Jon Jones, right, during his win over Dominick Reyes at UFC 247 in Houston. AP Photo
Jon Jones, right, during his win over Dominick Reyes at UFC 247 in Houston. AP Photo
Jon Jones, right, during his win over Dominick Reyes at UFC 247 in Houston. AP Photo
Jon Jones, right, during his win over Dominick Reyes at UFC 247 in Houston. AP Photo

Jon Jones targets Stipe Miocic and Brock Lesnar for step-up to UFC heavyweight


John McAuley
  • English
  • Arabic

Jon Jones has laid out plans for his step-up to UFC heavyweight, with a clash against either current champion Stipe Miocic or former belt-holder and professional wrestling star Brock Lesnar on his radar.

The American, regarded by many as the greatest UFC athlete of all time, vacated his light heavyweight title last month to announce a move to heavyweight.

Jones, whose pro mixed martial arts record stands at 26-1, has been pretty active on social media since, and was no different early on Tuesday.

He called out Miocic, who has just come off a successful title defence in his trilogy match with Daniel Cormier at the recent UFC 252.

However, the American (20-3) is slated to next take on No 1 contender Francis Ngannou for a second time. The pair met in 2018, with Miocic prevailing by unanimous decision.

Lesnar, meanwhile, is a free agent having left the WWE.

Writing on Twitter, Jones said: "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 win.

“Stipe asked for a new challenge, why not fight the light heavyweight [Greatest of All Time]? 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."

UFC president Dana White confirmed last month that Ngannou will get his rematch with Miocic. The Cameroon-born heavyweight has won his past four fights, all in emphatic fashion.

As for Lesnar, White has previously said he considered him retired. Now 43, Lesnar hasn’t competed in the octagon since 2016, although he did tease a comeback to the UFC two years ago before opting to re-sign for the WWE.

War

Director: Siddharth Anand

Cast: Hrithik Roshan, Tiger Shroff, Ashutosh Rana, Vaani Kapoor

Rating: Two out of five stars 

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Non-oil%20trade
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The specs: 2018 BMW R nineT Scrambler

Price, base / as tested Dh57,000

Engine 1,170cc air/oil-cooled flat twin four-stroke engine

Transmission Six-speed gearbox

Power 110hp) @ 7,750rpm

Torque 116Nm @ 6,000rpm

Fuel economy, combined 5.3L / 100km

In numbers: PKK’s money network in Europe

Germany: PKK collectors typically bring in $18 million in cash a year – amount has trebled since 2010

Revolutionary tax: Investigators say about $2 million a year raised from ‘tax collection’ around Marseille

Extortion: Gunman convicted in 2023 of demanding $10,000 from Kurdish businessman in Stockholm

Drug trade: PKK income claimed by Turkish anti-drugs force in 2024 to be as high as $500 million a year

Denmark: PKK one of two terrorist groups along with Iranian separatists ASMLA to raise “two-digit million amounts”

Contributions: Hundreds of euros expected from typical Kurdish families and thousands from business owners

TV channel: Kurdish Roj TV accounts frozen and went bankrupt after Denmark fined it more than $1 million over PKK links in 2013