Dana White feels there is no reason for Jones to rush to the heavyweight division just yet, especially with a big fight looming in the light heavyweight division he dominated all of last decade.
At UFC 247, Jon Jones will compete for the first time in the 2020s against a young, hungry lion in Dominick Reyes. Despite the fact that Reyes is undefeated and in his prime, perhaps no one will quiet the requests for Jones to move up to the heavyweight division for new challenges. You won’t hear any such utterances out of UFC President Dana White, though. White believes Jones has his hands full with Dominick Reyes, who represents that there is always someone next in line, even when the general public thinks there isn’t (Transcript via BJPenn.com):
“I don’t know about him going to heavyweight, I think he’s comfortable at light heavyweight, and every time that you think there’s not another challenger for Jon Jones, there’s another challenger for Jon Jones,” White said. “I don’t know, we’ll have to see how this thing plays out. He has to get through Dominick Reyes first before you even start thinking about heavyweight or anything else.”
Dana White does not consider Reyes to be just another body who pushed its way to the front of the line, but he sees this to be a major legacy victory for Jones should he continue his unprecedented light heavyweight winning streak.
“That’s such a massive fight for Jon Jones,” White said. “Dominick Reyes is a bad boy. And young, hungry, this is going to be a very interesting fight for Jon Jones. Dominick Reyes isn’t this big name guy that you know, but if you know fighting, Dominick Reyes is the real deal. And a very tough challenge for Jones. If he gets through this fight, and wins again, Jones is a freak of nature.”
UFC 247 takes place February 8, 2020 from the Toyota Center in Houston, Texas, streaming live on ESPN+.
Do you agree with Dana White? Is Dominick Reyes a massive fight for Jon Jones?
