With 15 months of inactivity behind him following a second drug suspension, former UFC light heavyweight champion appears headed back to the Octagon before the close of 2018 in a pay-per-view rematch for the title he once held. 

Jones (22-1, 1 NC) is expected to face Alexander Gustafsson in a rematch of their thrilling 2013 brawl in the main event of UFC 232 in Las Vegas on Dec. 29, according to Wednesday's report from ESPN's Ariel Helwani. The bout will be contested for the vacant UFC's 205-pound title, which will be stripped from current two-division champion Daniel Cormier the moment Jones and Gustafsson enter the cage. 

The 31-year-old Jones recently received a 15-month retroactive USADA suspension, which afforded him the right to be reinstated later this month. UFC president Dana White had previously claimed Jones would not return to the Octagon in 2018 and "wasn't in fighting shape" to be considered as a last-minute option to headline UFC 230 in New York on Nov. 3. 

The most recent suspension Jones faced came in the aftermath of his July 2017 TKO of Cormier in their long-awaited rematch at UFC 217. Jones, who tested positive for metabolites of a banned steroid, was stripped of the light heavyweight title for the third time and the fight was ruled a no contest. Jones was previously suspended for one year by USADA following a failed test for two banned substances ahead of his scheduled rematch with Cormier at UFC 200 in 2016.

In the aftermath of his most recent USADA suspension being reduced, Jones told ESPN he had no interest in a trilogy bout against Cormier nor would he be moving up to heavyweight. His UFC 232 bout with Gustafsson (18-4) is a rematch of their five-round classic at UFC 165 in Toronto which Jones won by unanimous decision to defend his title. 

Gustafsson, 31, pulled out of a scheduled bout at UFC 227 in August due to an undisclosed injury and hasn't fought since a fifth-round TKO win over Glover Teixeira in May 2017.