Jan Blachowicz accuses UFC legend Jon Jones: "He's afraid to lose so much"

Former light heavyweight champion Jan Blachowicz has a theory on why Jon Jones hasn’t fought in over two years.

“Bones” Jones hasn’t graced the octagon since February 2020 when he defeated Dominick Reyes by a controversial and close decision. Many fans believe the fight to be Jones’s first real loss in the sport, and some go so far as to claim that his prime is now a thing of the past. When “Bones” was at his best, he tore through the light heavyweight division with wins over fighters such as Mauricio Rua, Quinton Jackson, Lyoto Machida, Daniel Cormier, and Alexander Gustafsson.

Since the Reyes fight, the 35-year-old former light heavyweight champion has set a new goal for himself: a long awaited heavyweight debut. However, over two years have gone by since Jones first revealed his plans to move up in weight. Salary negotiations with the UFC could be a contributing factor to Jones’s long time away from fighting, but ex champion Blachowicz believes there’s a simpler explanation at the root of it all.

“I don’t believe Jon Jones will be back to fighting anymore,” Blachowicz told Middle Easy. “I think he’s afraid to lose so much that he will do everything to not come back. There was a time when he dominate completely our division. After a couple of years, everybody catch his level, and it was very hard for him to win the fight. Like with Dominick Reyes, it was a very, very close fight. Everybody who fight against him, it was a close fight. Closer and closer.

“So, I think he started feeling that he’s not so good anymore, that we are growing up, catching his level, and finally someone will stop him. I think the reason he doesn’t want to fight is that he’s afraid to lose.”

"He's afraid to lose"

Former UFC champion @JanBlachowicz isn't sure we'll ever see Jon Jones fight again

Full interview via @MiddleEasy 👇https://t.co/cyku80odcd pic.twitter.com/RVzzvB4eLE

— James Lynch (@LynchOnSports) November 6, 2022

Blachowicz isn’t the first to speculate on the reasons for Jones’s inactivity. Jones himself insists that he will be returning to action soon, maybe even before year’s end. According to MMA journalist Ariel Helwani, the UFC is trying to put together a fight between Jones and the former heavyweight champion Stipe Miocic for UFC 282. Blachowicz will take on top-ranked Magomed Ankalaev at the same event.

I’m preparing to fight Stipe December 10 in Las Vegas. Not really sure what’s going on between Stipe and the UFC but I’m ready to compete! I’m going to control what I can and stay in shape. https://t.co/3Ouu9Xk8Ns

— BONY (@JonnyBones) October 25, 2022