VID Winkeljohn confirmed to me Jones is preparing for April return! Can UFC 197 in NYC really happen?

[ChaosOverkill]

As you say, money talks. The whole NY MMA ban stinks of corruption. Maybe Zuffa need to line the right pockets. Find an approachable judge, offer to take him and his wife out for dinner to discuss the issue, complementary tickets to a game (or an opera or whatever). An outright bribe would probably blow up in their face, as I imagine there is a lot of scrutiny over corruption on this topic after the high profile arrest earlier this year.

The money hasn't talked enough yet and I'm not sure that the snails pace legislative assembly in New York or wherever it is stuck in right now can act before April.

 

[lookoutawhale]

No doubt a home crowd is a tangible thing. I just feel it's a bad look for a Champion. It's not like when guys say they don't want to fight Vitor in Brazil. That's due to PED regulation. DC is literally saying he doesn't want Jon to have more cheers than him. I don't know man. I just say fight anywhere and prove you're the better man.

I agree with that statement.

When GSP worked his way up to win the WW title he tended to get booed quite a bit with people chanting U-S-A, U-S-A during his fights but he still fought through it and won the title in the champion's country. He didn't have a say in it. The same goes with other foreigners fighting in the states. They have to just fight through it. You can't choose your opponent or location.

 

[MMA_JIM]

I'm not sure if DC really did have huge objections to fighting in NYC. What I do know is that within a week or two of saying that he did so he was cleared to take a break after a killer year and had signed a brand new contract with the UFC he's apparently very happy with.

We're also all still talking about him saying he wouldn't fight Jones there and about MMA in NYC, keeping both the fight and the issue that the UFC cares about in the news cycle and helping build hype for the fight wherever they end up fighting.

Plus as I said I think it really helps him put a few zeros on the end of the eventual fight contract