It’s been a rough couple years for Jon Jones fans. The longest reigning light heavyweight champion in the promotion’s history has spent the last 24+ months watching fights from the sidelines (when he hasn’t been in a police holding cell). And that’s coming on the heels of two widely disputed title defenses, against Thiago Santos and Dominick Reyes.
The real driving force of all this time away from fighting, however, hasn’t been legal trouble, or competitive woes—but instead an ongoing contract battle with the UFC. Jones has been teasing a move to the heavyweight division for years now.