UFC light heavyweight champion Jon Jones is hopeful an octagon encounter with Brock Lesnar will eventually come to fruition. However, he’s also preparing for the possibility it won’t.

Jones (23-1 MMA, 17-1 UFC), who regained the 205-pound belt with a third-round knockout of Daniel Cormier at UFC 214 last month, called out Lesnar (5-3 MMA, 4-3 UFC) following his victory, further fueling the hype for a potential matchup.

The subject of a Jones vs. Lesnar fight was first broached early in UFC 214 fight week when a fan asked “Bones” about it during a Facebook Live Q&A. Once it came up, though, he began to give it serious consideration, and from there the topic took on a life of its own.

“I had no intentions of fighting Brock Lesnar – he wasn’t on my radar,” Jones told MMAjunkie. “It’s honestly not even my style to call out people. People were asking me on Facebook Live. I didn’t expect it to go anywhere. There was only like 30 viewers logged in at the time. Little did I know Facebook Live actually records. I was just speaking freely and loosely. I got asked about Brock, and it went back to his camp, and they released a statement right away, and it kind of took off from there.”

The timing of it all is curious. Lesnar, who is typically borderline inaccessible to the media, has responded to Jones, the No. 1-ranked fighter in the latest USA TODAY Sports/MMAjunkie MMA pound-for-pound rankings, at every turn. He’s warned Jones to “be careful” what he wishes for, but whether he’s serious about another UFC comeback remains to be seen.

Lesnar has fought just once since December 2011, defeating Mark Hunt in July 2016 at UFC 200 in a result that was later overturned to a no-contest when Lesnar flunked multiple drug tests around the time of the bout. Lesnar still owes the U.S. Anti-Doping Agency (USADA) more than six months of suspension time after retiring in February, which means a comeback is still far off.

Moreover, talk of Lesnar fighting for the UFC comes up on almost a yearly basis. He signs short-term contracts with WWE, and rumors of switching professions comes up each time a new negotiation period surfaces. His current deal is reportedly done after WrestleMania in April.

With that knowledge in mind, Jones knows he could simply be part of Lesnar’s ploy to maximize his next contract with WWE. However, he thinks a UFC return to fight him would be a massive financial opportunity, as well.

“I could see it being a leverage point to get paid the bigger bucks to stick around (with WWE) or come over to the UFC,” Jones said. “Either way, I think it would be great if he comes over to the UFC to get a gigantic payday, probably his biggest UFC payday. Now he has this as a leverage point from whichever direction he decides to go in. Good for Brock to have options.”

Jones said given the entire scope of the situation, he’s unlikely to fight Lesnar next. He’s still waiting on word of his next opponent but told MMAjunkie he’s open to a long-awaited rematch with Alexander Gustafsson, just not at UFC 217 in New York City.

Whatever comes in Jones’ future is going to be a significant moment as he looks to make his second UFC title reign better than the first. When it comes to big-fight opportunities, though, especially ones where he likes his chances of winning, Lesnar sits atop the mountain.

“I asked my coaches how they felt about it and everyone said, ‘You know what, Jon? That’s a very winnable fight, and it’s such a huge payday – why not?'” Jones said. “I just kept it going and have been entertaining it, and now it’s taken off. It’s something that could be in the works.”

Jones is so interested in the fight, in fact, that he may consider crashing Lesnar’s upcoming Universal Title defense at WWE SummerSlam in Brooklyn, N.Y., on Aug. 27 (via Twitter):

It's crossed my mind https://t.co/xlnbywH1y2 — Jon Bones Jones (@JonnyBones) August 9, 2017

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