The UFC is coming back to New Jersey and bringing one of the biggest fights in company history with it.
Jon Jones, an Endicott, NY native, will defend his light heavyweight title against top villain Chael Sonnen at Prudential Center in Newark on April 27, the UFC announced this week. Jones won the belt in the very same building in March 2011.
“Jersey is always awesome,” UFC president Dana White told The Post. “I like everything about Jersey. We love coming to the East Coast.”
Jones, 25, was the youngest champion in UFC history when he beat Mauricio “Shogun” Rua a year and a half ago. Since then, he has beaten four straight former UFC champions and established himself as one of the best pound-for-pound fighters ever.
Sonnen, 35, is a two-time UFC middleweight No. 1 contender, losing twice to pound-for-pound king Anderson Silva. He’s known for his inventive trash talk and he has torn Jones down verbally time and time again starting back in the summer, characterizing Jones as a spoiled brat.
Having this fight in nearby Newark is yet another chance for the UFC to showcase its product to the New York fan base. MMA is illegal to promote in New York State and the UFC is currently suing lawmakers over the constitutionality of the ban.
“It’s a fantastic lawsuit,” White said. “It was actually a great idea. You’d never think that’s something someone would say about a lawsuit, but this one is. We’re making progress.”
MMA has been banned in New York since 1997. New York State assembly speaker Sheldon Silver has repeatedly refused to bring MMA legalization to a vote despite it passing through the senate and assembly committees multiple times. This year, it passed through the senate by a 43-14 vote. MMA is legal in 46 states.
“[Sanctioning MMA in New York] makes all the sense in the world,” White said. “What’s going on there is dirty.”
Last year, the UFC released a study that legalizing MMA in New York would have generate $23 million in revenue for the economy in the first year. One of the things holding it back, White has said repeatedly, is the influence of the culinary union, which has an axe to grind with UFC owners Lorenzo and Frank Fertitta.
“You’re looking at a state that is in such huge financial trouble and we could roll in and make a huge impact,” White said. “We don’t bring in deadbeats, we bring in people who spend money and we’re bringing in people from all over the world.”
White guarantees every year that MMA’s ban will be lifted during that legislative cycle and he joked he’ll keep doing it until it actually happens.
“For years I’ve been telling you guys it’s gonna happen this year,” White said with a laugh. “So, it’s going to happen in 2013.”
Jersey will be the beneficiary in April. The UFC came to East Rutherford and Atlantic City last spring for televised shows. Jones-Sonnen will air on pay per view.
The two would have fought at UFC 151 on Sept. 1 when Dan Henderson went down with an injury, but Jones turned down the fight because of it being on eight days notice. Sonnen used the situation to rip Jones in every possible media outlet, calling him a coward and a brat. He even named a specialty pizza at his Oregon restaurant for Jones – it had lots of chicken and cheese.
Leading up to the fight, Jones and Sonnen will be coaching opposite each other on “The Ultimate Fighter” reality show on FX. Filming has already begun and White calls the back and forth “great.” Sonnen, White says, has actually been polite and friendly with Jones so far. The show begins airing in January.
“Wait until you see the show,” White said. “Jon is very skeptical of him. He was expecting a war with him. Chael started acting different. [Jones] thinks he’s setting him up.”