It's Jon Jones and God himself fighting Cyril Gane for the UFC heavyweight belt
- Doug Mattushek
- 19 January 2023
The indomitable Jon Jones believes that with God on his side, he is truly undefeatable in his upcoming UFC heavyweight title clash.
The incredibly unfortunate departure of the incumbent Francis Ngannou has left a Baddest Man on the Planet-sized hole in the promotion, one that Jon Jones may yet fill.
Bones left his light heavyweight division behind in 2020 and when he wasn't getting arrested for drunk driving, focused his attention on moving up to heavyweight. Now, after three years of watching Jones in handcuffs (again), hitting the weights and the heavy bag on his social media, fans and haters alike have a 4 March date to look forward to.
"I feel like I'm in a really good place," the 35-year-old told
The MMA Underground.
"MMA feels fun to me again. Obviously, with being out for three years and in a new division, there's a lot of questions that cause me to stay up long nights, but it keeps me sharp. It's something that I feel like I didn't have at light heavyweight towards the end. Towards the end it just felt like another day at the office.
"This doesn't feel like another day at the office. This feels very different. The nerves, the anxiety - it's all back. I do good when I'm under pressure."
Despite his ignominious run-ins with the law, Jones believes he is MMA's chosen one…
"I really believe in my whole heart that I was chosen by God Himself to be an undefeated fighter," continued the Albuquerque native.
"I really believe that with my whole spirit and my whole being. So not only do you have to beat me, but you have to beat the God I serve. I don't believe that I was designed to lose. I may have close fights, but I truly don't believe it's possible for me to lose."
A confident Jones is revealed he has a two-fight plan for the short term while predicting a twist in the far future.
"My immediate goal is to beat Ciryl Gane and to beat Stipe Miocic," Jones said.
"After that, it'll be conversations with the UFC to see what makes sense. But I am guaranteeing the fans at least two more fights out of me."
Long term, Jones is backing UFC overlord Dana White to somehow woo Ngannou back to the UFC.
"I do believe my path will cross with Francis," Jones told
Sports Illustrated in a separate interview.
"Dana White always gives the fans what they want to see, and a Jon Jones-Francis Ngannou fight will always be a fight of interest. So I'm not counting it out. I'll keep an eye on Francis."
