Former UFC light heavyweight champion Jon Jones (26-1, 1 NC) isn’t planning on making his way back into the octagon anytime soon. Jones took to Twitter yesterday and made it clear that he’s in no rush to come back.
Last week, Dana White said that the UFC was moving on from Jon Jones in terms of the heavyweight title picture. White told TMZ that Jones’ fighting future is strictly up to Jon Jones.
Heading into 2021, it was clear that Jones would get a crack at the heavyweight title this year. At UFC 260, Francis Ngannou (16-3) knocked out Stipe Miocic (20-4) to become the heavyweight champion.
Immediately fans started getting excited about the possibility of a matchup between Jones and Ngannou. However, immediately after the fight was over, Jones and the UFC were at odds in terms of compensation.
After some back-and-forth both over social media and behind closed doors, the two sides couldn’t come to terms. As a result, Derrick Lewis (25-7, 1 NC) is going to be getting the next shot at the title. The UFC is trying to finalize the matchup for August.
Jones’ UFC Future
With Lewis being granted the shot at Ngannou, Dana White suggested that Jon Jones fights Stipe Miocic. This would be a fun matchup between arguably the greatest of all time and the greatest heavyweight of all time.
White’s logic was that this fight would truly establish a number one contender after the UFC title fight in August. However, Jones came out and said that the only fight he wants is the heavyweight title fight.
Since then, White has said that Stipe Miocic would be getting the winner of the matchup between Ngannou and Lewis. Stipe will likely get his shot at the end of the year or in early 2022.
With that, it will be another year where we don’t see Jon Jones in the UFC. His last fight came back in February of 2020 so we are likely looking at a two-year layoff for the all time great. Jones said on Twitter he doesn’t mind the wait, and thinks it might actually be a good thing.
Honestly I feel like the only people that it benefits, me jumping in their early are the other heavy weights. The way I’m training, I’m gonna be a real problem this time next year. I’m comfortable enough to wait and that’s exactly what I’ll do
— BONY (@JonnyBones) May 25, 2021