Dana White: Jon Jones gets next UFC title shot, fights light heavyweight winner of Cormier vs Johnson

 

This likely won’t sit too well with the rest of the light heavyweight division.

Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) president Dana White revealed during a recent conversation on the UFC Unfiltered podcast that former 205-pound champion Jon Jones would likely get an immediate title shot upon his return from suspension this summer.

“Jon Jones is supposed to return around July so the timing is perfect. I haven’t talked to him. I haven’t talked to Jon Jones since the whole incident (at UFC 200),” White said (via FOX Sports). “Depending on where Jon’s head is and where he thinks he is, I would assume he would come right back and try to get his title back.”

Jones is currently serving his one-year suspension after testing positive for anti-estrogen blockers prior to his scheduled rematch against Daniel Cormier at UFC 200 last July. And since there are no tune-up fights in UFC, White says Jon will do just what Rousey did and fight for the title after a long layoff.

Though it didn\’t work out too well for “Rowdy.”

“If you’re going to go in there and give it, at least go in and try to get your belt back,” White said about Jones. “It’s like everyone was saying Ronda (Rousey) should have had a tune up (fight). There are no tune-up fights.”

“When you break into the top five in the world, everybody’s nasty,” he continued. “What you don’t want to do is lose to somebody (ranked) 8, 9, 10. It knocks you right out of the top 10 and it doesn’t make sense.”

White previously went on record to say that Jones would never headline a pay-per-view (PPV) event after “Bones” was bounced from his headlining duties at UFC 200. But it’s easy to see why the head cheese has seemingly had a change of heart, as his top draw, Conor McGregor, won’t be back inside a cage anytime soon, while Ronda Rousey has likely called it a career.

Is normal.

Current 205-pound champion Daniel Cormier is scheduled to face Anthony Johnson for a second time at the upcoming UFC 210 event in Buffalo, New York, on April 8, 2017. And you can bet Jones will be an interested observer, as he will soon get the chance to reclaim the title he never actually lost against the victor.