Jon Jones has been told UFC heavyweight champion Francis Ngannou is the only fighter that can beat him.
Former light heavyweight king Jones is set to make his return to the UFC later this year having not fought since 2020. 'Bones' defended his 205-pound title against Dominick Reyes for the last time at UFC 247 and has been expected to move up to heavyweight ever since.
The 34-year-old, who is widely considered one of the greatest MMA fighters of all time, has been backed to fight Stipe Miocic in his heavyweight debut. Jones has recently trained with former two-weight UFC champion Henry Cejudo, who thinks Ngannou is the only fighter that can beat him.
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"There ain't nobody in the heavyweight division that is really gonna touch him. The only guy that has a chance to beat Jones is Francis Ngannou with his knockout power. But even that man, Jon Jones can strike himself, he can wrestle, he can take out legs. You almost need to hire a damn grizzly bear to beat Jon Jones. That's the only way," he said on ' The Triple C and Schmo Show '
"Jon Jones is a very disciplined human being. He's had his hiccups, late night stuff but other than that the guy trains and he listens, there's a reason why that dude's on top."
Heavyweight champion Ngannou will likely be out for the rest of 2022 having recently undergone knee surgery following his UFC 270 title defence against Ciryl Gane. Ngannou is a free agent and is yet to re-sign with the UFC amid a recent contract row with the promotion.
Ngannou was touted as an opponent for Jones upon his return but UFC boss Dana White said Jones demanded $30million for the fight. Jones has now been backed to fight former champion Stipe Miocic later this year.
Cejudo said of Jones' potential fight with Miocic: "I think it's a great fight and I like that fight for Jones. Everything that Stipe does, Jon does better. From striking, wrestling, movement to purpose, that's just a great fight for Jon to come back and display his arsenal," Cejudo continued.
"You're going to see a lot more creativity from Jon rather than seeing him fight Francis Ngannou because that would probably be more of a distance game. A more of a fatigue game to get him tired and exhaust his power, but with Stipe I don't think he brings anything that Jon has never seen."
