UFC 295 will have a very different look to it as UFC CEO Dana White announced on Tuesday that Jon Jones will be forced out of his heavyweight title fight due to injury.
Jones, who was scheduled to fight Stipe Miocic on November 11th, reportedly suffered a torn pectoral tendon during training on Monday. An injury which will require surgery, and likely sideline the 36 year old for 8 months.
“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,” White said on Twitter. “[Out] eight months, going to need surgery. He’s out.”
With news that Jones would be sidelined for the highly anticipated bout, Miocic will also be removed from the card as well. The hope remains that the UFC will be able to rebook the megafight sometime in 2024.
White announced that with the loss of the UFC heavyweight championship fight, UFC 295 will now be headlined by Jiri Prochazka vs. Alex Pereira. Meanwhile, a new co-main event will be added to the card between Tom Aspinall and Sergei Pavlovich for the interim heavyweight title.
Aspinall, 30, sports a 13-3 record over his MMA career with all 13 victories coming via either KO (10) or submission (3). The Englishman has won 9 of his last 10 contests, with his only blemish coming back in July of 2022 against Curtis Blaydes where he suffered a TKO due to a knee injury.
After recovering from a torn ACL which sidelined him for a year, Aspinall returned to action this summer to get back into the win column with a victory over Marcin Tybura in July.
His opponent, 31 year old Sergei Pavlovich, is 18-1 as a professional, with 15 wins coming via knockout, including six straight 1st round stoppages. The 6’3” Russian has been on a tear since suffering the lone loss of his MMA career to Alistair Overeem back in 2018.
It was widely speculated that Pavlovich would be on a short list of contenders to receive a title shot against the winner of the Jones vs. Miocic bout at Madison Square Garden next month.
Jones had previously hinted that if he were able to defeat Miocic at UFC 295, he would contemplate retiring. A notion that seems all the more possible now given the extensive rehab process he’s facing post surgery. White and the UFC will hope to add the Jones vs. Miocic superfight to a card in late 2024. A bout which may ultimately serve as the swan song for one of the sports all-time greats.
-Kyle Skinner
Twitter: @JKyleSkinner
Photo: Realistkilla. This file is made available under the Creative Commons CC0 1.0 Universal Public Domain Dedication