The anticipate Jon Jones to return to motion could also be ahead of later.
On Wednesday, UFC CEO Dana White revealed his anticipated timeline for Jones to return to motion and defend his heavyweight title after a lopsided win over Stipe Miocic this previous November. Whereas Jones hasn’t totally dedicated to any combat since then, White is assured that he’ll get a deal carried out to place him within the octagon towards interim heavyweight champion Tom Aspinall in a title unification bout.
“The plan is to combat Jon this summer season,” White advised The Jim Rome Show. “Clearly, when, the place and all that stuff is being decided. My aim this 12 months is to make that combat [with] Aspinall.”
A possible wrinkle to these plans might come this weekend when Alex Pereira defends his mild heavyweight title towards Magomed Ankalaev within the UFC 313 primary occasion.
A win would function Pereira’s fourth straight title protection and there wouldn’t be lots of new challenges left for him at 205 kilos.
Actually, Pereira has already teased a possible transfer to heavyweight, however White says he’s truly behind hitting the pause button the Brazilian altering divisions once more after conquering middleweight and light-weight heavyweight.
“The opposite factor about Pereira that everyone loves is, this man needs to go as much as heavyweight and combat at heavyweight, too,” White stated. “I’m the one which’s truly holding him again on that.”
Maybe the most important roadblock to Pereira shifting as much as heavyweight is White’s dedication to e-book Jones towards Aspinall earlier than the rest.
White vows that’s the combat he needs to make most proper now however assuming Jones battles Aspinall in 2025, he received’t low cost the chance that Pereira might then place himself for a large showdown in his heavyweight debut.
“He needs to [fight Jon Jones],” White stated about Pereira. “Let’s see how this combat performs out, if he wins, how he wins, all that sort of stuff.
“I feel that the combat that everyone needs to see proper now could be Jones and Aspinall after which there’s little doubt that Pereira might combat the winner.”
