Last night, a decision was taken to bump UFC 196 down from PPV to free TV.
The UFC made the call to air the February 6 event on FOX Sports 1 after they lost two main event fights in the space of 24 hours.
On Monday, Cain Velasquez was forced to withdraw from his headlining title bout with heavyweight champion Fabricio Werdum.
Stipe Miocic was drafted in to face Werdum but, mere hours later, the Brazilian cited an existing injury and withdrew himself from the running.
The UFC scrambled, behind-the-scenes, to rescue the Pay-Per-View but 12 days notice for a main event proved too daunting for most.
Miocic was still up for a fight but he has strongly denied rumours that he turned down a shot at former light heavyweight champion Jon Jones.
Jones is hoping for a chance to reclaim his light heavyweight title with a fight against Daniel Cormier in April or May. Still, he confirmed on Twitter that he would step up a weight division if the real title, not an interim strap, was up for grabs.
That tweet caught fire and left Miocic, who is a real-life fire-fighter, to quell the flames.
Oh and for the record I didn't turn down shit. I took a championship fight on 2 weeks notice and it got cancelled. That's the end of it.
— Stipe Miocic (@stipemiocic) January 26, 2016
“I can tell you for a fact that the Jon Jones title fight was never offered to Stipe nor was any other fight. He didn’t turn down anything.” Miocic’s manager Gre Kalikas told MMA Fighting.
As it stands, Miocic is still angling for a shot at Werdum’s belt.
Alright @FabricioWerdum let's make it for Memorial Day weekend. I'll even let you ride next to MY belt in the fire truck during the parade.
— Stipe Miocic (@stipemiocic) January 26, 2016
As for Jones, he remains on course for a scrap with DC at UFC 200.
