Ovince Saint Preux replaces Daniel Cormier, meets Jon Jones in new UFC 197 headliner

Although he won’t get a chance to reclaim the undisputed title, Jon Jones will remain atop this month’s UFC 197 fight card.

With UFC light-heavyweight champion Daniel Cormier (17-1 MMA, 6-1 UFC) injured and forced out of the event, ex-titleholder Jones (21-1 MMA, 15-1 UFC) is now slated to fight replacement opponent and top contender Ovince Saint Preux (19-7 MMA, 7-2 UFC) for the interim championship.

UFC President Dana White announced the change on ESPN’s “SportsCenter.”

UFC 197 takes place April 23 at MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas. The main card airs on pay-per-view following prelims on FOX Sports 1 and UFC Fight Pass.

Jones is ranked No. 1 in the USA TODAY Sports/MMAjunkie MMA light-heavyweight rankings (and No. 1 pound-for-pound). Cormier is No. 2 at 205 pounds, and Saint Preux is No. 8.

Jones fights for the first time since defeating Cormier in early 2015 and defending his belt for a divisional record eight straight times. Since then, though, he’s dealt with two arrests on driving-related charges. The first resulted in UFC officials stripping him of the title in 2015, and the most recent saw Jones serve brief jail time for a probation violation before striking a plea deal that ultimately allowed him to remain on the UFC 197 card.

When Jones was stripped of the belt a year ago, Cormier claimed the vacant title with a submission win over Anthony Johnson.

Saint Preux has had an impressive run in the UFC, only tasting defeat twice in nine trips to the octagon, but is one fight removed from a third-round technical submission loss to Glover Teixeira at UFC Fight Night 73. He rebounded from the defeat with a unanimous decision victory over Rafael Cavalcante at UFC Fight Night 82 in February.

The latest UFC 197 card now includes:

MAIN CARD (Pay-per-view, 10 p.m. ET)

• Jon Jones vs. Ovince Saint Preux – for interim light heavyweight title
• Champ Demetrious Johnson vs. Henry Cejudo – for flyweight title
• Edson Barboza vs. Anthony Pettis
• Rafael Natal vs. Robert Whittaker
• Andre Fili vs. Yair Rodriguez

PRELIMINARY CARD (FOX Sports 1, 8 p.m. ET)

• Chris Kelades vs. Sergio Pettis
• Carla Esparza vs. Juliana Lima
• Danny Roberts vs. Dominique Steele
• Glaico Franca vs. James Vick

PRELIMINARY CARD (UFC Fight Pass, 6:30 p.m. ET)

• Clint Hester vs. Marcos Rogerio de Lima
• Efrain Escudero vs. Kevin Lee

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