When will Jon Jones return?

In 2020, Jon Jones announced that he would be relinquishing his UFC light heavyweight title in order to make the move up to heavyweight. However, we are now deep into 2021 and Jones is yet to compete in the division.

Considering Jon Jones' outstanding legacy and record, it seems likely he will be put into an immediate title fight when he finally does make his heavyweight debut. The only issue with that is the fact that there is a current interim titleholder in Ciryl Gane. The Frenchman needs to attempt to unify his belt against champion Francis Ngannou.

Fortunately, Jon Jones has since stated that he is targeting a return in the "second quarter" of 2022. This should give Ngannou and Gane enough time to fight and provide a clear opponent for Jon Jones.

Speaking backstage at the recent UFC Hall of Fame ceremony, in which his first fight with Alexander Gustaffson was inducted, Jon Jones stated the following about his heavyweight debut:

"I think it will be some time in the second quarter of 2022... Fighting for the title is what I want the most, for sure. I want to fight the biggest fights and I think the title fights are gonna be the biggest fights. If there was someone that was a bigger star than Francis at heavyweight, who didn't have the title, then I go for that. But I think Francis is the biggest star at heavyweight, him and I. And he has the title. That's what I want."

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Jon Jones on why he prefers a fight with Francis Ngannou over one with Ciryl Gane

Jon Jones is adamant that he wants to fight for the title on his heavyweight debut. However, he might not be so inclined to if Ciryl Gane is successful against Francis Ngannou when the two men inevitably fight.

Jones had the following to say on why the Gane fight isn't as appealing to him:

"I think it changes, well, what the pay will be. Yeah, I don't think it's a mega fight... I think he's so talented and he's great for the sport. I think he's very marketable. But he's still relatively unknown. To the general public. I'm excited for either challenge. I think they present two completely different puzzles. But Francis is definitely a bigger star."

You can check out The Mac Life's full interview with Jon Jones below:

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