John Jones He believes there is nothing to be gained by fighting heavyweight contender Sergei Pavlovich.
After scoring his sixth straight round knockout against Curtis Blades last month, fans immediately began clamoring for Pavlovic’s next heavyweight title opportunity over the inactive and retired Stipe Miocic. While most fight fans, including Pavlovich himself, have come to terms with the fact that Stipe Miocic is the next man, it appears that a showdown between heavyweight champ Jon Jones and the Russian juggernaut simply isn’t in the cards.
After Stipe Miocic, it’s Francis Ngannou or Nothing at All by Jon Jones
In an interview with Fox Sports AustraliaJon Jones revealed that retirement would likely be his next move after a potential superstar heavyweight fight with the GOAT division’s general consensus Stipe Miocic. Bones left the door cracked open to return to octagonbut it would take either a tempting match with former defending champion Francis Ngannou or a truckload of cash.
“Everyone talks about Sergey Pavlovich. And Sergey is a huge challenge,” Jones said. “In the grand scheme of things, nobody knows who he is. I think (US combat analyst) Luke Thomas said it best, he said “high risk, very low reward”, where you can fight a guy like Francis Ngannou and have the whole world. It will be worth the risk, worth the money, all of it.
“So who knows? Maybe the UFC will come up with the right numbers and we can make this Sergey thing happen. But as of now, I’ve got all the trophies, nothing to really prove. But Francis will get me really excited to keep it going.”
With Jon Jones and Step Miocic set to hang up the gloves for good, the most likely scenario would see Sergei Pavlovic sitting on the sidelines for a shot at a title that will likely be vacant by the time he contests. Some have suggested that a potential showdown with two-time title challenger Cyril Ginn is Pavlovich’s next bout, but it would be an unnecessary risk for the Russian.
Pavlovich is already the next guy in line. Why risk another fight near the top of the division after already doing more than enough to earn a shot at UFC gold?