With Conor McGregor out of the main event at UFC 200 and seemingly staying out, the big question everyone now has is who will replace him at the top of the UFC’s biggest card of the year? The UFC says they’re working on a new opponent for Nate Diaz, and have plans to add another big fight to make up for the loss of McGregor. And if Jon Jones has his way, he might be a part of that big fight.
When asked if he’d fight at UFC 200 following his UFC 197 bout against Ovince Saint Preux, Jones didn’t hesitate.
“Absolutely!” he told FOX Sports. “I’d totally step in to UFC 200 and fill in that main event slot. Is there anybody else on both? I would love to be the first guy to fight at UFC 100 and 200.”
Jon Jones did indeed fight at UFC 100 back in 2009, choking out Jake O’Brien on the prelims of the card. But even if he does end up fighting at UFC 200, he may not get the honor of being the only fighter at both events. FOX Sports is reporting that Georges St-Pierre is “at the top of the wish list” to replace McGregor.
If both Jones and St-Pierre end up fighting at UFC 200, it would more than make up for McGregor’s sudden removal from the card. And if Daniel Cormier can recover in time from the shin injury that took him out of the UFC 197 fight with Jones in the first place, it would be a match-up worthy of the main event.
Jones also has to make it past Saint Preux this Saturday in Vegas. But with the former light heavyweight champ coming in as a heavy -650 favorite with the bookies, it seems like not many people are giving OSP much of a chance. Those people may be forgetting the curse that seems to be messing up a lot of great fights and best laid plans lately. Let’s cross our fingers and see what happens at UFC 197, and then we can start getting excited about Jon Jones at UFC 200.
