Dana White has backed up his words and benched Conor McGregor for UFC 200.
We suspected that was the case when the UFC president declared, last Friday, that McGregor would not be taking part in the July 9 event.
McGregor had refused to leave a training camp in Iceland to journey to America for a week-long publicity tour. In return, the UFC removed the Dubliner’s rematch with Nate Diaz from the biggest card of 2016.
McGregor had gambled on forcing the UFC’s hand by announcing his retirement only to go back on that claim and insist he was ready to fight.
There had been talk of Georges St-Pierre returning for UFC 200 but the Canadian is not expected to feature again until the UFC 205 event at Madison Square Garden, in November.
We are getting into the Octagon with the @ufc this morning for #UFConGMA! pic.twitter.com/R90G5swYoU
— Good Morning America (@GMA) April 27, 2016
Instead, the promotion has made Jon Jones’ highly-anticipated light heavyweight title bout with reigning champion Daniel Cormier as the new main event.
The announcement was made on Good Morning America, today, with both Jones and Cormier in attendance.
There it is folks. The main event for #UFC200 is Daniel Cormier vs Jon Jones. pic.twitter.com/ENJv0Sp3Ac
— Chamatkar Sandhu (@SandhuMMA) April 27, 2016
The bout was originally slated for UFC 197 but Cormier had to pull out due to a shin injury. Jones won the UFC 197 headliner, against Ovince St. Preux, and sent out another ominous warning to Cormier while claiming the interim title.
Jones beat Cormier in their original bout, in January 2015, but was forced to relinquish his belt last April after pleading guilty to a hit-and-run incident that left a pregnant woman with a broken arm.
