UFC 247 Presser Highlights: Jones Teases Heavyweight

Plenty in the MMA community either speculated or wished for current and longtime UFC light heavyweight champion Jon Jones to move up to heavyweight. And according to Jones, there’s a chance of it happening in the near future.

Jones is scheduled to defend his championship against the undefeated Dominick Reyes in the main event of UFC 247 on February 8 at the Toyota Center in Houston, Texas. With a win, Jones will secure the record for most title fight victories in UFC history.

Despite interruptions in his career due to legal issues and suspensions for failed drug tests, Jones has been the most dominant 205-pound athlete in the UFC this decade. He’s run through competition that has included legends such as Quinton “Rampage” Jackson and Vitor Belfort, to his rivalry with Daniel Cormier, to recent challengers in Anthony Smith and Thiago Santos.

In fact, since Jones’ return and reclaiming of the title at UFC 232, there had been several debates over if a Jones-DC 3 fight should take place at 205 or heavyweight. But those plans flew out the window when Cormier lost the heavyweight title to Stipe Miocic at UFC 241.

But that didn’t deter Jones. In fact, he revealed this fight with Reyes was merely a backup plan.

A September tease of a big fight announcement on Twitter, Jones said during a UFC 247 press conference, was going to result in him stepping up to heavyweight to challenge Miocic for champ-champ status.

“I was trying to get a Stipe Miocic fight and I thought that maybe that would happen,” Jones said. “But instead we have Stipe vs. DC 3. But at the moment I was so ready to go to heavyweight and stick my hands in some of those big fellas.”

Watch highlights from the full UFC 247 press conference above.

Original Story: MMAJunkie