UFC heavyweight champion Jon Jones recently dropped the most promising update about his return on social media, and as soon as the sharks at the 265 lbs division smelled blood, they began circling the champion! Jones was barely in the Octagon for two minutes at UFC 285 before securing the vacant heavyweight title after a three-year hiatus.

An unfortunate injury derailed his plans for his maiden HW title defense at UFC 295, sending him into inactivity for almost a year. Now that he is well on the road to recovery, Jon Jones made a social media announcement in typical Jones style, announcing his intent to return at the same event he had to pull out of last year.

As per the latest buzz, Jones is finally set to face Stipe Miocic at UFC 306, a fight originally planned for November 2023, at Madison Square Garden. Now, that the fight is reportedly back on, scheduled for November 9th at the same venue with the same opponent, Jones’ wrote in his social media announcement, “The Red Corner, my Office.#NOV9.”

This news caught the attention of the #3 ranked UFC heavyweight contender, Alexander Volkov, who took a playful jab at Jones by reposting the same social media announcement. Volkov took a jab at him by posting on Instagram, “Blue Corner, My Office. #NOV9.”

Here, the “Red Corner” implies that the fighter positioned there has more leverage to win the fight, typically based on a higher record or other factors. In title fights, the title defender traditionally occupies the Red Corner, while the challenger takes the Blue Corner, as mentioned earlier.

Volkov has thrown his hat into the heavyweight title picture after successfully overcoming Sergei Pavlovich in his last outing. This adds him to the list of potential challengers for Jones, where Stipe Miocic, interim HW champion Tom Aspinall, and LHW champion Alex Pereira vie for the opportunity at ‘Bones.’

However, this is not the only potential fight hyping the combat sports industry right now. After Dana White‘s visit to Saudi Arabia and meeting with Saudi sports promoter Turki Alalshikh, the idea of a cross-promotion fight between PFL and UFC emerged. They discussed the possibility of a fight between Jon Jones and Francis Ngannou.

Could Jon Jones feature in the UFC’s first cross-promotion fight?

It’s a historical fact that Dana White has always shied away from co-promoting events, even when there are astonishing fights on the card. However, the success of UFC Saudi Arabia and the creation of a new revenue stream will be highlighted in the upcoming UFC 306, which has been rebranded Riyadh Season Noche UFC.

All thanks to Turki Alalshikh, who motivates Dana White to consider potential cross-promotion events, which could even involve PFL’s Francis Ngannou. Ngannou last year vacated his UFC heavyweight title to pursue boxing, which opened the door for Ciryl Gane vs. Jon Jones for the vacant title, ultimately won by Jones.

At the UFC 303 post-fight presser, Dana White gave an interesting response about a cross-promotion event involving Ngannou, saying, “I respect what he has done with boxing. This is the only guy that could pull this off and make these big fights. And the fights are good, you don’t have guys coming in and avoiding fights so they can get to the next payday.”

He continued, “What this guy [Turki Alalshikh] has done in a short amount of time is pretty incredible. So we’re obviously talking about lots of different options with this guy. I respect him. I like him, so we will see what the future holds.” 

What are your thoughts on these recent Jon Jones-centric developments? Which fights would you like to see before he hangs it up? Let us know in the comments.