Jon Jones

Jonathan Dwight "Jon" Jones (born July 19, 1987) is an American mixed martial artist and former UFC Light Heavyweight Champion. He is widely regarded as the best mixed martial arts fighter in the world and as one of the greatest fighters of all time. When he won the title in March 2011 at the age of 23, he became the youngest champion in the Ultimate Fighting Championship's (UFC) history. He was ranked as the #1 light heavyweight fighter in the world by various media outlets for a number of years, and was also ranked the #1 pound-for-pound fighter in the world by multiple publications. However, in April 2015, Jones was stripped of his title and was removed from the official rankings following his arrest on felony hit-and-run charges. He was reinstated into the UFC in October 2015.

Mixed martial arts career

Early career

Before beginning his MMA career, Jones was a stand-out high school wrestler and state champion at Union-Endicott High School in upstate New York. He also played football as a defensive lineman, but due to his slight frame, his coach nicknamed him 'Bones'. He won a national JUCO championship at Iowa Central Community College. After transferring to Morrisville State College he decided to drop out of college where he was studying Criminal Justice, to begin his MMA career.

Daniel Cormier

Daniel Ryan Cormier (born March 20, 1979) is an American mixed martial artist and former Olympic wrestler. He competes in the light heavyweight division of the Ultimate Fighting Championship, where he is the current UFC Light Heavyweight Champion. As of December 21, 2015, he is #10 in official UFC pound-for-pound rankings and ranked as the #2 light heavyweight and #9 pound-for-pound fighter in the world by Sherdog. Cormier was also the Strikeforce Heavyweight Grand Prix Champion.

Background and wrestling career

Cormier is the son of Joseph and Audrey Cormier. He has an older brother named Joseph, a sister named Felicia and a younger brother named Ferral. When Cormier was eight, his father was shot and killed on Thanksgiving Day in 1986 by the father of his second wife.

In high school at Northside High, Cormier won 3 Louisiana state championships. After 9th grade Cormier only lost twice, both times by injury default. His final high school record was 101-9, with 89 of his victories coming by a fall. Twice he was voted the most outstanding wrestler of the state tournament. In 1995 Cormier won a bronze medal in the world championships in Greco-Roman Wrestling, in the cadet (15–16 years old) division. Cormier was also an all-state football player in high school at the linebacker position, and had a fast 4.5 time on the 40 yard dash. Cormier was offered a scholarship to play football at LSU, but declined in order to continue to pursue wrestling.

Jones

Jones may refer to:

Places

See also

Ultimate Fighting Championship

The Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) is a mixed martial arts promotion company. It is the largest in the world and features most of the top-ranked fighters in the sport. Based in the United States, the UFC produces events worldwide that showcase ten weight divisions and abide by the Unified Rules of Mixed Martial Arts. The UFC has held over 300 events to date. Dana White serves as the president of the UFC while brothers Frank and Lorenzo Fertitta control the UFC's parent company, Zuffa, LLC.

The first Ultimate Fighting Championship event was held on November 12, 1993 at the McNichols Sports Arena in Denver, Colorado. The purpose of the early Ultimate Fighting Championship competitions were to identify the most effective martial art in a fight, with minimal rules, between competitors of different fighting disciplines, including boxing, Brazilian jiu-jitsu, Sambo, wrestling, Muay Thai, karate, judo, and other styles. In subsequent competitions, fighters began adopting effective techniques from more than one discipline, which indirectly helped create an entirely separate style of fighting known as present-day mixed martial arts.

UFC 197

UFC 197: Cormier vs. Jones 2 is an upcoming mixed martial arts event that will be held on April 23, 2016 at MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada.

Background

The UFC hoped to contest its first event in the state of New York at Madison Square Garden in New York City. However on January 25, it was announced that a preliminary injunction allowing the promotion to hold the event was denied by a federal judge. According to an order issued by New York district court judge Kimba M. Wood, the federal court must first rule on Zuffa's appeal on New York's MMA ban and won't interfere with the enforcement of state law. On February 6, the UFC confirmed the event will take place in Las Vegas, Nevada.

The event is expected to be headlined by a UFC Light Heavyweight Championship rematch between current champion Daniel Cormier and former champion Jon Jones. The pairing met previously at UFC 182 in January 2015 with Jones defending his title via unanimous decision. Subsequent to that victory, Jones was stripped of the title and suspended indefinitely from the UFC in connection with a hit-and-run incident that he was involved in. Cormier replaced him and went on to defeat Anthony Johnson at UFC 187 to win the vacant title.