Jon Jones has been ruling the UFC lightweight division since 2011 and now he wants to further extend his territory with the move to the heavyweight division which he has been hinting quite often these days. He even talked about his possible fight against Francis Ngannou in October.
The Lightweight champion is scheduled to face undefeated Dominick Reyes at UFC 247 and the 32-year-old champion recently revealed his desire to move up to the new weight class if he gets past “The Devastator”
“I think it’s a very strong possibility -- absolutely. Absolutely. There’s always gonna be someone next [at light heavyweight]. I feel as if I’ve cleared the division and I’m waiting around and I’m taking on 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 of my contenders. And I’m just ready to take over the world, man. Really.”
Bones said at the UFC 247 pre-fight press conference.
Having trained with bigger training partners, Jones believes that he is no stranger to the division and won't have any problem at the new weight class.
"After the Thiago Santos fight, I was at a place where I wanted to start entertaining the heavyweight division. I’ve been wrestling with my brother my whole life. I’ve been [training] with Andrei Arlovski and Alistair Overeem and all these big guys my whole career, and I’ve always done well."
“At 240, I move just as fast as I do at light heavyweight. My versatility I realize is not things most heavyweights would do -- spinning things, flying knees. Things like that. I feel really good. I think the timing is gonna be really close.
“I wouldn’t be surprised if it happened in 2020."
UFC 247 takes place on February 8th in Houston, Texas and will be co-headlined by the women’s flyweight title fight between Valentina Shevchenko and Katlyn Chookagian.
