Jones vs Johnson, Weidman vs Belfort headline UFC 187

MANILA, Philippines – The Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) has booked two world championship bouts that will headline the UFC 187 pay-per-view event on May 23 (May 24 in PH) at the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada.

Reigning light heavyweight king Jon Jones will defend his crown against Anthony Johnson, while Chris Weidman will attempt to hold on to his middleweight belt as he squares off with perennial contender Vitor Belfort.

Jones (21-1) became the first light heavyweight competitor in UFC history to make eight successful title defenses by carving out a lopsided unanimous decision victory over Daniel Cormier at UFC 182 last month.

The 27-year-old “Bones” first held the gold-plated strap when he finished Mauricio “Shogun” Rua with a third-round stoppage at UFC 128 in March 2011 and went on by defeating the likes of Quinton “Rampage” Jackson, Lyoto Machida, Rashad Evans, Vitor Belfort, Chael Sonnen, Alexander Gustafsson, Glover Teixeira and Cormier.

After his dominant triumph versus Cormier, it was revealed that Jones had tested positive for traces of cocaine in a pre-fight drug exam, but the Nevada State Athletic Commission (NSAC) allowed the fight to go on since cocaine is not considered as a banned substance outside of competition.

Jones briefly admitted himself to a drug rehabilitation facility and received a $25,000-fine for violating UFC’s code of conduct policy.

On the other hand, Johnson (19-4) earned his No. 1 contender status by thumping Gustafsson via first-round technical knockout at January’s UFC on FOX 14.

A former welterweight stalwart, Johnson has won three outings in a row since moving to UFC’s 205-pound weight class on a permanent basis.

Meanwhile, the middleweight confrontation between Weidman and Belfort was originally scheduled to take place at UFC 184 on February 28 (March 1 in PH), but the title tilt was postponed when the champion had to withdraw due to a rib injury.

Prior to the aforementioned fallout, both men were supposed to face each other at UFC 173 in May of last year, but Belfort threw in the towel as early as February when NSAC voted unanimously to ban testosterone replacement therapy from combat sports.

After Weidman successfully defended his world title against replacement Lyoto Machida at UFC 175 in July, the world’s premier mixed martial arts organization rebooked his marquee match-up with Belfort for UFC 183 this past December.

However, the 185-pound championship clash did not materialize once again as Weidman suffered a hand injury in training.

Weidman (12-0) captured the middleweight title with a first-round knockout of Anderson Silva at UFC 162 in July 2012 and then vanquished “The Spider” again in a rematch at UFC 168 five months later.

On the opposite end, Belfort (24-10) has not fought since a stellar 2013 that saw him score knockout wins over Michael Bisping, Luke Rockhold and Dan Henderson in succession. – Rappler.com