If Jon Jones really moved up to HW.

I don't think it's a too much of a stretch to imagine Jon Jones moving up to HW, maybe within 12 months.  I'd like to see him fight Dan Henderson, whom I think will give him not much trouble.

I'd also like to see him fight Alexander Gustafsson.  I think Alex is coming of age in an MMA sense and might give Jon a good fight, even if I can't really see him beating him.

So, seeing as Jon is fast running out of credible, viable contenders at LHW, I assume he will be moving up in about a year's time.  And when he does, whom do you think he should be looking at initially?

I think he should not fight Junior, Cain, Alistar or Shane right off the bat.

I am thinking his perfect first fight at HW would be Frank Mir.  Frank is more than competitive on his feet and on the ground.

And after that, Roy Nelson, Matt Mitrione, Brandan Schaub and Stefan Struve would make for interesting fights.  I think Jon Jones would beat all of them.  And after them, bring on the Big Boys!

Any thoughts?  Discuss.

* Edited at 08.09.2012, 4:13 PM ET *

Doesn't really make sense.Why would he fight Mir then start fighting lower ranked guys like Nelson,Mitrione,and Schaub?

Wonder if Malki Kawa would allow them to fight 

I agree that a fight with Frank Mir for his first fight at HW would make sense assuming he was moving up after vacating the belt.  Gotta disagree with his next possible opponents though.  They would all be a step down from Frank Mir.  If anything, he should get either a contender fight or even a title shot after beating Mir depending on where Mir sits in the standings.

If Jones beat Mir, I am not sure if the UFC would offer him a title shot.  And I'm not sure he would be ready for one.  So, I offered the other list as a menu to tune him up for the big fights.

To fight one of the lesser ranked guys as his first fight would not hold enough interest.  Mir would be a good first fight, and then after that to better establish himself.  

Just because he is dominant at LHW, doesn't automatically mean he would be ready for the best, elite HWs, even after he beat Mir.

So, I'm advising a safe, go-slow approach.

* Edited at 08.09.2012, 4:10 PM ET *

Even though Frank Mir beat Roy Nelson by UD, Roy is not that far a step down from Frank.

But instead of criticizing my menu, I started this thread to see YOUR sequence of fighters.  

I also think he would win against any of the fighters you mentioned. Bones vs JDS would be a stupendous super fight. 

* Edited at 08.09.2012, 4:46 PM ET *

@MadMike  You forgot to give your recommendations of who he should fight and in what sequence.

@Bill I think we all agree with you except it should be someone like Roy/Meathead then Mir :P

I like Stipe for Bones first fight in HW, Stipe is on a good streak has hype, is getting better and can take a punch, I think that'd be a good fight for both, If Jones defeats him I think  Struve would be a good match and after that Browne, and if Jones keeps winning the he's ready for the big guns, Cain, Overeem, Cormier, JDS. But I'm not sure he would get past Browne

I don't see Jon Jones becoming HW champion until he puts on more weight.  I think he could go up as far as 230-235, but it would need to be muscle.  

I don't see him defeating Cain, Junior or Overeem.  I think he would beat Mir, Nelson, Struve, Schaub and Mitrione.

I think it would be hard to call Shane Carwin.  Both wrestle great and hit like hammers.  But the age difference might be the decisive factor in Jones' favor.

* Edited at 08.09.2012, 6:43 PM ET *

I think Jon Jones' walk around weight is about 225-230 atm Bill, maybe 220 when he is peak super slim shape. I think he could easily hit 240/245 with some bulking up. Hell, his calves have the potential to gain 30 pounds between em they're so small :P

@Bill I agree with you, Jones need to put more weight, but I think that will affect his fighting style a bit, he won't be as fast and he will get tired faster, specially when trying to manhandle bigger guys with good wrestling skills like Carwin. I don't think he will succeed like he does in LHW, but he definetly will be hard to ignore. My guess is that after a few years in HW he will come back to his current weight, he will miss having the belt and the props it comes with. After all he has said so himself he didn't went into football like his brothers because he is to small for it, same goes for HW, he is tall and has long limbs but his body frame is small and unless he beefs up like Overeem I don't think he will do well against the elite HW's

Hope he goes to Heavyweight. Then I am guaranteed to see him get KTFO.

Agreed with @Russ he walks around at 230 or something, he just needs to bulk them chicken legs up a bit, imagine a Gonzaga low kick to those legs. They would fly away...without Jones attached to them.

* Edited at 08.09.2012, 6:22 PM ET *

LynxGuy agreed with me that Jones vs. Mir would be a good, appropriate 1st fight in HW.  But is throwing him in the deep end with Mir too soon?  Are we getting ahead of ourselves?

Maybe he could build up to the Big Boys.  Even a supremely gifted fighter like Jones might require a transition phase to acclimate to the greater firepower of the best, elite HWs.

I think a fight with Frank Mir would be freaking AWESOME!  It would be so refreshing to see Jones finally fighting someone on his own level.  Where you don't know the outcome before the fight begins.

Jones surely can't be that much smaller than JDS, and he handles the big guys fine.

Been a long time since we had a two division champion, and we have never had one for bothdivisions consecutively. 

No way Jones can beat fighters like Cain, Allistair, Daniel C, and especially not JDS.
He would have some success I believe but no way could he make a legit title run at heavyweight. 

Shogun was going to snap his skinny legs, Rampage was going to take his head off, Machida was going to elucify his way to a win, Rashad was going to use his experience to get the win, the Hendo bomb will land. Now the HW predictions begin.

I dont think Jones will move up to HW. Why? 
Well first of all when he talked about a fight with Silva, he was veeeery serious about his "legacy". In short we was afraid of getting the L from Silva.
Now he has signed the contract with Nike, and this surely will not affect his ****yness in a good manner. In other words he will, even more, try to hold on to winning streaks. A lot of eyes will be on him, and he knows that a move to HW could spell disaster for his record. I don't know, fighting a "205" guy then fighting a "240-265" pound guy must make some difference.

But to be on topic.
 If he will move someday to HW, I would give him Struve. Tall lenghty guy, with a good ground game. That would be interesting. If he gets past Struve in a good manner gim him Browne/Nogueira/Antonio Silva. If he gets past one of these then Carwin/Werdum/Mir/Cormier, if past one of these Overeem/Cain/JDS. Considering that one of the last guys are the champ, only after he beats one of Overeem/Cain/JDS he should face the champ.

If he passes Struve in a decission or what so ever, I'd give him Roy/Miocic/Hunt

If he loses to Struve, then hype derailed, give him Rothwell/Kongo/Gonzaga

If he loses badly to struve : Mitrione/Jordan/Russow/Barry

My 2 cents