Jon Jones vacates UFC light heavyweight title; Dominick Reyes and Jan Blachowicz to fight for vacant title
Jon Jones is now officially a former UFC light heavyweight champion. On Monday, the now-former champ Jon Jones said that he had a conversation with the UFC regarding his future with the promotion following which, he has decided to vacate his 205-pound title with immediate effect.
“Just got off the phone with UFC, today I confirm that I’m vacating the light heavyweight championship,” Jones tweeted. “It’s officially up for grabs. It’s been an amazing journey, sincere thank you to all my competition, UFC and most importantly you fans.”
Jon Jones has had his differences with the UFC in the past regarding the promotion's reluctance to increase his payday for a heavyweight clash against knockout artist Francis Ngannou. UFC President Dana White later revealed that Jon Jones was demanding an “absurd” amount of money to face Ngannou. White said that Jones demanded an amount similar to what boxer Deontay Wilder made in his rematch against Tyson Fury.
Jon Jones' latest series of tweets suggest that he still shares the same opinion regarding a pay hike and won't compete again unless the UFC comes up with an offer he can't deny.
“The last I spoke with UFC about my salary there was no negotiating,” Jones said. “If that ever changes, I’d love to come back and compete again as a heavyweight. Until then, I’ll be enjoying UFC [as] a fan and doing my best to take care of my family and community. In good faith I will be staying in the [USADA] testing pool for probably the next half year or so. I’ll continue to lift weights and train all the different martial arts.”
In the aftermath of this weekend's UFC 252, Jon Jones took to social media to tease a potential heavyweight title clash against Stipe Miocic but Dana White squashed the idea, saying that Francis Ngannou is next in line for the title shot and deservedly so. However, White also mentioned that Jon Jones' potential move to heavyweight is an "interesting" development.
As for the light heavyweight division and the vacant title, ESPN journalist Bret Okamoto took to Instagram to reveal that a potential fight between top contenders Dominick Reyes and Jan Blachowicz is apparently being targeted for UFC 253 in September.