Chris Weidman believes he can ‘skip the rankings’ and fight Jon Jones next

Former UFC middleweight champion Chris Weidman makes his light heavyweight debut next weekend in the main event of UFC Boston against top-ranked contender Dominick Reyes. It’s a huge opportunity for Weidman, and he knows it. According to Weidman, a win over Reyes would immediately catapult him into the top-five and get him closer to a matchup against UFC light heavyweight champion Jon Jones

Weidman spoke to UFC Unfiltered recently and said he believes a win over Reyes would allow him to skip the line and get a matchup against Jones sooner than expected.

“If it’s up to me, I dominate Dominick Reyes and I go against Jon Jones. That’s the goal. I want to beat the best,” Weidman said.

“All the guys kind of ranked in the top five, I feel like Jon Jones has kind of beat most of them already. It does kind of give me the ability to kind of skip the rankings a little bit and jump up there. If the UFC and the fans and everyone thinks it makes sense. But first thing’s first, I gotta prove myself in the weight class. Otherwise none of this matters.”

Weidman is entering the UFC light heavyweight division coming off of a knockout loss to Ronaldo “Jacare” Souza last year at 230. He’s lost four of his last five fights overall, which prompted the move up to light heavyweight for a fresh start. The New York native was the UFC middleweight champion from July 2013 to December 2015.

“The All-American” has been vocal in recent weeks about taking on Jones, who is currently without an opponent. Weidman said recently that he believes he has the blueprint to beat Jones — although Jones doesn’t seem to buy it. If he can get by Reyes, he might just get the opportunity to show the world what he’s made of.

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This article first appeared on BJPENN.COM on 10/7/2019.