Jon Jones has vacated the UFC Light Heavyweight title. Jones sent out a tweet stating he had told the UFC that he would relinquish the title. The good news is that he is moving to heavyweight.
On the same day, the UFC announced a light heavyweight matchup between Dominick Reyes and Jan Blachowicz slated for September 26th. Although it was not announced at the time, this fight should be for the vacant title.
Breaking: A 205-pound fight between Dominick Reyes (@DomReyes) and Jan Blachowicz (@JanBlachowicz) is in the works for Sept. 26. The fight is nearly agreed to, but the stakes are being worked out. UFC is working with current champ Jon Jones right now to figure out his next move. pic.twitter.com/lHy7GUfX2Q
— Brett Okamoto (@bokamotoESPN) August 17, 2020
Just got off the phone with @Ufc, today I confirm that I’m vacating the light heavyweight championship. It’s officially up for grabs. It’s been an amazing journey, sincere thank you to all my competition, Ufc and most importantly you fans.
— BONY (@JonnyBones) August 17, 2020
In good faith I will be staying in the testing pool for probably the next half year or so. I’ll continue to lift weights and train all the different martial arts
— BONY (@JonnyBones) August 17, 2020
Just had a really positive conversation with @Ufc. Sounds like there will be negotiations for my next fight at heavy weight. All good news, the weight gaining process begins.
— BONY (@JonnyBones) August 17, 2020
Payout Perspective:
It’s clear that the UFC and Jones (or his reps) were working on the fighter’s future and since there was an impasse in pay, vacating the title seemed like a quid pro quo for his run in the heavyweight division. Logically, Jones jumps the line and starts out to challenge Stipe Miocic or Francis Ngannou. Jones has had an up and down working relationship with the UFC and even though he has cost the UFC a lot of money (recall UFC 200 and moving an entire card from Vegas to LA for UFC 232), he’s also made a lot of it for the company.
The move to heavyweight immediately elevates the division while decimates a light heavyweight division that Jones dominated. Matchups against Ngannou and Miocic seem like immediate fights to make. And now, there’s the DC fight that still may be a possibility.
Leave a Reply