Daniel Cormier apologizes to UFC for injury, says he won’t be out for long

UFC light heavyweight champion Daniel Cormier today apologized to UFC executives and fans for withdrawing from his scheduled title defense against ex-champ Jon Jones at this month’s UFC 197.

On Instagram, Cormier called the decision not to fight at the April 23 pay-per-view event “one of the hardest decisions I’ve had to make” and noted his recovery “should not take very long,” though he did not lay out a specific timetable for his return.

The decision to not fight on April 23rd was one of the hardest decisions I've had to make. I've been scheduled to fight 18 times and I have made that walk every time. I want to apologize to Jon Jones, Lorenzo Fertitta, Dana White and all of the UFC fans for not being able to defend my title. This truly saddens me, but as with everything else in life, it goes on. The recovery should not take very long and I can't wait to compete and defend my title again. For all the fans, thanks for your support, I appreciate each and every one of you. DC

A photo posted by Daniel "DC" Cormier (@dc_mma) on Apr 2, 2016 at 3:19pm PDT

“This truly saddens me, but as with everything else in life, it goes on,” Cormier wrote.

Cormier suffered a foot injury in training that forced him to pull out of the highly anticipated rematch, which would have served as his second attempted title defense and Jones’ chance to win back the belt he lost when the UFC stripped him of the belt after his role in a hit-and-run accident one year ago.

Jones hasn’t fought since the accident and this week ran into legal trouble that briefly cast doubt on his ability to participate at UFC 197; he was jailed for three days after a series of traffic violations triggered a probation violation.

Cormier, who won the title this past May in a bout opposite Anthony Johnson, notched his first title defense this past October with a “Fight of the Year” candidate against Alexander Gustafson at UFC 192.

Respectively No. 1 and No. 2 in the USA TODAY Sports/MMAjunkie MMA light-heavyweight rankings, Jones and Cormier are heated rivals and were expected to produce fireworks. But those will have to wait.

“I’ve been scheduled to fight 18 times and I have made that walk every time,” Cormier said. “I want to apologize to Jon Jones, (UFC Chairman) Lorenzo Fertitta, (UFC President) Dana White and all of the UFC fans for not being able to defend my title.”

“For all the fans, thanks for your support, I appreciate each and every one of you.”

White today announced veteran light heavyweight Ovince Saint Preux (19-7 MMA, 7-2 UFC) will replace Cormier (17-1 MMA, 6-1 UFC) to face Jones (21-1 MMA, 15-1 UFC) for the UFC interim light heavyweight championship. Saint Preux, the No. 8-ranked light heavyweight, returns two months after outpointing Rafael Cavalcante at UFC Fight Night 82.

Here is Cormier’s full statement:

“The decision to not fight on April 23rd was one of the hardest decisions I’ve had to make. I’ve been scheduled to fight 18 times and I have made that walk every time. I want to apologize to Jon Jones, Lorenzo Fertitta, Dana White and all of the UFC fans for not being able to defend my title. This truly saddens me, but as with everything else in life, it goes on. The recovery should not take very long and I can’t wait to compete and defend my title again. For all the fans, thanks for your support, I appreciate each and every one of you. DC”

For more on UFC 197, check out the UFC Rumors section of the site.