The cards have fallen perfectly for Dana White and the UFC. A week ago they were scrambling to fill the main event spot for their biggest PPV of all-time and they’ve somehow ended up with a main event better than their original McGregor vs Diaz II plans.
According to FloSports’ Jeremy Botter the long-awaited light heavyweight rematch between Jon Jones & Daniel Cormier will headline UFC 200.
UFC light heavyweight champion Daniel Cormier will defend his belt against the former champion who never lost it, Jon Jones. Sources close to the bout confirmed the news to FloCombat on Wednesday morning. – FloCombat
Jones may not drive the numbers of McGregor but the fight build up will feature genuine animosity and the fight itself can be more exciting than Diaz vs McGregor.
Don’t believe me? This was Jon Jones after winning the interim light heavyweight title at this past weekend’s UFC 197.
That’s right, Jon flipped off Daniel Cormier who was calling the fight from cage side. These two men truly dislike each other and have plenty of ammo to spew during pre-fight post conferences and interviews.
This leaves “The Notorious” Conor McGregor out in the cold. His game plan of forcing the UFC to acquiesce to his demands backfired and he’ll miss out on making history as part of UFC 200.
Does that phase McGregor? Probably not. He’ll still make his $1 million guaranteed whenever he decides to fight and most likely set another UFC top 5 record for gate & PPVs. The biggest hurdle for McGregor is altering his training from fighting at 170lbs to drop back down to 145 lbs for an Edgar or Aldo title fight.
Nate Diaz is another fighter caught in limbo. Dana says a spot is waiting for him at UFC 200 if he’d like and a title match against Robbie Lawler has to intrigue him but is anything worth a loss and missing out on the potential McGregor payday?
Despite what happens with those two fighters the UFC have one more main card spot to fill at UFC 200 and it’ll be surprising to see Robbie Lawler not fighting someone for his title. The GSP rumors won’t go away and Carlos Condit is still waiting in the wings.
UFC 200 is shaping up to be an exciting event and even without McGregor on the card the UFC can rest easy knowing he once again provided magnificent promo for an event.