Why Jones Jones vs. Alexander Gustafsson II may not happen at UFC 177

The plan is to have to UFC light heavyweight champion Jon Jones rematch Alexander Gustafsson on Aug. 30 at UFC 177 in Las Vegas. But there’s a sticking point.

On Saturday the UFC posted news of the fight on UFC.com. Oddly, it cited a report from ESPN.com but didn’t actually confirm the title fight itself.

UFC President Dana White explained the reasoning after Saturday’s UFC 173 event.

“We’re doing a new deal with him,” White told MMAjunkie when asked about the holdup.

In other words, it’s not just a matter of getting Jones to sign off on the pay-per-view rematch, which Gustafsson has already agreed to, according to ESPN.com. The Swede recently inked a new deal with the UFC, and with Jones’ contract winding down, White and Co. need to finalize a new deal with the champ, as well.

Hopefully, the negotiations are short. After all, fight fans have been eagerly anticipating the rematch since September, when they first fought at UFC 165. Gustafsson (16-2 MMA, 8-2 UFC) gave Jones (20-1 MMA, 14-1 UFC), who previously looked unbeatable in the octagon, his toughest test yet in their extremely competitive bout. Gustafsson, though, ultimately dropped a narrow unanimous decision to the champ that had both fighters in the hospital afterward.

The UFC had been planning on a rematch – pending wins for each fighter in their most recent bouts. In March Gustafsson took care of his half of the bargain, knocking out Jimi Manuwa in London. And a month ago in Baltimore, Jones dominated Glover Teixeira at UFC 172 to set up the rematch.

Although Aug. 30 and Sin City’s MGM Grand Garden Arena is the current plan for the big-money rematch, White said he couldn’t count out the possibility of the date and location changing. Just this past month, the UFC exec said Jones vs. Gustafsson II could conceivably take place in a Swedish stadium (see below).

That, according to White, is still an option.

“Anything’s still possible,” White said on Saturday. “We don’t have a deal done yet, so we’ll see what happens.”

For more on UFC 177, stay stay tuned to the UFC Rumors section of the site.