Jones-Evans Title Headliner Targeted for UFC 140 in Toronto

It was a stretch: Jon Jones won't meet Rashad Evans at UFC 140, says Dana White. | Photo: Terry Goodlad

The bout was originally reported by MMAFighting.com's Mike Chiappetta, who wrote that “the fight is not yet official, but appears likely to be announced within the next 24-48 hours. UFC president Dana White told MMA Fighting that he could not yet announce a UFC 140 main event, but might possibly be able to do so by the end of the day.”

Sherdog.com then confirmed the bout's planned date with a trusted source close to the contest and filed its story. Reports then followed from several more outlets. The UFC boss then took to Twitter on Wednesday following the UFC 136 press conference, asserting that the reports were false.

White then went on to cite a hand injury sustained by Evans in his last fight as one of the reason why the fight would not take place on the previously reported date. Though Evans' injury has been no secret in the MMA community, MMAFighting.com revealed in its initial report that Evans could be medically cleared as soon as today. Evans had several pins inserted into his right thumb shortly after earning a technical knockout victory over Tito Ortiz at UFC 133 on Aug. 6.

Evans had originally been slated to face his former Jackson's MMA teammate at UFC 133, but the champion was forced to withdraw with a thumb injury of his own. As “Bones” could not defend his title, Phil Davis was brought in as a replacement. After Davis went down with an injury, Ortiz stepped up on short notice.

Recovered from his injury, Jones returned to the cage at UFC 135 on Sept. 24, submitting Quinton Jackson to retain his belt at the Pepsi Center in Denver.