Jon "Bones" Jones may have been stripped of his UFC light heavyweight title and suspended indefinitely for outside-the-octagon reasons, but his name still can't be kept out of super fight discussions. According to reports, UFC president Dana White had entertained talks of an all-New York super fight if mixed martial arts were to be legalized in the Big Apple.
"Chris Weidman and Jon Jones wanted to fight each other to see who was the King of New York," White said. "We were talking about that for a while."
Jones' behavior has postponed such discussion. Jones had tested positive for cocaine a month before defending his title vs. Daniel Cormier in January. He was successful in his defense, and scheduled to headline UFC 187 vs. Anthony "Rumble" Johnson before he was involved in a hit-and-run that badly injured a pregnant woman. He was subsequently arrested and suspended.
While all that went on, the bill to legalize MMA in New York died once again despite an unusual amount of optimism. It was the eighth straight year that the bill made it past the Senate and then died in the State Assembly, meaning there will be no Weidman fight in New York either until at least 2016.
If there is movement next year though, White said Weidman will be involved. "Chris Weidman will definitely be involved and we'll see what happens with Jones and how this whole situation plays out," White said. "He probably would have fought there."
Jones, of Rochester, was the top pound-for-pound fighter in the UFC until his suspension cost him his ranking. He's been replaced by featherweight Jose Aldo. Weidman, of Long Island, is the unbeaten middleweight UFC champion. He has two wins over Anderson "Spider" Silva, a win over Lyoto Machida, and a TKO against Vitor Belfort on his resume.
Weidman has previously said he would love to take on Jones.
"I wanted to clear out my division more before I finally got...I wanted that super fight with Jon Jones," Weidman said in April. "And that fight's going to happen at some point. I've talked with him about it face to face, and he's excited about it too."
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