Jon Jones is still planning on fighting before the end of the year.
Jones has not fought since early 2020, his final light heavyweight title defense against Dominick Reyes at UFC 247. Since then, Jones has been bulking up, stating his intention to pursue the heavyweight title, and recently, Ariel Helwani reported that UFC officials are targeting Jones’s return for UFC 282 in December, either in a heavyweight title challenge against Francis Ngannou or in an interim title shot against former two-time champion Stipe Miocic.
With Ngannou currently recovering from knee surgery, Miocic seems the more obvious choice given the timeline, and Jones recently confirmed as much, saying on Twitter that he is preparing to face Miocic in December, though he admits the bout is far from a done deal.
I’m preparing to fight Stipe December 10 in Las Vegas. Not really sure what’s going on between Stipe and the UFC but I’m ready to compete! I’m going to control what I can and stay in shape. https://t.co/3Ouu9Xk8Ns
— BONY (@JonnyBones) October 25, 2022
“I’m preparing to fight Stipe December 10 in Las Vegas. Not really sure what’s going on between Stipe and the UFC but I’m ready to compete! I’m going to control what I can and stay in shape.”
Miocic has not competed since losing the heavyweight title to Ngannou at UFC 260 in March of 2021. However, one year ago, the former champion said he would be interested in facing Jones if he could not get a third fight with Ngannou.
UFC 282 is set to take place on Dec. 10 at the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas and is currently headlined by a light heavyweight title rematch between Jiri Prochazka and Glover Teixeira.