With UFC president Dana White stating Conor McGregor will not be put back onto the UFC 200 card after being dropped from the event, the July 9 showcase was without a megastar to headline — until today. White announced on “Good Morning America” that Jon Jones will face Daniel Cormier in a light heavyweight title unification fight.
After Cormier (17-1) pulled out of his fight with Jones on the UFC 197 card last Saturday due to a leg injury, Jones defeated Cormier’s replacement, Ovince Saint Preux, via unanimous decision. The fight was the first for Jones following his indefinite suspension stemming from a hit-and-run incident in Albuquerque, N.M., last April. His suspension from UFC wasn’t the only consequence Jones suffered from the hit-and-run — the fighter was also dropped by Reebok.
Reebok is the official sponsor of the UFC, but also signed Jones to its roster of athletes. Jones was one of the athletes Reebok used to promote its ZPump Fusion release, which included a commercial of the fighter running through a city environment in the shoe and an appearance at the shoe’s launch event in March 2015 in New York City. But the UFC standout has posted videos to his personal Instagram account over the past three weeks training in shoes from a Reebok competitor — and a former sponsor of Jones — Nike. Jones was seen performing box jumps in the Nike 3.0 Free Flyknit.
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Jones and Cormier have fought once before, with Jones winning via unanimous decision at UFC 182 in January 2015. With Jones suspended, Cormier won two fights, defeating Anthony Johnson via third-round submission at UFC 187 last May and Alexander Gustafsson in a split decision at UFC 192 in October.
McGregor was supposed to headline the UFC 200 card in a rematch against Nate Diaz, but was dropped from the event by the UFC after a short-lived retirement and subsequent public feud with the organization.
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