Chael Sonnen has named the toughest fight for former UFC light heavyweight champion Jon Jones at heavyweight.
Jones has been eyeing a move up to heavyweight since vacating his light heavyweight belt in 2020, but hasn’t been able to make it happen due to personal and professional reasons, including a pay dispute with the UFC. ‘Bones’ hopes to make his return to the Octagon by the end of this year or early 2023 with Stipe Miocic being the favourite to face him. Ciryl Gane has also thrown his name into the mix, but Sonnen has put forward a third name, who he thinks would pose the biggest threat to the UFC legend.
Chael Sonnen On Jon Jones’ Toughest Test
During a recent appearance on Morning Kombat (as transcribed by MMA Junkie), Sonnen said that Curtis Blaydes would be the toughest fight for Jones in the division.
“I’ll tell you, the hardest fight, skill wise for Jon Jones, easily the hardest fight, it’s Curtis Blaydes,” Sonnen said. “I’ve never really seen a guy as willing as him. He goes and fights [Francis] Ngannou before we knew it was Ngannou. He then wants to do it again, gets slept in 30 seconds, (but) he flies to him to a completely different continent to do it again, and he’s begging to fight him a third time. Those are the kind of guys we usually like.”
Blaydes is currently riding a three-fight winning streak, with his most-recent win coming against Tom Aspinall at UFC London. ‘Razor’ has on a number of occasions, including the UFC London post-fight conference, said that he’d love to lock horns with Jones. He also believes that he’d be the Albuquerque native’s toughest test at heavyweight.
Do you agree with Chael Sonnen that Curtis Blaydes would be Jon Jones’ toughest test at heavyweight?
