Jon Jones admits Francis Ngannou has 'freak' knockout power
Jon Jones is after "gigantic challenges" in the UFC Heavyweight division. 'Bones' Jones admits that he is ready to face heavyweight top-contenders like Stipe Miocic and Francis Ngannou.
In an interview with Bleacher Report, Jones talked about vacating his UFC Light Heavyweight belt and transitioning to the promotion's top weight-class.
ESPN recently reported that Jones' first appointment in his new weight class would be a title shot against the winner of Stipe Miocic - current champion, and Francis Ngannou title fight that is yet to be scheduled.
"I'll be ready for either of them. Both fights are extremely challenging. Stipe, he is the greatest heavyweight of all time. He has all the stats and records to prove that. And then Francis is just a freak when it comes to his knockout power, and he's improving constantly," said Jon Jones to Bleacher Report. "Both fights are gigantic challenges, but that is what I'm here for in this stage of my career: to go big and see what I have got." said Jon Jones.
After defending the UFC Light Heavyweight championship for almost a decade and defeating virtually all of the division's contenders, Jones decided that he needed to feel more challenged in his pursuit of greatness.Â
Aiming to be considered the greatest MMA fighter of all time, Jones chose to vacate his belt and migrate to the Heavyweight division. However, 'Bones' is not afraid of what he will find in the heaviest UFC division.
Jon Jones says he is never going back to the UFC Light Heavyweight division
In the same interview with Bleacher Report, Jon Jones revealed that he has no intentions of returning to the UFC Light Heavyweight division.
With a record of 26-1-1, Jones dominated the weight class for almost a decade. Instead of trying to become a two-division champion, Jones preferred to give away his belt, as he sees that holding his title would "slow the division down."
"The reason why I decided to vacate the Light Heavyweight belt and not hang onto it is that I knew my move to heavyweight was going to take a really long time. I didn't want to be one of those athletes to slow down the division," said Jon Jones. "I feel like I have held onto the Light Heavyweight championship for so long - I have ruined so many people's dreams of being the Light Heavyweight champion -and now it's time for someone else to have it. said Jon Jones
"I thought it was the right thing to do for everyone else. I could have done the selfish thing and held onto it and come up with a bunch of excuses and lied to the fans and said I was going to come back down to light-heavyweight and made all these guys wait. I didn't want to do that. I have no intentions of ever going back to light-heavyweight," declared Jon Jones.
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