Jon Jones and Alexander Gustafsson were a match made in heaven, but now that Gustafsson is injured and officially out of the UFC 178 title fight, it’s on to the next one for the light heavyweight champ.
The coals fueling the ongoing feud between Jones and Gustafsson have been burning bright red ever since their epic light heavyweight title fight nearly a year ago.
Gustafsson became an overnight star for rearranging the champ’s face, but Jones was the one who impressed the judges and walked away with his belt still intact.
The two were slated to meet again in the main event of UFC 178, but Gustafsson was forced to withdraw from the fight card after tearing his meniscus during training camp. Jones is now slated to fight undefeated Olympian Daniel Cormier, who’s since stepped in as a replacement for Gustafsson.
Despite sitting on the sidelines, Gustafsson hasn’t halted his efforts to get under Jones’ skin.
Last week, Jones posted a video on Instagram of a deep gash over his right eye being stitched up after a training accident. The gash apparently reopened lingering scar tissue from the Gustafsson bout. After seeing the injury, the Swede wasted little time in jumping on Instagram to poke fun at his rival.
Jones appears to be growing tired of Gustafsson hanging on to the past. At the end of the day, all three judges scored the fight in his favor. As the saying goes, the first fight with Gustafsson is out of sight and out of mind for Jones.
Jones’ title fight with Cormier is slated to headline UFC 178 on September 27 at the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas.
Jordy McElroy is a featured columnist for Bleacher Report. He is also the MMA writer for Rocktagon.
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