Curtis Blaydes believes UFC heavyweight champion Jon Jones can compete until his late thirties.
Jones recently became a two-weight champion last month after easily submitting Ciryl Gane in the first round of their vacant heavyweight title fight at UFC 285.
It was notably Jones' heavyweight debut as well as his first fight since February 2020. The win also further cemented Jones as the greatest MMA fighter in the minds of many observers and Blaydes seems to be among them.
With Jones turning 36 later this year, Blaydes believes “Bones” is in the same stratosphere as LeBron James, Tom Brady and Rafael Nadal where he can continue competing at the highest level well into his late thirties.
That is one of the reasons why Blaydes is looking to compete against him.
“I think that would be a fantastic matchup and I hope it happens,” Blaydes told MMA Fighting. “I believe it in a lot more right now than I did a year and a half ago.
“He can hang out until 38 easily, maybe even push it to 39. He’s in that category of LeBron [James], Tom Brady, Rafael Nadal, the outliers. He can fight for as long as his mind is in it.”
While Jones easily dispatched of Gane by taking him down and submitting him, we didn't really learn much about him as a heavyweight fighter given how short the fight was.
Additionally, Gane is not the best on the ground while Blaydes specializes there with his outstanding wrestling, having scored the most takedowns in UFC heavyweight history with 62.
Those are among the reasons why the Chicago native feels he's a bad matchup for Jones.
“For all those reasons [I’m the toughest matchup]— I have the size, I have the wrestling, I have the athleticism, I have the speed, I have the agility,” Blaydes added. “I have all the things you need to match up with a talent like Jon Jones.
“I know he has the reach, his arms are longer than my reach. I would have to find a way to get in that zone type of range and I might have to use elbows, I might have to get in the clinch but I believe I could take him down. I believe once I take anyone down, the odds are in my favor.”
For now, Blaydes needs to focus on Sergei Pavlovich who he faces in the UFC Vegas 71 headliner this upcoming Saturday night.
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