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 struggle since then, White is assured that he’ll get a deal completed to place him within the octagon towards interim heavyweight champion Tom Aspinall in a title unification bout.
“The plan is to struggle Jon this summer season,” White advised The Jim Rome Show. “Clearly, when, the place and all that stuff is being decided. My aim this yr is to make that struggle [with] Aspinall.”
A possible wrinkle to these plans may come this weekend when Alex Pereira defends his gentle heavyweight title towards Magomed Ankalaev within the UFC 313 fundamental occasion.
A win would function Pereira’s fourth straight title protection and there wouldn’t be a number of new challenges left for him at 205 kilos.
In actual fact, Pereira has already teased a possible transfer to heavyweight, however White says he’s really behind hitting the pause button the Brazilian altering divisions once more after conquering middleweight and lightweight heavyweight.
“The opposite factor about Pereira that everyone loves is, this man needs to go as much as heavyweight and struggle at heavyweight, too,” White stated. “I’m the one which’s really holding him again on that.”
Maybe the largest roadblock to Pereira shifting as much as heavyweight is White’s dedication to guide Jones towards Aspinall earlier than the rest.
White vows that’s the struggle he needs to make most proper now however assuming Jones battles Aspinall in 2025, he received’t low cost the likelihood that Pereira may then place himself for an enormous showdown in his heavyweight debut.
“He needs to [fight Jon Jones],” White stated about Pereira. “Let’s see how this struggle performs out, if he wins, how he wins, all that type of stuff.
“I believe that the struggle that everyone needs to see proper now could be Jones and Aspinall after which there’s little question that Pereira may struggle the winner.”
