Just a day after it was revealed that unified heavyweight champion Oleksandr Usyk would be vacating his world titles, a new report now suggests the Ukrainian is already mapping out his farewell bout.

During a recent episode of Inside the Ring on DAZN, veteran boxing journalist Mike Coppinger, based on a conversation with Usyk’s long-time advisor and manager, revealed that Oleksandr Usyk is targeting a final blockbuster showdown in the US with one of two people—one of whom is former UFC heavyweight champion, Jon Jones.

“I spoke to Usyk’s advisor, Sergey Lapin, and he said, and what’s missing, right? He’s beat Fury twice, he’s beat Joshua. He’s had all the big fights. He’s never had a major fight here in the United States,” Coppinger revealed. “That’s what he wants. That’s what he’s going to get.”

The timeline for the retirement bout also appears to be taking shape. According to Coppinger, the two-time undisputed heavyweight champion is hoping to fight in late 2026 or early 2027.

“He’s looking at late of this year, 2026 or early 2027, and he wants Deontay Wilder. He wants to go and get a fight with Deontay Wilder,” the veteran reporter added. “His dream’s to get a big fight here in the US. If not Wilder, there’s another name he is looking at—Jon Jones. I think that would be crazy. I would actually like to see that over the Wilder fight. I think he’s another novelty thing. But Jon Jones is a freak athlete.”

While talks of a matchup with Wilder have been bubbling for months now, the addition of Jon Jones comes as a big surprise. The former UFC heavyweight champion hasn’t fought competitively ever since his TKO victory over Stipe Miocic in November 2024. The following year, Bones retired.

The matchup also makes sense from a strictly business standpoint. Both Deontay Wilder and Jon Jones are big stars in the US. This gives the 39-year-old the marquee American showdown that he is looking for.

Although Wilder’s star has been flickering lately despite his two big wins in the last twelve months, Jon Jones still remains one of combat sports’ biggest attractions. He was even in talks with the UFC to feature on the promotion’s White House card on June 14, though Dana White later claimed there were no such talks, leaving the former champion with no bouts and officially retired.

So if the potential bout does happen sometime this year, it would mark Oleksandr Usyk’s return to the US after seven long years. Despite being one of boxing’s biggest stars, the Ukrainian has only fought three times in the US over his almost two-decade-long pro-boxing career.

The two-division undisputed heavyweight champion fought in the US for the first time in December 2016 against Southpaw Thabiso Mchunu at The Forum in Inglewood. Then he fought a second time in April 2017 against Michael Hunter at the MGM National Harbor in Maryland. His last bout came against Chazz Witherspoon in October 2019 at the Wintrust Arena in Chicago. Most of his bouts since then have been in Saudi Arabia or London, with the notable exception of his very last fight against Rico Verhoeven, which took place at the Pyramids of Giza in Egypt.

This would make Oleksandr Usyk’s farewell bout on American soil a fitting way to conclude a decorated boxing career, which currently stands at 25-0. However, despite the promising nature of the matchup with the MMA great, the road ahead is not as easy as it appears.

Contractual issues hindering an Oleksandr Usyk vs. Jon Jones showdown

While surrendering his world titles and Ring championship, Oleksandr Usyk declared, “I’m leaving the belts, but I’m not leaving the sport because I still have my last dance.” Finding the right partner for the “last dance,” however, may prove easier said than done.

Unlike Oleksandr Usyk, who is free to choose his next opponent, the MMA great is still under an eight-fight contract with the UFC. And since UFC contracts are known for being as airtight as can be, getting out of it would require some careful maneuvering on Jones’ part. And the former heavyweight champion has spoken about it in the past.

“I’ve got to focus on getting out of my UFC contract,” Jones said last month during the Rousey-Carano broadcast.

There is, however, a historical precedent if Jones manages to get himself out of his UFC contract.

Francis Ngannou famously left the UFC while he was still the heavyweight champion for a boxing match with the then-WBC heavyweight champion, Tyson Fury. He also went on to fight Anthony Joshua thereafter. The two boxing matches reportedly netted Ngannou more than his entire UFC earnings combined. Hence, the financial upside is too big to let slide in this case.

So while Jon Jones has never fought in a boxing match before, the fact that he is an exceptional combat athlete should help him find some footing if he manages to face Oleksandr Usyk. And who knows, Jones may even manage to push Usyk to the brink of defeat the way Ngannou did Fury. Also, unconventional styles have often presented problems for traditional boxers—case in point being Usyk’s Rico Verhoeven bout in May.

So if Jon Jones manages to convince the UFC to let him out of his contract and negotiations work out smoothly, a mega showdown with Oleksandr Usyk could become the next crossover spectacle in the mold of Floyd Mayweather vs. Conor McGregor in 2017.