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Lynch's Mailbag: Will Jones fight Adesanya or Miocic in 2020?

Sean M. Haffey / Getty Images Sport / Getty

Welcome to Lynch's Mailbag, a weekly feature by senior MMA news editor James Lynch.

Send James a DM @LynchOnSports or an email at james.lynch@thescore.com to submit questions for next week's article. The following questions have been edited for clarity and grammar.

Is there a better chance Jon Jones fights Israel Adesanya or Stipe Miocic this year? - @Mass F

Though he's a heavy betting favorite, Jon Jones still needs to get past the undefeated Dominick Reyes at UFC 247 this Saturday. If the light heavyweight champion is successful, I'd say he's more likely to fight Miocic next.

Jones has expressed interest in a potential bout against Miocic at heavyweight, and there appear to be additional notable matchups for him in that division. That said, "Bones" has also mentioned a potential clash with Adesanya, but I don't see the UFC making that fight now considering "Stylebender" just won the middleweight title last year.

Who do you think Geoff Neal fights next? I would love him to face Michael Chiesa. - @JackAttackTO

I really like that matchup and I think Chiesa is the type of notable opponent Neal deserves at this stage of his career. Neal is coming off an impressive first-round TKO victory over Mike Perry at UFC 245, which pushed the 29-year-old's winning streak to seven straight.

Chiesa called out Colby Covington following his victory over Rafael dos Anjos at UFC Raleigh, but I don't see that fight happening. Neal, on the other hand, is ranked No. 11 in the welterweight division, while Chiesa is No. 7. It makes total sense to me.

Do you think Jon Jones will revert back to his roots and use his wrestling against Dominick Reyes? - Ajay Bajwa

I don't. I think there's a part of Jones that wants to put on an entertaining fight, and using his wrestling wouldn't guarantee that. He seems to have fallen in love with his standup over the last few fights.

I do think Jones will be fishing for a finish on Saturday; he went the distance against Anthony Smith and Thiago Santos in his last two title defenses.

Considering how close his last fight was against Thiago Santos, with many fans and media scoring it the other way, should Jon Jones be taking a humbler route with all his trash talk leading up to Saturday's fight? - @claydavis83

Styles make fights, and I think part of the reason Jones' last title defense was so close was simply that Santos was a tricky matchup for him. Nothing I've seen in interviews leading up to this championship fight leads me to believe Jones has changed in any way.

Looking back on it now, was the Kamaru Usman-Colby Covington fight stopped early? I could see Covington being mad about it, but ultimately I think referee Marc Goddard made the right call. - @TDSingleton_

I imagine this question was prompted by Covington's recent interview with theScore, during which he complained about the stoppage at UFC 245. It's tough. There wasn't much time left, so you would've liked to see the referee give a bit of leeway in a title fight.

That said, Covington's jaw was already hurt at that point in the fifth round. The last thing you want to see is a fighter enduring more damage than necessary. And Usman was already winning the round. Had the fight gone the distance, the result would have been the same and "The Nigerian Nightmare" would've still had his hand raised.

When will Dana White decide to spread the wealth to all fighters a bit more fairly? - @MrBlueS84050314

White is spreading the wealth in other ways, like giving fighters access to the UFC performance institute in Las Vegas and providing them with meal prep and nutrition plans. In terms of fighter pay, I don't ever see that changing. That's unfortunate because we'd all like to see the fighters earn more in such a brutal sport.

Mixed martial artists are constantly evolving. With that being said, how would the champions of the past fair against today's champs? - Ryan Charles Jarrell

It's tough to say. Though I think most of the past champions were limited in their respective skill sets, they also fought during a time when drug testing wasn't as prevalent.

I think someone like Georges St-Pierre would fair well in modern-day MMA because he was extremely well-rounded. But someone like former heavyweight champion Tim Sylvia would not, in my opinion. We're seeing more fine-tuned athletes across the sport today.

Do you think we will ever see new MMA weight classes of 165 pounds, 175 pounds, 195 pounds, and 225 pounds? If so, how soon? - Colin Crandall

I think the UFC sees what's happened to boxing: An excessive number of weight classes has only confused the fanbase. The UFC has had plenty of opportunities to make a 165-pound division and hasn't capitalized.

I think you'll see the current divisional breakdown stay intact, for the most part, with a women's atomweight division perhaps being added in the future.

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