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UFC bantamweight Sean O'Malley wants Jon Jones to face off against Stipe Miocic in the former 205-pound champion's heavyweight debut.
On the latest episode of 'The BrO'Malley Show', the 26-year-old rising star said he'd rather watch a fight between Miocic and Jones than a title unification bout between Ciryl Gane and Francis Ngannou:
"How does Jon Jones not think Stipe Miocic is not the biggest challenge?...Why not fight [Stipe Miocic]? Who knows what the real issue is behind all of it...Jon Jones is getting a wee bit older and it's like okay, you only have so long to fight...I'd be way more excited for that fight than Francis vs Gane," said Sean O'Malley.
Jon Jones has been training to make a shift to the heavyweight division of the UFC. The former UFC champion has been doing a lot of weight-lifting to put on muscle in order to prepare himself for the move.
The 34-year-old's last fight took place more than a year ago at UFC 247. 'Bones' handed Dominick Reyes the first loss of his professional MMA career and successfully defended his light heavyweight title.
Jon Jones's coach believes Stipe Miocic is not an exciting matchup for Jon Jones
Jon Jones' coach Mike Winklejohn recently hinted that 'Bones' is not interested in a fight with Miocic.
Speaking to Submission Radio, the JacksonWink coach shared that, according to him, 'Bones' would not find a fight with Miocic very appealing:
"From the outside looking in, I would think that [a fight with Stipe Miocic] wouldn't excite Jon [Jones]. I think Jon wants a big one...he wants a big challenge and right now, Stipe is not there. Stipe is awesome, don't get me wrong, but Jon wants the biggest challenge out there. That's how Jon Jones thinks," Mike Winklejohn said in the interview.
Jones has said he will not return to the octagon anytime before 2022. So it remains to be seen who the former light heavyweight champion will face in his heavyweight debut in the UFC.
