Following a meeting with UFC light heavyweight champion Jon Jones and the UFC in Las Vegas on Thursday, the rematch between Jones and Alexander Gustafsson is now set for September 27th at UFC 178 in Toronto.
UFC officials announced the fight booking on Thursday night.
UFC 178 will come from the Air Canada Centre in Toronto and the same venue was the host of the first fight between Jones and Gustafsson as Jones retained the UFC title with a decision victory.
Jones (20-1) is coming off a victory against Glover Teixeira at UFC 172 in April and recently mentioned the possibility of wanting to face Daniel Cormier next. After agreeing to face Gustafsson on Thursday, he released a statement on UFC.com about the situation.
“There was never an issue with a contract. I was traveling and finally got to Vegas and got to talk with Dana [White] and Lorezno [Fertitta],” Jones said. We talked and September 27th, I’ll be fighting Gustafsson.
“I think Cormier is the tougher fighter, but the fans want to see me fight Gustafsson. There was never an issue with taking the Gustafsson fight,” Jones said. “The issue was that my brother is getting married in July and I would have preferred a later date. I didn’t want to go this early and i would have preferred to go later in October or November. It is what it is. We have a date now, Sept 27th. This was a personal decision for me. I will be at my brother’s wedding and have a proper training camp.”
Gustafsson (16-2) has won seven of his last eight fights, with the only defeat coming against Jones. Following his decision defeat to Jones, Gustafsson took a fight in the main event of UFC Fight Night 37 in March and defeated Jimi Manuwa.
More details on UFC 178 from the Air Canada Centre in Toronto will be announced by the UFC in the coming weeks.