Jon Jones wants one of the biggest fights of all time against Alex Pereira, and it appears that he is so keen on it that he wants to relinquish his current title. He proposed the idea of the “BAMF” belt between the two of them, and he appears he will do anything to get it.
Even though he said he would hang up his gloves after the Stipe Miocic fight at UFC 309 this weekend at Madison Square Garden, the allure of another big fight remains for “Bones”.
Jon Jones Wants to Become “BAMF”
Since Jones had such a successful career at light heavyweight, the UFC seems to kowtow to every one of his wishes. Jones refuses to fight Tom Aspinall, despite him earning and defending the heavyweight interim title. Instead, they rebooked the fight against Miocic, who has yet to win a fight in over four years.
Jones sat down with Aaron Bronsteter to discuss his return to the cage after a lengthy absence, and the topic of a fight against Pereira came up. Pereira tore through both the middleweight and light heavyweight divisions, winning nine fights in the UFC, including five title fights. Now, after three title defenses at 205 pounds, it appears “Poatan” wants to move up and face Jones, and the feeling is mutual.
“It would be cool to fight for the heavyweight championship, but I’d also willingly give up the heavyweight championship,” Jones said. “I walked away from the light heavyweight championship and I would love to walk away from this one as well, on top.”
“I love the position that I’m in right now. Fighting [Alex] Pereira for the ‘BAMF’ belt, that would be cool. We both have two belts in two weight classes and the night we’d fight, we’d be fighting for our third belt, which would be the ‘BAMF’. How cool would that be?”
Why Won’t Jones Fight Aspinall?
Although one can make guesses as to the name “BAMF”, it stands to wonder why Jon Jones is doing everything in his power to avoid fighting Aspinall. Earlier in the day, Jones tweeted that Aspinall’s resume was not as impressive.
“If he becomes the best of all time, then calling me a duck would make sense,” Jones said in a Twitter ask-me-anything session.
“Right now? Way too early. My challenge to him: build a career like mine. Winning 5? Hard enough. 17? I seriously doubt it.”
Aspinall has more than earned a title shot after defeating Sergei Pavlovich for the interim title over a year ago, and then becoming one of a handful of fighters to defend the interim title. Having Pereira jump up and take that fight is huge, but it negates the merit-based aspect of the sport and denies Aspinall the rights which an interim champion is afforded, most notably the opportunity to unify the title.
There could be many reasons why Jones does not seem comfortable with the Aspinall fight, but he should have two choices: vacate or fight Aspinall next, the rightful owner of a title shot. Regardless, either of those fights are fantastic bouts for the champion “Bones”, so he should have a good 2025 in store.
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