Which path is best for Jon Jones

Many people criticize someone like Conor McGregor. That's because when you accomplish what you set out to do it gives you options. You then get to decide your own path. Like him or not the same can be said for Floyd Mayweather Jr.

You can say it now for Jon Jones as well. While he has shredded the light heavyweight division twice now, it's been getting tougher. And hey, he's human, so that should be expected. He now sits at the gateway of a 3 pronged fork in the road. He could go left, right, or stay straight. And that's a position only the greatly gifted ever get to be in.

Is Jon Jones actually keen to move up to heavyweight?

Jon can stay at 205 and accept a "superfight" with middleweight champion Israel Adesanya. The lead up would have been great. But in the world we now find ourselves in; not so much. There would be no media tours, no press conferences, no multiple face offs.

So it comes down to fight performance. The reason Jon's had a bit tougher of a time is that the division's best has caught up to him offensively. His defense is still very much next level. He could decline that path and run it back with Thiago Santos, or Dominick Reyes. There it would be solely looking to improve on past performances. Sure those might be fun to watch, but it's also a case of been there, done that.

The third path is the one that has everyone's mouth watering. The move up to heavyweight. There you're looking at not just "superfights" but legacy as well. Yes, obviously the world wants Jon and Francis Ngannou to lock up. But let's not forget "The Predator" can be careless offensively. While you would need a snipers accuracy to take advantage of that, that's a Jones trait.

But it's not just Ngannou there for him. The real "superfight" that should have happened was him against Cain Velsaquez. Sadly that will go down as the one that got away. But his teammate, dear friend, and the biggest rival of Jon's is still hanging around with one fight left in his career. Daniel Cormier retiring going 0-2 with a no contest all to Jon, would put a smug smile on the Albuquerque native. Only down side is the same with Israel and Francis, no real build up that would draw frenzy like heat. And that's not even mentioning the heat he and Stipe Miocic have either.

So what might actually be best for Jon Jones and the company in the long run is to actually stay put. If they rematch him and Santos, or Reyes, the company doesn't lose anything on the build up. Even more so, they don't lose a massive gate, they'd get with a "superfight". You have those two and Jan Blachowicz or even Corey Anderson available as well.

It's well known that Jon Jones wants to be rewarded financially for finally moving to 265. And while that's his right to ask for it, and his right to expect it; it's not the best time in the world to be asking for more money, while a company bleeds money. It just doesn't look good. Not that looks has ever been a worry for Jon.

Dana White has said he prefers not wasting Conor on a fight with no gate. Frankly the same can be said for Jon Jones, even though the UFC president won't publicly say it like that. So perhaps UFC fans will just have to accept Jon as the fighter that tore through his division 3 times, and stayed put.