Jon Jones has flirted with the idea of moving up to heavyweight, and now he feels pretty comfortable with pursuing that goal. In fact, Jones believes he can beat current heavyweight champion Cain Velasquez.
Jones spoke at the “UFC: Welcome to the Show” event in Los Angeles last week and again expressed interest in moving up in weight and eventually facing Velasquez.
“I don’t know when I’m going to move up in weight,” Jones said via MMA Junkie. “I’ve entertained the thought of going to heavyweight so many times, and I think right now, with all due respect to Anthony, I believe I’ll win that fight and get into superfights and rematches.
“But if I do go to heavyweight, and when I do go to heavyweight, I do believe I have the skillset to beat Cain.”
Jones has been making noise about fighting Velasquez since Nov. 2013. His reason for wanting to fight Cain is the same as last time: He does not feel he would be at a big size disadvantage.
“Cain’s a magnificent opponent,” he said. “My main reason for believing I’ll beat Cain is his size. He’s not one of these massive heavyweights that is just going to outweigh me and out-power me in every situation. He’s a guy that I can totally compete with; I believe I’m smart enough to compete with him.”
Before Jones moves up a weight class and takes on Velasquez, he has to beat Anthony Johnson. The two are set to meet at UFC 187 on May 23. If Jones can win that one, then maybe he will move up. Nothing is a guarantee with Jones, though, considering last April he said he didn’t want to move up in weight.
