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UFC announces schedule, Jones v Sonnen official

ESPN staff
November 6, 2012
Jon Jones is eyeing title defence No. 5 © Getty Images
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Jon Jones will seek his fifth light-heavyweight title defence against No. 1 contender Chael Sonnen on April 27 in Newark, NJ.

UFC officials announced the date and location on Monday. The event, which will take place inside the Prudential Center, is expected to be a pay-per-view.

Jones and Sonnen currently are in Las Vegas serving as opposing coaches on the 17th season of The Ultimate Fighter reality series, which debuts in January.

Jones (17-1) had been scheduled to fight Dan Henderson at UFC 151 in September, but an injury to the challenger left him without an opponent. Sonnen (27-12-1) offered to step in as a replacement and fight Jones on eight days' notice.

The entire UFC 151 card was ultimately cancelled when Jones refused to fight Sonnen on short notice. He went on to defeat Vitor Belfort at UFC 152 via submission.

The promotion then opted to pull Sonnen out of a scheduled fight against Forrest Griffin at UFC 155 to appear on the reality series opposite Jones. Sonnen is coming off a second-round TKO loss to middleweight champion Anderson Silva in July.

The UFC announced seven more dates for its 2013 schedule in addition to the light-heavyweight title fight. Among those announced was a January 19 middleweight bout between Michael Bisping and Belfort in Brazil and a UFC on Fox event on January 26 in Chicago.

Announced dates:
January 19, Brazil, UFC on FX: Belfort v Bisping
January 26, United Center, Chicago, UFC on Fox
February 2, Mandalay Bay, Las Vegas, UFC 156: Aldo v Edgar
February 16, International Event, UFC on Fuel
April 20, City to be announced, UFC on Fox
April 27, Prudential Center, Newark, UFC: Jones v Sonnen
July 27, City to be announced, UFC on Fox
December 14, City to be announced, UFC on Fox

This article first appeared on ESPN.com

© ESPN Sports Media Ltd.
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