Well, it feels like it’s been a while since we last met, but here we are, on the verge of watching Jon Jones prove that he’s not the coward that so many people called him after UFC 151 was canceled. A massive black eye for this popular promotion, UFC 151 was supposed to give us Jones against Dan Henderson, but the latter was injured. Chael Sonnen, though, stepped up and offered to fight Jones, which would have been totally welcomed by fans. Would it have been a better fight? Who knows, but at least it would have been something.
Instead, Jones refused to fight a replacement, and without a decent fight to carry the card – despite all of us screaming for Rhonda Rousey – Dana White announced that the event was canceled. Oh, and he’s still not very happy about that. Said White yesterday of Jones:
“I think he takes this thing, or is acting like he’s taking it, lightly, which he shouldn’t be,” White continued. “The fact that the fight was canceled isn’t a joke. It’s not funny and a lot of people were affected by it. There was a lot of collateral damage that happened with the cancelling of the show. We’ll see how this goes.” (Via)
So at UFC 152 Jones owes us. He owes us proof that he’s a badass and that he only deserves to fight the best. He owes us a successful and powerful light heavyweight title defense, but I’m sure plenty of us would like to see him lose to Vitor Belfort tonight.
In other action, Demetrious Johnson will fight Joseph Benavidez for the first ever flyweight championship, and Michael Bisping will face off against Brian Stann (full list after the jump).
Join us tonight at 7 PM ET to talk up the preliminary fights on FX (8 PM ET), and at 10 PM ET for the pay-per-view event. Share this discussion with your sparring partners on Facebook and Twitter tonight, and unlock the incredible CUB SWANSON BADGE. And then go grill yourself some meat. No corn.
Jon Jones vs. Vitor Belfort (Light Heavyweight Title)
Joseph Benavidez vs. Demetrious Johnson (Flyweight Title)
Michael Bisping vs. Brian Stann
Matt Hamill vs. Roger Hollett
Cub Swanson vs. Charles Oliveira
Igor Pokrajac vs. Vinny Magalhaes
TJ Grant vs. Evan Dunham
Sean Pierson vs. Lance Benoist
Jimy Hettes vs. Marcus Brimage
Seth Baczynski vs. Simeon Thoresen
Mitch Gagnon vs. Walel Watson
Kyle Noke vs. Charlie Brenneman
