Former light heavyweight champion Jon Jones has made his pitch to become next in line to challenge Stipe Miocic for the UFC heavyweight title. Taking to Twitter, Jones claimed he's the more attractive opponent for Miocic, arguing that a rematch against Francis Ngannou, the current No. 1 contender, is a "lose situation" for the champion.
In a series of tweets, Jones argued:
Stipe doesn’t want to fight Francis again because the first fight really wasn’t close. Looking at it from Stipe’s point of view, fighting Francis again is definitely more of a lose situation than a win. Stipe asked for a new challenge, why not fight the light heavyweight goat? Besides we’re way closer in size. What’s more exciting than that? By the time he heals up my body weight should be right where it needs to be. This fight lines up perfectly. Stipe versus Francis is high risk low reward. Stipe versus myself actually makes a lot of sense for both of us. Now you actually have a super fight. Stipe loses the fight is gone.
Jones vacated the UFC light heavyweight title in mid-August following months of back-and-forth negotiations over pay with UFC President Dana White. At the same time, he announced his intentions to move up to heavyweight, after nearly a decade of dominating the light heavyweight division.
While Miocic-Jones may be the more attractive headliner, White has already confirmed that Francis Ngannou will be next to fight Stipe Miocic for the heavyweight belt. Ngannou lost to Miocic in their first title match back in January 2018 but has won four-straight fights dating back to November 2018. All four wins have been via first round knockout.
Should Miocic face Ngannou first, there's a possibility Jones could get his feet wet in the heavyweight division with a match against Brock Lesnar, who recently became a free agent from the WWE. Jones also called out Lesnar on Twitter, writing: "Brock I'll betcho a** too."
Who do you want to see Jon Jones face first as heavyweight?