UFC 235 headliner Jon Jones running out of worthy opponents
For the last several years, the greatest threat to Jon Jones’ career was considered the fighter himself.
Over the last few months, that’s flipped to others — or, more accurately, the lack of others.
Despite having sat out due to suspension for more than a year leading up to his comeback fight in December, the UFC light heavyweight champion has run out of viable contenders to face.
Jones will enter his next fight as the biggest betting favorite of his career, opening as high as minus-1400 (risking $14 to win $1) against Anthony Smith in their main-event bout at UFC 235 on March 2 at T-mobile Arena.
“It’s flattering, but at the end of the day, it’s a very dangerous position to be in when you’re fighting a guy who no one expects to do well,” Jones said at a news conference formally announcing the card Thursday evening at MGM Grand.
Smith is a fine fighter, but not someone who has ever shown a sniff of anything that could remotely trouble a generational talent like Jones. Smith was cut from the UFC in 2013 before managing a comeback three years later to start a relatively uneventful run at middleweight.
Smith went 4-2 at 185 pounds, peaking with a knockout over 39-year-old former Bellator champion Hector Lombard, before moving up to light heavyweight. After putting on 20 pounds in fighting weight, Smith continued on his success against past-their-prime veterans — scoring vicious first-round knockouts of former champions Rashad Evans and Mauricio “Shogun” Rua.
He supplemented those wins with an impressive upset of Volkan Oezdemir in the main event of UFC Fight Night 138 last October. It was a thrilling comeback thirdround submission victory, but looked a bit short of a performance that earns a title shot.
Jones himself admitted that he thought Smith still had to work to do to reach a championship level. But to Smith’s credit, he never stopped campaigning.
After Jones defeated Alexander Gustafsson via thirdround TKO at UFC 232, he and Smith had a brief confrontation on Fox Sports 1 that
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