Gustafsson (l) and Jones' last meeting was a light heavyweight title fight at UFC 165 in September '13GETTY IMAGES
UFC 232 on Dec. 29 is "looking to book one of the most anticipated rematches" in MMA history -- a Jon Jones-Alexander Gustafsson fight for the event at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas, according to Brett Okamoto of ESPN.com. The bout is "far from official." UFC President Dana White said that he "would like that matchup to close out" the '18 calendar year. Jones is currently "serving a 15-month suspension for a failed test, but he is eligible to return to competition as soon as Oct. 28." Jones and Gustafsson met in "one of the best, if not the best, light heavyweight title fights of all time at UFC 165" in September '13. Meanwhile, a female "super fight between featherweight champion Cris 'Cyborg' Justino and bantamweight champion Amanda Nunes is slated to take place at UFC 232" as well (ESPN.com, 9/26).
BRINK OF DISASTER: YAHOO SPORTS' Dan Wetzel wrote with UFC 230 set for MSG on Nov. 3, the sport's "biggest stage sits without a main event, looming as a potential embarrassment." The "only potential fight of broad interest is a lightweight bout between Dustin Poirier and Nate Diaz." However, Diaz has "maintained publicly he isn't fighting 'anyone,' let alone Poirier on that night." Such a "circus over the main event" of a N.Y. card is not at all how White and other execs "expected it when they dreamed of getting to" MSG (SPORTS.YAHOO.com, 9/26).
GETTING A PASS: In Las Vegas, Cassandra Cousineau wrote Conor McGregor at the first press conference for UFC 229 at Radio City Music Hall was "sipping on his own Proper Twelve Whiskey" and "drank himself into a louder, less succinct version of himself." Nobody knows what McGregor will "actually be able to deliver" when he fights Khabib Nurmagomedov on Oct. 6 at T-Mobile Arena. But UFC and White are "willing to oblige just about anything from its one and only mainstream superstar for the sake of the bottom line." The "highest paid employee on the UFC roster doesn't just move the needle." Cousineau: "He is the needle" (LVSPORTSBIZ.com, 9/25).
