Red Mosquito

it didn't look significant but once Mir was down, Hunt and the ref could see he had that he got his bell rung.

Stickman wrote:it didn't look significant but once Mir was down, Hunt and the ref could see he had that he got his bell rung.

Yeah, and he made no attempt to get back up.

**Below are the results from the UFC Fight Night card from Brisbane, Australia on Saturday night at the Brisbane Entertainment Centre with an announced crowd of 9,552 and gate of $1 million (U.S.):
*Alan Patrick def. Damien Brown by unanimous decision (30-26, 30-27, 30-27)
*Ross Pearson def. Chad Laprise by split decision (30-27, 28-30, 29-28)
*Viscardi Andrade def. Richard Walsh by unanimous decision (29-28 all)
*Leslie Smith def. Rin Nakai by unanimous decision (30-27, 29-28, 29-28) – The height difference was stunning, Nakai had her moments when she got Smith down and tried to work for submissions but I felt Smith landed the significant strikes in all three rounds and won all three
*Dan Hooker def. Mark Eddiva by guillotine choke at 1:24 of Round 1 – Hooker trains at Elevation Fight Team in Denver, Eddia shot in for a single and went right into a guillotine and Hooker kept it tight as he mounted him for the tap
*Alan Jouban def. Brendan O’Reilly by TKO at 2:15 of Round 1 – Jouban lit him him with strikes against the cage and dropped him with an elbow strike and finished with strikes
*Bec Rawlings def. Seo Hee Ham by unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 29-28) – Rawlings won the first two rounds and Ham took the third
*Steve Bosse def. James Te Huna by KO at 0:52 of Round 1 – In Bosse’s debut he was knocked out in 0:29 and came back in this fight and won by KO in the opening minute as he landed a right and Te Huna was out
*Dan Kelly def. Antonio Carlos Jr. by TKO at 1:36 of Round 3 – This fight was an incredible one to watch as Carlos Jr. won the first round 10-8, won the second round and then in the third Kelly made a big comeback and rocked Carlos Jr with a kick and finished him with strikes as Carlos Jr. was also tiring late in the fight
*Jake Matthews def. Johnny Case by rear-naked choke at 4:45 of Round 3 – Matthews looked very good and both are very good lightweight prospects. Matthews landed some key strikes to the body and it changed the course of the fight as Case had a hard time recovering from them
*Neil Magny def. Hector Lombard by TKO at 0:46 of Round 1 – You could write 5,000 words on this fight and everything that happened. Lombard nearly stopped him immediately and was unloading strikes in the first round and Magny survived and even got to his feet and landed some shots before the end of the first. Lombard was so tired in the second and it was Magny, who started to swarm him and mounted him and landed over 100 ground strikes. How this fight was not stopped by Steve Perceval is insane. More insanity was that NOT ONE JUDGE SCORED EITHER ROUND 10-8. Lombard was in no condition to even come out for the third round and got finished with strikes early in the third. Awful officiating and awful judging in this fight.
*Mark Hunt def. Frank Mir by KO at 3:01 of Round 1 – Hunt landed the fight ending shot and Mir just fell backward and Hunt walked off knowing Mir was done.

**The Fight of the Night bonus was awarded to Jake Matthews and Johnny Case and the performance bonuses went to Mark Hunt and Neil Magny, all for $50,000. On most cards, Steve Bosse and Daniel Hooker would have grabbed those bonuses but not on this one.

**The UFC has a three-week break and return for a rare Sunday afternoon card on April 10th in Zagreb, Croatia and is headlined by Junior dos Santos and Ben Rothwell.

I dunno, I didn't think Perceval did a bad job. Yes, Lombard got seriously pummeled on the ground, but he never appeared to be out of it, and always seemed to be attempting to defend himself; he was just stuck in a bad position. I'm glad Perceval didn't stop it during that ground and pound. Though Lombard certainly didn't look to be in fighting shape at the beginning of the third round.

He came out wobbly in the 3rd. I don't think anyone would have thought the ref out of line for calling the fight right then.

**The UR Fight event took place on Sunday night from The Celebrity Theatre in Phoenix, Arizona and aired on the URshow.tv website. The estimate appeared to be a few hundred people in attendance and there were numerous empty seats that were visible on the broadcast. As a whole, it was a relatively fun show for the two-hours and change it lasted, the commentary was very light hearted for the majority and the high point was the wrestling match between Rey Mysterio and Kurt Angle and the low point was the grappling bout between Michael Bisping and Chael Sonnen. Regardless of the quality of the show, the sheer cost involved of obtaining the names for this show must have been through the roof and any future shows would be a decision based on how much the URshow brand got visibility from this event. The idea behind this show was to present so many radical names from the past and put all these elements under one roof to gain publicity and they did achieve some of that. On a positive note, having watched so many iPPV streams that die during a live broadcast, this stream was flawless and while the show had its production issues with lighting, the broadcast was smoother than anticipated going in. Jim Ross really shined during the pro wrestling match, Sean Wheelock was great at the technical analysis for the grappling bout – but all three announcers were not shy in saying how dull this bout was and Quinton Jackson had his moments where he was funny, but was way too much during the wrestling match as Ross was trying to provide a serious call and Jackson just wanted to make jokes and ask silly questions about the rules.

**The UFC has added a women’s strawweight fight between Heather Jo Clark and Karolina Kowalkiewicz for the UFC Fight Night card in The Netherlands on May 8th. That same card is headlined by Andrei Arlovski and Alistair Overeem.

**The following card has been announced by the UFC for their May 29th Fight Night event at Mandalay Bay in Las Vegas with the fights announced on Saturday’s broadcast:
*Thomas Almeida vs. Cody Garbrandt
*Renan Barao vs. Jeremy Stephens
*Chris Camozzi vs. Vitor Miranda
*Rick Story vs. Tarec Saffiedine
*Paul Felder vs. Josh Burkman
*Jorge Masvidal vs. Lorenz Larkin
*Erik Koch vs. Joe Proctor
*Carlos Diego Ferreira vs. Abel Trujillo
*Keith Berish vs. Jake Collier
*Chris De La Rocha vs. Adam Milstead

**Bellator has announced Marcos Galvao will defend the bantamweight title against Eduardo Dantas on June 17th in Fresno, California at the Save Mart Center.

New York legalizes MMA after nearly 20-year ban on the sport
The long fight to hold an MMA event in New York is finally over after the State Assembly voted to legalize the sport on Tuesday.


By Damon Martin
Mar 22, 2016 at 6:30p ET


Following a nearly 20-year battle, New York finally has lifted the ban on mixed martial arts, joining the other 49 states that already allow and regulate the sport.

The vote went down on Tuesday with the New York State Assembly approving the measure by a vote of 113-25

It's been a long fight to finally see MMA take place in New York after former governor George Pataki first banned the sport in 1997.

At the time, MMA was still a largely unregulated sport with few rules to govern the athletes dishing out punishment inside the cage. State athletic commissions in New Jersey and eventually Nevada helped adopt a new rule set that became the standard for MMA and slowly but surely the sport became legal across the United States.

Still, New York was the lone holdout, with the vote to legalize MMA passing in the State Senate each of the past seven years but ultimately fizzling out before being voted on by the Assembly.

Several members of the assembly spoke out in favor of and against the bill passing before the vote took place.

"The sport has evolved considerably in the last two decades," Assemblyman Joseph Morelle, the sponsor of the MMA bill, said after acknowledging he was against the sport being legalized in New York for many years.

While there were a few voices who were loudly against MMA being legalized in New York, it appeared the majority of the assembly was on board with ban being lifted. However, the debate raged on for more than three hours as members of the assembly bounced back and forth with arguments about legalizing MMA in New York.

"It's time to legalize mixed martial arts in the state of New York," Republican Assemblyman Dean Murray stated.

Provisions were added to reduce opposition, including raising the insurance required for fighter injuries to $50,000 and to $1 million for life-threatening brain injuries. It requires insurance of $50,000 for the estate of an athlete fatally injured.

It seemed 2016 was the year to make the vote finally happen, especially with Governor Andrew Cuomo adding a provision for MMA in his yearly budget.

"I do support mixed martial arts because it's also an economic generator," Gov. Andrew Cuomo told reporters Tuesday in Niagara Falls. The state would collect 3 percent of gross receipts broadcast rights, not to exceed $50,000, and 8.5 percent from gross ticket receipts, as well as licensing fees.

The Senate once again passed the MMA bill before the Assembly did the same on Tuesday, and now all that's left to handle is Cuomo signing it into law, which he is expected to do following the budget measure for 2016.

The only other hurdle would be the New York Athletic Commission finalizing a set of rules, which could take up to 120 days, and then the sport would be fully legalized in the state.

The UFC has long waited for the chance to put on a show in New York, going as far as scheduling a card there in April at Madison Square Garden. The promotion filed an injunction to allow the show to take place, but the court system shot it down and the show eventually was moved to Las Vegas.

Now with MMA finally legalized there, UFC officials have now committed to at least four shows in New York per year for the first three years the sport is allowed.

“This has been a long time coming and on behalf of our New York UFC athletes and fans, I want to offer heartfelt thanks to Speaker Heastie, Majority Leader Morelle and all the Members of the Assembly — Democrats and Republicans — who voted for this bill," UFC co-owner Lorenzo Fertitta said in a statement.

"I want to assure our fans that if Governor Cuomo signs the bill into law and the State Athletic Commission puts in place the appropriate regulations, we look forward to hosting our first New York event in the world’s most famous arena — Madison Square Garden, home to so many epic sporting events throughout the decades. We also look forward to scheduling events in Buffalo, Rochester, Syracuse, Utica, Albany, and Brooklyn. We are excited."

Several notable UFC fighters hail from New York including former light heavyweight champion Jon Jones, former middleweight champion Chris Weidman and top rising bantamweight star Aljamain Sterling.

Once the first UFC show is scheduled for New York, it's likely a ton of native fighters will be champing at the bit to land a spot on the coveted card.

Stickman wrote:New York legalizes MMA after nearly 20-year ban on the sport
The long fight to hold an MMA event in New York is finally over after the State Assembly voted to legalize the sport on Tuesday.


By Damon Martin
Mar 22, 2016 at 6:30p ET


Following a nearly 20-year battle, New York finally has lifted the ban on mixed martial arts, joining the other 49 states that already allow and regulate the sport.

The vote went down on Tuesday with the New York State Assembly approving the measure by a vote of 113-25

It's been a long fight to finally see MMA take place in New York after former governor George Pataki first banned the sport in 1997.

At the time, MMA was still a largely unregulated sport with few rules to govern the athletes dishing out punishment inside the cage. State athletic commissions in New Jersey and eventually Nevada helped adopt a new rule set that became the standard for MMA and slowly but surely the sport became legal across the United States.

Still, New York was the lone holdout, with the vote to legalize MMA passing in the State Senate each of the past seven years but ultimately fizzling out before being voted on by the Assembly.

Several members of the assembly spoke out in favor of and against the bill passing before the vote took place.

"The sport has evolved considerably in the last two decades," Assemblyman Joseph Morelle, the sponsor of the MMA bill, said after acknowledging he was against the sport being legalized in New York for many years.

While there were a few voices who were loudly against MMA being legalized in New York, it appeared the majority of the assembly was on board with ban being lifted. However, the debate raged on for more than three hours as members of the assembly bounced back and forth with arguments about legalizing MMA in New York.

"It's time to legalize mixed martial arts in the state of New York," Republican Assemblyman Dean Murray stated.

Provisions were added to reduce opposition, including raising the insurance required for fighter injuries to $50,000 and to $1 million for life-threatening brain injuries. It requires insurance of $50,000 for the estate of an athlete fatally injured.

It seemed 2016 was the year to make the vote finally happen, especially with Governor Andrew Cuomo adding a provision for MMA in his yearly budget.

"I do support mixed martial arts because it's also an economic generator," Gov. Andrew Cuomo told reporters Tuesday in Niagara Falls. The state would collect 3 percent of gross receipts broadcast rights, not to exceed $50,000, and 8.5 percent from gross ticket receipts, as well as licensing fees.

The Senate once again passed the MMA bill before the Assembly did the same on Tuesday, and now all that's left to handle is Cuomo signing it into law, which he is expected to do following the budget measure for 2016.

The only other hurdle would be the New York Athletic Commission finalizing a set of rules, which could take up to 120 days, and then the sport would be fully legalized in the state.

The UFC has long waited for the chance to put on a show in New York, going as far as scheduling a card there in April at Madison Square Garden. The promotion filed an injunction to allow the show to take place, but the court system shot it down and the show eventually was moved to Las Vegas.

Now with MMA finally legalized there, UFC officials have now committed to at least four shows in New York per year for the first three years the sport is allowed.

“This has been a long time coming and on behalf of our New York UFC athletes and fans, I want to offer heartfelt thanks to Speaker Heastie, Majority Leader Morelle and all the Members of the Assembly — Democrats and Republicans — who voted for this bill," UFC co-owner Lorenzo Fertitta said in a statement.

"I want to assure our fans that if Governor Cuomo signs the bill into law and the State Athletic Commission puts in place the appropriate regulations, we look forward to hosting our first New York event in the world’s most famous arena — Madison Square Garden, home to so many epic sporting events throughout the decades. We also look forward to scheduling events in Buffalo, Rochester, Syracuse, Utica, Albany, and Brooklyn. We are excited."

Several notable UFC fighters hail from New York including former light heavyweight champion Jon Jones, former middleweight champion Chris Weidman and top rising bantamweight star Aljamain Sterling.

Once the first UFC show is scheduled for New York, it's likely a ton of native fighters will be champing at the bit to land a spot on the coveted card.

"I thought I should learn a little bit about (MMA)," said assemblyman Daniel O'Donnell (D-Manhattan). "Well, I should really like it. You have two nearly naked, hot men trying to dominate each other. That's gay porn with a different ending."

O'Donnell, the brother of actress Rosie O'Donnell, concluded his remarks by saying that he would "take a cold shower" and hopes the state would remain the only one in the nation where pro MMA would remain banned.

Unfunny people trying to be funny is the worst.

God I love MMA

**The Nevada Athletic Commission has appointed Herb Dean to the be official for the rematch between Daniel Cormier and Jon Jones on April 23rd at UFC 197 in Las Vegas. Cormier protested the decision to have Dean officiate and stated that he felt Dean could have been more aggressive and allowed Jones to stall the action during the fight. The NAC did not grant Cormier his request and Dean will be the referee for the fight. They have also appointed John McCarthy as the official for the co-feature between Demetrious Johnson and Henry Cejudo for the flyweight title.

**MMA Fighting reported that Yoel Romero will be appealing the decision by USADA to suspend the fighter after testing positive for a banned substance during an out-of-competition drug test conducted in January. Romero and his team stated it was a tainted supplement that led to the positive test. Helwani reports that USADA was willing to reduce the suspension down from two-years to a nine-month suspension, but Romero is appealing that decision in an effort to reduce the suspension. Romero is coming off a close decision win over Ronaldo “Jacare” Souza at UFC 194 last December.

**A bantamweight fight between John Lineker and Rob Font has been added to the UFC 198 card on May 14th in Curitiba, Brazil. Following numerous issues with making weight at flyweight, Lineker returned to fight at bantamweight in his last fight and defeated Francisco Rivera in an outstanding fight at UFC 191 last September. Font is coming off a win over Joey Gomez this past January with a stoppage in the second round.

**The UFC has added a women’s bantamweight to the UFC Fight Night card on May 29th in Las Vegas, Nevada between Sara McMann and Jessica Eye. Both women are coming off consecutive losses with McMann losing to Miesha Tate and Amanda Nunes in 2015 and Eye dropping fights to Tate and Juliana Pena in her last two outings. The May 29th card will be headlined by undefeated bantamweights Thomas Almeida and Cody Garbrandt.

**The Rizin Fighting Federation has announced the signing of former UFC lightweight Daron Cruickshank to a deal. Cruickshank came off the Ultimate Fighter Season 15 in 2012 and was cut after three consecutive losses recently.

I never felt the need to travel to watch MMA, but the prospect of Buffalo hosting an event would definitely get me in the audience. I might even get mistaken for Kevin James!

I thought about going to a fight once but the ticket prices were insane.

Mecca wrote:I never felt the need to travel to watch MMA, but the prospect of Buffalo hosting an event would definitely get me in the audience. I might even get mistaken for Kevin James!

That first NY show is gonna be a hoot.

**Jon Jones has found himself in another car incident, this one from last week after being pulled over by an officer in Albuquerque, New Mexico. The officer accused Jones of drag racing and Jones got very upset and called the officer a “fucking liar” and a “pig” with TMZ obtaining the footage of the exchange between the two on camera. Jones is not being accused of speeding but rather revving his engine at the red light and then accelerating last Thursday night.


**Ariel Helwani addressed his departure from FOX on today’s edition of The MMA Hour. Helwani wouldn’t go into specifics but noted that he did not quit and received a quick phone call to alert him that FOX was not going to continue to use him. There are a number of assumptions as to what happened, given the relationship between FOX and the UFC, but Helwani would only say that a lot of smart people have their theories out there and lent credence to their validity. Helwani joined FOX when the deal with the UFC was made and became a regular member of the “UFC Tonight” team and correspondent on FOX and FS 1 broadcasts. The story has received mainstream coverage as Richard Deitsch of Sports Illustrated wrote about the controversy surrounding Helwani’s departure in this week’s Media Circus column on SI.

**The UFC announced that Cris “Cyborg” Justino will make her UFC debut on May 14th at the UFC 198 pay-per-view event in Curitiba, Brazil in a 140-pound catchweight fight with Leslie Smith. Justino is the current Invicta FC featherweight champion and has a unique contract as she is under contract to Zuffa LLC, which was a preventive measure to keep Justino from signing elsewhere. Smith will be giving up a lot of size in this fight as she has fought as small as 115 pounds in the past and is coming off a unanimous decision win over Rin Nakai last week at the UFC Fight Night card in Australia.

**The drug tests for UFC 196 earlier this month have all come back clean from the Nevada Athletic Commission.

**TMZ broke the news that Jon Jones turned himself into authorites on Tuesday, following the news that he pulled over last week and accused of drag racing by an Albuquerque, New Mexico police officer. Jones explained the story on Monday’s edition of The MMA Hour with Ariel Helwani, stating that a group of fans got his attention at a stop light, he revved his engine and then took off and was subsequently pulled over. The officer accused him of drag racing and Jones was very upset and it is worth noting he was not accused of speeding. Jones was arrested for a violation of his 18-month probation, after pleading guilty to a felony last year after his April 2015 hit-and-run incident, where he hit a pregnant woman and left the scene of the crime. Jones was issued five tickets this past Thursday night when he was pulled over but was adamant he was not drag racing. The charges also include: having a loud and modified exhaust on the car, an illegible license plate, unable to maintain a traffic lane and exhibition driving, according to MMA Fighting’s site. There is no word on any potential impact this arrest could have on his April 23rd fight with Daniel Cormier at UFC 197. Jones remains in custody in Albuquerque and will remain there until his court date, which is scheduled for Thursday morning at 8am.

**The Los Angeles Daily News was the first to report that former UFC women’s strawweight champion Carla Esparza will be replacing Jessica Aguilar on the UFC 197 card on April 23rd and meet Juliana Lima. Esparza has not fought since March 2015, where she lost the strawweight title to Joanna Jedrzejczyk at UFC 185 in Dallas.

**The following fights have been added to the UFC’s Fight Night card on June 18th in Ottawa, Ontario:
*Steve Bosse vs. Sean O’Connell
*Elias Theodorou vs. Sam Alvey
*Misha Cirkunov vs. Ion Cutelaba
*Olivier Aubin-Mercier vs. Thibault Gouti
*Krzysztof Jotko vs. Tamdan McCrory
*Alex Garcia vs. Colby Covington

**Bellator has announced that they have re-signed featherweight Emmanuel Sanchez to a new multi-fight contract.

**The UFC held a press conference in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil today to promote the UFC 198 card on May 14th in Curitiba. The company announced that within 90-minutes of tickets going on sale to the public, they have already sold 32,000 tickets for the stadium event at Arena de Baixada.

**The UFC 200 card doesn’t have any fights officially announced, but a number are being reported on. The latest is a lightweight fight between Joe Lauzon and Diego Sanchez, which VendettaFighter.com reports is in the works. Along with that fight, Ariel Helwani at MMA Fighting is reporting that a welterweight fight between former champion Johny Hendricks and Kelvin Gastelum is also in the works for the show.

**World Series of Fighting has a card this Saturday night in Las Vegas and features David Branch defending the middleweight title against Clifford Starks along with Jon Fitch and Joao Zeferino fighting for the vacant welterweight title, which was stripped from Rousimar Palhares. The card airs at 11pm Eastern on NBC SN and Fight Network in Canada.

**The UFC has added a women’s bantamweight fight between Germaine de Randamie and Anna Elmose, who will be making her UFC debut. The fight will take place on the Fight Night card on May 8th in Rotterdam, Netherlands, which is headlined by Andrei Arlovski and Alistair Overeem.

**The UFC has announced a welterweight fight between Tom Breese and Sean Strickland for the UFC 199 card on June 4th in Inglewood, California.

**Jon Jones appeared in court Thursday in New Mexico after being arrested on Tuesday and remaining in custody until Thursday. Jones was told he would need to take a driving course, anger management classes and perform 60 hours of community service for his latest infraction. The judge made it clear at the hearing that this it would not be a pleasant experience if Jones ends up in front of the court again for another infraction. Jones was arrested this past week for violating his probation, when he was pulled over late Thursday night last week and given five tickets by an officer, who cited him for drag racing, which Jones denied. Jones is still scheduled to fight Daniel Cormier on April 23rd in the main event of UFC 197 for the UFC light heavyweight title.

**The UFC confirmed a number of fights for UFC 200, the majority of which had already been reported. It was confirmed on UFC Tonight that the main event will feature a rematch between Nate Diaz and Conor McGregor at 170 pounds. The card will also feature an interim title fight between Jose Aldo and Frankie Edgar, which is strange that they are going to that degree of creating an interim title for a champion that is not injured and in fact, fighting on the very same card. Below are the official fights for UFC 200 on July 9th in Las Vegas at the new T-Mobile Arena:
*Nate Diaz vs. Conor McGregor
*Jose Aldo vs. Frankie Edgar for the interim featherweight title
*Cain Velasquez vs. Travis Browne
*Johny Hendricks vs. Kelvin Gastelum
*Joe Lauzon vs. Diego Sanchez
*Gegard Mousasi vs. Derek Brunson
*Jim Miller vs. Takanori Gomi

**It was also announced on GQ today that Sage Northcutt will be fighting Enrique Marin at the UFC 200 card in a lightweight bout. Northcutt is coming off the first loss of his pro career, where he was stopped by Bryan Barberena this past January in a fight that took place at welterweight. Marin was a part of TUF Latin America Season 2 and lost in the finals to Erick Montano in the welterweight tournament.

**Saturday’s World Series of Fighting 30 card has been moved to 11:30pm Eastern on NBC SN and will also air on Fight Network in Canada. The card is headlined by a middleweight title fight between David Branch and Clifford Starks, as well as Jon Fitch vs. Joao Zeferino for the vacant welterweight title.

**The UFC will be returning to Chicago, Illinois on Saturday July 23rd for a FOX event at the United Center. No fights have been announced for the card.

**The UFC has cut heavyweight Jared Rosholt following his recent unanimous decision loss to Roy Nelson in February. Rosholt had a respectable 6-2 run in the UFC and had won three straight fights before the loss to Nelson, which was a very dull performance from Rosholt.

CORMIER OUT OF MAIN EVENT AGAINST JONES DUE TO INJURY

Brett Okamoto
ESPN Staff Writer

Jon Jones still will compete at UFC 197 this month, as the former light heavyweight champion is now scheduled to fight Ovince Saint Preux for the UFC's interim title.

UFC president Dana White announced the matchup on SportsCenter. Jones, 28, was originally scheduled to fight defending champion Daniel Cormier on April 23 at MGM Grand Garden Arena, however Cormier recently withdrew with a lower leg injury.

Jones (21-1) hasn't fought since he defeated Cormier via unanimous decision at UFC 182 in January 2015. The victory marked Jones' eighth consecutive title defense, a record for the 205-pound division.

He was scheduled to defend the title against Anthony Johnson last May, but was arrested one month before the fight on a felony hit-and-run charge in Albuquerque, New Mexico. The UFC stripped Jones of the title shortly after his arrest. Jones eventually entered a plea agreement on the case and was sentenced to 18 months supervised probation.

Once Cormier withdrew from the event, the UFC initially turned to Johnson (21-1) as a replacement. Johnson, though, was unable to accept due to a recent medical procedure.

"Obviously, the No. 1 choice would be Anthony Johnson, who is the No. 2-ranked guy in the world and a fight that everybody wants to see," White said, "but Anthony Johnson just had surgery on his mouth and can't even put a mouthpiece in for at least three weeks."


That opened the door for Saint Preux (19-7), who is 7-2 all time in the UFC. A former college football player at Tennessee, Saint Preux, 32, is coming off a decision win against Rafael Cavalcante in February. He trains out of Knoxville, Tennessee.

While Saint Preux doesn't carry the same history with Jones as Cormier, he is the UFC's sixth-ranked fighter in the weight class.

"The one thing we've learned in the 16 years in this business is you never know what's going to happen," White said. "Anything is possible when two guys get in there. Jon Jones and OSP have never faced off before. No. 1 vs. No. 6. Two big strong, athletic, explosive guys. Anything is possible."

Cormier (17-1) won the official title by submitting Johnson at UFC 187. He has recorded one successful defense, a split decision against Alexander Gustafsson in October.

In a statement to ESPN, Cormier said his recovery time is estimated at four to six weeks.

"The decision not to fight on April 23 was one of the hardest decisions I've had to make," Cormier said. "I've been scheduled to fight 18 times and I have made that walk every time. I want to apologize to Jon Jones, Lorenzo Fertitta, Dana White and all of the UFC fans for not being able to defend my title.

"The recovery should not take very long and I can't wait to compete and defend my title again. For all the fans, thanks for your support. I appreciate each and every one of you."

Unfortunately for Cormier, his inability to fight Jones will lead to him losing his belt. White explained on SportsCenter the decision to make Jones-Saint Preux an interim title fight.

"Thing is, Jon has never lost his title in the Octagon," White said. "He was stripped of his title because of problems outside. We think it's the right thing to do. It's not his fault that Cormier is injured so, he will fight for the interim light heavyweight title. When Cormier comes back, they'll decide who the real champ is."

Christ this fight is never going to happen

To me it would have made more sense to take Jones off the PPV as well. Given what he's goin through legally, let things calm down and rebook the original fight. Maybe even at UFC200.