Jon Jones Injured, UFC 295 Gets New Main Event & Interim Title Fight
Jon Jones is out of his November 11 title defense against Stipe Miocic at UFC 295, "Bones" suffered a torn pectoral in training.
Alex Pereira vs. Jiri Prochazka has been promoted to a five-round main event and Sergei Pavlovich vs. Tom Aspinall has been added as the co main for the interim heavyweight title. Miocic has been removed altogether and the UFC is targeting a big PPV in 2024 to reschedule the fight, Jones is expected to be out for at least eight months.
UFC CEO Dana White announced the news on October 25:
"Jon Jones was training last night, got injured," White shouted. "You know he was wrestling, and he tore the tendon that connects your pec to the bone --- off the bone. Eight months, gonna need surgery, he's out [of UFC 295]
"So, the main event is Prochazka vs. Pereira, the co main event now is Pavlovich vs. Aspinall for the interim heavyweight championship."
Jones hasn't released any statements as of yet, this cancellation marks the eighth cancellation of his career, and the second fight cancelled due to a Jones injury.
Aspinall vs. Pavlovich for the interim title means the winner is entitled to the next title shot, which is presumably the winner of the rescheduled Jones vs. Miocic bout, or for a vacant title if the winner retires.
UFC 295's new lineup looks like this (not in bout order):
- Joshua Van vs. Kevin Borjas
- Tabatha Ricci vs. Loopy Godinez
- Nazim Sadykhov vs. Viacheslav Borshchev
- Mateusz Rebecki vs. Nurullo Aliev
- Jamall Emmers vs. Dennis Buzukja
- Pat Sabatini vs. Diego Lopes
- Jared Gordon vs. Mark O. Madsen
- Matt Schnell vs. Steve Erceg
- Jessica Andrade vs. Mackenzie Dern
- John Castaneda vs. Kyung Ho Kang
- Matt Frevola vs. Benoit Saint-Denis
- Tom Aspinall vs. Sergei Pavlovich - Interim Heavyweight title fight
- Jiri Prochazka vs. Alex Pereira - Light Heavyweight title fight
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