UFC Releases Three Fighters, Rousey Gives Silva - Weidman Pick, Jon Jones Talks EA Cover
- UFC light heavyweight champion Jon Jones was picked first as the fighter to appear on the impending EA Sports UFC videogame. The second cover spot was decided via tournament-style fan voting. Eventually, Jones' recent opponent, Alexander Gustafsson, was voted in to the spot beside Jones. After putting on a frontrunner for Fight of the Year this past September, Jones is happy that Gustafsson earned the second cover spot and hopes their images on the cover will keep fans excited for the rematch.
"It was an epic fight," Jones said of his first bout with Gustafsson. "People are saying it could be one of the fights of the whole history of the sport. I'm just really grateful to be a part of it and really happy for Alexander. I think him being on the cover is gonna be huge for our rematch."
Check out the video above to hear more from Jones about the EA Sports videogame and cover.
- As many had predicted when their profiles were removed from UFC.com, George Sotiropoulos, Rosie Sexton and Alessio Sakara have all been released from their UFC contracts. Their releases were confirmed via UFC Tonight.
Sotiropoulos had positioned himself as a lightweight contender following a stint on The Ultimate Fighter 6, but found his way out of the promotion after posting a four-fight losing streak. His most recent defeat came in October to KJ Noons by unanimous decision. Sexton lost by unanimous decision in both of her UFC appearances, most recently to Jessica Andrade in October. Sakara has been with the UFC since 2005, but has also been let go after losing four straight.
- In keeping with the trend of pros picking Anderson Silva to win his rematch against Chris Weidman next weekend, UFC women's bantamweight champ Ronda Rousey explained recently on UFC Tonight that she's picking The Spider to win – even if it's out of a sense of nostalgia.
"I have to go with Anderson, just because he's the hero I've looked up to for so many years," she said.
Don't forget to check out our live, round-by-round coverage of UFC 168: Weidman vs. Silva 2 next Saturday night.