The original date on their light heavyweight showdown may have been scrapped, but it looks like Jon Jones and Glover Teixeira finally have a dance card to prepare for at UFC 170.
As announced on Wednesday’s edition of UFC Tonight, the battle for the 205-pound title will headline a card that is set to take place on February 22 at the Mandalay Bay in Las Vegas.
While the tilt was originally slated to go down on the UFC’s annual Super Bowl weekend card at UFC 169 in Newark, N.J., on Feb. 1, the light heavyweight title bout has been pushed back to later in the month when the organization returns to Las Vegas for the first time in 2014.
Pound-for-pound great Jones is coming off of the closest contest battle of his career after he edged out Swedish striker Alexander Gustafsson at UFC 165 in September. The back-and-forth affair has been deemed an “instant classic” and marked the sixth consecutive successful title defense of the 26-year-old champion’s reign, making him the most dominant champion in the history of the light heavyweight division.
The Brazilian powerhouse will be looking to end that run when he gets his long-awaited shot at the 205-pound strap at UFC 170. Since joining the UFC in 2012, Teixeira has collected five consecutive victories, with four of his five wins coming by way of stoppage. He looked lights-out in his last showing as he knocked out former TUF winner Ryan Bader in the first round of their tilt at Fight Night 28 back in September.
The victory over Bader marked Teixeira’s place as the official No. 1 contender to the light heavyweight crown, and after jumping over a few scheduling hurdles, he finally has a set date for his showdown with Jones.
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