys like Daniel Cormier and even going further back, Randy Couture, I think they really opened the door for guys in that weight class, that weight area, to fight wherever, up and down.”

So what about Jones then?

Some observers believe Jones is putting off a move up because he’s wary of the power the heavyweights possess. After all, “Bones” himself stated in the past that if he had a trilogy with Daniel Cormier, he wouldn’t want it at heavyweight where the latter would have an advantage.

But for Rothwell, Jones is among the few fighters who would succeed against an opponent of any size due to his skills.

“I think wherever Jon Jones fights, he’s Jon Jones,” Rothwell added. “He’s gonna bring a lot of hype. The guy has skills that can win anywhere. I feel like guys like Tony Ferguson, Khabib [Nurmagomedov], these guys can win, they can beat guys bigger than them. I feel like this kind of exists everywhere. I think that’s something that Fedor [Emelianenko] always showed over the years. It doesn’t matter your size. If you’re a badass, you’re gonna win a fight.

“If somebody pushes your wife down in front of you, are you gonna go, ‘Oh, what’s your weight class? Gimme a couple of weeks to get ready.’ No, you fight. That’s what a real fighter does. They’ll win wherever against whoever it is.”

Do you agree with Rothwell about Jones?