Jon Jones' first defense of the UFC heavyweight championship will have to wait. UFC president Dana White announced early Wednesday morning that Jones was out of his planned UFC 295 bout with two-time former champion Stipe Miocic after suffering a torn pectoral tendon.
According to White, who shared video of the incident in his social media announcement, Jones will be out for eight months and the injury will require surgery.
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
The vacant light heavyweight title bout between Jiri Prochazka and Alex Perreira has been elevated to the UFC 295 main event. And the UFC will create a interim heavyweight title while Jones is on the sidelines. Top contenders Sergei Pavlovic and Tom Aspinall will square off for the title in the co-main event.
The card goes down on Nov. 11 from Madison Square Garden in New York City.
Jones won the heavyweight title with a dominant first-round submission of Ciryl Gane in March. That fight was Jones' first since February 2020 after prolonged and tense negotiations with the UFC. Now he'll be sidelined once again.
Miocic will not face a replacement opponent and has been removed entirely from the card.
