Jon Jones was spotted on a wheelchair backstage at UFC 197 on Saturday night following his unanimous decision victory over Ovince St. Preux, but later the new interim light-heavyweight champion claimed that he’d be ready, willing and able if the UFC wanted to book his rematch with Daniel Cormier at UFC 200 in July.
“I feel great enough to fight at UFC 200, for sure,” Jones stated at the post-fight press conference. “My shin was swollen, my left shin was swollen, my left foot was swollen. When my adrenaline came down, I was in a lot of pain, so the wheelchair was there. But once I got the shoe on my foot, everything is a little more compressed now.”
Even if Jones is fit to fight, the UFC would still need to wait on medical clearance for Cormier’s own foot injury first before they could proceed with the match-up.
Nevertheless, Jones told the media that he plans to get back in the gym later this week to begin re-focusing on his upcoming fight with Cormier again, and he feels confident that he’ll be able to produce a much better performance against his rival than he did against short-notice replacement St. Preux at UFC 197.
“I am tuned up to be fighting Daniel Cormier,” Jones said. “You know, all my techniques, the angles, the ideas. I’ve been working on Daniel Cormier for seven months, for over seven months.”
Given the level of preparation he already has undergone for the fight, ‘Bones’ feels it’s only a matter of time before he takes his title back from Cormier.
“I believe I can beat Daniel Cormier right now, for sure. And I’m going to prove that as soon as possible.”
For now though, it remains to be seen whether he’ll get that chance at UFC 200 or not.
