The pound-for-pound king of UFC Jon Jones has finally agreed to an August rematch with Alexander Gustafsson after a lengthy period of hemming and hawing, as well as claims of preferring to fight Daniel Cormier. Many fans accused Jones of ducking Gustafsson, after their previous fight at UFC 165 went the distance and became one of the UFC's all-time greatest fights.
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Jones has addressed the Cormier talk, as well as the real reason he held up the contract signing process. "I think Cormier is the tougher fighter, but the fans want to see me fight Gustafsson," Jones said.
"There was never an issue with taking the Gustafsson fight. The issue was that my brother is getting married in July and I would have preferred a later date. I didn't want to go this early and I would have preferred to go later in October or November. It is what it is. We have a date now, Sept 27th. This was a personal decision for me. I will be at my brother's wedding and have a proper training camp."
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The rumors that Jones was afraid of fighting Gustafsson again spread like wildfire, with Gustafsson challenging his manhood on Facebook and even Cormier weighing in, despite standing to benefit by getting a title shot.
"He had to reach so deep into his soul to win that last fight, I truly believe he doesn't want to fight Alex again," Cormier said. "Alex took him somewhere he'd never been before and he doesn't want to go there ever again."
With Jones vs. Gustafsson happening, Cormier appears to be entrenched as the No. 1 contender to face the winner. He's openly stated he'll be rooting for Jones to win, because taking the title from him would sweeten the moment.
"He's got the most title defenses, and he's the most dominant champ in the history of the division," Cormier said. "Does it have to be him? No. I want to be champ. It doesn't have to be Jones but would it mean more to become the champ by beating Jon Jones? Yes."
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