Jon Jones comeback fight continues to be a keenly debated topic of discussion, with the latest word being that a fight with heavyweight champion Francis Ngannou at UFC 285 in Las Vegas on March 4th is their preferred option.
However, with Ngannou’s future in the promotion still hanging in the balance as he continues to stall over contract talks while rehabbing his knee, the UFC are now also putting plans in place for an alternative fight instead if that one falls through.
And according to MMAJunkie that would involve Jones fighting Curtis Blaydes instead.
Blaydes is currently ranked No.3 in the division after compiling a three-fight winning streak that’s seen him beat Jairzinho Rozenstruik on the scorecards followed by back-to-back TKO victories against Chris Daukaus and Tom Aspinall, with the later being less notable due to the fact his opponent suffered a knee injury that left him unable to continue just 15 seconds into the fight.
Former champion Stipe Miocic is another fighter who has been strongly linked to a fight with Jones in December, but recently MMAfighting’s Ariel Helwani suggested that Miocic had been unimpressed with the deal the UFC offered him for that fight and so that plan was scrapped.
Helwani went on to suggest that the 40-year-old Miocic, whose last fight was a KO loss to Ngannou back in March of last year, may even be headed towards retirement, and with the UFC’s attention now shifting to Blaydes as the back-up plan that suggests they aren’t fighting too hard to keep him on-board.
