According to UFC president Dana White, a champion vs. champion superfight between then-light-heavyweight kingpin Jon Jones and middleweight titleholder Chris Weidman has been in talks for a potential UFC debut in New York City, not long ago.
“Chris Weidman and Jon Jones wanted to fight each other to see who was the King of New York,” White revealed during a Q&A at the UFC Fan Expo in Las Vegas last week. “We were talking about that for a while.”
Both Weidman and Jones are New York natives. Weidman was born and still lives in Long Island, while Jones was born in Rochester, but now lives and trains in Albuquerque, New Mexico.
The UFC was very hopeful that the state of New York would legalize the sport of MMA this year. The MMA bill, however, died again in the New York State Assembly after passing the Senate for the eight straight year in a row. The next chance to get the sport legalized is next year, which means a planned December 5 UFC 194 event can’t take place in New York’s Madison Square Garden, as originally hoped.
Jon Jones, of course, also isn’t the UFC champion anymore, since he got stripped of the belt and suspended indefinitely after he has been arrested on a felony hit-and-run charge in April. It is still unsure if and when he will return to the UFC. Weidman though, is a safe bet for a UFC debut in New York, says White.
“Chris Weidman will definitely be involved and we’ll see what happens with Jones and how this whole situation plays out,” White said. “He probably would have fought there.” (via MMA Fighting)
Weidman is now expected to face Luke Rockhold next, on a date yet to be announced.