MMA ODDS AND ENDS FOR SATURDAY: DANIEL CORMIER OUT OF UFC 197 WITH INJURY

Report: Daniel Cormier from UFC 197 fight with Jon Jones Initially reported by BJPenn.com, UFC Light Heavyweight Champion Daniel Cormier is wounded and will be forced to pull out of his upcoming UFC 197 major event name defense against Jon Jones. There’s no word on when the promotion will simply delay the name defense or if Jones will combat with a late replacement like Anthony Johnson since Cormier’s injury’s seriousness has not been revealed. Rumors swirled on Twitter that Cormier could be nursing a leg injury and it seems those rumors were true. The UFC 197 co-main occasion is also a title fight, a flyweight title defense by Demetrious»Mighty Mouse» Johnson against undefeated former Olympic gold medal-winning wrestler Henry Cejudo. The title defense can take the place that is headlining, if everything else fails. UFC 197 occurs in three weeks (Saturday, April 23, 2016) in the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada. Here’s an updated look in the fight card: Demetrious Johnson vs. Henry Cejudo Edson Barboza vs. Anthony Pettis Andre Fili vs. Yair Rodriguez Rafael Natal vs. Robert Whittaker Carla Esparza vs. Juliana Lima Clint Hester vs. Marcos Rogerio de Lima Glaico Franca vs. James Vick Danny Roberts vs. Dominique Steele Efrain Escudero vs. Kevin Lee Chris Kelades vs. Sergio Pettis Norman Parke released from the UFC Former Ultimate Fighter: The Smashes winner Norman Parke has apparently been published by the UFC after his unanimous decision loss to Rustam Khabilov. On a day where several fighters pranked lovers and media for April Fools (such as Alexander Gustafsson’s fake retirement), this release was no laughing matter. Parke started his UFC career going 4-0-1 in his first five fights, but matters took a turn for the worse after he started facing tougher competition because he went 1-3 in his last four bouts, losing competitive decisions to Khabilov, Francisco Trinaldo and Gleison Tibau while defeating Reza Medadi. The Northern Irishman is still just 29 years old and definitely has ability and the skills to work his way back into the roster if he find success outside the promotion.

Read more: statesmannews.com