Oleksandr Usyk eyeing ‘interesting’ Jon Jones MMA fight as Jake Paul snubbed

Oleksandr Usyk has opened the door to a potential crossover clash with Jon Jones in MMA.

The Ukrainian slickster is set to square off against kickboxing legend Rico Verhoeven on May 23 in the shadow of Egypt’s Pyramids of Giza.

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It marks Usyk’s first outing since his five-round demolition of Daniel Dubois in July and is expected to be the pound-for-pound king’s antepenultimate professional bout.

Earlier this month, Usyk declared that he intends to face the winner of Fabio Wardley and Dubois’ upcoming WBO heavyweight title fight before taking on Tyson Fury for a third time to close out his career.

More recently, Usyk has expressed a desire to transition to MMA.

There had even been some preliminary discussions with Jake Paul over a dust-up in the cage.

However, Usyk appears to have moved on from the matchup and is now eyeing a far sterner test.

“A fight with Jake Paul in MMA at this stage is not being considered,”  Lapin told Casinostugan. 

“But we are always open to creative and interesting collaborations in the future.

“If we are talking about crossover fights, a very interesting matchup could be against Jon Jones in the United States.

“The best heavyweight in MMA against one of the best boxers of his generation could become a very big event if organised properly.

“Who is the baddest man on the planet?”

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Jon Jones’ future is up in the air

Former two-weight UFC champion Jones hung up his gloves after defending the heavyweight belt against Stipe Miocic last November.

Days later, he reentered the company’s drug testing pool in pursuit of a spot on the UFC White House card.

UFC brass reportedly made an offer to stage Jones vs Alex Pereira on the unprecedented bill, but ‘Bones’ turned it down as the number was ‘too low’.

UFC president Dana White then came out and told assembled media: “Never, ever, ever, which I told you guys a hundred thousand times, was Jon Jones even remotely in my mind to fight at the White House.

“First of all, I’ve told you why I wouldn’t do it, and number two, some guy with Meta glasses on filmed him talking about his hips, [saying] that his hips are so bad.

“I don’t know if you guys saw that flag football game where he can barely run.

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“Jon Jones is retired because of his hips. He’s got arthritis in his hips. Add that on top of all the other reasons that I wouldn’t.”

Jones took exception to White’s comments and has since requested a release from his UFC contract.

“Yes, I have arthritis in my hip, and it’s painful, but that doesn’t mean I can’t fight,” Jones wrote on social media.

“So let me get this straight, if I had accepted the lowball offer, suddenly my hip would be fine, and I’d be on the White House card?

“That doesn’t make sense. I even received stem cell treatment last week to get ready for the White House card, and training camp was scheduled to start today. I was preparing to be ready.

“I understand business deals fall through sometimes, but going out publicly and saying things that aren’t true isn’t right.

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“After everything I’ve given to the UFC, the years, the title defences, the fights, hearing that I’m ‘done’ is disappointing.

“Especially when, as recently as Friday, UFC was calling me trying to get me on that White House card for a much lower number.

“If the UFC truly feels like I’m done, then I respectfully ask to be released from my contract today.”

Boxing schedule

For all the upcoming fights and results this year, check out talkSPORT.com’s  boxing schedule.