5 reasons why Jon Jones' move to heavyweight could end in failure

#4. Jon Jones’ physical gifts might not provide him with such an advantage at heavyweight

Jon Jones' lanky build and long reach might not be so advantageous at heavyweight

Jon Jones is almost certainly the greatest light heavyweight fighter in the history of MMA. With wins over the likes of Daniel Cormier, Alexander Gustafsson, Glover Teixeira and Rashad Evans, it’s safe to say that his resume is almost untouchable.

However, while ‘Bones’ always possessed incredible skills, a great deal of the success he found in the octagon over the years came thanks to his physical gifts.

At 6’4”, Jones was always one of the taller 205lbers on the UFC roster. More importantly, his 84.5” reach was basically unparalleled by any other light heavyweight, enabling ‘Bones’ to abuse his foes from a distance without being caught in return.

Considering he regularly cut a decent amount of weight to make the light heavyweight division’s 205lbs cut-off, it’s hardly surprising that no fighter was able to overpower, let alone defeat, him.

At heavyweight, though, these physical gifts won’t provide him with the same kind of advantage. Sure, he’ll still hold a reach advantage over some of the larger fighters in the UFC, but it’s not likely to be quite so telling.

In fights with Francis Ngannou, Curtis Blaydes and Alexander Volkov, for instance, Jones would only hold a very slight reach advantage.

Furthermore, against the UFC’s top heavyweights, ‘Bones’ would certainly be the smaller man overall, something he simply wouldn’t be used to following his run at 205lbs.

Overall, Jones’ frame could translate well to the larger weight class, but it certainly wouldn’t provide him with the huge advantages it did at light heavyweight.

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#3. Jon Jones might be making an error in not taking a tune-up fight

Should Jon Jones be facing an easier opponent than Stipe Miocic in his first heavyweight bout?

Whenever a fighter moves to a new weight division in the UFC, whether they’re moving up or down, it’s usually important to get off on the right foot with a win. With that considered, most fighters switching classes tend to at least try to take a tune-up fight.

That doesn’t appear to be the case for Jon Jones. It looks very likely that his first fight as a heavyweight will be against Stipe Miocic, who is not only a former UFC heavyweight champion, but a fighter widely recognised as the UFC’s greatest-ever heavyweight.

Miocic is likely to be 40-years-old by the time the fight comes around. Regardless, he’s still a remarkably tricky opponent for anyone to take on in their first bout as a heavyweight – let alone for Jones, who hasn’t fought since February 2020.

The ridiculous thing is that there are plenty of potential opponents in the division who match up with Jones really well. On paper at least, names like Derrick Lewis and Tai Tuivasa would provide him with a somewhat easier test.

Miocic, on the other hand, has plenty of skills that could give Jones some real trouble. Fighting him is a high-risk, high-reward game for ‘Bones’. If he loses, any idea of him ascending into title contention would go down the drain.

With that considered, it feels like he’s making an error in not taking a tune-up bout.