Watch: Mike Tyson predicts how Jon Jones will do in heavyweight against the winner of Stipe Miocic vs Francis Ngannou
Boxing legend Mike Tyson has given his thoughts on how he thinks Jon Jones might fare in his big move up to heavyweight.
Jones was king of the 205-pound division for almost a decade but now that he’s left for a new venture, Jan Blachowicz has taken over as the man at the top of the mountain.
But instead of looking back, Jon is looking forward - and he has his eyes set on UFC 260. The main event of the show later this month will see Stipe Miocic defend his UFC Heavyweight Championship against Francis Ngannou. This will mark the second time these two men have squared off after Miocic dominated Ngannou in a unanimous decision win back at UFC 220.
Tyson questions Jones' future
Of course, while the fight itself is intriguing, the focus for many is what’s going to happen after when the winner sets themselves up for a showdown against Jon Jones.
During a recent edition of Hotboxin’ with Mike Tyson, the icon discussed what could happen to Jones in a chat with UFC president Dana White.
“There’s gonna come a time where a guy like Ngannou is gonna hit him. Then we’re gonna see if he can take the heavyweight punches. It’s gonna happen. They’re very aggressive too so they’re gonna be able to lay hands on him, so we’re gonna see what he really has.”
Given that he named Francis Ngannou as a possible opponent for Jones down the line, we can assume Tyson thinks “The Predator” stands a good chance of winning his rematch against Miocic.
But even if he doesn’t, Jones is going to face a tough test regardless of who he meets in his heavyweight debut. Regardless, Jon seems pretty well prepared for the challenge.
The unpredictability associated with moving up to a new weight class is something that has the potential to make or break the career of a fighter, and at the very least, could change their trajectory. We’ve witnessed that with Israel Adesanya and the MMA world is now keen to see what happens with Jones.