Over the past few days Jon Jones has become the target of a trash-talking campaign by the light-heavyweight division’s newest contender Chael Sonnen, but if the former middleweight thinks he’s going to manipulate his way to a title shot at 205lbs prematurely then he’s got another thing coming.
“That guy is a joke,” Jones matter-of-factly tells MMAJunkie. “It’s what he wants, but I’m not going to allow him to get a title fight from talking. It’s not going to happen. Chael Sonnen will not get a title fight from using his mouth.
“I will make it very clear to everyone that there (are) people who are way more deserving of a shot. If he wants to come into the division, I’d consider him Top 15 among light heavyweights. Let’s see what he’ll do against a wrestler like Phil Davis. Let’s see what he’d do against a wrestler like Rashad or a striker like Lyoto Machida…The light-heavyweight division is a completely different beast. I won’t allow him to just jump the rankings with his mouth. It’s not going to happen.”
For the record, it looks like Dana White has Jones back on this one as he confirmed in a separate interview with MMAJunkie today that Sonnen isn’t being fast-tracked to the title.
“He’s a long way away,” White stated. “He’s not coming off the Silva fight and just talking his way into a 205-pound world title shot.”
Meanwhile, turning his attentions to his upcoming opponent Dan Henderson, Jones says that he’s looking for payback against the former PRIDE and Strikeforce champ for comments he’s made pre-fight about him being too cocky and thinking he’s better than he really is.
“I just expected so much more out of him,” Jones responds in an interview with MMAfighting. “He’s an older, more respectable guy. He’s a guy’s guy. I was a fan of his. But he doesn’t respect me, so now, I have no respect for him, and I’m going to show that the night of the fight.”
And Jones also takes a slight dig at his opponent when he sums up Henderson as , “An older, slower version of Rashad Evans.”
