This is the exact opposite of what the UFC wanted right now.
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UFC was building up to its biggest show in years: July 9's UFC 200, a supercard of MMA fights featuring Jon Jones vs. Daniel Cormier, Brock Lesnar vs. Mark Hunt, and Miesha Tate vs. Amanda Nunes.
Well, strike that on Jon Jones.
Jones reportedly failed a USADA drug test a few weeks ago, meaning he has been pulled from the card. Jones was fighting Cormier in the main event for the UFC Light-Heavyweight title, but that bout is now off.
"Everything was going so smooth, so smooth, and nobody had gotten hurt," said White in a press conference. "So this was a brutal phone call."
Instead of Jones and Cormier, Lesnar vs. Hunt will now close the event on Saturday.
UFC just announced that the new main event for UFC 200 is Brock Lesnar vs Mark Hunt
— Ariel Helwani (@arielhelwani) July 7, 2016
According to MMAFighting.com, a new opponent for Cormier could still happen, but it is unlikely with the event taking place on Saturday.
This is another black mark for Jones, who in the past few years has run into issues with a hit-and-run, multiple driving infractions including a DUI, and a failed drug test related to cocaine use. Jones is one of UFC's top fighters, but his biggest opponent recently in the octagon has been himself.
It’s been a rough year and a half for Jon "Bones" Jones. pic.twitter.com/913da4rJz3
— ESPN (@espn) July 7, 2016
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UFC had been planning to build up UFC 200 as a super-event for a long time, but this Jones pull is just the latest in a series of misfortunes for the fighting promotion. The company's two biggest draw — Ronda Rousey and Conor McGregor — will not be competing on the card, with the McGregor negotiations being quite the public mess for the company.
The good news for UFC is that the card is still strong, and the company has drawn well with Lesnar in the main event spot before. Whether or not the cancellation of the pay-per-view's main event will have a huge effect is still to be seen, but this definitely hurts.
