Jade Jones tempted by switch to MMA but only after third Olympic crown

Flintshire double Olympic taekwondo champion Jade Jones has admitted she is tempted by a switch to MMA – but only after winning a third Olympic title in four years’ time.

The 23-year-old Flint who was crowned BBC Wales Sports Personality of the Year on Monday defended her Olympic this year in Rio.

She is now aiming for Tokyo 2020 and the chance to become the first taekwondo fighter to win three Olympic gold medals in the sport.

Jade is in Baku this weekend to compete in the World Taekwondo Grand Prix finals in Baku, where the winner of each weight division will earn just short of £5,000.

MMA fighters in the women’s UFC (Ultimate Fighting Championships) can earn in excess of £50,000 for each bout, and that, Jones admits, could see her career take a different direction in the future.

“I’m not going to lie, it’s tempting to think ‘what else is out there’ and in MMA, people earn millions,” she told the BBC.

“Taekwondo is an Olympic sport so it’s hard to get sponsors and hard to make money, but I just love it.

“Maybe in the future I’ll go to MMA, but for now, no-one in the sport has ever got three Olympic gold medals, so I have to continue to get that.”

Jones, making her first appearance since the Olympic Games, headlines a six-strong British squad headed for Azerbaijan.

If Jade decided to transition into MMA, a few years of practising “the ground game” would be a must says @cagepotatomma, but she has time on her side.

Jones has previously trained with trained with MMA pioneer Rosi Sexton, who became the first female British UFC fighter and was involved in the first UFC women’s bout in Europe.