Jones continues push for Lesnar super-fight with Instagram post

Jon Jones holds up his championship belt during a news conference for UFC 200. (John Locher/AP)

With UFC king Conor McGregor set to take on boxing legend Floyd Mayweather Jr. later this month, the combat sports world has become mired in the pursuit of bank-breaking super-fights. So it should come as no surprise that the UFC’s pound-for-pound best, Jon ‘Bones’ Jones, wants in on the action.

Fresh off of a dominant return to the octagon that saw him knock out champion Daniel Cormier to reclaim the light heavyweight title, Jones has been on the hunt for a marquee match with WWE mainstay Brock Lesnar. After calling out Lesnar in the ring during his post-fight comments at UFC 214, Jones took to Instagram to fan the flames once again on Thursday, posting a fan-made fight poster previewing the potential super-fight:

A post shared by Jon Bones Jones (@jonnybones) on

The poster mock-up was originally created by user BoxingPower, posted with the caption ‘Do you think it will happen?’ before Jones re-posted it, earning over 100,000 likes on the photo within four hours.

Jones has been candid about his reasons for wanting to take on Lesnar, pointing to McGregor’s upcoming payday as the lead inspiration.

“It’s a big money fight,” Jones said on Jim Norton and Sam Roberts’ radio show on Monday. “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.”

There is one key obstacle, however, as Lesnar’s situation with USADA means such a fight wouldn’t be happening any time soon.

“I haven’t really looked into Brock Lesnar’s situation too much but I know that once he enters the drug testing pool, he would have to complete six months of that,” Jones said. “Right now he’s refusing to join the pool. 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.”

Lesnar last competed in the UFC in July 2016, earning a unanimous decision victory over Mark Hunt, which was later ruled a ‘no contest’ due to Lesnar testing positive for a banned substance. The former NCAA All-American wrestler has five wins in the octagon, the last coming in 2010, alongside three losses.

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