Jon Jones has showed off a trimmer figure ahead of UFC 309.
The consensus greatest fighter in MMA history weighed 248lbs for his heavyweight debut, which saw him tap out Ciryl Gane in just over two minutes to become a two-weight champion at UFC 285 in March 2023.
Now he's just days away from defending his belt for the first time against former two-time champion Stipe Miocic, who he'll clash face in the main event of UFC 309 at New York's Madison Square Garden on Saturday night.
'Bones' appeared to be ripped and ready to go during his pre-fight photoshoot.
New photos of Jon Jones posing topless with his UFC belt are currently going viral.
The 37-year-old looks much slimmer than he did for his last fight after recently revealing his weight ahead of UFC 309.
"Right now, I'm pretty light. I'm like 235lbs," Jones told The New York Post.
"I bulked up, I got really strong and I felt how I was going to feel. I got that data down on how I would feel and now, more than ever, I feel I don't need all that size to win as a heavyweight. But I'm grateful for my decision."
"I weight-lift with heavyweights all the time and I compete with heavyweights all the time And being overpowered, usually, isn't my issue. So that's why I feel really good."
Jones has been dropping strong hints about a potential return to light heavyweight.
The American dominated at 205lbs for over a decade before stepping up a division last year.
Now he's refusing to defend his heavyweight belt against interim champion Tom Aspinall, and even talking about giving up his title in order to face Alex Pereira for the BMF strap.
On Wednesday, Jones mentioned former light heavyweight champion Jamahal Hill as a potential opponent as he talked about seeking 'super fights' after his clash with Miocic.
He said: "I could see myself, I could see myself after this entertaining super fights only."
"After this fight, if we get a dominant performance, I'm prepared to vacate the heavyweight championship and fight for fun. I want to fight for fun. I've had a big chip on my shoulder my entire career, just defend, defend, defend. I don't necessarily want it to be over, but I want to fight for fun."
"Just being like, not having this belt to protect but just fighting guys that I want to stylistically fight against. Just random fights. Jamahal Hill, me and him meet up at 220lbs and see what happens. Let's see what happens."
Even though Jones is planning to bring light heavyweight fighters to him, it seems unlikely that the UFC will be down for paying him a fortune to take meaningless catchweight fights.
So, he could be forced back down to 205lbs, or convinced to defend his belt against Aspinall in 2025.