UFC 200 was supposed to be the greatest celebration in the history of mixed martial arts and certainly in the history of the Ultimate Fighting Championship. However, the news of Jon Jones’ positive test for performance-enhancing drugs has now become all the talk leading up to Saturday’s event, especially with what that means for his opponent Daniel Cormier.
Cormier appeared to be in limbo with his planned opponent unavailable to compete and super-short notice to find a replacement for this big fight card. That hasn’t stopped UFC president Dana White from trying, though. On Thursday afternoon, he went on FS1’s The Herd with Colin Cowherd to declare that Cormier will indeed fight at UFC 200.
“There’s tons of guys that are interested,” White said. “We’ll get a fight done.”
.@danawhite: Daniel Cormier will fight someone this weekend at #UFC200. #TheHerdhttps://t.co/LXyPzS1e7E
— Herd w/Colin Cowherd (@TheHerd) July 7, 2016
Speculation over who could take Jones’ spot in the fight has run rampant, and has included the newly crowned 185-pound champion Michael Bisping. White personally threw water on that idea during his interview with Cowherd.
“Bisping just won the 185-pound title,” White said. “And, let me tell you what Bisping does in his offseason. When Bisping is not training, Bisping goes on a bender. He’s in no condition to fight Daniel Cormier, I’ll tell you that.”
Other names suggested include Gegard Mousasi and Ilir Latifi, with Mousasi already on the UFC 200 card in a middleweight bout against Thiago Santos and Latifi in fighting shape for an upcoming bout on a future UFC card.
Just don’t expect to see No. 2-ranked Anthony “Rumble” Johnson or Swedish star Alexander Gustaffson to be amongst the real possibilities thanks to the short notice and their fitness level on such short notice as well.
Making weight in three days, plus not being in fighting shape to begin with, is a brutal combination that could only set back either’s hopes of a true rematch with Cormier in the future.
It will be interesting to see who gets a huge opportunity against Cormier, and if a fight does indeed happen. Without it, Cormier looses out on a big-time payday on the biggest of stages in MMA history.
