UFC 197

UFC 197: Jones vs. Saint Preux was a mixed martial arts event held on April 23, 2016, at MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada.

Background

The event's number was initially planned for an event taking place on March 5, 2016 at HSBC Arena in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, before being cancelled on December 29, 2015 and moved to MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada, to take place on February 6, 2016; the February event became UFC Fight Night: Hendricks vs. Thompson rather than a numbered pay-per-view after Vitor Belfort declined to fight Anderson Silva, and the March show was renumbered as UFC 196.

The UFC hoped to contest the event at Madison Square Garden in New York City, in what would be the first event in the state of New York since the state's MMA ban. However, on January 25, it was announced that a preliminary injunction allowing the promotion to hold the event was denied by a federal judge. According to an order issued by New York district court judge Kimba M. Wood, the federal court must first rule on Zuffa's appeal on New York's MMA ban and won't interfere with the enforcement of state law. On February 6, the UFC confirmed the event would take place in Las Vegas, Nevada.

The event was expected to be headlined by a UFC Light Heavyweight Championship rematch between then champion Daniel Cormier and former champion Jon Jones. The pairing met previously at UFC 182 in January 2015 with Jones defending his title via unanimous decision. Subsequent to that victory, Jones was stripped of the title and suspended indefinitely from the UFC in connection with a hit-and-run incident that he was involved in. Cormier replaced him and went on to defeat Anthony Johnson at UFC 187 to win the vacant title.