Jon Jones says absent ‘some bread’ from the UFC, Derrick Lewis can have next title shot

© Kirby Lee-USA TODAY Sports Wants to fight: The callout: “This is something that I prepared if I won, so I had a few words for Jon Jones, so I just say it. I hope that he watched the fight and that he cuts his weight again and that we meet at 205.” The reality: Jon Jones’ departure from the title mix at 205 pounds directly led to ‘s title opportunity. But now the big Pole has championship gold around his waist, he’d love to test his skills against the man he never had the chance to face. Jones teased the fans after the fight, tweeting: “Would you guys be annoyed if I went back and grabbed my belt real quick?” but it would seem that Jones’ future now lies at heavyweight, where a fascinating new test awaits for the pound-for-pound king. As for Blachowicz, the natural next matchup could see him involved in a dangerous rematch. Brazil’s Thiago Santos is the UFC’s next-highest-ranked contender at 205 pounds, and he’s also the last man to defeat Blachowicz, back at UFC UFC on ESPN+ 3 in February 2019. If “Marreta” is fit and ready to go, he’s the likely next opponent, but Glover Teixeira is also not too far from a shot, either. A returning Jones would pull rank on both of them, but it makes a lot more business sense for the UFC to book Jones at heavyweight next and let the 205 division move on. Blachowicz vs. Santos would be the perfect next title fight to achieve that. © Provided by MMAJunkie

Jon Jones spent the immediate aftermath of the start of Francis Ngannou‘s heavyweight title reign making his case on Twitter to be next in line for a title shot.

Less than two hours later, though, the former light heavyweight champion took his foot off the proverbial gas pedal and said Derrick Lewis (25-7 MMA, 16-5 UFC) can get the first shot at Ngannou – provided the UFC doesn’t meet Jones’ financial requirements.

“It’s OK, Derek (sic) can have the fight,” Jones posted in response to a Twitter user saying UFC president Dana White was using Lewis as leverage against Jones. “No need to rush a great thing. I’ve already had a Hall of Fame career, I’m going to need some bread.”

That “bread,” presumably, is the kind of money Jones has been saying for a while now he needs to get paid by the UFC. Jones vacated his light heavyweight title in 2020 and announced a move up to heavyweight. He’s been the odds-on favorite to get a title shot in his first fight in his new division, despite some highly publicized complaints about his pay and treatment by the UFC.

After Ngannou (16-3 MMA, 11-2 UFC) knocked out Stipe Miocic (20-4 MMA, 14-4 UFC) in the UFC 260 main event Saturday to win the heavyweight title, White responded at the post-fight news conference to some of Jones’ (26-1 MMA, 20-1 UFC)’ comments in his tweet barrage – including one in which he said “Show me the money.”

White said he didn’t know what that meant, and also said if Jones wants the fight with Ngannou so badly, he should reach out to the UFC to make it happen. But White also said if Jones watched Ngannou’s decimation of Miocic, he might be wise to forego his move to heavyweight and move not just back down to 205 pounds, but to 185, instead.

“If I’m Jon Jones and I’m home watching this fight, I start moving to 185,” White told MMA Junkie. “… Sure. Listen, I could sit here all day and (ask) you, ‘What’s “Show me the money” mean?’ I tell you guys this all the time: You can say you want to fight somebody, but do you really want to?”

Jones later said he would be talking to the UFC about his terms – and alluded to making public the number he’ll be asking for to fight Ngannou for the heavyweight title.

For his part, Ngannou didn’t shy away from the potential for a booking against Jones later this year. Outside of the Jones matchup, there is the possibility of a third fight against Miocic, which he said he wasn’t immediately interested in – or one with Lewis, who has won four straight fights.

UFC 260 took place Saturday at the UFC Apex in Las Vegas. The main card aired on pay-per-view following prelims on ESPN and early prelims on ESPN+.

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