Although it might not be the card it once was, you’d be hard pressed to find anyone complaining about the lineup of this weekend’s UFC 187 card. You’ve got Anthony “Rumble” Johnson vs. Daniel Cormier for the “undisputed but actually still quite disputable” light heavyweight title in the night’s main event, Chris Weidman vs. Vitor Belfort in an “Oh Thank God, they’re both finally healthy” middleweight title fight, and names like Cerrone, Arlovski, Dodson, and Thug Rose punctuating the rest of the card. I mean, it’s no Fight Night: Broomfield, but it’s still really something.
So in order to get us hyped up for this week’s action, the UFC has generously made their Countdown series for the event available online via their Youtube channel. You can check out a full preview of Cormier vs. Johnson above, then head after the jump to hear Belfort talk about the power of Jesus while Weidman challenges Matt Serra to a hoagie-off and fails miserably.
(Fair warning: I can not confirm with 100% certainty that either of those things happen in the Weidman-Belfort Countdown, but am simply taking an educated guess.)
Although it might not be the card it once was, you’d be hard pressed to find anyone complaining about the lineup of this weekend’s UFC 187 card. You’ve got Anthony “Rumble” Johnson vs. Daniel Cormier for the “undisputed but actually still quite disputable” light heavyweight title in the night’s main event, Chris Weidman vs. Vitor Belfort in an “Oh Thank God, they’re both finally healthy” middleweight title fight, and names like Cerrone, Arlovski, Dodson, and Thug Rose punctuating the rest of the card. I mean, it’s no Fight Night: Broomfield, but it’s still really something.
So in order to get us hyped up for this week’s action, the UFC has generously made their Countdown series for the event available online via their Youtube channel. You can check out a full preview of Cormier vs. Johnson above, then head after the jump to hear Belfort talk about the power of Jesus while Weidman challenges Matt Serra to a hoagie-off and fails miserably.
(Fair warning: I can not confirm with 100% certainty that either of those things happen in the Weidman-Belfort Countdown, but am simply taking an educated guess.)
The Nature Boy Ric Flair once said, “To be the man, you gotta beat the man.” It is a saying that has carried on as a seamless slogan throughout every form of human competition. Yet standing before us is an empty UFC light heavyweight throne…
The Nature Boy Ric Flair once said, “To be the man, you gotta beat the man.” It is a saying that has carried on as a seamless slogan throughout every form of human competition. Yet standing before us is an empty UFC light heavyweight throne, and we are all pretending as if the real king doesn’t exist.
Jon Jones, who is widely considered the top pound-for-pound fighter in the world, is still out there somewhere fighting his own battles outside of the cage. Anthony Johnson and Daniel Cormier have both tipped their hats to Jones being the best.
They aren’t so naive to think that one mistake has somehow eradicated everything Jones has accomplished as champion.
However, they also won’t be apologetic for the incredible opportunity laid before them on May 23. Both men will vie for UFC gold in a division no longer ruled by Jones. When the smoke clears at UFC 187, Bruce Buffer will be attaching a new name to the light heavyweight title.
Jones, a king without a throne, will look on from afar as years of hard work and dedication get ripped away based on poor judgment. After being identified by an off-duty police officer in an alleged hit-and-run, per MMAFighting’s Marc Raimondi, Jones was arrested on a felony charge. He was then stripped of the light heavyweight title and indefinitely suspended by the UFC.
During an appearance on The MMA Hour, Jones’ manager, Malki Kawa, hinted at the possibility Jones may never fight again. Perhaps his most recent run-in with law enforcement will finally be the straw that breaks the camel’s back.
Cormier claimed he was OK with Jones possibly never returning to MMA, although he did admit it would be unfortunate.
“I think he’ll be back. Jon Jones is a fighter, and I don’t think he’d want to walk away from the sport under the circumstances,” said Cormier during Wednesday’s UFC 187 media conference call.
“For everything he’s done positive for this sport—to walk away under this black cloud—it would be unfortunate so I do believe he’ll come back. But me personally? Do I care if he comes back? I would love to fight him again, but that’s really his decision. I’m not going to beg him to come back. He can come back if he wants to.”
Johnson echoed Cormier’s thoughts, simply adding, “I have the exact same feelings as DC has.”
Jones was initially slated to fight Johnson in the UFC 187 main event, but the company pulled him from the fight card a day after his arrest. Cormier, who lost a decision to Jones in January, was the obvious replacement, considering his rank in the division and the fact he was already training for a fight with Ryan Bader in June.
Under different circumstances, a fight between Johnson and Cormier would command the same amount of hype and praise justified for any blockbuster fight. But no matter how bright the sun shines, a storm is inevitable. The pouring rain is inevitable. Talk of Jon Jones is inevitable.
“Jon casts such a big shadow on the division. Anytime this weight class is going to be discussed, there’s going to be some mention of Jon Jones,” Cormier said.
“It’s expected obviously for me. I wasn’t scheduled to fight for the championship. Anthony was already fighting for the belt. He’s just getting what he was promised when he beat Alexander Gustafsson in January. So if anybody should be answering the question about whether or not the belt is real, it should be me because I just fought for it and lost.
“He’s only getting what he was promised when he earned the title shot in January. It’s not his fault that something happened to his opponent outside of the Octagon that was so big that the fight couldn’t go forward. So it’s not annoying for me because it’s expected, but if I was Anthony, I’d be a little annoyed because I’m only fighting for what I was promised when I beat the No. 1 guy in the division.”
Rumble, young man! Rumble!
The beast reincarnated has demonstrated complete dominance over his last nine opponents, including Alexander Gustafsson, a top contender in the light heavyweight division. To put it bluntly, Johnson left the pride of Sweden in tears in front of his hometown crowd in Stockholm.
It was the kind of jaw-dropping performance that added assurance to those already on Johnson’s bandwagon and enlightenment to those still on the fence. This isn’t the same fighter who dropped submission losses to Vitor Belfort, Josh Koscheck and Rich Clementi.
Cormier is up to the task of foiling the newfound hype behind the hottest fighter in the division. If he walks away victorious, he is open to giving Jones an immediate rematch upon his return.
“I believe he should [get an immediate title shot],” said Cormier. “Anytime you’ve ruled a division for as long as Jon did, when he comes back, he should get a title shot immediately. I think it does depend on the time. If he’s gone for a really long time, is he really going to want to fight for the belt right away, or would he want to take kind of a tuneup fight first? I think you leave it up to him.”
All quotes were obtained firsthand unless otherwise noted. JordyMcElroy is a featured columnist for Bleacher Report. He also is the MMA writer for FanRag Sports and co-founder of The MMA Bros.
Maybe you’re the type who actually prefers this fight over the one that was supposed to be.
Maybe you didn’t want to see the pound-for-pound king try to get past who is, for all intents and purposes, the final challenger to his light heavyweight crown….
Maybe you’re the type who actually prefers this fight over the one that was supposed to be.
Maybe you didn’t want to see the pound-for-pound king try to get past who is, for all intents and purposes, the final challenger to his light heavyweight crown.
Consider yourself at odds with this author.
All disagreements aside, Daniel Cormier vs. Anthony Johnson is still an exciting matchup at UFC 187 on May 23. And while this title bout feels all too similar to those “interim” ones, we can at least rest peacefully knowing that this fight will bring us the best light heavyweight fighter not named Jon Jones.
But who exactly is the world’s No. 2 man? Let us discuss.
The news cycle for Jon Jones is slowly going dark, at least until his legal process plays out in Albuquerque, New Mexico. We don’t know what he’s facing there, and we don’t know if he’ll serve any sort of prison time.
But what is clear is that, no matt…
The news cycle for Jon Jones is slowly going dark, at least until his legal process plays out in Albuquerque, New Mexico. We don’t know what he’s facing there, and we don’t know if he’ll serve any sort of prison time.
But what is clear is that, no matter how things ultimately play out, Jones will be away from the Octagon for awhile. A new champion will be crowned in his stead, and the title might be defended more than once.
What happens when Jones is fit to return to the Octagon?
Today, Jeremy Botter and Jonathan Snowden—Bleacher Report’s version of Cagney and Lacey—get together to answer “The Question”: What should happen with Jones when he returns to the UFC?
Jonathan: When last we met in this space, Jeremy and I were debating exactly what the UFC should do about its Jon Jones problem. And after what I’m sure was a careful examination of both our arguments, the promotion decided that Jeremy’s course of action made the most sense. Jones was stripped of his title and suspended indefinitely while he and his legal team sort out what seems likely to become a pretty big mess.
But that, of course, is only a partial solution. At some point, when Jones has his legal and personal problems settled, it will be time to return to the Octagon, to resume what has already been a first-ballot Hall of Fame career.
So, Jeremy, once again we’ve been called upon to tackle the difficult issues. This time, the question is a simple one: When Jon Jones is ready to come back, what in the world do you do with him?
Jeremy: The answer on that is pretty clear, I think. Jones should be granted an immediate title shot upon his return.
That’s the only real course of action, particularly since the “so and so aren’t real champions” meme has already begun and will continue percolating until Jones is actually beaten by someone other than Matt Hamill. While there’s some truth to that, it’s also a bit silly. Anthony Johnson and Daniel Cormier didn’t ask for this opportunity; they were handed it on a silver platter because Jones could not keep himself out of trouble.
But still, it has validity. A man who never loses his championship, particularly when it’s the greatest fighter of this or any other generation, is still the champion until someone wrests it from him. As our good friend Richard Flair once said, to beat the man, you have to beat the man. Jones is the man, and he’ll remain so until someone beats him.
Jonathan: Listen, if Daniel Cormier beats Anthony Johnson, and I think he probably will, there’s no way you can possibly pass him off to the fanbase as a legitimate UFC champion. You just can’t—mostly because of the way Jones dismantled him. It was barely even competitive, the kind of one-sided contest few will forget anytime soon.
The UFC fanbase may walk in lockstep with Dana White in many areas. But I don’t think even the most ardent fan will see the Cormier–Johnson winner as anything but a placeholder.
In some ways, it takes me back to UFC 40, the pay-per-view that kept the promotion alive long enough for The Ultimate Fighter to truly save it. Before that, White and new owner Lorenzo Fertitta had worked hard to get the UFC back on pay-per-view and legal in Las Vegas. But results at the box office were disappointing. Fans simply weren’t buying this guy as the top dog.
Some of the issues with Tito Ortiz were systemic. There was no linearity to his ascension and no real reason for anyone to accept him as the best fighter in the promotion. He had never beaten any of the old guard and had only taken possession on the title after Frank Shamrock retired.
Who was Tito? What right did he have to call himself champion? Only a win over Ken was enough to really solidify his claim to the throne in the fans’ eyes.
This one feels the same way. Cormier and Johnson are both great fighters. But they aren’t fighting for anything but a bauble.
When the UFC brings out every past champion at some inevitable Hall of Fame ceremony, he can stand over next to Shane Carwin in the “kind of” category. Unless and until Cormier and Johnson walk that aisle and earn their championship in the cage. That’s the only title worth winning.
Of course, all this changes dramatically if Jones gets any real prison time. Say he walks the yellow-brick road to the land of Oz and spends 18 months in the clink? What then?
Jeremy: I think there’s a real possibility we don’t see Jones back in the Octagon for at least a year, even if he does not receive any kind of prison time. And what if he never gets his act together, continues getting in trouble and finds himself as a very unfortunate cautionary tale?
I think all of us hope that doesn’t end up happening. But if Jones goes to jail, or even if he doesn’t but is still out for more than a year, I can’t put him right back in for an immediate title shot upon his return. Not because he doesn’t deserve it, because he clearly does. From a fighting perspective, Jones deserves everything. It’s outside the fight where he struggles.
But I couldn’t give him an immediate title shot after a lengthy absence, and here’s why: because it’s not fair to his talent. If he’s out of the cage for a long time, the prospect of putting him immediately back in the Octagon with Cormier or Johnson is a scary one. Yeah, Jones handled Cormier easily the last time, but that was after a full training camp and maintaining a regular fight schedule for years. Walk away for 18 months (or spend time in jail), and stepping right back in there with Cormier, I think that’s a different story entirely.
I think the thing to do in that case would be a warm-up fight. Not because he needs to earn a title shot, but because he needs to get his wits back around him.
Jonathan: There are a couple of parallels that spring immediately to mind. The first, and more recent, is Floyd Mayweather, an obscure boxer who went almost 22 months between fights after a brief retirement immediately following his star-making wins over Oscar De La Hoya and Ricky Hatton.
Mayweather, whatever you think of him, jumped right over the frying pan and into the fire upon his return, facing a very dangerous Juan Manuel Marquez in his first fight back in action. Of course, that was after some time off and some soul searching—not after an extended prison stay.
The other example? Only the most famous athlete of all time, Muhammad Ali. The Greatest of All Time’s public protest of the Vietnam War cost him his absolute prime as a fighter. On April 29, 1967, still just 25 years old, he was stripped of his championship and saw his boxing license suspended. He didn’t step into the ring again until October 26, 1970.
Jones didn’t lose his title for a cause. He lost it for a series of bad decisions. But the result may, unfortunately, be the same. Once again, we are losing the best fighter in the world at the height of his career.
We often wondered who could beat Jon Jones—it turned out the man capable of taking his title was staring at him in the mirror.
The show must go on.
This has been the commonly used phrase in the last 24 hours, since Jon Jones was stripped of his UFC title and suspended indefinitely. The shocking announcement was made by the UFC on Tuesday, a day after Jones was arrested on a fe…
In the wake of the suspension, Daniel Cormier was offered a golden opportunity to step in for Jones and fight Anthony “Rumble” Johnson for the vacant light heavyweight title at UFC 187. The decision to take the fight was bittersweet for Cormier, a recent adversary of Jones.
Despite his past drama with Jones, including a media brawl in the MGM Grand lobby, Cormier admitted it was disappointing to see Jones’ title run end this way. During an appearance on Fox Sports’ UFC Tonight, he implored the former champ to “get it together” for the fans that look up to him and want to see him succeed:
More than anything, I think all the stuff that Jon gets into is disappointing. This is a guy that has the world at his fingertips, and he can’t seem to get out of his own way. …
Just get it together. Get it together, man. There are a lot of people that look up to you and a lot of people that actually want to see [you] succeed. … Also, you know, I’ll be waiting on the other side with my championship, and he can actually challenge me for it.
Jones, who was widely recognized as the best pound-for-pound fighter in the world, was only two victories away from tying Anderson Silva’s record for most consecutive title defenses in UFC history. There is no arguing the fact that he is the greatest light heavyweight ever in MMA.
One could even make the case that he’s the greatest fighter of all time, period. Cormier is a realist, and he knows Jones’ tumble from grace is the only reason a new champion is being crowned at UFC 187.
But at the end of the day, we’re all responsible for the choices we make. Jones may be the best light heavyweight in the world, but he no longer represents that coveted spot because of poor life choices, according to Cormier.
I’m a realist. Jon was the champion, and he beat himself. Nobody beat him. I didn’t get the job done on January 3. Jon Jones beat me. But opportunity presents itself, and you have to step up. … Jon did this to himself. The belt is not his anymore. So, yeah, it is the real championship.
There currently isn’t a timetable for Jones’ return. Appearing on Fox Sports Live, UFC President Dana White admitted even he was unsure of what the future held for the former champ.
Cormier was the logical option as a replacement, given his top-tier status in the division, and he was already in the gym preparing for his previously scheduled fight with Ryan Bader on June 6 at UFC Fight Night 68.
UFC 187 will take place on May 23 at the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas. The card will also feature a middleweight title fight between Chris Weidman and VitorBelfort.
JordyMcElroy is a featured columnist for Bleacher Report. He also is the MMA writer for FanRag Sports and co-founder of The MMA Bros.
Former UFC light heavyweight champion Jon Jones. FORMER UFC light heavyweight champion Jon Jones.
It’s a phrase I did not expect to type in my tenure at CP, but here we are. Just two days after the troubled champion was involved in a hit-and-run accident that resulted in the injury of a pregnant woman, Jones has been stripped of his title and suspended indefinitely by the UFC. Ho. Lee. Shit.
The UFC’s official statement on Jones (via their website) is after the jump.
Former UFC light heavyweight champion Jon Jones. FORMER UFC light heavyweight champion Jon Jones.
It’s a phrase I did not expect to type in my tenure at CP, but here we are. Just two days after the troubled champion was involved in a hit-and-run accident that resulted in the injury of a pregnant woman, Jones has been stripped of his title and suspended indefinitely by the UFC. Ho. Lee. Shit.
The UFC’s official statement on Jones (via their website) is below.
UFC announced that it has suspended Jon Jones indefinitely and stripped him of the light heavyweight title as a result of violations of the organization’s Athlete Code of Conduct Policy. Jones was recently arrested in Albuquerque, N.M. on a felony charge of leaving the scene of an accident involving personal injury. As a result of the charge and other violations of the Athlete Code of Conduct Policy, the organization believes it is best to allow Jones time to focus on his pending legal matters.
UFC feels strongly that its athletes must uphold certain standards both in and out of the Octagon. While there is disappointment in the recent charges, the organization remains supportive of Jones as he works through the legal process.
Seriously though, this is almost unprecedented for a champion of Jones’ level. The news comes following Jones’ first court appearance yesterday, in which he did not enter a plea. Although the Bernadillo County District Attorney’s office has not indicted him yet, the Bernalillo County (NM) Metropolitan Court judge required Jones to meet the ‘standard conditions for release’:
•No alcohol
•No drugs
•No entering a liquor store, and
•The fighter has to stay in contact with his attorney.
The DA now has 60 days to indict Jones, who currently remains free on bail.
Taking Jones’ place at UFC 187 will be none other than the last man he defeated, Daniel Cormier, who will now face Anthony Johnson for the vacant light heavyweight championship in the evening’s main event.
What a truly unbelievable turn of events for perhaps the greatest athlete to ever step foot in the octagon. Jones has remained quiet for the most part thus far, simply tweeting the following last night.
The Nature Boy Ric Flair 
