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Well, that was quick. A day after the news broke that Daniel Cormier was out of the UFC 197 main event in which he was to defend his light heavyweight title against former, stripped light heavyweight champ Jon Jones, a new main event has been made. Jon Jones stated on social media that he’ll take on anyone to keep the UFC 197 main event alive, and now former Strikeforce standout and no. 6 UFC light heavyweight Ovince St. Preux is stepping up to the steepest of challenges, and it’s for the interim UFC light heavyweight title. Why this has to be for the interim title, no one (but Dana White) really knows.
Dana White made the announcement on Sportscenter.
“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.”
“The one thing we’ve learned in the 16 years in this business is you never know what’s going to happen. 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.”
Some may be disappointed with this news, as OSP hasn’t done well against the upper-echelon of the UFC LHW division, losing to Glover Teixeira and Ryan Bader while putting together a 3-2 record over his last 5 fights, but he’s a good warm-up fight for Jones, and in MMA anything can happen. OSP definitely has enough power and speed to put something together against Jones, but he’ll more than likely be destroyed.
(Via ESPN)