{"id":463779,"date":"2022-11-22T12:15:00","date_gmt":"2022-11-22T20:15:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/staging.tcpcharms.com\/bjpenn\/?p=463779"},"modified":"2022-11-22T12:15:00","modified_gmt":"2022-11-22T20:15:00","slug":"ufc-eye-potential-bout-between-jon-jones-and-curtis-blaydes","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/staging.tcpcharms.com\/bjpenn\/mma-news\/ufc\/ufc-eye-potential-bout-between-jon-jones-and-curtis-blaydes\/","title":{"rendered":"UFC eye potential bout between Jon Jones and Curtis Blaydes if Francis Ngannou fails to resign"},"content":{"rendered":"

The UFC is looking into a potential bout between Jon Jones and Curtis Blaydes if Francis Ngannou fails to resign with the company.<\/p>\n

Questions about when Jones would make his highly anticipated heavyweight debut have been asked. After numerous rumoured dates and opponents being thrown in the hat, the UFC have finally pencilled in a date, an opponent, and even a backup fighter.<\/p>\n

Jon Jones heavyweight debut set for UFC 285<\/h3>\n

Nolan King<\/span><\/a>\u00a0reported that the UFC left UFC 285 on March 5, 2032, in Las Vegas, free for Jones’s return. The promotion’s idea is to have Jones face heavyweight champion Francis Ngannou, but making the fight may not be plain sailing. Ngannou’s contract expires at the beginning of 2023, and with no new deal set in stone, it’s unlikely. Taking the contract issue into consideration, the UFC have Curtis Blaydes in mind as a safeguard.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Blaydes’s record is a notable 17-3 (12-3-1 UFC) and is easily considered one of the more challenging fights in the division. The No.3 ranked heavyweight is currently riding a three-fight win streak with wins over Jairzinho Rozenstruik, Chris Daukaus, and Tom Aspinall. Although a tough test for Jones’s debut, it’s not a bout the fans are particularly eager to see.<\/p>\n

Several weeks ago, fans anticipated that a fight booking between Jones vs. Stipe Miocic was on the horizon. However, Jones revealed the stalling was all from Miocic’s side, but Ariel Helwani had his take on the situation.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think once they didn\u2019t really come correct with an offer \u2013 and that\u2019s really what happened here,\u201d\u00a0The MMA Hour<\/em> host, Helwani, revealed at the start of November.<\/a>\u00a0\u201cIt was like a, \u2018Hey, you wanna fight him, here\u2019s the amount, take it or leave it.\u2019 And [Stipe Miocic] was like \u2018Uhhh,\u2019 and then they just moved on.\u201d<\/p>\n

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Miocic is arguably the greatest heavyweight of all time and holds the record for heavyweight title defences<\/a>, but the firefighter doesn’t seem in a hurry to return to competition. Helwani believes if there’s no fight booking for Miocic soon, perhaps we may have seen the last of him in a pair of MMA gloves.<\/div>\n

The end for Stipe Miocic?<\/h3>\n
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\u201cI honestly wouldn\u2019t be surprised if this marks the end of Stipe\u2019s career,\u201d Helwani added. \u201cStipe is going to go off into the night very quietly. Stipe was never going to make a big hullabaloo. Maybe it\u2019s a [social media] post or something like that. He\u2019s a pretty quiet guy, private guy, likes his life as a fire fighter. He was not going to make a big deal of the end of his fighting career.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

It’s been two-years since Jones last stepped foot on the UFC canvas with a unanimous decision victory over Dominick Reyes<\/a>. The former light heavyweight champion isn’t getting any younger, and as we know in the world of MMA, father time is undefeated.<\/p>\n

Does a fight between Jon Jones and Curtis Blaydes excite you? Let us know in the comments!<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n