Jon Jones Happy At 205 For Now, Open To 'Mega Fight' At Heavyweight If Money Is Right

Jon Jones has teased a potential move to the heavyweight division in the past but it has never materialized with the champion preferring to stay in the 205-pound division to defend his belt and build on his legacy. However, Jones says if the money is right and the fans want a mega fight at heavyweight, he’ll listen to offers.

Jones defends his belt this weekend against the Brazilian power striker in Thiago Santos at UFC 239 with bookmakers strongly tipping the champion to retain the belt. With Francis Ngannou’s knockout of Junior dos Santos last weekend and a potential trilogy fight against Jones’ long-time nemesis Daniel Cormier, the talk of a move up to heavyweight has gained some traction.

Jones sat down with ESPN’s Brett Okamoto ahead of this weekend’s main event and the champ admitted what it would take to lure him into a move to the heavyweight division (via MMAFighting.com):

“I am interested in fighting at heavyweight but I’m also aware that there’s a lot of work to be done in the light heavyweight division,” Jones said. “There’s a lot of big fights that people want to see me have in the light heavyweight division so there’s really no need for me to go to heavyweight. I’m doing well where I’m at, I’m making weight really easily and I feel like when the UFC approaches me about a fight they feel will be a megafight and they come with the numbers that would make sense for me to do that, I’ll totally do it. But right now the UFC I think is happy with me being a dominant light heavyweight champion and like we said, there’s a lot of really great new challenges. So there’s a lot of work to be done where I’m at and it’s gonna take that checkbook for me to bounce up to heavyweight.”