UFC middleweight champion Chris Weidman has worked his way up to becoming one of the top pound-for-pound fighters in the world in just nine fights with the UFC. He has defeated an impressive list of fighters during that span, which includes Lyoto Machida, Vitor Belfort and Anderson Silva. During a recent interview with MMA Hour, though, the New York native appears to have his sights set on another big name - former UFC light heavyweight champion Jon Jones.

"I know for a fact, I'm not leaving this sport without fighting Jon," Weidman told Ariel Helwani. "Unless he's not coming back at all. But if he's there, and I'm here, people are going to want to see it happen. And I want to see it happen."

Jones is still currently mired in a legal conundrum stemming from his hit and run incident earlier this year, that led to him being stripped of his title and suspended indefinitely by the UFC.

"That's nothing against Jon, it's just because I'm a competitor," the undefeated fighter added. "I want to fight the best possible people. I want to have the biggest challenges in front of me and conquer them. That's why I wanted to fight Anderson Silva when nobody else wanted to fight him. I want the biggest challenges. I want to beat the people who people think I can't beat. And Jon is definitely going to be one of those guys."

He may have to wait a bit to get his shot at the former pound-for-pound champion. There is still no word on whether Jones will be returning to the sport, but his team has said that he has been working out regularly at the gym. Weidman, for his part, is scheduled to defend his title against Luke Rockhold on Dec. 12.

"He's an amazing athlete and he's accomplished so much," Weidman said. "So I hope he gets his stuff together and he comes back."