Jon Jones agrees next defence of UFC light heavyweight title

Jon Jones' apparent interest in moving up to UFC heavyweight this summer lasted a matter of hours

Jones hinted early on Wednesday evening that he was open to the idea of meeting former UFC heavyweight champion Stipe Miocic in July and the interest was reciprocated. But no sooner had our curiosity been piqued than Jones reportedly agreed on the next defence of his UFC light heavyweight title. ESPN's Brett Okamoto has reported that 'Bones' will put his 205lbs belt on the line when he shares the Octagon with Thiago Santos at UFC 239 on July 6 in Las Vegas. UFC President Dana White has been a fan of that match-up for some time and it was he who told ESPN that Jones vs. Santos would take place on international fight week. As expected, Jones vs. Santos will headline UFC 239 while another title will be on the line in the co-main event as Amanda Nunes is set to return to bantamweight to defend her 135lbs crown against former champ Holly Holm. Nunes currently holds both the bantamweight and featherweight straps but Holm is the only former 135lbs champ over whom the Brazilian does not hold a win, having knocked out Ronda Rousey and submitted Miesha Tate in the first round back in 2016. While neither title fight is official, sources don't come better than Dana White and considering the plans in place for other champions, Jones vs. Santos and Nunes vs. Holm both absolutely make sense. We can expect matchmakers to stack UFC 239 but at the time of writing, the only other fight scheduled for the Las Vegas event is Luke Rockhold's 205lbs debut against Jan Blachowicz.