Jon Jones Out of UFC 295
Anybody who was anticipating the legacy-defining fight between Jon Jones and Stipe Miocic will have to exercise some patience.
Late Tuesday evening on his various social media platforms, UFC CEO Dana White announced that the heavyweight champion will not defend his crown against Miocic at UFC 295. Jon Jones tore a pectoral muscle during a wrestling session on Monday.
White’s announcement video also contained a brief clip of what looks like the moment Jon Jones suffered the injury. While Jones was attempting to take down his sparring partner, he shouted in pain and clutched the left side of his chest.
According to White, the injury requires surgery and will keep Jon Jones out of the Octagon for eight months.
Miocic will no longer compete on the card.
ESPN’s Marc Raimondi reports that the UFC would like to rebook Jon Jones and Stipe Miocic sometime next year.
Main Event
The vacant light heavyweight title bout between former champion Jiri Prochazaka and recent middleweight king Alex Periera will now headline the card.
Prochazaka is making his return to competition after vacating the belt last November due to a severe shoulder injury. Ironically, his successor, Jamahal Hill also relinquished his belt due to injury.
Periera is coming off of a decision win against another former titlist, Jan Blachowicz, in his 205-pound debut.
Also Read: Alexander Volkanovski Opens Up About Mental Struggles, Eyes Topuria In January
Co-Main Event
In place of the undisputed heavyweight title being up for grabs, surging top-ranked contenders Sergei Pavlovich and Tom Aspinall will face another for an interim strap in the co-main event.
Pavlovich is currently riding a streak of six first-round knockouts with his only career loss coming from Alistair Overeem in his UFC debut.
In July, Aspinall made a triumphant return to action with a first-round knockout of Marcin Tybura in London. The Englishman spent the previous year on the shelf with a knee injury.
Current Lineup
- Alex Pereira vs. Jiri Prochazka (vacant light heavyweight championship)
- Sergei Pavlovich vs. Tom Aspinall (interim heavyweight championship)
- Jessica Andrade vs. Mackenzie Dern (strawweight)
- Pat Sabatini vs. Diego Lopes (featherweight)
- Matt Frevola vs. Benoit Saint-Denis (lightweight)
- Joshua Van vs. Kevin Borjas (flyweight)
- Stephen Erceg vs. Matt Schnell (flyweight)
- Loopy Godinez vs. Tabatha Ricci (lightweight)
- Jared Gordon vs. Mark Madsen (lightweight)
- Nurullo Aliev vs. Mateusz Rebecki (lightweight)
- Viacheslav Borshchev vs. Nazim Sadykhov (lightweight)
- Jamall Emmers vs. Dennis Buzukja (featherweight)
- John Castaneda vs. Kyung Ho Kang
Also Read: Jon Jones is the best UFC fighter of all time: Explaining why ‘Bones’ is the obvious UFC GOAT
UFC 295 takes place on November 11 at Madison Square Garden in New York City. The main card begins at 6 PM ET and will air exclusively on ESPN+ pay-per-view in the United States.
