One of the greatest fighters the UFC has ever employed has declared that he wants to move up to Heavyweight after wiping out contenders at 205 several times over. In the end of 2020 Jones declared that he was vacating the Light Heavyweight Championship that he had held onto for several years, and moving up into the Heavyweight division, essentially to try and claim the promotion’s Heavyweight crown.
Jones latest victory came against Dominick Reyes back in early 2020, and then Jones began to discuss moving to heavyweight in order to become another 2 division champion. Jones is joining an elite division that is quite stacked at the top with contenders that have been log jammed around the title due to the trilogy that occurred between Stipe Miocic, the current champion, and Jones’ greatest rival Daniel Cormier.
Miocic is finally facing a new contender at UFC 260 at the end of this month, and that man is “The Predator” Francis Ngannou. The French-Cameroonian fighter is a monster in the heavyweight division with hands of stone and a collection of highlight reel knockouts. UFC President Dana White has already announced that Jones will take on the winner of this fight, which will be his first contest at heavyweight.
One of the major questions surrounding this move is that how will Jon, who has competed in the 205 pound division his entire UFC career, will deal with the power and implied strength advantage the up to 265 pounders would have.
Looking at Jones’ training videos so far he has stated he’s around 240 pounds, with his 6’4” frame being able to handle the added muscle mass. The added mass as well has to be considered for how Jones’ gas tank will be able to run, as Heavyweight fighters often have to use their stamina differently in order to last throughout an entire 15 or 25 minute affair.
This also has to be a huge problem for Jones as the MMA media as well as the fans who have criticized his past few performances going to decision and in both the Santos and Reyes fight a decent amount of the MMA world believing he lost those fights.
Jones versus Miocic is possibly the more likely occurrence to happen as Miocic is considered by many to be the Heavyweight GOAT even when facing Ngannou. Jones is a very precise striker an this is definitely being helped by an 84.5” reach, which is 4.5” more than Miocic so Jones would definitely have to keep him at range to implement his game. Jones also knows Miocic can wrestle quite well so you would probably see Jones primarily use his grappling to keep the fight standing.
Jones has also been regarded as a GOAT and I do think there is a possibility he does well at heavyweight, due to his elite striking and his reach advantage will still be beneficial at this weight.
Image: From talkSport
This photo has been circulating around as Jones posted it from his Instagram, showing off his 240 pound physique and he does look ready to be in the Octagon with the division’s best.
I personally think Jones will be a top 5 Heavyweight after moving up to a new division, however, I think that it is a bit too soon to just place him into the title picture. I think Jones should have taken at least one fight in the new division before pushing for a title fight. Fight fans will have to wait until the end of this month before knowing who Jones will be facing in his return to the octagon which will probably happen at some point during the end of 2021.