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[Cat--Smasher]

Despite UFC 149 Rumors, Jon Jones' Return Unlikely Until August or September

In the immediate aftermath of Jon Jones' recent win over Rashad Evans, we quickly learned that his next title defense would come against decorated veteran Dan Henderson. While no timetable was cemented for the bout, UFC president Dana White said that the upcoming UFC 149 event in Calgary could be a possibility.

One week later, though, we can rule out the July 21 event.

Jones' manager Malki Kawa told MMA Fighting on Monday that the UFC light-heavyweight champion would not be available for the show, which is scheduled exactly three months to the day after Jones' five-round unanimous decision win over Rashad Evans at UFC 145.

"He will not be fighting in July," Kawa said. "It's just probably a little too soon. There's been no timetable yet but July probably isn't going to happen."

An August or September return is much more likely. Judging from the schedule, September seems like a more logical fit, since August's 11 UFC 150 card will probably host the lightweight title rematch between Ben Henderson and Frank Edgar. The UFC rarely puts two championship fights on one card.

Meanwhile, a September 22 show has already been announced for Toronto's Air Canada Centre. That event has no announced or rumored fights.

Despite UFC 149 Rumors, Jon Jones' Return Unlikely Until August or September - MMA Fighting

Jon Jones calls for trash talk truce with Hendo

"As far as Dan Henderson, I'm excited about him," said Jones on ESPN's MMA Live. "He's a great fighter. You know, I've gone through a lot with Rashad as far as all of the trash talking and I really hope Dan's listening and I really hope that Dan keeps it classy throughout this fight. I respect him as an older man, I respect him as a warrior and I just hope he keeps it classy and not drag me through another trash-talking bout. Let's stick to why we're really here, let's just fight."

Jon Jones calls for trash talk truce with Hendo - MMA News

*Ha ha, lets not trash talk old man.

[CtGreat]

Jones, sadly trash talk and drama is what sells fights to the general public. If you cannot get the casual fan emotionally invested in a fight, then it simply wont have high PPV numbers.

[iced]

Jones vs hendo for ufc 150.......make it happen!!!

[JayBird]

I doubt Hendo will engage in any type of trash talking. Only the obligatory "I'm going in there to beat Jon Jones and become UFC LHW Champion." There should be a lot of mutual respect between these guys. Jon always talks about that part of being a martial artist, about respecting your opponent, etc. Hendo will probably praise Jon's athletic ability and his greatness as an MMA fighter, but he will also express confidence in his ability to solve the Jones puzzle.

[Masscore]

I would not be surprised to see it on UFC on Fox 4. They have not had a title fight on Fox since Cain v. JDS and I am sure Fox will want one sooner or later.

[goodtimes]

I've always been more interested in the match up than the talk. I notice a lot of times when guys talk a lot of trash, they then fight not to lose. They are more interested in saving face then putting on a show, where two guys who have mutual respect but don't necessarily like each other will go out and try to put it all on the line.

The only fight that remotely lived up to the trash talking that I can think of is Lesnar/Mir 2, and it had much more to do with Lesnar's greatest strength being Mir's Achilles heel then anything else.

[JayBird]

It sucks that Hendo has to sit on the shelf for so long, but Jon deserves a break. That dude fights more than anyone.