Jon Jones (23-1 MMA, 17-1 UFC) will defend his title against challenger Anthony Smith (31-13 MMA, 7-3 UFC) on March 2 at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas.
The light heavyweight champion was given a conditional combat license by the Nevada Athletic Commission to defend his belt. Among the requirements, Jones will have to submit and pay additional anti-doping tests in the next month.
The U.S. Anti-Doping Agency ruled the steroid metabolites were residual from Jones’ previous positive test and did not issue an anti-doping violation.
Jones recovered his mid-heavyweight crown following a KO win on December 29 in front of Alexander Gustafsson. Smith on the other hand, has won his last three bouts, including his most recent last October against Volkan Oezdemir.
During a FOX production meeting prior to the pay-per-view event, Smith said there was an agreement across the table that he wouldn’t interview Jones. It was better to avoid a clash that could irritate the UFC star.
“I wanted to be respectful and be the better person and not stick myself in that situation to where I would be the one looking like the expletive,” Smith said.
“And then the camera pans to me, and they need, like, a response. And so I just kept it super simple, like, ‘What have you got planned for July?’
“As big of an idiot as he is, he’s also very, very smart. So I would imagine him posting about me and insinuating that’s the next fight is doing one of two things: He’s either trying to sign for more money in a different fight, or he’s going to try and back me into a corner.” Smith added.
This fight joined an already well-stocked card including the scheduled welterweight clash between champion Tyron Woodley and his second contender, Kamaru Usman.
Tyron Woodley agrees to face Kamaru Usman. (Source:www.bjpenn.com)
In his last seven fights, Woodley has recorded six wins and one draw. This will be Woodley’s fifth scheduled championship defense. He is 9-2-1 in the UFC and 19-3-1 overall as a pro fighter.
Usman, meanwhile, he holds an unblemished UFC mark with nine wins since making his debut with a win in the finals of TUF 21.
