Former UFC light heavyweight champion Jon Jones is currently in talks to make his highly anticipated heavyweight debut at UFC 282.
Ariel Helwani has reported that the UFC is currently in talks to bring back Jones for Dec. 10, with hopes for him to headline the PPV. The promotion is hoping to make the fight between Jones and Ngannou, but it falls on the shoulders of Ngannou’s knee injury and contract situation. If the promotion can’t make the fight with Ngannou, it looks as if they will turn to a fight with former heavyweight champion Stipe Miocic. At this point, Helwani claims that the fight with Ngannou would be a “long shot“.
If the UFC can’t get the deal done with Jones to headline the card, the light heavyweight championship rematch between Jiri Prochazka and Glover Teixeira would take over as the main event.
Jon Jones has been teasing his move to the heavyweight division for some time
He most recently fought back in 2020, when he defended his light heavyweight title against Dominick Reyes in a very close fight. Jones skated by that fight as he continued his reign over the division that lasted many years. Jones had admitted that his dominance over the division had led to him being bored and not trying in championship fights as much as he should.
He had back to back very close fights with Reyes and Thiago Santos, as many would argue that he lost one, if not both of those fights. However he took a unanimous decision win home over Reyes and a split decision win over Santos.
Miocic hasn’t fought since he lost his title to Ngannou at UFC 260, back in March of 2021. Both fighters have been on long layoffs, but are two of the best fighters to ever step into the octagon. The bout would be a very interesting matchup, especially since it would be Jones’ first heavyweight bout of his career.