UFC wants Jon Jones-Alexander Gustafsson rematch by end of 2018

According to a Thursday report by ESPN’s Brett Okamoto, the UFC is looking to sign Jon Jones vs. Alexander Gustafsson II for Saturday, December 29th at UFC 232 in Las Vegas.

Okamoto corresponded with Dana White via text and the UFC president said the fight is far from a done deal, but they want it to close out 2018. If signed, it would headline a show that already features women’s featherweight champion Cris “Cyborg” Justino vs. women’s bantamweight champion Amanda Nunes in a champion vs. champion fight.

The two first clashed in September 2013 when then-light heavyweight champion Jones defeated Gustafsson via unanimous decision in one of the best fights in company history.

What is interesting is how this fight ties in with the Madison Square Garden November 3rd show which still doesn’t have a main event. Here’s the breakdown via ESPN’s Ariel Helwani:

– UFC wanted Gustafsson vs. Yoel Romero to fight for the light heavyweight title currently held by Daniel Cormier. They would have had to strip Cormier of that title, but the idea was to sign Cormier-Jones III for the year end show instead, except for Cormier’s heavyweight title. This would help avoid an interim title being created. 

– However, both Jones and Cormier wanted the fight at light heavyweight instead and the date didn’t work for Cormier anyway.

– From there, they moved to Jones-Gustafsson as the plan for the year end show and the Romero fight idea was dropped.