Jon Jones News

Russell Ess - March 31, 2017

When Daniel Cormier defends his UFC light heavyweight belt against Anthony Johnson in their rematch at UFC 210 on April 8, it will be nine months since his last fight and nearly a year and a half since his last title defense. Cormier’s last fight was a non-title fight against former UFC middleweight champion Anderson Silva, who stepped in on two days’ notice after Cormier’s original opponent, Jon Jones was pulled from their fight for testing positive for banned substances.

Scott Hernandez - March 30, 2017

Back in 2013, Alexander ‘The Mauler’ Gustafsson stepped into the Octagon in the midst of a 6-fight win streak to fight UFC light heavyweight kingpin Jon Jones. The fight was an extremely back and forth one that saw Gustafsson give the champ the toughest test of his career, arguably beating Jones despite the fact that Jones was awarded a unanimous decision, and retained his belt. Now, four years later, with Daniel Cormier, who is gearing up for his UFC 209 scrap with Anthony Johnson, currently reigning as the UFC light heavyweight champion, and Jones preparing to return later this year from a suspension, Gustafsson believes that a win over Jones could be as big as winning the UFC title:

Tom Taylor - March 19, 2017

Things are suddenly looking pretty interesting in the UFC light heavyweight division. Champ Daniel Cormier and challenger Anthony “Rumble” Johnson are scheduled for an imminent title rematch. Pride legend Mauricio “Shogun” Rua is enjoying an unlikely, late-career resurgence, and appears to be poised for one last title run. England’s Jimi Manuwa has burst into title contention with destructive knockouts of top-10 foes in Ovince St. Preux and Corey Anderson. And all the while prospects like Tyson Pedro, Paul Craig, Volkan Oezdemir and Misha Cirkunov are working to earn their places in the light heavyweight ranks. All the action that occurs at light heavyweight, however, has a shadow cast over it by one man: former champion Jon Jones, who was stripped of the title after a litany of troubles outside the cage – several of which were drug-related.

Tom Taylor - March 13, 2017

This weekend, in the main event of the UFC’s latest trip to London, England, British striking specialist Jimi Manuwa will take on dangerous grappler Corey Anderson. If Manuwa wins this battle in The Big Smoke, it’s conceivable that he’ll earn himself a shot at the winner of Daniel Cormier and Anthony “Rumble” Johnson’s UFC 210 light heavyweight title fight. While this is the biggest fight currently available at light heavyweight, Manuwa recently told SkySports that he’s especially interested  in a fight with Jon Jones, a former UFC light heavyweight champion who never really lost the title, but was instead stripped of the distinction after a litany of troubles outside the cage.

Tom Taylor - February 6, 2017

When Jon Jones withdrew from his scheduled UFC 200 main event title fight with Daniel Cormier, UFC President Dana White assured that he would never trust him with headlining honors again. And while White has certainly gone back on similar assurances in the past, it’s easy to see him sticking with this one, given Jones’ many past transgressions. On Monday’s edition of the MMA Hour however, Daniel Cormier raised an interesting point. If – or perhaps it’s better say when – he and Jones rematch, it’ll be such a mammoth fight that’s hard to imagine it not being the headliner of a pay-per-view. In fact, Cormier can really only imagine his potential rematch with Jones serving as a co-headliner in one scenario. That scenario is one where headlining honors are awarded to UFC lightweight champ and MMA superstar Conor McGregor.

Tom Taylor - February 1, 2017

Last year, in the main event of UFC 200, former UFC light heavyweight champion Jon Jones was expected to take on current champion Daniel Cormier in a bid to reclaim the title that was once his. Regrettably, Jones was forced out of this planned fight after a failed drug test, and was subsequently handed a year-long suspension (retroactive to the date of the failed test). In July, Jones will once again be eligible to compete. And though there has been some speculation that he might take a tune up fight before fighting for the title again, UFC President Dana White recently explained that he expects Jones will receive an immediate title shot upon his return. White gave his thoughts on the situation on a recent episode of the UFC Unfiltered podcast.

Scott Hernandez - January 27, 2017

In 2014, streaking light heavyweight contender Glover Teixeira rode a 20-fight win streak into a main event scrap with UFC pound for pound kingpin Jon Jones at UFC 172. While Teixeira had been on a tear since being signed to the UFC, going a perfect 5-0, when he fought Jones for the light heavyweight championship, Jones picked up an impressive unanimous decision win as he defended his belt for the seventh time.

Tom Taylor - January 27, 2017

In January of 2015, an undefeated Daniel Cormier challenged his hated rival Jon Jones for the UFC light heavyweight title. Though he put up an admirable fight against the seemingly unbeatable Jones, he would ultimately lose this fight by unanimous decision. In the two years since, Cormier and Jones have experienced very different trajectories. Jones was stripped of the light heavyweight title for a laundry list of legal troubles, and later suspended for a brush with the United States Anti-Doping Agency. Cormier, meanwhile, usurped the light heavyweight throne in Jones’ stead, winning it in a fight with Anthony “Rumble” Johnson, and defending it in an unforgettable war with Alexander Gustafsson.

Scott Hernandez - January 19, 2017

UFC light heavyweight champion Daniel Cormier and former UFC pound for pound kingpin Jon Jones have a very long and very public feud dating back several years. While the men have been booked to fight numerous times, they have only stepped into the Octagon once, where Jones emerged victorious. After their UFC 200 scrap in July fell through just 48 hours before the men were set to step into the Octagon, Jones was handed a one-year suspension, keeping him sidelined until July of 2017. With that being said, Cormier is still looking for a Jon Jones rematch.

Russell Ess - January 12, 2017

UFC superstar Conor McGregor and BJJ phenom Dillon Danis are surely feeding off of each other’s strengths. For McGregor’s UFC 202 rematch against Nate Diaz, “The Notorious” brought in Danis to work on his Brazilian jiu-jitsu after being submitted by Diaz in their first bout at UFC 196. Danis, a black belt under Marcelo Garcia has built a strong relationship with McGregor and it surely seems that the character of “The Notorious” is rubbing off on Danis.

Scott Hernandez - January 11, 2017

Former UFC light heavyweight kingpin Jon Jones recently made quite the waves in the grappling community when he stepped into the cage at Submission Underground 3 to grapple with MMA legend and former Olympic wrestler Dan Henderson. The matchup was one that was a long time in the making. Back in 2012, Henderson was set to challenge Jones for the light heavyweight championship in the main event of UFC 151. Unfortunately, a ruptured MCL forced Henderson out of the bout, with the UFC subsequently cancelling the entire card when Jones turned down a short-notice fight with Chael Sonnen just eight days before the event.

Russell Ess - January 9, 2017

How do you think an arm wrestling match between former UFC light heayvweight champion Jon Jones and 405-pound strongman Robert Oberst would go?

Chris Taylor - December 31, 2016

Ronda Rousey (12-2 MMA) made her highly anticipated return to the octagon in the main event of last night’s UFC 207 fight card in Las Vegas where she challenged current UFC women’s bantamweight champion Amanda Nunes for the title she used to posses. Unfortunately for fans of “Rowdy”, the fight didn’t go her way whatsoever, as she was overwhelmed by a barrage of early punches from “The Lioness” which led to a shocking 48-second TKO loss.

Russell Ess - December 27, 2016

With Conor McGregor recently being just the third fighter in history to win titles in two separate UFC weight classes behind Randy Couture and BJ Penn, “The Notorious” was the first fighter to be a concurrent two-weight UFC champion. Although his time as the double champ was short lived with his deal in place with Dana White on relinquishing a UFC title, another legendary fighter is looking to add himself to the list of two-weight UFC world champions. “I do want to challenge for the heavyweight title, but I’m waiting for the perfect opponent,” said former UFC light heavyweight champion Jon Jones speaking on the Joe Rogan Experience podcast (transcribed by MMA Junkie). “I’ve beaten up a lot of heavyweights, man. Only people who train at (Jackson-Wink MMA) have seen that. I’ve picked up a lot of heavyweights. I’ve slammed a lot of heavyweights.

Scott Hernandez - December 24, 2016

While former UFC light heavyweight champion, and arguable pound for pound kingpin Jon Jones is without a doubt one of the greatest fighters of all time, Jones’ struggles outside of the Octagon have tarnished his legacy in the eyes of some. While Jones was cleared of any wrong-doing in the case of his failed random out-of-competition drug test back in July that resulted in his being pulled from his UFC 200 headlining scrap just 48 hours before fight-night, ‘Bones’ is still serving a one-year suspension for the situation despite the fact that the failed drug test was the result of a tainted supplement.

Tom Taylor - December 21, 2016

Jon Jones is known for many things.

Scott Hernandez - December 17, 2016

Earlier this month, UFC light heavyweight champion Daniel Cormier was set to fight top ranked light heavyweight contender Anthony Johnson in the main event of UFC 206. The fight was not only set to be a highly anticipated rematch, but would also serve as Cormier’s second title defense. Unfortunately, several weeks before the fight, Cormier was forced to pull out of the fight with a torn adductor in his groin, and as a result the fight was scrapped. The initial timetable for Cormier’s return, indicated that the champ could be making his return in spring of 2017, however there had been no official word from the champ himself on what course of action he would take to recover from the injury.

Russell Ess - December 12, 2016

Jon Jones and Dan Henderson’s grappling match at the Submission Underground 2 event that took place over the weekend may have just started something very interesting. Jones was able to secure an arm-triangle choke on the recently retired MMA legend and forced “Hendo” to submit at 6:39 of the competition.