Jones: OSP fight is to make-up for UFC 151
However, Jones did take a a fight with Ovince Saint Preux and was willing to fight any replacement to make up for UFC 151 to his fans.
UFC 151 will go down as the answer to the trivia question of what UFC PPV never happened. Jon Jones was scheduled to fight Dan Henderson in the main event, but when Henderson was injured, Jones refused to fight a replacement and the entire event was cancelled.
Fast forward to this past week when Daniel Cormier withdrew from UFC 197 with an injury, many fans believed Jon Jones would not fight a replacement opponent. However, Jones did take a a fight with Ovince Saint Preux and was willing to fight any replacement to make up for UFC 151 to his fans:
“Originally, the UFC called me and asked about Anthony Johnson,” Jones explained Monday on The MMA Hour. “They said that he had already accepted the fight, and they asked me if I was going to accept the fight. I told them I needed a meeting with my coaches. I had a meeting with my coaches, and the next morning I called the UFC said let’s do this thing. They said that Anthony’s camp changed their mind, I guess, since he had some dental work he needed to do.
“That made no sense to me whatsoever, for him to be ready at one point and then the next minute it was dental work. So I just told Lorenzo (Fertitta), whoever you need me to fight, I want to make things right for UFC 151. I want to do something for my fans, something positive. I know people who have been saving up months to make it out to Vegas for this fight. I know guys who, this is their anniversary gift or birthday gift from people, and I was like, you know what, I’ve put my fans through so much already. I need to get out there and just put it on the line. So I said I’ll fight anybody. They came up with Ovince.”