UFC 197 is coming up this weekend and Jon Jones will be in the octagon for the first time in 15 months. Jones had his light heavyweight title stripped from him when he ran into all sorts of legal trouble last year, but he is ready to get back into the swing of things and get that title back.
Jones' fight Saturday night will be against Ovince Saint Preux for the interim light heavyweight title. Jones was initially scheduled to take on Daniel Cormier, who is the current champ, but he backed out due to an injury. While it's hard to imagine a title holder dropping out of a fight for an injury that isn't significant, Jones isn't convinced that Cormier is all that injured.
"You know, it's hard to say. I wasn't there in the workout room with him when he got injured I'll say," Jones said. "But, there's been lots of rumors that he was hurt, not injured. And to drop the fight being 'hurt,' it just makes no sense. My body, I have aches and little nooks and crannies all over my body, but it's the cost of being an elite level athlete. You fight through that stuff."
This plays into the narrative that Jones has been trying to create that Cormier is afraid to fight him again. Jones and Cormier have fought before, back at UFC 182 when Jones was the champion and "Bones" won that fight via unanimous decision.
If Jones were to beat Saint Preux at UFC 197, which he is the heavy favorite to do so, then he will be due a title shot with Cormier for his next fight. Since the UFC has officially booked a date for its New York debut (UFC 205, Nov. 12 at Madison Square Garden) and Jones is from New York, that would seem to make a lot of sense. Jones though, believes that Cormier is afraid to fight him in New York and he actually has some evidence to back that up.
In Cormier's defense, he did have the backing of a doctor who said his injury is serious enough for him to have pulled out of the fight. Having said that though, Cormier won't be able to avoid Jones forever and when he does recover in about six to eight weeks, he will have to fight Jones, assuming he handles Saint Preux. Where and when that fight might be is still a question mark, but at this point, it is clear Jones will do it anywhere as long as he has a chance to get his title back.
