Jon Jones calls Conor McGregor 'tremendous inspiration,' explains no interest in Stipe Miocic fight

ANAHEIM, Calif. – New UFC light heavyweight champion Jon Jones has big plans for the future after UFC 214, but they don’t include a champion vs. champion showdown with Stipe Miocic.

Jones (23-1 MMA, 17-1 UFC), who reclaimed the 205-pound belt with a third-round knockout of Daniel Cormier (19-2 MMA, 8-2 UFC) in Saturday’s UFC 214 pay-per-view headliner at Honda Center, has made it clear he’s interested in the idea of a bout with ex-heavyweight titleholder Brock Lesnar (5-3 MMA, 4-3 UFC).

Although Miocic (17-2 MMA, 11-2 UFC) would seem like a much more evenly matched fight from a physical perspective, “Bones” explained at the UFC 214 post-fight news conference why it doesn’t muster as much interest from him.

“I feel like if I was going to take a fight at heavyweight it would be against a person who me and my coaches feel makes sense for me,” Jones said. “Right now, Stipe is looking extremely impressive. And I believe if you get an extremely talented big guy versus an extremely talented little guy, I feel like a lot of the cards are in his favor. I fear no man, but I strike for a reason when I strike. I feel like Stipe is relatively unknown to the general public. It wouldn’t even be a real superfight in my opinion.

“I think a lot of MMA fans would be super excited about, but the general public wouldn’t care about that fight. Most people don’t really know who is, with all due respect to him. If I’m going to sacrifice being the smaller guy, I think stylistically Brock would be a fight that makes way more sense, and the payday would be tremendous. What it would do for our sport would be tremendous. Much bigger impact.”

A fight with Miocic would represent an opportunity for Jones to become a simultaneous two-division titleholder, something which has only been accomplished by current lightweight champ Conor McGregor (21-3 MMA, 9-1 UFC). Jones said “The Notorious” is someone he admires in terms of achieving the seemingly impossible and spectacular, and that’s why he’s more interested in Lesnar, who in his opinion would be the most lucrative payday available.

“Conor McGregor, he has been a tremendous inspiration to me,” Jones said. “He has shown me, who has been at the upper echelon of this sport for many years now, he has shown me that these huge paydays are possible. I never thought in my time as champion that we would be able to see fighters making $70 million or whatever he’s making for this (Floyd) Mayweather fight. It’s an inspiration that you can do it. I see it as possible, and that’s what McGregor has done for me.”

Regardless of what happens next for Jones, he knows it will be big. UFC President Dana White said UFC 214 is tracking to surpass 1 million pay-per-view buys, setting the stage for Jones’ second run as undisputed UFC champion to be even greater than his first.

The issues that derailed Jones’ career and kept him on the sidelines for the majority of the past two years are well documented, but Jones views his victory over Cormier as a fresh start.

“I feel like a new champion; this is my time to start over and to be a better champion and be the champion that the fans deserve,” Jones said. “I feel like the best is yet to come. At age 30 I feel like I’m in my physical and mental prime. I feel like my best years are still ahead of me. I think it’s going to be very scary for a lot of these light heavyweights that I’m still the youngest guy in the division, and I’ll be here for a very long time.”

For complete coverage of UFC 214, check out the UFC Events section of the site.