Former UFC light heavyweight champion Jon Jones has threatened to make his way up to the heavyweight division for the better part of a decade now. Now, Jones’ heavyweight debut seems all but confirmed for the near future. Former welterweight champion Georges “Rush” St-Pierre shared his prediction for Jones’ heavyweight success at a recent UFC fan Q&A event.
“Jon Jones is known to be the best in the sport, but he never fought at heavyweight. It will be interesting how he will adapt to heavyweight. I’m confident that, after a long layoff, Jon Jones has all the skills to come back like he was when he had his reign at light heavyweight. I just don’t know how it’s going to play out.
GSP’s Heavyweight Jon Jones Prediction
It’s one of these things that sometimes time can change the data, but there’s so many X factors that we don’t know. I’m very excited, it’s a great time to be a UFC fan, especially when I look at what is going on in the heavyweight division.”
GSP knows what it’s like to move up a division and pursue gold. He ruled the UFC welterweight division for seven years, injuries and illness sent “Rush” onto the sidelines. He vacated the title, returning to the UFC after four years to fight in the middleweight division. In his middleweight debut, Georges St-Pierre defeated Michael Bisping to capture the middleweight title. The jump from 170 pounds to 185 isn’t quite as steep as the sixty-pound valley between light heavyweight (205) and heavyweight (265), and “Rush” acknowledged the “challenges” ahead of Jon Jones.
“When I met Jon Jones the last time, it was a year ago and he put on a lot of weight. He seemed very comfortable at that weight, so it led me to believe that he’s going to come back as good as he was in the light heavyweight division, except with more mass, more muscle mass. So I don’t know. As a fan, I want to see him like he was at light heavyweight and perhaps even better than he was, but he has great challenges ahead.
He’s going to take on Stipe Miocic and then he’s got Francis next if everything goes according to plan for him. I don’t know how it’s going to play out, but I think as a UFC fan it’s going to be a very entertaining fight.”
What’s your prediction for the next phase of Jon Jones’ career? Let us know in the comments.
