Former UFC light heavyweight champion Jon Jones has bulked up close to the UFC heavyweight limit.
Jones has been out of competition for the last two years. Following his most recent outing against Dominick Reyes in Feb 2020, ‘Bones’ made his intentions to move up a division clear. Although he was reported to be in talks for a title showdown against Francis Ngannou, the fight never materialized.
In a recent interview with Trocacao Franca, former UFC fighter and Jones’s training partner Yorgan De Castro revealed that Jon Jones has bulked up to a gigantic 255-lbs for his debut fight at heavyweight.
“He’s been waiting two years for this”
“He’s walking around at 255 pounds but is so strong and cardio will be the key. He has so much cardio. He hits pads for two hours and doesn’t slow down”
“You’re never comfortable with him in sparring. If you start to get comfortable with the hands, he wrestles you. If you want to get up, he throws elbows and knees. Not many people can do that at heavyweight. Everybody has heavy hands, but not many people can combine wrestling and jiu-jitsu and Jones’ versatility will make the difference.”
Jon Jones backed to “run through Stipe”
With current UFC heavyweight king Francis Ngannou expected to sit out the rest of the year due to a knee injury, Jon Jones is in prime position for an interim title fight against Stipe Miocic. Talks of matching Jones up against Stipe began to grow amidst contract disputes with ‘The Predator’.
During a leaked schedule, UFC’s plans to put the two together for UFC 277 were unveiled. However, Stipe will not be ready in that time frame and is expected to face off against Jones in September.
UFC has not officially announced the contest but De Castro has backed Jones to dominate Miocic to victory.
“I think Jones will run through Stipe”
“I don’t see anyone touching the man. His wrestling is very, very, very good. His jiu-jitsu is great. It’s hard to touch him [on the feet]. His distance is great. I don’t think I’ve touched him once. I walked forward and never touched him”
“I don’t see anyone else at heavyweight with a good enough wrestling or ground game. If they have good wrestling, Jones will be superior on the feet. The Stipe fight will be perfect. Stipe weighs the same and has good boxing.”
Stipe Miocic is no walk in the park for anyone. Having him welcome you into the heavyweight division would be big for Jones if he is able to pull of a stunning win against arguably the greatest heavyweight of all time in the UFC.
