UFC officially announced Wednesday that the rematch between Jon Jones and Daniel Cormier for the light heavyweight championship is set to headline UFC 200 in July.
The highly anticipated clash replaces another rematch, Nate Diaz vs. Conor McGregor, as the main event after McGregor’s retirement saga. Odds Shark passed along the early odds as Jones looks to pick up another victory over Cormier after winning the first bout by unanimous decision:
Jones and Cormier were originally scheduled to face off at UFC 197 last week. The light heavyweight champion was forced to pull out with a foot injury, however, so Jones fought Ovince Saint Preux for the interim belt instead and eased to victory by unanimous decision.
That triumph marked the 28-year-old New York native’s first bout since his initial battle with Cormier 15 months prior. In between, he went through a series of highly publicized personal issues that kept him away from the Octagon.
Jones wasn’t anywhere close to his best against Saint Preux, who merely didn’t have enough weapons to compete with a top-tier opponent, even one dealing with rust after an extended break. He’ll need to improve markedly in order to score a second straight win over his rival.
Cormier certainly didn’t come away from that fight impressed, per Damon Martin of Fox Sports:
He got the job done. A lot of times most guys they don’t have their best performance, they lose, they don’t get it done. So it shows how special Jon is.
With that being said, very disappointed that I didn’t get to compete tonight because I do believe if he showed up in the form that he did tonight or if this is the new Jon Jones, there’s no way that guy can beat me.
Now the MMA world is going to get a chance to find out if that forecast from the 37-year-old veteran is accurate. He won the vacant title with an impressive submission victory over Anthony Johnson while Jones was away and backed it up by beating the powerful Alexander Gustafsson by split decision.
Although UFC went through a period of turmoil while McGregor was claiming retirement and Cormier’s status was unclear due to injury, it appears everything is going to work out in the end. Jones against Cormier in a unification bout is a rock-solid fight to headline the marquee event.
The biggest question will be which version of Jones shows up in Las Vegas on July 9. The one who looked beatable against Saint Preux or the formerly dominant champion who owned the light heavyweight division for years. The answer will likely determine who walks out as the champ.
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