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Dana White: UFC targeting May for Jon Jones vs. Anthony Johnson
After defending his title only once last year, Jon Jones could be looking at a busy 2015 campaign. UFC President Dana White announced on Wednesday that a date is already in the works for Jones’ upcoming light heavyweight title defense against Anthony Johnson.
“We’re looking to do that fight in May,” White said on The Jim Rome Show. “I don’t have the exact date, but May.”
Considering the overwhelming success of Jones’ last fight, a Jan. 3 grudge match against Daniel Cormier which Jones won handily, it’s likely that Jones vs. Johnson will take place on pay-per-view, in which case a May 23 date on Memorial Day weekend in Las Vegas, NV, is all too probable.
Big fights are generally reserved for the UFC’s Memorial Day weekend slot, and Jones vs. Johnson is nothing if not big.
Considered to be the No. 1 pound-for-pound fighter in the sport, Jones (21-1) is the defending UFC light heavyweight champion eight times over. Since claiming the belt as the youngest titleholder in UFC history, Jones has peerlessly tackled every challenge to come his way, and now Johnson may be his last step towards cleaning out the division for good.
But in Johnson (19-4), Jones faces perhaps his his scariest challenger to date. A former welterweight whose weight-cutting issues resulted in his 2012 UFC release, “Rumble” reinvented himself as a goliath light heavyweight with ferocious knockout power. He’s been on a tear ever since.
Since returning to the UFC last year, Johnson’s flawless second stint has seen the 30-year-old first dismantle Phil Davis, then brutally knock out Antonio Rogerio Nogueira in 44 seconds, then do the same to Alexander Gustafsson in a star-making two-minute performance in Gustafsson’s own backyard this past Saturday at UFC on FOX 14.
Combined, Jones and Johnson have won 21 straight fights.
After defending his title only once last year, Jon Jones could be looking at a busy 2015 campaign. UFC President Dana White announced on Wednesday that a date is already in the works for Jones’ upcoming light heavyweight title defense against Anthony Johnson.
“We’re looking to do that fight in May,” White said on The Jim Rome Show. “I don’t have the exact date, but May.”
Considering the overwhelming success of Jones’ last fight, a Jan. 3 grudge match against Daniel Cormier which Jones won handily, it’s likely that Jones vs. Johnson will take place on pay-per-view, in which case a May 23 date on Memorial Day weekend in Las Vegas, NV, is all too probable.
Big fights are generally reserved for the UFC’s Memorial Day weekend slot, and Jones vs. Johnson is nothing if not big.
Considered to be the No. 1 pound-for-pound fighter in the sport, Jones (21-1) is the defending UFC light heavyweight champion eight times over. Since claiming the belt as the youngest titleholder in UFC history, Jones has peerlessly tackled every challenge to come his way, and now Johnson may be his last step towards cleaning out the division for good.
But in Johnson (19-4), Jones faces perhaps his his scariest challenger to date. A former welterweight whose weight-cutting issues resulted in his 2012 UFC release, “Rumble” reinvented himself as a goliath light heavyweight with ferocious knockout power. He’s been on a tear ever since.
Since returning to the UFC last year, Johnson’s flawless second stint has seen the 30-year-old first dismantle Phil Davis, then brutally knock out Antonio Rogerio Nogueira in 44 seconds, then do the same to Alexander Gustafsson in a star-making two-minute performance in Gustafsson’s own backyard this past Saturday at UFC on FOX 14.
Combined, Jones and Johnson have won 21 straight fights.
