Jon Jones, former UFC light heavyweight champion, is no longer as lightweight as he prepares to make his heavyweight debut at UFC 285.
Jones weighed in at 248 pounds in Las Vegas on Friday ahead of his fight with Cyril Gein for the vacant UFC heavyweight belt, a whopping 44 pounds heavier than his last light heavyweight fight in February 2020. Dominick Reyes at UFC 247 Jones weighed in at 204 pounds.
Meanwhile, Gein, a professional heavyweight, weighed less than Jones at 247.5 pounds. Both fighters were well below the 265-pound weight limit for UFC heavyweight title fights.
The change in Jones’ physique was clearly visible as he stepped on the scale. He could have added some meat around his belly, but his chest and arms were noticeably more muscular.
Weight change is one of the many questions facing Jones as he prepares for his first official fight in three years.
Widely regarded as one of the greatest fighters in UFC history, if not the greatest, Jones was interested in moving up to light heavyweight shortly after his record-breaking 11th successful defense of the UFC light heavyweight title, but ended up in a fight with promotion due to his compensation for a possible fight with Francis Ngannou.
Ngannou later won the heavyweight belt and vacated it over his own pay dispute with the UFC, leaving the door open for Jones’ big debut at his new weight. Saturday’s victory would make Jones the ninth UFC fighter to win a two-division belt and the third fighter to win a heavyweight and light heavyweight belt, joining Randy Couture and longtime rival Daniel Cormier.
UFC 285 is scheduled for 10 p.m. ET Saturday at the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas with PPV on ESPN+.
Source: sports.yahoo.com
