When news came that Jon Jones had withdrawn from his highly anticipated fight at UFC 295, the MMA world was stunned. UFC CEO Dana White himself broke the news. With Jones out of action, his opponent for the event, Stipe Miocic, has also been pulled out.
This means that the UFC 295 co-main event between Jiri Prochazka and Alex Pereira was promoted to the main event, while an interim heavyweight championship bout between Sergei Pavlovich and Tom Aspinall was added as a co-main event.
Reason for Jon Jones pulling out of UFC 295
Heavyweight champion Jon Jones was forced to withdraw at UFC 295 due to an injury. He hurt himself while training for wrestling. A video of Jones sustaining an injury during wrestling practice has gone viral. It also needs to be noted that Jones was seen lifting weights via unconventional methods recently.
Jones suffered a pectoral injury. He injured the tendons on the pectoral muscle. Jones has been known to miss fights, but not due to injury. UFC 295 is the first instance of Jon Jones pulling out due to injury. Dana White said that Jones would require surgery immediately and would be unavailable for UFC 295.
“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 X [Twitter]. “[Out] eight months, going to need surgery.”
Jones pulling out has resulted in an interim championship among the new-generation heavyweights. Jones had famously talked about not wanting to fight younger fighters, as he is interested in facing opponents with name recognition. An interim championship would help build name value, potentially leading to a matchup between Jones and either Aspinall or Pavlovich.
Estimated time out for Jon Jones
Jon Jones’ pectoral injury requires a good amount of time to rehabilitate. Dana White said that the injury would require surgery and a rest period of 8 months. This would mean that Jones would be returning to action in the latter part of 2024.
That would create a scenario where the winner might have to defend the title once more before facing off against Jones. With Ciryl Gane and Stipe Miocic ranked 1st and 3rd in the heavyweight division, respectively, there is no shortage of contenders in the division.
Jones won the heavyweight title after a self-imposed three-year exile. He did have a fairytale return at UFC 285 by winning the heavyweight championship. Moreover, Jones also hinted at retirement after his bout with Stipe Miocic at UFC 295. It remains to be seen whether Jones retires altogether, as he missed the matchup with Miocic.
The bout between Miocic and Jones was anticipated to be one of the most anticipated fights of 2023. In what can only be described as a titanic battle, two MMA titans entering the octagon to resolve the biggest question of who reigns supreme.
This highly anticipated bout was not just a fight but a battle for the ages, as the victor would go down in history as the undisputed greatest mixed martial arts combatant of all time. Unfortunately, Jones’s tragic setback prevented the highly anticipated event from taking place.
