More fallout from Jon Jones USADA failure

Here are a few more notes in the aftermath of Jon Jones being pulled from the main event at UFC 200 over a potential anti-doping violation from a test taken on June 16th.

Daniel Cormier was said to be far more than distraught after all the preparation he’s done for this fight.  Exactly what happens with him will likely be determined early tomorrow.  He’s trained very hard but this was a different level of letdown than most late replacement fights.

Among the fighters who have asked to face Cormier on short notice are Gegard Mousasi, Michael Bisping, Ilir Latifi, Zack Cummings and Tom Lawlor.  One would expect many more will also make themselves available first thing in the morning.

From a name standpoint and storyline standpoint, Bisping is the guy to put in.  It would be the first champion vs. champion match since Georges St-Pierre vs. B.J. Penn.  Bisping just beat one of Cormier’s best friends.  It’s a no-lose situation for Bisping, who would be getting a guy on an emotional roller coaster and he’d still be middleweight champion with a loss, but be part of one of the biggest shows in history. This would also salvage the show as much as any replacement at the last moment could salvage it.

Mousasi is dangerous and has fought at light heavyweight before and done well, and has trained for the show.  There’s no story there.  At the end of the day, Cormier has probably put in too much in the way of preparation to be off the show.  It’s simply too many millions of dollars potentially to not fight if the opportunity arises.

Jon Jones will be doing a press conference at the MGM Grand at 8:30 a.m. tomorrow morning to give an explanation of what happened.

Mark Hunt and Brock Lesnar’s public workouts have been moved to 10 a.m. and 10:30 a.m. respectively