Jon Jones vs. Chris Weidman Superfight May Have Headlined First New York UFC

With mixed martial arts (MMA) legislation recently being turned down yet again in the state of New York, one of the biggest fights in the sport’s history could have been potentially nixed, at least for the time being.

Speaking during the recent UFC Fan Expo in Las Vegas (via MMA Fighting), Dana White confirmed that middleweight champion Chris Weidman and former light heavyweight champion Jon Jones had talked about facing each other in a champ vs. champ super fight to decide the true ruler of East Coast MMA:

“”Chris Weidman and Jon Jones wanted to fight each other to see who was the King of New York,” White said. “We were talking about that for a while.”

It’s been a long and frustrating road to legalizing MMA in New York for the UFC, who had what was deemed by far their best chance this year when former Assembly speaker Sheldon Silver, who was a long a staunch opponent of the UFC making its way into the state, was arrested on fraud charges.

Obviously those plans were also put on hold by the fact that Jones was arrested on felony hit-and-run charges for allegedly crashing into and breaking the arm of a pregnant 25-year-old woman in Albuquerque, New Mexico last April. Jones still awaits the Bernalillo County District Attorney’s decision on whether or not to indict him before a grand jury, and he remains under indefinite suspension after the UFC stripped him of the belt that he successfully defended a record eight times.

Jones was undoubtedly the world’s best pound-for-pound fighter when he took a forced leave of absence from the sport amidst a long and troubling history of outside-the-cage incidents, but he should return to the Octagon once his legal matters are cleared up.

There’s no denying that a bout with Weidman, the undefeated middleweight king who currently sits at No. 2 in the pound-for-pound rankings, would be an electric affair that would go down in UFC history based on its sheer magnitude alone. Even though Weidman is considered a huge and powerful middleweight, most would favor the larger Jones to stifle his game and come out victorious.

Weidman recently touched on a move up to 205 pounds, deeming his 185-pound counterparts ‘no competition.’ But he still has much work to be done at middleweight, with contenders like Luke Rockhold, Jacare Souza, and Yoel Romero all waiting in the wings for a shot at gold. A fight at Madison Square Garden with No. 1 contender Rockhold was rumored for the long-awaited card when ‘Bones’ was crossed out.

As one of New York’s native sons, Weidman will definitely be on the New York card. White said that Jones most likely would have been too if he had stayed out of trouble:

“Chris Weidman will definitely be involved and we’ll see what happens with Jones and how this whole situation plays out,” White said. “He probably would have fought there.”

The UFC even went as far as to book a December 5 date for Madison Square Garden, which unfortunately fell apart when the legislation never came to vote once again. It could potentially be voted on and approved when it is next brought up in January.