The heavyweight champion Jon Jones was set to fight at UFC 295 against Stipe Miocic. Jones returned to the Octagon after a long break of 3 years at UFC 285. He took on Ciryl Gane in the UFC 285 main event for the heavyweight title after Francis Ngannou left the company. Despite such a long layoff, Jones showed no sign of ring rust and submitted the French fighter without breaking a sweat.
Budding stars collide for the Interim HW title in our co main event 🏆@SPavlovich13 vs @AspinallMMA#UFC295 | SATURDAY | Live on ESPN+ PPV pic.twitter.com/NprRURVMaC
— UFC (@ufc) November 10, 2023
With him being in such immaculate form, fans were excited to see the former light heavyweight champion test his skills against Stipe. But, it was not meant to be as Jones suffered a shoulder injury just weeks before the penultimate UFC PPV of the year. As a result, the company booked an interim heavyweight title bout between Tom Aspinall and Sergei Pavlovich as the co-main event of UFC 295.
Jon Jones suffered a pectoral injury ahead of UFC 295
It was the UFC President Dana White who broke the news that Jon Jones would not feature at UFC 295. In his announcement video, White also attached a video showing how the injury occurred. The champ was sparring in preparation for the Stipe Miocic fight and a freak incident caused a severe pec injury that left him immobilized.
Speaking about the incident in late October, White added, “Jon Jones was training last night, got injured. He was wrestling and he tore the tendon that connects your pec to the bone, off the bone.”
BREAKING NEWS…………… Sergei Pavlovich vs Tom Aspinall for the Interim Heavyweight Championship. Main Event is Jiri Prochazka vs Alex Pereira. #UFC295 is LIVE at MSG on ESPN+ PPV pic.twitter.com/SaPAwpyHi2
— danawhite (@danawhite) October 25, 2023
Dana White further proceeded to add that the Rochester, New York native would require surgery and would be out of action for 8 months. It was an incredibly hard pill for the fans to digest, who wanted to witness the MMA GOAT in action. Not only that, the interest was also very high because his opponent was perhaps the greatest heavyweight fighter alive, Stipe Miocic.
Aside from Francis Ngannou, the Ohio native was perhaps the biggest threat to Jon Jones’ crown. With the former exploring his boxing interests, Miocic was the only big money fight left for Jon at heavyweight. There were also rumors circulating that the UFC 295 bout was going to be Jones’ retirement fight. However, with him being out for 8 months due to the freak injury, everything seems to be up in the air.
Jonny Bones has undergone surgery after the brutal injury
As Dana White himself mentioned, Jon needed to undergo surgery for his injury. In a further update, the 36-year-old fighter let his fans know that he underwent a successful surgery. Jones said, “Mission complete, now it’s time for the road to recovery. Let’s do it.”
He also posted another video on October 31, 2023, to let the fans know that the wound from the surgery was yet to heal completely. While Jones did not say anything in the video, he did seem to be in good spirits. The Albuquerque native is no stranger to long absences from the Octagon. While it has never affected the results of his fights previously, it will be interesting to see if he can replicate the same success at the age of 36.
Who will Jon Jones fight after his return from injury?
Although the winner of the Sergey Pavlovich and Tom Aspinall fight will become the new UFC interim heavyweight champion, he will not fight for the undisputed title right away. Before going into surgery, Jones posted a clip on his social media platform addressing his future opponent. Despite the interim title fight, Jon’s focus is still on the Stipe Miocic fight.
He said, “I want to say thank you to Stipe Miocic for the work that he has put in. Also sorry to Stipe and his team. Like I said, this (injury) comes with the territory. Thanks (to) all my coaches and training partner, everyone who has helped me get this far. (I) can’t even say get to the fight. But the goal is to get surgery tomorrow and get back to work as soon as possible. I guess it will be Stipe and I at a later date and that’s my plan.”
Jon Jones broke his silence on having to pull out of UFC 295 pic.twitter.com/uemH9WaWJi
— Bloody Elbow (@BloodyElbow) October 27, 2023
He also apologized to all the fans who bought tickets to see him compete inside the Madison Square Garden (MSG) arena. While he won’t fight on the card, the current undisputed champion did promise to show up to the event and witness all the action from the cage side as a guest.