Corey Anderson Takes Dig at Jon Jones, Says Champ’s Ducking “205 Pounders”

It remains to be seen when and who Jon Jones will fight next, but if it ends up being Chris Weidman, it will be interesting to see what Corey Anderson has to say about that…How come?

Jones recent title defenses

The renowned, light-heavyweight champ has fought twice in 2019, and in both cases, Jones defeated former middleweights. In March, “Bones” took on Anthony Smith at UFC 235, and worked his way to a clear cut, decision win.

At UFC 239 in July, Jones faced another former middleweight in Thiago Santos. The champ’s victory wasn’t so convincing, however, as one judge scored the fight for Santos. The feared striker also injured both of his knees early in the fight, which left some wondering how much more competitive the fight could have been (Jones has noted that he elected to stand and strike with Santos, rather than mix in his wrestling).

Anderson’s latest comments

Well, Anderson is preparing to fight rising star, Johnny Walker at UFC 244 next month. While talking to MMA Fighting recently about Jones, the light-heavyweight contender said this (quotes via MMA Mania):

“He likes beating up middleweights,” Anderson claimed. “He don’t want to fight nobody at 205. All the 205 pounders coming up now are actually threats. But he’s going to go and fight smaller guys, these young guys who aren’t even in the 205 division.

“Anthony Smith, “Marreta,” who are from 85 making him look great,” he continued.

“But when you put it on paper, they shouldn’t have been in the contest, anyway. I mean look at who they lost to at 185.”

It’s an interesting argument. Although, it’s worth noting that both Smith and Santos took out some top contenders at 205, before getting a title shot. Both men did take losses in the middleweight division, as Anderson noted, and they may have benefited from the timing of their runs at 205.

Further, before those fights, Jones defeated a series of noteworthy, light-heavyweights, including former heavyweight champ Daniel Cormier and Alexander Gustafsson. So, does Anderson really think Jones is actively avoiding fights with top 205’ers? Maybe not right?

If Anderson can halt the rise of Walker on November 2nd, it will be really interesting to see what comes next for him. Currently he’s ranked #7, so ordinarily, that may not put you in a title fight. But, Jones has already defeated four of the men ranked ahead of Anderson.

The #4 ranked Reyes is fighting former middleweight champ Chris Weidman on October 18th, and some believe the winner of that bout could get tapped to face Jones. Jan Blachowicz, who took out Luke Rockhold in his last outing, is ranked #5. If he can beat “Jacare” Souza on November 16th, he could also be in the mix.