LAS VEGAS – If Jon Jones was presented with an equal opportunity to fight either Brock Lesnar or Daniel Cormier in a heavyweight bout, he said it wouldn’t be that difficult of a decision.

“I’d take Brock Lesnar,” Jones told reporters, including MMAjunkie, at UFC 235 media day. “I’d take Brock Lesnar because he brings in a whole different audience and people have already seen me make ‘DC’ cry twice already. I’ve got nothing against that guy. Let him have his heavyweight dominance.”

Heavyweight has always been a tricky topic for Jones, who puts his light heavyweight strap on the line against Anthony Smith (31-13 MMA, 7-3 UFC) in Saturday’s UFC 235 pay-per-view headliner at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas. From the early stages of arguably the greatest career in company history, “Bones” has said competing in the UFC’s biggest weight class was part of his plans.

Jones’ opinion about making that move has evolved over the years, though. After regaining the 205-pound strap against Alexander Gustafsson at UFC 232 in December, he expressed the desire to be busy in 2019 with multiple defenses of his belt.

He’s a more than 12-1 betting favorite against Smith, though, and there’s a desire to see him taking on greater challenges, such as a trilogy bout with heavyweight champ Cormier (22-1 MMA, 11-1 UFC). Jones has already beaten “DC” twice at light heavyweight, and he said going up to the division where Cormier has shown arguably his best work is a risk that deserves a significant reward.

“The reason why I think it would cost more for me is because Daniel Cormier is considered by most people, by some people I should say, as the greatest of all-time,” Jones said. “And to fight the greatest of all-time when he’s weighing 30 pounds more than me, it’s dangerous no matter who you are. I want to make it worth my while because ultimately my health is on the line.”

A third fight against his longtime rival seems more probable than current WWE superstar and champion Lesnar (5-3 MMA, 4-3 UFC), whose status remains somewhat of a mastery after being positioned as next to fight Cormier since July. Jones would like a piece of Lesnar himself, but if Cormier ends up being an eventual heavyweight opponent, the UFC champ said the promotion must cough up the dough.

“I don’t want to show my hand (of how much I want),” Jones said. “I’m sure the UFC would be like, ‘He said, what?’ It would have to make so much sense. The UFC just got bought for like $4.2 billion, so the money is there.”

For more on UFC 235, check out the UFC Rumors section of the site.