Aleksander Rakic (photo via YouTube)

By FCF Staff

Aleksandar Rakic admits he was surprised when he heard that Jon Jones is vacating the light heavyweight title, and is moving up to heavyweight. But, the Austrian contender says he understands the star’s decision.

Recently Jones confirmed that he’s dropping the UFC’s 205 title, and that he’s planning a run at heavyweight. As a result, Dominick Reyes is going to battle Jan Blachowicz for the vacant title, September 26th.

Rakic recently spoke with MMA Junkie, ahead of his fight this Saturday with Anthony Smith. While talking about Jones’s decision, the 28-year-old said this.

“Yes, I was very surprised, but I understand Jon,” Rakic said. “(He has) so many title defenses in the light heavyweight division, and I think Jon wants a new challenge – and the next challenge is the heavyweights. Also, a new era of fighters in the light heavyweight division are coming – like me, like other guys, and he did so many things in the light heavyweight division. He doesn’t need to prove anybody anything in this division. So I understand why he moved to heavyweight. Maybe he’ll come back if the new champion is crowned. Maybe he’ll come back for a comeback fight, so let’s see.”

“Reyes and Jan, they really deserve the fight for the title,” Rakic added, while discussing the title shot picture. “An interesting one is also Thiago Santos against Glover Teixeira, and also me against Smith. So those three fights, when they’re going to end, we’re going to see what happens and we’re going to see who is the first challenger of the winner of Reyes and Jan.”

Rakic (12-2) will be fighting for the first time this Saturday since he lost via split decision to Volkan Oezdemir in December.

Smith – Rakic will headline UFC Vegas 8, which will be hosted by the Apex Facility.