Jon Jones has made it clear he has no interest in meeting Oleksandr Usyk in a boxing ring, stating he would only entertain a clash with the heavyweight boxing star under MMA rules.
Jones, who remains in the UFC drug testing pool, is still under contract with the promotion, which is obligated to make him another fight offer. Despite The Ring Magazine reporting him as a leading candidate to face Usyk, Jones is drawing a firm line on the rule set.
“Usyk is Usyk, man, he is one of the absolute GOATs of heavyweight boxing,” Jones said, adding, “I also am aware that he does wrestling, and that wrestling has been a heavy part of his training for many years, which is probably why he is so dominant in the clinch.”
“If he would like to test his total combat skills, I would oblige in that. But to handicap myself by only using my hands is not the world that I come from. So out of all the heavyweight boxers, I do see Usyk as having the highest potential of making it competitive [in MMA], but I am no boxer.”
Jones also stated, “I don’t really consider Usyk to be a complete fighter,” and concluded, “I think the world knows what would happen if we were locked in the same room.”
Usyk recently relinquished multiple heavyweight boxing titles and mentioned having one last fight, amid a broader trend of MMA fighters moving into boxing while few boxers cross into MMA. The situation leaves any potential Jones–Usyk showdown firmly pointed toward the cage, not the ring.
