Who needs a matchmaker when you have Jon Jones?
Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) President Dana White has denied Alexander Gustafsson an immediate rematch against the reigning light heavyweight champion in lieu of a fresh contender. Specifically, surging 205-pound phenom Glover Teixeira.
And you can't say "Bones" didn't warn you.
The Jones vs. Gustafsson rematch was originally announced for UFC 169 over Super Bowl Weekend in New Jersey; however, White and Co. had to renege on those plans when the champ told Dana he was more interested in testing himself against the streaking Brazilian.
From Thursday's UFC 166 media scrum (watch it):
"I actually like what Jon Jones did. Jon Jones said 'Listen, I wanna break these records, I wanna do this, Teixeira is the guy, I want to fight him next. Then I'll give Gustafsson the immediate rematch.' How do you not like that? Believe me, I'm the guy that's like 'Hey listen, let's make the fight that's gonna sell, let's do it on Super Bowl, let's do this and that.' But how could I argue with what he said? It's badass!"
Not to nitpick, but it's not "immediate" if both fighters first have to compete elsewhere.
Mixed martial arts (MMA) fans were calling for a second go-round just as soon as the final horn sounded at the UFC 165 pay-per-view (PPV) event last month in Toronto. That's where Gustafsson nearly pulled off an incredible upset after five rounds on insane action.
Close, but no cigar.
Still, his performance was light years ahead of what any previous challenger was able to offer (proof) and by his own admission, Teixeira did not look his best in his most recent outing. Then again, we said the same thing about "The Mauler" and he surprised us all, so we have to go into this thing with an open mind.
Not like it's up to us, anyway. Or Dana, for that matter.