UFC light heavyweight champion Jon Jones has pulled out of his title defense against Daniel Cormier on September 27 due to a leg injury, and the fight has been rescheduled for January 2015. The fight was slated to be the main event at UFC 178, but now the card is set to be restructured. Jones and Cormier have been itching to step into the Octagon together, and tensions spilled over at their recent media day face-off when they came to blows. Despite playing nice in an ESPN segment shortly after the melee, when the interview ended and they went off air, cameras recorded the two continuing their bitter war of words.
One man who is not in the least bit happy about the delay is Alexander Gustafson, who was originally due to fight Jones in a rematch until he got injured and Cormier filled his spot. The hype now surrounding Jones/Cormier after their recent spat means that the UFC want the pair to meet in the New Year, and that has left the Swede, who would have been fit to fight Jones by then, in limbo. Gustafson pushed Jones to the limit in their fight at UFC 165 and was gunning for a rematch or another shot at the title as soon as possible. He posted this message on Instagram: “Apparently @ufc thinks that acting like clowns on a press conference will hype a fight more than doing the fight of the century, thats ridiculous.”
Meanwhile, Cormier posted this tongue-in-cheek tweet to his adversary:
The main event planned for UFC 177 on August 30 between flyweight champion Demetrious Johnson and Chris Cariaso has been moved back a month to become the new main event at UFC 178. The UFC did not divulge the nature of Jones’ injury, but it has been reported that he sprained his ankle and tore a meniscus in his left knee.
