Jon Jones ready to vacate UFC heavyweight title to fight Alex Pereira for the BMF belt, says interim championship was unnecessary
Jon Jones recently discussed his potential future moves as the reigning UFC heavyweight king and claimed he was ready to vacate the championship in favor of a BMF title clash against Alex Pereira. Jones also dismissed the validity of Tom Aspinall's interim heavyweight title and opined that it was unnecessary.
Jones is set to face Stipe Miocic in a heavyweight title match at UFC 309 at Madison Square Garden in New York this weekend. Ahead of his next outing, Jones has received consistent callouts from Aspinall asking for an opportunity to unify his interim title. However, 'Bones' hasn't been receptive to a potential Aspinall fight and has dismissed the Englishman's callouts whenever questioned.
Meanwhile, Jones has expressed a keen desire to fight Pereira to further his legacy in mixed martial arts. During a recent interview with MMA reporter Aaron Bronsteter, Jones addressed wanting to face 'Poatan' instead of Aspinall in the cage and said:
"Well, the interim championship shouldn't have been there in the first place. The only reason why there was an interim champion fight was because I got hurt, and they needed to keep the importance of that Madison Square Garden event... Making it an interim fight was premature, and now you have a bunch of confused people."
Addressing potentially fighting Pereira in a heavyweight clash, he continued:
"It'd be cool to fight over the heavyweight championship, but I would also willingly give up the heavyweight championship... I love the position that I'm in right now. Fighting Pereira for the BMF belt, that'd be cool."
Dricus du Plessis on potential Jon Jones vs. Tom Aspinall heavyweight fight
While many want to see Jon Jones fight Tom Aspinall in a heavyweight title fight, UFC middleweight champion Dricus du Plessis isn't very keen on the matchup. The South African fighter believes that it's a "lose-lose" situation for him because of his admiration for both men.
During a recent interview with MMA journalist Shakiel Mahjouri, du Plessis shared his thoughts on a Jones-Aspinall clash and explained why he didn't need to see that clash, saying:
"There's one fight I don't need to see. It's very hard to say this publicly, but I don't need to see Tom Aspinall vs. Jon Jones. I love both of them, Tom Aspinall is such an awesome guy. I met Jones quickly, amazing. Massive guy, for me, that I look up to as a martial artist... I look up to Tom Aspinall so much. I just don't need to see that fight. For me, it's a lose-lose situation."
Catch Dricus du Plessis' comments below (33:00):