UFC heavyweight champion Jon Jones sustains injury, cancels title bout against Miocic.
Vegas, Nevada After Jon Jones tore a pectoral tendon off the bone during training, Stipe Miocic and Jon Jones will not be competing for the UFC heavyweight championship in New York next month.
Jones sustained an injury on Monday during a training session, according to UFC President Dana White. The main event of UFC 295 on November 11 at Madison Square Garden is scheduled to be postponed as the heavyweight title requires surgery and will be sidelined for at least eight months.
Tom Aspinall and Sergei Pavlovich will square off for the vacant heavyweight championship, according to White. Jiri Prochazka and Alex Pereira's light heavyweight championship bout was moved up to the main event.
After taking a three-year hiatus from the UFC, Jones returned in March and successfully won the vacant title at UFC 285 by choking out Ciryl Gane in the highest weight class.
Following the bout, Jones declared that he wanted Miocic, the second-ranked fighter and the man he considered the best heavyweight of all time. A date for MSG was announced by White, who also indicated that the fight would happen.
With a record 14 championship victories under his belt and an unprecedented 18-match winning streak, Jones has established himself as the best light heavyweight in the UFC. With one no-contest under his belt, Jones has a 26-1 record.
After failing a drug test in 2016, he was suspended for a year. Later, a positive drug test resulted in a no-contest for his 2017 win over Daniel Cormier.
In 2019, the US Anti-Doping Agency modified the definition of a positive test, and Jones disclosed that he would have been in compliance with the new guidelines.
In March 2021, at UFC 280, Miocic, a two-time heavyweight champion, lost his title fight against Francis Ngannou.