Jon Jones may wish to add one other championship to his resume after UFC 309.
Simply days away from returning to defend his UFC heavyweight title towards Stipe Miocic in the primary occasion from Madison Sq. Backyard in New York, the incumbent champion addressed his latest feedback the place he said moderately emphatically that he had little interest in dealing with off with Tom Aspinall however as a substitute instructed a possible showdown with reigning gentle heavyweight champion Alex Pereira.
Whereas he’s confronted blowback for that declaration, Jones stands by his determination however he’s additionally not trying to maintain up a division or cease Aspinall from claiming the title as soon as he’s gone. In reality, Jones says as a lot as he likes the thought of defending the heavyweight title towards Pereira, he’d be keen to surrender that belt with hopes {that a} completely different championship may doubtlessly go up for grabs.
“It’d be cool to battle over the heavyweight championship however I’d additionally willingly quit the heavyweight championship,” Jones instructed SportsNet on Monday. “I walked away from the sunshine heavyweight championship. I’d like to stroll away from this one as nicely on prime, on [my] personal phrases, good head in your shoulders, making a lot of cash. I like the place that I’m in proper now.
“Preventing Pereira for the ‘BMF’ belt, that will be cool. We each have two belts in two weight lessons and the night time we fought we’d each be preventing for our third belt, which might be the ‘BMF.’ How cool would that be?”
Jones suggesting a “BMF” title battle throws a complete new wrinkle into this potential matchup, particularly given his lengthy historical past as arguably the best fighter of all-time whereas Pereira has shortly earned a repute as one of many nastiest knockout artists to ever compete within the UFC.
There’s a present “BMF” champion in Max Holloway however that belt isn’t precisely weight class particular.
The primary ever “BMF” title went to Jorge Masvidal after he defeated Nate Diaz at welterweight after which the belt moved to Justin Gaethje following a vicious knockout over Dustin Poirier at light-weight. Gaethje then misplaced the belt to Holloway at UFC 300 however who’s to say a second “BMF” title couldn’t get launched for Jones vs. Pereira?
As a lot as Jones likes that concept, he additionally takes concern with the way in which issues have performed after he primarily dismissed Aspinall as a attainable opponent worthy of his consideration.
Aspinall might need an interim title wrapped round his waist proper now however Jones doesn’t imagine that belt ought to have been launched within the first place.
A torn pectoral muscle prevented him from preventing Miocic again in November 2023 and in his absence, the UFC topped Aspinall as the brand new interim champion after he knocked out Sergei Pavlovich. In Jones’ opinion, that battle in the end created extra issues than it solved.
“The interim championship shouldn’t have been there within the first place,” Jones stated. “The one cause why there was an interim championship battle was as a result of I acquired harm and so they wanted to maintain the significance of that Madison Sq. Backyard occasion. However Sergei [Pavlovich] and Aspinall shouldn’t have been preventing for an interim title within the first place.
“They need to have simply been a substitute battle. A primary occasion battle. I feel making it an interim Jon Jones keen to relinquish heavyweight championship, pitches ‘BMF’ title battle towards Alex Pereira battle was untimely. Now you have got a bunch of confused folks.”
Jones believes he ought to have been given the chance to heal up from his damage and simply return to defend the heavyweight championship with out an interim title lingering within the shadows.
“When you have got a dominant champion that’s been round so long as I’ve, there was no cause to place an interim championship belt on the market,” Jones stated. “That’s the repercussion of Madison Sq. Backyard final yr.”
