Jon Jones injures leg; UFC bout with Daniel Cormier moved to January

A week after Jon Jones ramped up the attention for his scheduled Ultimate Fighting Championship light-heavyweight title defense against Daniel Cormier, he suffered a leg injury in training Monday that will delay the anticipated battle.

The UFC announced Tuesday that the Jones-Cormier bout will be postponed from Sept. 27 at the MGM Grand Hotel in Las Vegas until Jan. 3 at the same venue.

UFC 178 will now be headlined by a flyweight title defense by champion Demetrious Johnson against contender Chris Cariaso, a bout that was scheduled for Aug. 30 in Sacramento. Jones (20-1) and Cormier (15-0) last week fought on stage at a public gathering in the MGM Grand lobby to promote the fight.

A day later, in Los Angeles, Jones said he regretted his actions but not the attention that followed.

“I realize our sport is going against the wave, that some people consider our sport taboo and barbaric,” Jones said. “I realize my actions didn’t help, and that’s why I was the first one to come out and apologize to D.C., the public and the organization.

“I realize my actions could’ve almost set us back. But I think it’s temporary. The exposure that’s come from it is something that shouldn’t be ignored. We were on ‘Good Morning America’ this morning, and literally people are talking about it everywhere -- it was the sports story of the day.

“So it’s something I’m not proud of, but it definitely had its advantages.”

The Sept. 27 card is also to feature a featherweight fight between recent UFC headliner Conor McGregor of Ireland and Dustin Poirier, along with a women’s bantamweight fight between top-ranked contender Cat Zingano and Amanda Nunes.

The UFC announced that it will offer refunds for Sept. 27 at points of original sale only through Aug. 22.