ANAHEIM, Calif. — Jon Jones really wants to fight Brock Lesnar, but UFC president Dana White doesn’t see it happening anytime soon. Jones called out Lesnar, the WWE wrestling star and former UFC heavyweight champion, after his third-round knockout of Daniel Cormier on Saturday nigh🦹t at UFC 214 to recapture the UFC light heavyweight title.
“I think it’s a winnable matchup,” Jones said. “Lesnar has millions of followers outside of MMA. It would be huge to steal some of those followers. I feel Brock has a pretty limited game. I just think it’s a 𝕴winnable fight, and there’s💎 so much reward that’s involved. I just want to do it.”
White said a Jo𒐪nes-Lesnar matchup sounds enticing, but Lesnar’s positive test for performance-enhancing drugs last year complicates matters. Lesnar retired from MMA after being suspended following his victory over Mark Hunt at UFC 200 for testing positive for a substance banned by USADA. Lesnar would n🐬ot be allowed to compete in the UFC for at least six months after re-entering USADA’s testing program following completion of his one-year ban that was frozen by his retirement.
“The reality of it happenin🏅g anytime soon is not a reality,” White said.
White had similar doubts about boxing k🥂ing Floyd Mayweather fighting UFC lightweight champion Conor McGregor, and now that’s a reality. Jones said McGregor landing a fight with Mayweather isꦅ why he’s seeking a fight with Lesnar.
“Conor has been♔ a tremendous inspiration to me,” Jones said. “He has shown me that these huge paydays are possible. I never thought in my time as a fighter that I would see fighters making $100 million like he’s making in the Mayweather fight. Now you can do it by getting the world excited by an MMA fight and ul🌄timately making some of those zeroes because that’s what we’re here for.”
Jones, meanwhile, vows to be a more focused and committed champion than he was in his♉ initial reign, where he was stripped of his title for being involved in a hit-and-run accident and also tested positive for cocaine use.
“I’ll make a conscious e🎉ffort to do better,” Jones said. “I’m a lot more aware of who I am and the responsibility that comes with being a UFC champion. I’m not going to make promises that I’m going to be a saint. I’m a wild [guy] at the end of the day. But I can try to do things better and make a conscious efꦆfort to make better decisions.”
Tyron Woodley successfully defended his UFC welterweight title for the third time Saturday night with a decision over Demian Maia, but Woodley lost a lucrative bout with Georges St-Pierre in the process. Woodley’s fight with Maia was so dull it set a record for the lowest number of strikes (68) landed in a five-round championship bout. Fans at the Honda Center chanted repeatedly, “This is boring.”
White had planned to match the winner against GSP, who is returning after a long layoff. But W🃏hite was so disappointed in Woodley’s effort, the UFC president announced GSP would be fighting middleweight champ Michael Bisping.
“You ask fans if they want to see Woodley fight🌜 again, and it would be a flat-out no,” White said. “Who wants to see Woodley fight again? You take no risks, you get no rewards.”
Woodley wouldn’t apologize for his performance.
“The next person that steps in front of me𒁏, I’m going 💫to beat them,” he said.
Cris Cyborg’s first title defense could come against former women’s bantam weight champion Holly Holm. White mentioned the possible matchup to Holm after Cyborg captured the women’s featherweight title with a third-round stoppage of Tonya Evinger.
“I l♏ike Holly versus Cyborg,” White said. “I think it’s a good ♒fight. I thought Cyborg looked good. She was very composed. She didn’t go out there crazy. She took her time.”
It’s a bout that could potentially land at UFC 217 set for Madison Square Garden on Nov. 4.