Jon Jones reportedly signs 8-fight deal with UFC, who could he face?

News about Jon Jones just keeps coming after it was confirmed the light heavyweight champion is making a comeback. While details about his much-anticipated return are yet to be announced, a new report suggests that “Bones” has signed an eight-fight deal with the UFC.

For his first fight, Jones will face Cyril Gane, who is a unique heavyweight prospect. Despite fighting in the top division, Gane moves around with the speed and flexibility of a welterweight and hits his shots as carefully as a lightweight. Such fighters are rare in his division, with Tom Aspinall appearing to be the only other contender.

On the other hand, Jones has been debating his move to heavyweight for almost a decade. His last light heavyweight fight came against Dominic Reyes in 2020 where he picked up a highly controversial win. After that fight, Jon took a break from the sport and began building muscle for his comeback.

Speaking about his matchup against Gane in an interview, Jones’ manager said: “I think those are the two best heavyweights [Jones vs. Gane] fight each other and it’s a mighty fight. That’s the focus. You can’t go crying about ‘could have been’ or anything like that… Personally, by the way, I feel like Ciryl with his abilities… is a bigger struggle than Francis would have been.”

Who should Jon Jones face next?

Who fights next will of course be determined in part by the outcome of his fight against Cyril. But we took this opportunity to speculate

First of all, we have to mention Stipe Miocic. A matchup against Miocic has already been discussed throughout the MMA world. Jones himself wanted Stipe to sign the contract, but the deal didn’t go through in the end. Now the former champion is looking to take on the winner of Jones vs. Gane for another shot at the title.

Sergei Pavlovich has been touted as the next Francis Ngannou due to his tremendous knockout power. All of his wins came in the first round and it would be interesting to see how he fares against a smart fighter like Jones.

Who would you like to see fight Jon Jones?