Jones title fight was fight-night patchwork matchmaking
After learning original opponent Rashad Evans is out six to eight weeks with a strained ligament in his knee, UFC…
After learning original opponent Rashad Evans is out six to eight weeks with a strained ligament in his knee, UFC president Dana White and matchmaker Joe Silva sprung to action.
And as White told MMAjunkie.com (www.mmajunkie.com), Rua agreed to the proposed fight right before Jones’ UFC 126 co-main-event bout with Ryan Bader. Ten minutes later, after a second-round submission victory, Jones also jumped on board.
“We did the deal literally, I don’t know if you saw, but earlier, we told ‘Shogun’ that, ‘Hey, listen, if this kid wins, we want to put him in there for the fight,'” White told MMAjunkie.com after UFC 126, which took place at the Mandalay Bay Events Center in Las Vegas. “We talked for a while about it. Right before Jones and Bader came out, him and his team accepted the fight.”
Jones, of course, was left in the dark about the added stakes of the fight. The fast-rising 23-year-old prospect was expected to have his hands full with Bader, an undefeated contender and winner of “The Ultimate Fighter 8.”
“Literally after he won, I walked up in the octagon and told Jon, ‘Do you want to take this fight?'” White said. “He said, ‘Yeah.’ That’s literally how the fight was made tonight.