Jon Jones hints at a championship run in 2022; recalls notable wins

MMA legend Jon Jones was expected to make his heavyweight debut this year but has been engaged in a pay dispute with the UFC.

Jones, a former UFC light heavyweight champion, has lately been indicating that he will indeed return at heavyweight in 2022.

Over the past few months, ‘Bones’ has consistently maintained that he plans to return to the UFC in 2022, once his body is fully accustomed to the new weight class. Keeping in line with his promise to stage a comeback next year, Jon Jones has now taken to Twitter and alluded to a championship run in 2022.

Fans can check out Jones’ tweet regarding a title run in 2022 embedded below:

Champion2022

— BONY (@JonnyBones) August 4, 2021

Furthermore, Jon Jones put forth a series of tweets, addressing a few notable fights from his time in the UFC light heavyweight division. Among these were his clashes against Vitor Belfort, Lyoto Machida, and Alexander Gustafsson. Jones sent out the following tweets regarding these matchups:

That’s a very special fight to me as well, I feel like people try to look over that performance. Completely mall someone that was supposed to be my kryptonite https://t.co/ky4lPTIQl3

— BONY (@JonnyBones) August 4, 2021

That’s called refusing to lose my guy https://t.co/WVw47PfN8i

— BONY (@JonnyBones) August 4, 2021

maybe you should talk to someone https://t.co/RAecf4fLlt

— BONY (@JonnyBones) August 4, 2021

Jon Jones emphasized that his second fight with Alexander Gustafsson was truly special to him. Their first fight was a razor-thin decision in favor of Jones. On the contrary, the rematch witnessed 'Bones' completely dominate Gustafsson for a TKO win and once again capture the UFC light heavyweight title.

Jones also recalled the time he escaped a dangerously tight arm-bar in his fight against Vitor Belfort and ended up submitting Belfort later in the contest. This fight transpired during Jones' first reign as the 205-pound kingpin and saw him successfully defend his title.

Moreover, Jon Jones replied to a fan's tweet about the time he choked and dropped Lyoto Machida unconscious. The finish saw Jones get yet another successful title defense on his resume and is considered to be one of the most iconic submission stoppages in MMA history.

Jon Jones is faced with serious challenges at heavyweight

Jon Jones (left); Francis Ngannou (right)

UFC 265 on August 7th, 2021, will be headlined by an interim UFC heavyweight title fight between Derrick Lewis and Ciryl Gane. The winner of this clash will likely face UFC heavyweight titlist Francis Ngannou in a title unification matchup next.

Presently, the consensus in the MMA community is that Jon Jones could face the winner of the Lewis/Gane vs. Ngannou matchup for the UFC heavyweight title in 2022.

Do you see Jon Jones winning UFC heavyweight gold next year? Sound off in the comments.