Jon Jones ‘ready to come back’ to UFC with grudge match against Israel Adesanya set for 2021, reveals Dana White
UFC president Dana White has revealed Jon Jones is “ready to come back” to the promotion next year. The former light-heavyweight king hasn’t set foot inside the Octagon since his unanimous decision victory over Dominick Reyes at UFC 247 in February. Jones’ absence from the cage was in part down to a dispute with the […]
UFC president Dana White has revealed Jon Jones is “ready to come back” to the promotion next year.
The former light-heavyweight king hasn’t set foot inside the Octagon since his unanimous decision victory over Dominick Reyes at UFC 247 in February.
Jones’ absence from the cage was in part down to a dispute with the UFC brass over his long-awaited move up to heavyweight.
The future Hall-of-Famer – who vacated the 205lb crown in June – wanted to be adequately compensated for the move up in weight.
White, however, refused to budge and subsequently claimed the 33-year-old wanted to be paid ‘Deontay Wilder money.’
The pair recently hashed out their issues in a productive phone call, which has left White confident of ‘Bones’ returning to the cage next year.
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He told BT Sport: “Jon Jones and I had the best conversation we’ve ever had about a week ago, and he’s ready.
“He’s ready to come back. His head’s in the right place, and he and I are in a really good place.”
The UFC are hoping to put together a grudge match between Jones and reigning middleweight champ Israel Adesanya, provided the latter wins his proposed light-heavyweight title fight with Jan Blachowicz.
White is eager to make the fight and admits it’s the one contest he’s desperate to come to fruition next year.
He said: “That’s the fight I would love to see. Somebody asked me yesterday ‘if you could make one fight in 2021, what would it be?’ That’s the fight. That’s my pick.”
Jones is currently undergoing a rigorous weightlifting programme to pack on muscle ahead of his eagerly-anticipated move to heavyweight.
The JacksonWink MMA star is working with a strength and conditioning team six times a week and has already put on 20lbs.
The prospect of mixing it with the UFC’s big boys has lit a fire under Jones, who recently told ESPN: “The light heavyweight division was fun, but I just wasn’t scared of those guys anymore.
“Like, none of them. And I think it showed in some of my performances.
“Obviously, I still trained hard. But there was no urgency in some of my last fights.
“With these next guys, I’m going to be going up against, I respect these guys.
“These guys are intimidating – they’re intimidating as sh*t. It just gets me up in a whole different way.”