The UFC held a press event hours before Saturday’s UFC 184 entitled “Welcome to the Show.” It was similar to its “The Time Is Now” event held earlier this year, but this one focused on the next wave of slated fights.
And the event had a little comedy at the end. Anthony “Rumble” Johnson and UFC light heavyweight champion Jon Jones have jokes.
The press event saw headliners from most of the upcoming cards field questions from the media and fans alike. It was mostly upbeat and jovial in nature.
For a brief moment, all that looked to change when Jones and Johnson met eye to eye.
Last year, all the buzz was fueled by the hatred between Jones and contender Daniel Cormier. The two had a wild brawl during a press event to hype their title fight, and the video went viral.
At the tail end of Saturday’s press event, each pair of fighters got up for staredowns. Jones and Johnson were the final pairing, and out of nowhere there seemed to be a bit of a skirmish. UFC President Dana White jumped in to separate the two elite fighters, but it was quickly apparent that they were merely playing around with their boss.
Although it was all fun and games at Saturday’s event, Jones and Johnson will fight for real on May 23 in Las Vegas.
Johnson earned the title shot with a stunning January 24 knockout over top-ranked contender Alexander Gustafsson on Fox, putting him ahead of all other contenders. Jones is coming off a big win over Cormier and will return following an out-of-cage issue involving cocaine.
The laughing stops when the cage door shuts in late May. Another top-tier light heavyweight battle is upon us.
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