Jon Jones has poured cold water on the idea of a boxing superfight with Oleksandr Usyk, making it clear he has no interest in meeting the heavyweight great in the ring while signaling he’s still open to an MMA return.
Usyk recently announced he is vacating his boxing world championships to pursue a final fun fight, and Jones’ name surfaced as a potential opponent. Asked about boxing Usyk, Jones answered, "No, not at all," and went on to explain why a move to the ring doesn’t appeal to him.
"Usyk is Usyk, man. He’s one of the absolute GOATs of boxing, of heavyweight boxing. I also am aware that he does wrestling, and wrestling has been a heavy part of his training for years. It’s probably why he’s so dominant in the clinch. If he’d like to test his total combat skills, I would oblige him in that. But to handicap myself by only using my hands, that’s not the world that I come from."
Jones added, "Out of all of the heavyweight boxers, I do see Usyk having the highest potential at making it competitive, but I am no boxer, and I don’t consider Usyk to be a complete fighter. I think the world knows what would happen if we were locked in the same room, and I’ll just leave it at that."
Despite previously retiring in 2025 before returning for a planned but ultimately scrapped UFC White House card, Jones says he remains in the UFC’s testing pool and is staying close to the sport while coaching Gable Steveson, a role he called "really fulfilling" and one that helps "scratching that itch."
