Jon Jones Wanted Stipe Miocic Fight Before Dominick Reyes Booking, Teases Heavyweight Move In 2020
Jon Jones wanted to fight Stipe Miocic next to make his debut at heavyweight.
However, Jones will instead be making another light heavyweight title defense in his next outing. “Bones” takes on Dominick Reyes in the main event of the UFC 247 pay-per-view (PPV) from the Toyota Center in Houston, Texas on February 8. Speaking at the UFC 247 pre-fight press conference yesterday (Fri. December 13, 2019), Jones revealed he was actually planning on debuting at heavyweight next.
Back in September, Jones teased a “big” fight announcement coming up. Of course, his next fight wound up being against Reyes, leaving some fans underwhelmed given how much “Bones” hyped it up.
Jones reveals his Tweet was in reference to an attempt to land a fight with heavyweight champion Stipe Miocic next. But, the UFC is planning on doing a Miocic vs. Daniel Cormier trilogy next instead, prompting the Las Vegas-based mixed martial arts (MMA) organization to book Jones vs. Reyes. (H/T MMA Junkie)
“I was trying to get a Stipe Miocic fight and I thought that maybe that would happen,” Jones said. “But instead we have Stipe vs. ‘DC’ 3. But at the moment I was so ready to go to heavyweight and stick my hands in some of those big fellas.”
If Jones can get past Reyes next, his plans to move up to heavyweight might still be on the table. Of course, Jones still acknowledges that new prospects will always continue to pop up at light heavyweight, so he could also continue to clean out the division.
“I think it’s a very strong possibility,” Jones said. “Absolutely. There’s always going to be someone next. I feel as though I’ve cleared the division and I’m not waiting around. I’m taking new challenges. I’m not sitting on the title. I’m not hiding from anybody. I chose Dominick because he appears to be the best out of all my contenders and I’m just ready to take over the world.”
What do you think about Jones nearly making his heavyweight debut against Stipe Miocic?
