- Jon Jones insists he is not getting any younger and would likely retire after he beats Stipe Miocic
- “Bones” would be open to postponing his retirement if the UFC could get Francis Ngannou back to face him
Jon Jones is laser-focused on beating Stipe Miocic. After that, “Bones” admitted that he might consider calling it a career. However, the reigning heavyweight champ is also willing to put his retirement aside if a fight with Francis Ngannou will materialize.
Jon is getting old
Speaking to Fox Sports Australia, Jones said that he is already approaching his twilight years in the sport and at this point, he could only see a win over Miocic as the perfect way to cap off his legendary career.
“Right now, my goal is to have one more big fight against Stipe Miocic, Madison Square Garden and then kinda hang it up from there,” Jones admitted. “I think the Stipe fight will be plenty for me. I feel like I don’t really have much to prove after beating Stipe Miocic. I’ve been in the game a long time and in fighter years, I’m an old guy. I’ve been training for a long time, I’ve been in the game for a long time and got some small injuries – I just really want to be around.”
“Be around for my family, be around for my kids,” he continued. “I want to be able to play with my kids, and have a good head on my shoulders, and have joints that work. So I can see it coming to an end really soon, and I’m happy with that. I’m really proud of my career.”
It’s still negotiable
It can be recalled that Jones’ representative previously said that it would be great to have Ngannou back in the UFC as a fight between him and “Bones” will be massive. Apparently, that’s also what Jones feels about it.
For Jones, if he senses that the UFC could make the Ngannou fight possible, he’d be open to pausing his retirement for a huge payday and to give the fans what they want.
“I do believe a Francis Ngannou fight would be worth entertaining not retiring. I think a Francis fight would come with some serious revenue and that would make it worth my while. Francis is a former champion, he’s pretty damn popular here in America and across the world. It would bring in a lot of money and for that I would be willing to come back,” the heavyweight champ explained.
No. 2 heavyweight contender Sergei Pavlovich has undeniably been gaining traction recently as people think that he presents a strong case to become Jones’ next opponent. However, “Bones” sees a fight with Pavlovich as a “high risk, very low reward” one.
“Everyone is talking about Sergei, and Sergei is a huge challenge but no one knows who he is. In the grand scheme of things no one knows who he is. I think Luke Thomas said it best saying, ‘High risk, very low reward,’ where you could fight a guy like Francis Ngannou and get the whole world talking. It would be worth the risk, worth the money, all of it. So who knows? Maybe the UFC will come with the right numbers and we can make this Sergei thing happen. But as of right now, I got all the accolades, nothing really to prove. I think a Francis (fight) would get me really excited to maybe keep going,” Jones pointed out.
UFC president Dana White has confirmed that they are already working on Jones vs. Miocic. There’s no date and venue yet but it is expected to be big as it will be Jones’ first title defense as the UFC heavyweight champion.
