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The only person who has ever beaten Jon Jones is Jon Jones.
Like it was alluded to in that Rolling Stone article a couple of years, Jones had a lot to prove here at Jackson Wink Training Camp. But prove it he has. Since his brief departure from the UFC a few years back, he has worked his butt off and done the right things.
He first took on Anthony ‘Lionheart’ Smith, and Jonny Bones was the odds-on favorite at SportBooks around the world, so he was expected to win. But true practitioners of MMA and experts alike knew that Smith posed a great matchup for Jones. His latest fight was at UFC 239 against a tough Thiago Santos and was once again victorious. So he has won his last two fights by going the distance and winning by decision.
So, what’s next for the Light-Heavyweight Champ?
The Dream Team! Coach Jackson, Jon Jones, and Coach Winkeljohn
Three Fights At Light-Heavyweight In 2019
Jon has made it clear that there are still plenty of challenges for him at 205. And going into 2019 he stated that he wanted to take three fights this year, all at light-heavyweight. So, that leaves one fight for his 2019 plan.
Many thought that Jon Jones would take a summer or early autumn fight against the winner of the Dominick Reyes vs. Volkan Oezdemir fight, and most thought that winner would be Reyes – and it was. But Reyes has taken a fight with Chris Weidman scheduled for October 18, so that fight is not likely to happen. It’s a shame that we won’t see that contest this year because Jon Jones versus Dominick Reyes would be a similar, yet much better version of the Jon Jones versus Anthony Smith fight we saw back in March.
So, who else is there at light-heavyweight?
Right now, there really isn’t anyone to fight at light-heavyweight other than Daniel Cormier – the No. 1 contender – who just fought a tough fight at heavyweight against Stipe Miocic. The No. 2 contender is Thiago Santos, whom Jones already beat. The No. 3 contender is Anthony Smith, whom Jones already beat, No. 4 is Dominick Reyes who would be a worthy opponent but is otherwise occupied. And honestly, there is no reason for champions to take fights against the No. 5 and No. 6 ranked athletes.
Jones vs. Santos
So, will Jones and DC be able to make a deal at Light-Heavy or would DC want Jones to come up in weight? Furthermore, is that the only option that Jones has in the short-term, coming up in weight to fight a Derrick Lewis, or Curtis Blaydes at the end of the year? Perhaps Junior Dos Santos?
We know that for Jon to move up to heavyweight, the deal would have to be the right fit. There is still a lot of talent at light-heavyweight, but the weight class has stagnated some – at least for Jones who has already fought and beaten the top contenders – since the beginning of the year when Jon stated that he wanted to fight all three 2019 fights at his home weight class.
So, who’s next? We’ll have to wait and see. But a Jones-DC super fight to close the year out sure would be nice and here at JW we will be giving him all support and preparation to continue being the best Light Heavyweight MMA fighter in this era.