Jones: McGregor inspired me to call out Lesnar
Jon Jones: “I was inspired by Conor McGregor … Me versus Brock Lesnar is somewhat equivalent to Mayweather and McGregor.”
UFC light heavyweight champion Jon Jones appeared recently on the Jim and Sam Show, and explained his recent call out of former heavyweight champion Brock Lesnar.
It’s a big money fight, said Jones, as transcribed by Jed Meshew for MMA Fighting. I think I was inspired by Conor McGregor, to be honest with you. To just dare and to reach, reach higher. Me versus Brock Lesnar is somewhat equivalent to Mayweather and McGregor. A lot of people would assume that I would lose that fight. Brock Lesnar is super athletic. He was a Division I national wrestling champion. Yeah he’s older but he’s just a freak. He’s a rare talent. I don’t know what the betting odds would be on that one.
It’s just like, do the impossible. Be the David and Goliath story just the same way McGregor dares to compete against Floyd Mayweather. You know what, if you come up short, at least you have more balls than the average American that even step in there. But if you win, the glory that comes with beating a Floyd Mayweather or beating a Brock Lesnar, it’s huge.
Jones’ comparison is flawed. Mayweather opened as a -2200 favorite over McGregor when the fight was announced. By contrast, Jones is the -350 favorite over Lesnar. However, Lesnar is under suspension for an anti-doping violation, and it tolling. He has to enter the testing pool for over six months before he can fight again. And he’s not.
“Right now he’s refusing to join the pool,” said Jones. “I’m not accusing him of being on steroids or whatever, but I don’t see why you wouldn’t just start the process if you were being a clean athlete.
I don’t know what’s gonna happen with him, but I know Brock’s a great businessman and I know he knows that this would be huge money. I’m 40 pounds lighter than him so I’m sure that just the thought of being the first person to defeat me has to be running through his mind. And the pay day. So I’m sure the fight is gonna happen. It’s just gonna be a matter of time.
Jones did not sustain much damage in the Cormier fight so presumably wants to fight before six months after Lesnar starts PED testing. Look at the top 10 contenders, only one is an obvious choice:
1 Daniel Cormier
2 Alexander Gustafsson
3 Volkan Oezdemir
4 Glover Teixeira
5 Jimi Manuwa
6 Mauricio Rua
7 Ovince Saint Preux
8 Corey Anderson
9 Misha Cirkunov
10 Ilir Latifi
11 Rogerio Nogueira
12 Patrick Cummins
