WATCH: Jon Jones respects Conor McGregor’s “balls” but is happy to take his slot at UFC 200

Jon Jones would have been expecting a question or two about Conor McGregor.

Bones met the media on Wednesday ahead of his comeback bout with Ovince Saint Preux, their interim light heavyweight title bout headlining the UFC 197 card on Saturday night. Despite having not fought in a year and a half, Jones said he is ready to step up and fill the UFC 200 headline slot on July 9th, if a new opponent cannot be found for Nate Diaz. "Absolutely. I'd totally step in to UFC 200 and fill in that main event slot," said Jones, with a title bout against Daniel Cormier a tantalising prospect after injury forced the champion to withdraw from UFC 197. It would be a relatively quick turnaround for Jones, but after an enforced absence from the sport he is raring to go. "Is there anybody else on both? I would love to be the first guy to fight at UFC 100 and 200," he said. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kG8OmBaDJcU Like most of the MMA world, Jones is taking McGregor's retirement announcement with a large pinch of salt.

"I don't think he is retiring," said Jones. "He is a fighter. He is a winner and I don't think he would want to go out on a loss because if he doesn't fight again then his legacy is really that Diaz fight. "Hats off to him for standing up for what he believes is right. At the end of the day business is business," he added. "Fights like this will help other fighters in the future, so I respect his balls."

  Fair enough Bones.