Three Fights Jon Jones Should Take Next

Jon Jones holds the UFC heavyweight title, but his reign feels incomplete. One defense against a 42-year-old Stipe Miocic does not settle the debates that shadow his career. The UFC has three clear paths forward, each offering Jones a chance to add weight to his claim as the sport's greatest fighter.

1. Tom Aspinall — The Mandatory
This is the fight the division demands. Aspinall holds the interim belt and has finished every opponent in the first or second round since arriving at heavyweight. He is faster than Jones, younger by seven years, and carries knockout power in both hands. The stylistic clash is brutal: Aspinall's blitz-heavy pressure against Jones's rangefinding and cage control. If Jones wins, he silences the critics who say he ducked the interim champion. If he loses, his heavyweight experiment ends in flames. Either outcome writes itself into MMA history.

2. Alex Pereira — The Spectacle
Jones recently acknowledged that Pereira's size advantage would matter in a potential matchup, a rare admission from a fighter who has built his career on physical dominance. Pereira is a former two-division champion who knocked out three contenders in seven months. The narrative hook is magnetic: the greatest light heavyweight ever against the most dangerous striker at 205 and 185. Pereira has never wrestled at an elite level, which gives Jones the grappling edge, but one left hook changes everything. This fight would not settle the heavyweight pecking order, but it would break pay-per-view records.

3. Francis Ngannou — The Unfinished Business
Ngannou left the UFC before the two could meet, but his recent boxing performances against Tyson Fury and Anthony Joshua proved his power translates across combat sports. A Jones-Ngannou fight in 2025 would require the UFC to pay Ngannou what he is worth, which complicates the matchmaking. The appeal is obvious: the most feared puncher in heavyweight history against the most complete mixed martial artist. Jones has the wrestling and fight IQ to neutralize Ngannou's power, but the margin for error is microscopic. One clean shot ends the conversation.

Jones has options. The question is whether he takes the hardest one or the safest. Aspinall is the fight that must happen. Pereira is the fight that would break the internet. Ngannou is the fight that got away. Any of the three would matter more than another victory over a retired legend.