The Boxing GOAT Wants the MMA GOAT for His Farewell. Jones vs Usyk Could Actually Happen

Oleksandr Usyk just did something nobody in boxing expected. The undisputed heavyweight champion, 25-0, the man who beat Joshua twice and Fury twice and unified every belt at cruiserweight before doing it again at heavyweight, vacated the WBA, WBC, and IBF titles on Thursday. Gave them all up voluntarily. Then announced he's having one "last dance" before retirement.

His advisor Sergey Lapin told Mike Coppinger at Ring Magazine who the two candidates are.

Deontay Wilder or Jon Jones.

Wilder is the preferred option. But Jones is on the list. The MMA GOAT who has been trying to escape his UFC contract all year is now being discussed as a potential opponent for the greatest heavyweight boxer of this generation's farewell fight.

And here's the part that actually makes it possible. If it happens under Zuffa Boxing, the UFC contract might not be a problem at all. Because Dana White owns both.

How Usyk Got Here

Usyk is 39 years old and has accomplished literally everything in boxing. Olympic gold medal at London 2012. Undisputed cruiserweight champion. Undisputed heavyweight champion. Beat every major heavyweight of his era. Joshua, Fury, Dubois, and most recently Rico Verhoeven in a crossover fight with kickboxing at Glory in Giza.

That Verhoeven fight is the detail that makes the Jones conversation actually possible. Usyk already crossed over. He fought a kickboxer under boxing rules in Egypt and won by controversial 11th round TKO. A lot of people thought Verhoeven was actually winning that fight. But the point is Usyk has already proven he's willing to step outside traditional boxing matchups for his legacy fights.

Now he's vacated every belt. Freed himself from mandatory defenses and the politics of sanctioning bodies. And his team is publicly saying Jones is on the shortlist for the farewell.

"Usyk has accomplished everything except a major USA fight," Lapin told Ring Magazine. Late 2026 or early 2027. In the United States. Against either the hardest punching heavyweight boxer of the last decade or the consensus greatest MMA fighter in history.

Jones Has Been Begging for a Way Out

The timeline on Jones this year reads like a man looking for any exit he can get from the UFC.

He came out of retirement for the White House card. Got stem cell treatment on his hips. Re entered the drug testing pool. Opened real negotiations with the UFC. They offered him $15 million. He was previously offered $30 million to fight Aspinall and so he said no. Dana told the world he was retired with bad hips.

Jones requested his release and the UFC said no.

He watched Ngannou's knockout on the Netflix card and immediately texted Tyron Woodley for the lawyer who helped set up McGregor vs Mayweather.

He signed with a Russian bare knuckle promotion. He's been attending IBA Bare Knuckle events. And just this weekend at one of those events, he told a reporter "I would love to fight both Gane and Pereira in the same night. Anytime, anywhere, any place."

The man is everywhere EXCEPT the UFC. And now the greatest heavyweight boxer alive is publicly saying Jones is on the shortlist for his retirement fight. The exit door Jones has been looking for might have just opened from the outside.

The Zuffa Boxing Loophole

Here's where it gets genuinely interesting for people who understand the business side.

Jones has six fights left on his UFC contract. The UFC has refused to release him. Under normal circumstances, that means he can't box anyone without the UFC's permission. McGregor needed UFC permission to fight Mayweather in 2017. The promotion only agreed because they got a cut of the revenue.

But Dana White launched Zuffa Boxing in 2026. It's a separate promotion but it's owned by the same company. TKO Group Holdings. Same CEO with the same infrastructure. If Usyk vs Jones happened under the Zuffa Boxing banner, the UFC contract might not be an obstacle because the fight would technically be within the TKO family of promotions.

Dana doesn't need to release Jones to let him box under Zuffa Boxing. He just needs to say yes. And the revenue from Usyk vs Jones would be massive enough that "yes" becomes a lot easier to say even after everything that happened with the $15 million dispute.

Would Dana do it after Jones publicly trashed him over the White House card? After the stem cell treatment drama? After the release request? Maybe. If the money is right for sure. And the money for Usyk vs Jones in the United States would absolutely be right.

Eddie Hearn Is Involved (Of Course)

Because this story wasn't complicated enough, Hearn leaked Usyk's farewell intentions at the Jaron Ennis vs Xander Zayas fight in Brooklyn on Saturday night.

Hearn told DAZN's Chris Mannix that Usyk wants to fight Wilder. But Hearn is also the man who represents Aspinall, just signed Ian Garry, has been going to war with Dana for months, and is now involved in the promotional side of Usyk's farewell.

If the fight is Jones under Zuffa Boxing, Hearn is on the outside looking in. Dana controls both sides. But if the fight is Jones under Matchroom or an independent promotion, Hearn is the one making the deal and Dana has to either cooperate or watch Jones fight outside his ecosystem entirely.

The chess match that's been building between Hearn and Dana all year just added the biggest piece yet. The MMA GOAT vs the boxing GOAT. And both promoters want to be the one holding the contract when it happens.

Would Jones Actually Do It

Jones has zero professional boxing matches. His striking in MMA is built around distance management, oblique kicks, spinning elbows, clinch work, and dirty boxing. Take away the kicks, the elbows, the takedowns, and the cage, and you're left with a man who is one of the greatest combat athletes alive fighting under rules that neutralize most of what makes him great.

Usyk is a technical genius. Even at 39. Even coming off the Verhoeven fight that was closer than anyone expected. The man's footwork, combinations, and ring generalship are elite. Jones walking into a boxing ring against Usyk would be a massive stylistic disadvantage regardless of his athletic ability.

But would Jones care? The man has said he doesn't have a reason to fight anymore unless it's something spectacular. Usyk's farewell fight in the United States for a massive payday is spectacular. The competitive mismatch almost doesn't matter because the spectacle transcends the sport.

McGregor fought Mayweather knowing he'd probably lose. He made $100 million doing it. Jones vs Usyk would generate similar attention, similar revenue, and similar legacy conversation. The GOAT of MMA vs the GOAT of heavyweight boxing. The crossover fight that makes McGregor vs Mayweather look like a warmup.

Late 2026 or Early 2027

Lapin gave the timeline. Late this year or early next. In the United States. Usyk's team is actively working on it.

Wilder is preferred because he's a traditional boxing opponent and the only elite heavyweight Usyk never faced. That fight makes competitive sense. It completes the set.

But Jones is the spectacle fight. The one that crosses over into MMA, generates global conversation, and positions Usyk's farewell as a cultural event rather than just another boxing match. And Jones, sitting at home with six fights on a UFC contract he doesn't want to fulfill, might be more available than anyone realizes.

We've written about Jones trying to leave all year. The $15 million pay cut. The release request. The lawyer. The bare knuckle appearances. The RAF wrestling. Every move pointed toward a man looking for an exit.

Usyk's farewell might be that exit.

The MMA GOAT doesn't want to fight in the UFC anymore. The boxing GOAT wants one last dance. The promoter who owns both the UFC and Zuffa Boxing could make it happen with one phone call. And the whole thing could go down before April 2027 when McGregor hits free agency and the entire combat sports landscape shifts again.

Bones vs The Cat. Late 2026. Somebody is going to make that phone call.

Thanks for riding with CageLore. Stay locked in!