Ariel Helwani is reporting that Jon Jones will now be defending his UFC light heavyweight belt against Vitor Belfort at UFC 152 on Sept. 22 in Toronto.
Jones was slated to fight Lyoto Machida, but according to Helwani at mmafighting.com, “The Dragon” reportedly withdrew from the title fight after wishing for more time to train for Jones.
Thursday started with UFC president Dana White announcing the cancellation of UFC 151 on Sept. 1 at Mandalay Bay Events Center in Las Vegas because of a knee injury to light heavyweight challenger Dan Henderson.
Then White angrily revealed that Jones and his team refused to fight a late substitute in Chael Sonnen. The former middleweight challenger, who had been trading jabs with Jones on Twitter after announcing his plan to move from 185 pounds to 205, offered to take on Jones on just eight days’ notice, but Jones turned it down.
Coincidentally, Machida was awarded the title bout versus Jones over fellow Brazilian Mauricio “Shogun” Rua after White decided “The Dragon” gave a more compelling performance in knocking out Ryan Bader at UFC on Fox 4 at Staples Center on Aug. 4