Phil Davis interested in seeing how badly Jon Jones would lose at heavyweight

Phil Davis

Following Jon Jones’ UFC 182 victory over Daniel Cormier, the idea of the light heavyweight kingpin making the jump to heavyweight was floated once again.

Jones said that he would be willing to take a bout with oft injured heavyweight champion Cain Velasquez “in a heartbeat.” The idea of Jones vs. Velasquez going down is appealing on a single level to fellow light heavyweight Phil Davis.

“He can dip and dodge and some guys can go up and down in weight classes,” Davis (13-2 MMA, 9-2 UFC) told MMAjunkie Radio.

Davis, who fights Ryan Bader (18-4 MMA, 11-4 UFC) this Saturday on the UFC on FOX 14 event from Stockholm (FOX, 8 p.m. ET), doesn’t feel the move would work out well for Jones. “You know, he’s welcome to try his hand at that. Part of me wants him to see how badly he would lose at heavyweight.”

To the former NCAA wrestling champ, a heavyweight fight between Jones and Velasquez (13-1 MMA, 11-1 UFC) would quickly set Jones’ mind right, “Cain Velasquez would completely change his mind about being a heavyweight.”

Saturday will see Davis attempting to win his second fight in a row following a lopsided loss to UFC on FOX 14 headliner Anthony Johnson last April that snapped a three-fight winning streak and derailed an attempt to end up in a title fight in 2015.

Despite the setback and whatever personal humor he may find in the idea of Jones at heavyweight, Davis would still like to be the one to wrest the title from Jones. “Truthfully, I’d rather be the guy that takes him off his throne.”

UFC on FOX 14 takes place Saturday at Tele2 Arena in Stockholm, Alexander Gustafsson’s home city in Sweden. The main card airs live on FOX (8 p.m. ET) following prelims on FOX Sports 1 (5 p.m. ET) and UFC Fight Pass (4 p.m. ET).

For more on UFC on FOX 14, check out the UFC Rumors of the site.