On Saturday night at UFC 214, Jon Jones dealt Daniel Cormier his first career stoppage loss. Now that he has moved past their almost three-year rivalry, Bones is now eyeing for a super-fight against former heavyweight champion Brock Lesnar.
As Jones himself explained during his post-fight press conference, he along with his coaches at the renowned Jackson-Winkeljohn Academy in Albuquerque feel that they actually have a good chance of winning against Lesnar. Jones added that it would also be good for the sport of MMA, and would bring in the fan base that Lesnar has with him.
But from a business standpoint, manager Malki Kawa is looking at it differently.
“(Jon) said many times that Conor McGregor has inspired him in different ways and he’s looked up to some of the stuff he’s done,” Kawa told Ariel Helwani on Monday’s MMA Hour episode. “I think Jon is realizing that there is an opportunity to make a lot of money, and I think the biggest money fight out there for him right now is Brock Lesnar. And if that can happen, I think that’s the fight that he would prefer over everything else.”
The logical decision that Jones could likely make would be to defend his title, next. Alexander Gustafsson is currently next in line based on the standings, and Volkan Oezdemir made a solid case for himself after his Saturday night performance, as well.
Kawa says these options are also on the table, and he has yet to sit down with Jones about what their next steps would be.
“Not to say that there aren’t other fights that could make a lot of money, including Gustafsson and including the heavyweight championship, including a lot of different things,” Kawa explained. “But, again, we haven’t spoken about what the plan is or isn’t. We haven’t sat down and said ‘hey, this guy vs. that guy, good vs. bad, F that guy.’ He’s not like that.”
“As the opponents line up, he figures it out, and he does what he’s gotta do.”
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