UFC Light Heavyweight Champion Jon Jones has defended his decision to fight Dominick Reyes in his next bout as opposed to Corey Anderson.

Jones hasn’t fought since International Fight Week when he narrowly edged out Thiago Santos via split decision, and ever since then, the light heavyweight division has certainly been busy. The two primary contenders that have been able to rise up and make a case for a title shot are Dominick Reyes and Corey Anderson, and after a great deal of speculation, it appears as if Jones has selected Reyes as his next opponent.

As a man who never shies away from the spotlight, it should come as no real surprise to learn that Jones has given his own thoughts on why he went with Reyes.

OSP KOs Anderson but gets dominated by Dominic. Is it safe to say I chose the toughest possible matchup at 205? https://t.co/vySuTx5ewN

— BONY (@JonnyBones) November 21, 2019

“OSP KOs Anderson but gets dominated by Dominic. Is it safe to say I chose the toughest possible matchup at 205?”- Jon Jones on Twitter.

The reasoning is pretty clear but beyond that, you’d have to imagine that Jones has pinpointed Reyes as the moneymaker out of the two. Anderson was able to make a significant amount of noise courtesy of his TKO win over Johnny Walker at UFC 244, but the building blocks for his rise to superstardom are still being put in place.

While Reyes isn’t quite there yet he’s certainly further along in the process, with his big victory over former middleweight king Chris Weidman proving that back at UFC Boston.

Jones has always said that he wants to run through all of the contenders in his way before making any possible move up to the heavyweight division, and if that’s the case, Anderson’s moment will come. For the time being, though, “Bones” is the man that holds all the cards and he’ll be the one that decides what kind of future he’s going to have at 205.

This article first appeared on BJPENN.COM on 11/21/2019.