Jon Jones has distanced himself completely from a proposed return to the Octagon against Stipe Miocic.
UFC president Dana White has expressed interest in Jones, 33, facing the former UFC heavyweight champion Miocic, 38, in a potential title eliminator.
The general consensus is that a victory would mean Jones gets one step closer to taking on Francis Ngannou in a battle to determine who is the top dog in the heavyweight division, and perhaps the best fighter in the UFC.
However, it doesn't seem like he is too keen on the idea of taking on the former 250lbs titleholder and fellow top contender.
In fact, Jones completely shot down the suggestion by claiming that he wants his next bout to be against Ngannou in a series of now-deleted tweets.
'Don’t get excited people, I’m not fighting Stipe,' Jones wrote on Twitter (via MMA Junkie). 'I’m not here to fight Stipe but I will defend my belt against him no problem.
'I’m looking for the biggest draw and I’m willing to wait.
'33 years old in [sic] better athlete right now than I’ve ever been before.. im [sic] just going to keep training my ass off.'
As well as dismissing the Miocic fight, 'Bones' also put the UFC bigwig on blast.
'I’m sick of hearing the same s***, you’re not a big enough star, you don’t bring in enough paper [sic] view,' Jones replied to a fan when asked why he has no interest in a potential match-up with Miocic.
'I’m ready to fight fights that will bring in the pay-per-view.
'The world wants to see some black on black crime right now and I’m ready to give it to them.'
Jones, the former UFC light heavyweight champion, is currently embroiled in a bitter dispute with the promotion over a new contract, with White insisting that "he wants what Deontay Wilder was paid" to fight Tyson Fury.
Jones (26-1, 1 NC) is known as a guy who will face anyone, as evidenced by the fact that he faced Alexander Gustafsson, Glover Teixeira and Daniel Cormier between 2013 and 2015.
But if Jones-Ngannou doesn't get made, the question will always be what might've been? Jones claims he's his own boss after his break with First Round Management, but if 'Bones' really wants this to happen, he will have to get in touch with White.
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