Less than 24 hours after Daniel Cormier removed himself from his April 23 fight with Jon Jones at UFC 197 because of an injury, the UFC announced Saturday it found a replacement in Ovince St. Preux.
UFC President Dana White said the fight will be for the interim light heavyweight title, per MMAFighting.com. Cormier currently holds the title.
Jeremy Botter of FloSports was the first to report the main event replacement.
Jones (21-1) and St. Preux (19-7) have never fought each other.
In an Instagram post earlier Saturday, Jones urged the UFC to find a substitute—even if it meant the former light heavyweight champion had to take on a heavyweight opponent:
Shortly thereafter, Jones' publicist tweeted Jones would instead be fighting Anthony "Rumble" Johnson but quickly deleted the post and issued an apology for her premature announcement:
Jumped the gun . So sorry @UFC fans . No definite opponent yet .
— Denise White (@DeniseWhite_EAG) April 2, 2016
Jones avoided jail time after surrendering to a warrant on five charges related to drag racing Thursday, per Steven Marrocco of MMA Junkie.
