If you’re an MMA fan you may be asking yourself some questions about arguably the Greatest Mixed Martial Artist of all time, Jon Jones. These questions might include, will Jon Jones fight in 2022? Who will He face? Will he do well at Heavyweight? Jones who has not fought since February of 2020 (before the never-ending Covid-19 pandemic.) Jones has an impressive record of 24-1-1 and was the youngest UFC Champion of all time winning his first title at the astounding age of 23 in 2011 and since then every fight he’s been in has been a title fight. He is one of the promotion’s biggest stars and PPV draws and puts on electric performances inside the cage, and less than stellar performances out of the cage.
The first question is whether Jones will fight in 2022? Thinking about this objectively I would say yes. Jones hasn’t fought since February 2020 if he doesn’t fight this year then this will move Jones’s return to the UFC Octagon to 2023. Jones is only 34 and he has not fought in the Octagon since he was 32 one would think he’d want to get in there while father time is still on his time. The other thing one would have to consider is ring rust, but getting back into the Octagon sooner rather than later Jones will have less of a chance of suffering from ring rust. Jones is such a high calibre of a fighter that I think it might not affect him like when Georges St-Pierre took four years off and came back to win The Middleweight title at UFC 217 against Michael Bisping.
The second question would be who will he face in the Heavyweight division. This is a tough decision for the UFC. I think that it would be great to see him make his Heavyweight Debut in a title fight. Again like when St-Pierre came out of retirement to take on Bisping. So that would mean Jones would take on the winner of Ngannou vs Ciryl Gane which is taking place in January. I think the matchup between Ngannou who looks like a superhero against Arguably the GOAT would sell like crazy, and make the UFC oodles of money. A matchup with Gane would still sell, but I don’t think as much as a matchup with Ngannou. If it’s not a title fight I think fans would really like to see him fight Stipe Miocic, but who knows if what’s in the cards?
The final question I think people will look at is whether or not Jones will do well at Heavyweight. Let’s just look at Jones as a whole. He was the youngest UFC Champion of all time. He’s a beast in the cage. He comes from a family of athletes his Brothers Arthur and Chandler Jones both played in the NFL and have Super Bowl rings. Jones’ Wrestling background has served him very well and he’s also a Purple belt in Brazillian Jiu Jitsu so he definitely has skills to take down these bigger guys and get Submission wins. And Jones has knockout power. I think heavyweight will suit Jones very well as he’s the complete package as far as an MMA fighter goes.
If Jones stays on the straight and narrow and keeps testing negative and stays out of trouble with the law I think we will see him in the UFC Octagon on a UFC PPV sometime soon!
MMA Aficionado 