Jon Jones Vs. Daniel Cormier Rematch May Headline UFC 200
Jon Jones and Daniel Cormier were originally supposed to have their second fight at this past Saturday’s UFC 197. However, Cormier ended up tearing a ligament in his leg during training, which forced the UFC to replace him with Ovince St. Preux.
Jones ended up defeating St. Preux at UFC 197 via decision. It was Jones’ first fight since January of 2015, and even though he looked a bit rusty, he was never in any trouble during the fight and easily won all five rounds.
Now, with Conor McGregor officially being off of UFC 200 in July, the UFC is looking for a new main event for the show, and that fight may end up being the Jon Jones vs. Daniel Cormier rematch, according to Dave Meltzer of the Wrestling Observer Newsletter.
Meltzer said on the post-UFC 197 edition of Wrestling Observer Radio that there’s a strong possibility Jones and Cormier will replace Diaz vs. McGregor as the UFC 200 main-event.
“I think the idea (for UFC 200) is Jones and Cormier, and that they don’t need Conor (McGregor) on the show.”
Following Saturday’s main event, Daniel Cormier said that he wants to fight Jon Jones at UFC 200, but he needs to get clearance from a doctor to do so. DC also noted that he’s going to see a doctor on Monday, and if he’s cleared, then he’ll really push the UFC to make the Jon Jones rematch happen this July.
“I’m going to see the doctor Monday, and if they say that I can compete in 11 weeks at UFC 200, I’ll be there. I’ll be there with my championship belt, with my red wraps on my glove as I come out second and you wait for me to walk to the Octagon. We meet here live from the T-Mobile Arena, the brand new arena out here in Las Vegas, and we unify these titles.”
Jones, who was stripped of the UFC light heavyweight championship last spring, won the interim title after defeating OSP on Saturday night.
Cormier ended up winning the vacant light heavyweight championship by defeating Anthony “Rumble” Johnson at UFC 187 last year. He’s defended the title once since winning it, as he defeated Alexander Gustafsson in a very close fight back in October of last year.
Jon Jones’ most recent title defense was against Daniel Cormier back in January of last year, where he soundly defeated the current light heavyweight champ.
There’s a chance that Cormier may move back up to heavyweight if he’s defeated by Jones a second time. There’s also a slight chance that DC, who turned 37 last month, may end up retiring if he loses his rematch with Jones.
As for Jones, win or lose, it looks like he’s going up to heavyweight at some point in the near future. In fact, he may end up making the move after the Cormier rematch takes place.
If Cormier doesn’t end up getting cleared to compete at UFC 200, then there’s a good chance he’ll end up defending his title against Jones at Madison Square Garden in November. Jones is, of course, a New York native. It’s not much of a surprise that the UFC wants Jones to be on the first-ever New York show.
There’s also a good chance that Jon Jones may defend the interim UFC light heavyweight title against Anthony Johnson if DC isn’t cleared to compete at UFC 200. Of course, Jones and Johnson were originally supposed to fight last spring before Jones was suspended and stripped of his title, and many believe that “Rumble” is the only fighter at 205 pounds who has a shot at defeating Jones.
[Photo by Steve Marcus/Getty Images]
