{"id":190936,"date":"2016-04-02T15:22:54","date_gmt":"2016-04-02T22:22:54","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/staging.tcpcharms.com\/bjpenn\/?p=190936"},"modified":"2016-04-02T15:22:54","modified_gmt":"2016-04-02T22:22:54","slug":"daniel-cormier-releases-statement-on-ufc-197-withdrawal","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/staging.tcpcharms.com\/bjpenn\/mma-news\/daniel-cormier\/daniel-cormier-releases-statement-on-ufc-197-withdrawal\/","title":{"rendered":"Daniel Cormier releases first statement on UFC 197 withdrawal"},"content":{"rendered":"

Thursday evening news broke that Daniel Cormier had injured his knee<\/a> in training and would no longer be able to compete in his scheduled UFC 197 title defense on April 23rd against Jon Jones.<\/p>\n

Surprisingly, Jon Jones wished DC a speedy recovery<\/a>, and it is expected that the pair will meet in the future when DC is healthy and able to defend his belt.<\/p>\n

The champ took to Instagram to give his first statement since the news surfaced regarding the injury.<\/p>\n

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The decision to not fight on April 23rd was one of the hardest decisions I've had to make. I've been scheduled to fight 18 times and I have made that walk every time. I want to apologize to Jon Jones, Lorenzo Fertitta, Dana White and all of the UFC fans for not being able to defend my title. This truly saddens me, but as with everything else in life, it goes on. The recovery should not take very long and I can't wait to compete and defend my title again. For all the fans, thanks for your support, I appreciate each and every one of you. DC<\/a><\/p>\n

A photo posted by Daniel "DC" Cormier (@dc_mma) on