Jones was stripped of the title nearly a year ago to the night after he was involved in a hit-and-run auto accident in his hometown of Albuquerque, N.M. His bitter rival, Daniel Cormier, whom he had beaten at UFC 182 in his last appearance in the cage, won the vacant belt by submitting Anthony “Rumble” Johnson. Zonar told MMAFighting.com he was unsure if he will need surgery.
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The UFC 197 actual preliminaries start an hour after the early prelims.
It was Jones’ first appearance since being stripped of the official title past year, after he being charged with a felony hit-and-run in Albuquerque, NM. “I was watching, imagining, anticipating techniques – knowing when techniques would have landed, but just not going for it”, he said. Jones (21-1 as a professional) dealt with some legal issues outside of the cage in 2015, but the former UFC Light Heavyweight champion hopes to put all of that behind him with a strong performance in UFC 197. According to Saint Preux’s coach Joey Lunar, Saint Preux has broken his left arm in the second round of the match while defending against Jones’ relentless bombardment of kicks.
“I needed that fight before fighting for a title”, Jones said. Preux is a rugged fighter who was in the media talking about how Jones’ layoff could give him “a little bit of an advantage”.
Jones landed heavy ground and pound towards the end of the fourth round, nearly ending the fight. What Jones wants is the belt that Cormier now has, which was his belt until he was stripped of it by the company.
Jones was also supposed to have a rematch with current UFC light heavyweight holder, Daniel Cormier, however, Cormier was forced to pull out of the said bout due to reported injury.
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In the co-main event, flyweight champion Demetrious Johnson defended his belt for a record setting eighth time. However, his last three fights before the layoff all went the full five rounds for decision victories. “When my adrenaline came down, I was in a lot of pain, so the wheelchair was there”.
