Vitor Belfort
What a ride this has been over the past 24-hours.
Former UFC light heavyweight champ Lyoto ‘The Dragon’ Machida (18-3) will not face current champion Jon ‘Bones’ Jones (16-1) in a title rematch this October at UFC 152, as was reported earlier.
‘The Dragon’ turned down the fight leaving the door open for another former champ to step in versus Jones.
Vitor ‘The Phenom’ Belfort (21-9) has agreed to go back to the 205-lbs division to fight Jones in Toronto, leaving his former UFC 153 middleweight opponent Alan Belcher (18-6) without a fight for the Rio show.
The promotion made the news official late Thursday night at UFC.com.
Jon Jones will now face former champion Vitor Belfort for the UFC light heavyweight championship on September 22 in Toronto, as today’s bizarre series of events has taken yet another twist.
Jones was originally slated to face Dan Henderson at UFC 151 in Las Vegas; however, Henderson was forced to withdraw this week due to a knee injury. Polarizing former middleweight Chael Sonnen was offered the replacement spot and it briefly appeared that UFC 151 would take place with Jones vs. Sonnen as the headliner. However, Jones ultimately declined the fight, forcing the unprecedented cancellation of an entire UFC event.
This morning, UFC president Dana White announced that Jones would face former champion Lyoto Machida in a rematch that would headline the UFC 152 event on September 22. Machida earned the contender spot with his showcase knockout of Ryan Bader earlier this month. But this time it was Machida who declined the opportunity, opening the door for fellow Brazilian Belfort to earn the nod.
Belfort had been penciled in to fight Alan Belcher at middlewight at UFC 153 in Rio; a replacement for that fight will be announced in coming days.
UFC 153: Jones vs. Belfort is expected to take place on September 22, 2012 at the Air Canada Centre in Toronto, Ontario, Canada.
Belfort returns to the light heavyweight division for the first time since September 2007 when he won the Cage Rage lhw title. ‘The Phenom’ is currently on a two fight win streak and is 7-1 in his last eight bouts. He is coming off a first round submission victory over Anthony Johnson in a 197-lbs catchweight bout at UFC 142.
Jones has won seven in a row since his disqualification loss to Matt Hamill in 2009, and successfully defended his UFC title for the third straight bout with a decision win over Rashad Evans last April at UFC 145. He had been scheduled to face Dan Henderson for the title till ‘Hendo’ pulled out of the fight yesterday due to injury.