JON JONES has vowed that he will have the UFC Heavyweight title around his waist by 2022.
The ex-205lb king will make his eagerly awaited debut in the division against Ciryl Gane, the winner of the heavyweight title unification bout next month between Francis Ngannou (left) and Ciryl Gane (right).
Jon Jones gave up the 205lb title in August to pursue the UFC light-heavyweight title
Jones, who spent almost two years training on the sidelines, is optimistic that he will be able to defeat the winner of UFC 270.
On Instagram, he wrote: "I promised I'll be champion in 2022. That's exactly what it's going to look like."
"I feel like a jumper in three weight classes. Going from competing at 205 to 265 lbs is not an easy task.
"Nothing is ever easy, but I have patience and I am working every day to achieve my goals."
Jones, 34 years old, would have fought for this title if he had not continued to gain weight and become accustomed to his new body.
SunSport recently heard from Richard Schaefer, his advisor and former boxing promoter: "When Jon started to get involved, we had to, sort of repair the relationship between Jon and the UFC.
"And I had always had a great relation with Dana White. He's a friend of mys and Hunter Campbell too.
"So, I was able repair that relationship.
Jon understood that Twitter and Twitter feuds back and forth are not conducive to fighting. He also understood that.
"He understood, and we achieved that.
"Then I made great progress in getting the UFC to allow Jon fight in his next fight to compete for the UFC heavyweight title.
"Initially, we were targeting November, December."
Schaefer said, "Jon is kind of like the guy behind [points at a photograph], Bernard Hopkins], very organized in his preparations.
He felt that he needed to take a bit longer to gain the right amount of muscle mass.
He's a little over 260 now and wanted to gain 275lbs.
"Don't just gain weight. Gain weight smartly and you will still be explosive."
"So he required a little more time.
"The UFC was again on board, and we were beginning to talk about a structure for that big heavyweight bout."
Jones's return to the Octagon was in serious doubt after he was arrested in September with misdemeanour battery domestic abuse and injuring/tampering a vehicle.
However, the former pound-for pound king reached an agreement with Nevada prosecutors, and pleaded no contest to the misdemeanour charge for destruction of property valued between PS18-PS37.
Court documents show that the MMA veteran was ordered by the court to pay PS562 as restitution to his victim and to undergo anger management counselling.
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