MIXED martial arts star Mason Jones sis set to take on Frenchman Axel Sola in London later this month (Saturday, 21 March) in the third fight of his second Ultimate Fighting Championship deal.

The 30-year-old Blaenavon fighter's first UFC stint ended after a unanimous loss to Ludovit Klein at the O2 Arena in July 2023, and he’s determined to banish memories of that last home outing.

Returning to Cage Warriors after the loss, four straight wins in a row then saw him land a second deal with UFC a year ago.

And after two wins in the US and France, he told BBC Sport Wales ahead of his next bout: "I fought a tough guy (in 2023) and made so many mistakes. I'm super excited to go there and reframe it and show that London is a homecoming...

"It's going to be a massive change... I fought a Des Moines local in Des Moines, so I was massively away there, then fought a Belgian guy in Paris. It'll be nice to hear the crowd for me for a change.

"When I signed back to the UFC, I said three foundational fights, to secure my footings... If I beat Axel Sola on March 21, I'll be calling for a top-15 opponent.

"If I don't get one, I'll get an eliminator for the top 15. I'm happy to win points, to outpoint him for three five-minute rounds.

"I'm always looking to finish with the excitement of putting him away, but if I can outpoint him I will.”

A top-15 slot would see him become only the second Welshman to be ranked in the UFC, after Abertillery’s Jack Shore in 2022.

On southpaw Sola, he adds: "He's long, he's rangy, he's powerful, a very dangerous striker and wrestler.

"We've worked on lots of specifics, I've been doing training camps in lots of different places.

"I've been working specifically with southpaws, which means working with some of the youngsters coming through."