Jon Jones is riled up and ready to defend his light heavyweight title against Dominick Reyes in the main event of UFC 247 at the Toyota Center in Houston on Saturday night.
In the meantime, he couldn't help but grin when the topic of moving up to heavyweight came up.
ESPN's Ariel Helwani asked Jones on Monday about the chances that he'd make the jump up in weight if he defeats Reyes this weekend — and "Bones" met the question head on.
"It's a really good chance," Jones said. "Oh, yeah."
He even has an opponent in mind.
"I feel like I really want to fight Stipe Miocic," Jones said, targeting the reigning UFC heavyweight titleholder. "I feel like I could beat him."
When Helwani asked Jones if he'd want a tune-up fight before facing Miocic, "Bones" laughed.
"I don't think I would need a tune-up," Jones said. "I'm pretty tuned up. I'm pretty in tune.
"I feel like me at a lean 230 (pounds) is plenty," he continued. "I feel like I could totally beat him just based on his performances with DC (Daniel Cormier), our speed differences, my fight IQ, my versatility, my faith and confidence ... I think I'm the guy to beat him, for sure, and I want to strike while I'm feeling hot."
Jones proceeded to divert the conversation back to Reyes when Helwani asked if snatching the Miocic fight from rival Cormier has anything to do with him summoning the heavyweight champ.
In all, Jones even being willing to entertain the heavyweight picture this week shows how confident he is entering this title defense against Reyes.
Prior to sitting down with Helwani, Jones took to his Twitter account and explained why he believes Reyes suffers from a foggy mentality of "being a big fish in a small pond."