Dana White has confirmed that Jon Jones will challenge for the title in his first fight at heavyweight.
Jones (26-1 MMA, 20-1 UFC), who vacated his UFC light heavyweight title this past August, has been undergoing a body transformation to bulk up for his move up a weight class.
He hasn’t competed since he edged out Dominick Reyes at UFC 247 in February 2020, but it appears his next fight is set. According to White, Jones will face the winner of the rematch between heavyweight champion Stipe Miocic (20-3 MMA, 14-3 UFC) and Francis Ngannou (15-3 MMA, 10-2 UFC), which takes place March 27 at UFC 260.
“We know what he wants,” White told TMZ. “He wants the winner of Stipe and Francis, so that fight has got to happen first.
“It should happen this year. It depends if that fight with Stipe and Francis goes off before summer. Then we could have (Jones vs. the winner) happen in the summertime.”
White and Jones haven’t always seen eye to eye, but before the end of 2020, White said he had a good phone conversation with the former light heavyweight king and that the two are on good terms now.
