Junior dos Santos willing to drop to light heavyweight to fight Jon Jones

By Tom Taylor - April 30, 2020

Junior dos Santos recently turned some heads by sharing a picture of his slimmed down physique. 

Junior dos Santos, Jon Jones

Speaking to MMA Fighting, dos Santos explained that his primary objective is simply getting his weight back down to a more ideal level—lighter than it was when he knocked out Cain Velasquez to win the heavyweight title in 2011.

“My goal is to stay light so I can get back to training right away, when I have a fight booked,” he said. “If I can stay around 238 and 242, that’s important for me, because I move a lot. I’ll benefit from my speed, one of my main characteristics. I will be faster.”

While dos Santos seems to be content at heavyweight for the moment, many fans speculated that he could be plotting a drop down to the 205-pound light heavyweight division.

Dos Santos admits that dropping to 205 “would be really, really, really hard to happen,” but that he would be willing to attempt the cut if it opened a door to a title fight with dominant light heavyweight champion Jon Jones.

“My main curiosity of one day making 205 is not about how I would feel at that weight, but to be able to face the man that is the greatest of the moment, Jon Jones,” he said. “Who wouldn’t like to fight Jon Jones one day? I’m no different. One of the goals before I end my career would be to fight Jon Jones. But that’s part of the plans, our wishes, my dreams, so let’s see how things play out.”

“I would sit down with my doctors, make a plan, a strategy,” dos Santos said. “I would obviously need a bit more time to make weight well, but we would make that happen.”

Would you be interested in seeing Junior dos Santos at light heavyweight?

This article first appeared on BJPENN.com on 4/30/2020.


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Jon Jones Junior dos Santos UFC