Dana Says Jon Jones Doesn't Want Gustafsson Fight, UFC 174 Promo, Fighter Responds To Criticism
- The next UFC pay-per-view, UFC 174, will take place June 14 from Vancouver and the Rogers Arena. In the main event, Demetrious Johnson puts his flyweight title on the line against Ali Bagautinov. In the video above, you can watch a preview for the card.
Other bouts of note include a key welterweight scrap featuring Tyron Woodley and Rory MacDonald, the return of former heavyweight champion Andrei Arlovski to meet up with Brendan Schaub and Ryan Bader vs. Rafael Cavalcante.
Wrestling Inc. will be providing complete play-by-play coverage of the main card, along with quick results of all the action.
- It appears that there is one final holdup to making Jon Jones' next UFC light heavyweight title defense: the opponent. UFC president Dana White stated in a recent interview that Jones wants Daniel Cormier, not Alexander Gustafsson, for his next fight.
"People think we're in contract negotiations with Jon Jones – we're not," said White, in his weekly UFC Download interview. "Jon still has five fights left on his contract. So what we're doing now is trying to get him to sign the bout agreement for Gustafsson."
Last year, Jones (20-1) successfully defeated Gustafsson via decision. At the time, an immediate rematch appeared in the cards, but officials went with Glover Teixeira as the next challenger. Jones defeated Teixeira earlier this year, while Gustafsson (16-2) stopped Jimi Manuwa.
Cormier (15-0) submitted Dan Henderson recently and immediately called for a championship match with Jones. It remains unknown, though, if "DC" could make such a fight, as he suffered a knee injury in the days leading up to his bout with Henderson.
- Over the weekend, C.B. Dollaway defeated Francis Carmont and earned himself a spot in the latest UFC middleweight rankings. While the win was important, his post-fight victory speech lacked, at least in the eyes of Dana White.
The UFC boss took to Twitter and stated, "CB is awesome on the mic. DYNAMIC!!!!!" Dollaway, who had yet to see the tweet or talk with White, addressed the remarks during the post-fight press conference.
"I probably have to get better on the mic," he said. "When you're exhausted after fighting, I left it all hang out, so yeah, I was tired. It was a tough fight."
Dollaway (15-5) later added on Twitter that he will "work on it" in regards to improving with his victory speeches.
CB is awesome on the mic. DYNAMIC!!!!!
? Dana White (@danawhite) May 31, 2014
@danawhite sorry man I was exhausted , I will work on it! Haha
? CB Dollaway (@cbdollaway) June 1, 2014