Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) Light Heavyweight Champion Jon Jones was able to defeat Chael Sonnen -- mangled toe and all -- in the main event of UFC 159: "Jones vs. Sonnen," which took place at the Prudential Center in Newark, New Jersey, back on April 27, 2013.
But "Bones" still has some unfinished business.
That's because the reigning 205-pound kingpin knows he was "set up" by the self-proclaimed "bad guy," who was allegedly in cahoots with Dan Henderson following the UFC 151 fiasco, one that saw Jones turn down a fight against Sonnen after "Hendo" blew out his knee.
From their tete-a-tete on FOX Sports Live:
"At this stage in Dan's career I doubt he'll be making any title shots. Unless we meet at a parking lot or something. I know you guys set me up. Chael, you really started to chirp me right around the time Dan Henderson got hurt. You're a smart guy, Chael, we all know that. I really hope you don't talk your way into a title fight. I've actually lost a lot of sleep thinking about being taken down by you and being smothered. Please don't. Just leave me alone, Chael."
His comments toward Sonnen were made (mostly) in jest.
Toward Henderson? Not so much. But to his point, "Hendo" has a long way to go if he wants to start talking about title shots. Following back-to-back losses to both Lyoto Machida and Rashad Evans, the former Strikeforce 205-pound titleholder will travel to Brazil to rematch Vitor Belfort at UFC Fight Night 33.
Jones, meanwhile, is facing Alexander Gustafsson at UFC 165 on Saturday night (Sept. 21, 2013) in Toronto, Ontario, Canada.
As for Sonnen, he will fight Rashad Evans at UFC 167 in November for FOX Sports 1 bragging rights, as "The American Gangster" shares the screen with "Suga" for mixed martial arts (MMA) analysis before and after UFC events airing on the broadcast television network.
Expect the light heavyweight landscape to look completely different by year's end.
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