Jones vs OSP – Serendipity Strikes UFC Again

As UFC gets closer to their 200th pay-per-view and the biggest show in the company’s history, the very precarious nature of champion’s health has once again caused a massive change in the main event of a title fight. In March, it was a leg injury to Junior Dos Santos that changed the course of that show and, quite possibly, Conor Mcgregor’s career. This time, it was the grudge match between Light Heavyweight champion Daniel Cormier and former champion Jon Jones that has now fallen apart, but not in the way many people expected less than 7 days ago. As a result, Jon Jones will now fight for the interim Light Heavyweight title against top contender Ovince Saint Preux on April 23rd in the main event of UFC 197.

It was March 29th when Jon Jones sat in a Albuquerque, NM prison for a number of charges related to drag racing. The mere mention of Jones once again involved with the law started the chatter of a possible fight cancellation, but the charges merely led to an adjusted probation for the former title holder. Instead, a more significant incident was ignored for nearly 2 weeks prior, when Daniel Cormier was spotted at the NCAA Wrestling Championships in New York City with a noticeable limp. With the NCAA Men’s basketball tournament occurring across the country at the exact same time, Cormier was able to duck the spotlight for a few days, but his injury did not heal in time, leading to his stepping away from the title fight. But in a curious occurrence, the fighter considered to be next in line, Anthony “Rumble” Johnson, was also unavailable to take up the fight due to an injury, this coming from a recent oral surgery that would prevent him from being able to wear a mouthpiece.

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