Walt Harris of the United States looks on prior to his Heavyweight bout during UFC Fight Night at VyStar Veterans Memorial Arena on May 16, 2020 in Jacksonville, Florida. (Photo by Douglas P. DeFelice/Getty Images)
Walt Harris takes on Alexander Volkov at UFC 254 but is open to fighting Jon Jones
UFC Heavyweight Walt Harris has a tough task on his hands at UFC 254 as he takes on Alexander Volkov.
Harris is coming off a loss to Alistair Overeem in his previous outing while Volkov also lost his last clash.
The 31-year-old Volkov has a record of 31 wins and eight losses while Harris has the number of losses but just 13 wins and one no contest.
Harris was speaking to the Schmo before his clash and believed he was the best striker in the division. That is saying something given that there is Francis Ngannou and Stipe Miocic, but Harris brought up Jon Jones too:
“I fell like I am the most athletic heavyweight and the best striker in the division. Jon just moved up so he could try to challenge that but I believe in my skill set when it comes to my striking.”
One problem for Jones has been finding a challenger in the Heavyweight division. Jones was keen to fight Ngannou at one stage but is also interested in taking the gold away from Miocic.
Jones vacated his Light Heavyweight title to move up and Harris was asked who should be his rival. Harris suggested that Ngannou would be a good battle but explained why he is open to facing Jones too:
“It is hard to say. Somebody with a name that size coming into the division, it is almost like they just need to be throw right into the mix right away.
“I think Francis [Ngannou] us probably the biggest name right now in the division in the fight that I think everybody kind of wants to see.
“Francis, me? After this one. I would love to fight him. I love Jon, that’s my homie but it’s business and that would only be good business for me, don’t know about him but me for sure.”
The 37-year-old Harris was also open to an interim title being on the line if Miocic wasn’t defending his crown.
Miocic beat Daniel Cormier at UFC 252 but there haven’t been any talks from his side of a title defence.
Ngannou and Jones both want the gold and it will be interesting to see what is the decision taken by the UFC regarding the top of the division.
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