UFC Hall of Fame inductee Vitor Belfort wants to book a fight between Jon Jones and Anthony Joshua.
Jones and Joshua are two of the most respected fighters in their respective fields, with ‘Bones’ currently reigning as UFC’s heavyweight world champion while Joshua is a former two-time unified heavyweight boxing champion and an Olympic gold medalist.
Understandably, their two worlds have never crossed, but Belfort, an Octagon icon in his own right, hopes to one day bring the two fighters together for an event that he believes would break pay-per-view records.
“I would get Jon Jones and say, ‘Jones, let’s challenge the British fighter, Anthony Joshua,” Belfort said during an appearance on The Ariel Helwani Show. “Let’s ask him to come and box with you on these gloves. No fingers exposed, it’s not dirty boxing, nothing. You’re just going to use your hands. You guys are going to box 12 rounds, three-minute rounds, but the rule is, you’ll be able to grab his hand, you’ll be able to grab his head and punch him in the clinch.
“I think that will be the fight that will break pay-per-view, that will go viral, especially now with Dana promoting boxing. I think we’ve got to level it up, you know, create the 50/50. We MMA athletes always went there and boxed with them. Now let’s bring it to the middle. Let’s meet in the middle. Jon Jones is the perfect guy to make that fight on the BMA gloves.
Belfort wants to see Jon Jones and AJ compete in a real ‘manhood fight’
“My dream, Ariel, is to—I patented this glove, as you know, I’m going to send one to you,” Belfort continued. “It’s called BMA. It’s creating a boxing fight where we MMA guys can grab the hands in the clinch. No elbows, no takedowns, just hands. Just men—let’s see who has the best hands in a real fight, in a real grabbing, manhood fight. That would be my dream. I would love to launch that kind of event. I hope Dana White one day can put that together.
As intriguing as it sounds, everyone knows that getting Jon Jones to sign on the dotted line for a fight is no easy task. Just ask Tom Aspinall, the longest-reigning interim champion in UFC history.
