Jon Jones calls out Brock Lesnar after UFC 214 win

The hype for a potential Jon Jones vs. Brock Lesnar superfight isn’t stopping any time soon.

After defeating Daniel Cormier at UFC 214 on Saturday night, Jones took some of his post-fight interview time to challenge the WWE Universal Champion. “Brock Lesnar,” Jones said. “If you want to know what it feels like to get your ass kicked by a guy who weighs 40 pounds less than you, meet me in the Octagon.”

Lesnar then responded to Jones calling him out. “Be careful what you wish for, young man,” he said in an interview with the Associated Press.

Speculation about Jones vs. Lesnar began as soon as rumors started to surface about Lesnar making a UFC return, with both fighters then confirming that they were interested in the matchup. Lesnar told Jones to focus on Cormier then, but Jones’ win would seem to inch the dream fight closer to reality.

One of the hurdles that remains is that Lesnar is currently under a one-year suspension for drug test failures surrounding his UFC 200 fight against Mark Hunt. That suspension was frozen when Lesnar “retired” from MMA in February, and the clock would only start counting down again if Lesnar enters himself back into the USADA drug testing pool.

The UFC’s Jeff Novitzky denied that Lesnar had officially entered back into the pool on July 19th. It’s not clear whether he would be eligible to return by the UFC’s last show of 2017 on December 30th or if a return would have to wait until 2018 if he decides to come back.

Another possible hurdle is Lesnar’s WWE contract. WWE would have to approve Lesnar fighting again while under a deal with them, but the three-year contract that he signed in 2015 is up after next year’s WrestleMania.

Jones reclaimed the light heavyweight title by knocking out Cormier in the third round on Saturday night. A fight against Lesnar would require Jones to at least temporarily move up to heavyweight.

While those are only some of the barriers that could prevent Lesnar vs. Jones from happening, a fight that once seemed to be an impossibility will be one of the things that everyone is talking about coming out of UFC 214.