In a shocking turn of events, UFC president Dana White revealed that the winner of the UFC on FOX 4 main event this Saturday will face light heavyweight champion Jon “Bones” Jones for the second time.
White confirmed the news with MMA Junkie this afternoon.
Rua, the man Jones defeated for the title back at UFC 128, received high praise from his boss despite being just 2-2 in his past four fights.
“‘Shogun’ Rua just came off a ‘Fight of the Year’ last year,” White said regarding Rua’s unanimous decision loss against Dan Henderson at UFC 139.
“He’s probably one of the best fighters of the last decade. Think about it. This guy knocked out ‘Rampage’ (Jackson), knocked out Chuck Liddell, knocked out Mark Coleman, knocked out Lyoto Machida, knocked out Forrest Griffin, knocked out Alistair Overeem twice, submitted Kevin Randleman. A win vs. [Vera] puts him right back in position, and then he’s probably the No. 2 guy in the world.”
Meanwhile, “The Truth” hasn’t won consecutive fights since 2009 and is 1-2-1 in his past four fights, most recently narrowly defeating Elliot Marshall at UFC 137.
Vera, who once claimed he would be the first fighter to hold the UFC light heavyweight and heavyweight titles simultaneously, was excited to hear that his upcoming bout would be a title eliminator.
“Like I said before, this is already a blessing in disguise, and by Dana throwing [the title shot] out there, it’s like winning the lottery twice,” he said.
Vera was finished in the first round of his March 2010 encounter with Jones, suffering a broken cheek bone as the result of some vicious elbows from the then-rising star.
Given that both Vera and Shogun were soundly defeated by Jones already, the decision to give either fighter a crack at the champion again after winning two fights in a row seems like a curious one.
Despite White recently saying that the winner of Ryan Bader and Lyoto Machida could earn a title shot as well, it looks like the co-main eventers will be on the outside looking in regardless of the outcome of their fight.
The champion has also finished both Bader and Machida inside the Octagon as well, both with a variation of the guillotine choke.
Jones next defends his title against Henderson at UFC 151, which is scheduled for Sept. 1.
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