At 33 years of age, Jon Jones is certainly not out of his prime just yet but his last few fights at light heavyweight have had many questioning whether or not he is slowing down – although bringing in the wins he certainly didn’t look as dominant especially against Reyes with many believing that there should certainly be a rematch before heading up a weight class.

With the confirmation from UFC boss Dana White that Jon Jones has in fact vacated his light heavyweight title however, the question is now just who he will fight – many have suggested that Francis Ngannou could be the obvious choice but as he is next in line to fight Stipe it seems that would be a long wait, the gatekeeper of heavyweight in both Overeem and JDS could both also be good choices but with JDS on a bit of a losing streak there are some believing the 36-year old may soon be on his way to retirement. Overeem is also a very good choice being a big and very strong striker he may be able to put similar pressure on Jones that had been seen from Reyes and with the extra power he could cause a lot of problems – Overeem’s BJJ is also often forgotten about and a bit of a sleeper part of his fighting ability, if Jones is able to get things to the ground there’s still a challenge there too. Whoever he faces out of the pre-mentioned, he is going to be the overwhelming favourite to continue his unbeaten record, even with the change of weight class. You can claim your William Hill promo code and support the different UFC markets that are available. This is always a popular choice, when the events are on, with sports betting bonused for both new and returning players. These promo codes and set to continue and are still likely to be available when Jones finally returns to action.

There is of course the question of how the changing of weight will affect Jones – the lack of needing to cut weight and the extra power will certainly help and we’ve seen the similar example recently with DC and his move to heavyweight, but as a former strikeforce heavyweight champ, Cormier had the experience with the bigger guys that Jones doesn’t have. We’ve also seen the other side of the coin with Gustafsson and his not so successful move up after losing his first heavyweight fight against seasoned veteran Werdum.

There’s no doubt that Jones is perhaps one of the most talented fighters to ever take part in combat sports and despite his issues outside of the ring he has had incredible success at light heavyweight, but the bigger guys are a whole new challenge for him. It will be interesting to see if the style that had brought him so much success over the past decade will continue to be as effective, and if he is in fact slowing if it will take its toll against fighters that will be hitting much harder.

He’ll likely remain a betting favourite following the move however, his long standing reign at the top will have him remain a punters favourite as he has been his whole career and as MMA betting continues to rise in popularity there will be no shortage of takers on offering odds for his first step into heavyweight.

Success in his first fight could see him fast tracked to the top though, Dana has already confirmed that Jon could find himself in line for a title shot after Francis has had his rematch and who knows, after a dominant career in light heavyweight, maybe it’s Jon’s turn to be the baddest man on the planet and spend another decade at the top of heavyweight instead.

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