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By: Jamie Penick, MMATorch Editor-in-Chief
The UFC is targeting Memorial Day weekend for the UFC Light Heavyweight Championship bout between Jon Jones and Anthony "Rumble" Johnson.
UFC President Dana White revealed the plans during an interview with Jim Rome on Wednesday.
"We're looking to do that fight in May," White said. "I don't have the exact date, but May."
The UFC's only pay-per-view that month will be the annual Memorial Day weekend event in Las Vegas on May 23. A Featherweight Championship fight between Jose Aldo and Conor McGregor was initially targeted for that event, but McGregor's coach said this weekend that the fight is likely getting pushed to mid-summer in Las Vegas.
Jones and Johnson took out Daniel Cormier and Alexander Gustafsson, respectively, this month, with Jones making his eighth straight successful title defense at UFC 182 and Johnson shockingly stopping Gustafsson in the first round at UFC on Fox 14.
Penick's Analysis: The schedule is turning out real well for the UFC right now, barring injury, at least as far as the biggest fights are concerned. Anthony Pettis and Carla Esparza defend their titles in March, the Bantamweight Title will be on the line in April, they're pushing for Jones-Johnson in May, Fabricio Werdum-Cain Velasquez is probably happening in Mexico in June, and then July will have at least Aldo-McGregor, if not another title fight in conjunction with that one. While there will be some filler cards taking place in the interim, the pay-per-views are at least looking worthy with those targeted title fights.
[Jon Jones art by Grant Gould (c) MMATorch.com]
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Jamie Penick, editor-in-chief
(mmatorcheditor@gmail.com)
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