The highly anticipated heavyweight title fight between current champion Jon Jones and former champion Stipe Miocic has been scrapped, the UFC announced.
UFC CEO Dana Whtie took to social media on Tuesday, revealing that Jon Jones had been injured while training for the fight. While sharing footage of the injury, White explained that Jones tore a pectoral tendon off the bone. The injury will require surgery which is expected to keep Jones sidelined for around eight months.
As a result of the unfortunate circumstance, the UFC has shuffled the lineup for UFC 295. With Jones sidelined for the high-profile fight, Miocic has now been completely removed from the card.
The new headliner for UFC 295 will see former light heavyweight champion JiYí Procházka take on former middleweight titleholder Alex Pereira for the vacant light heavyweight belt. The UFC has also added a new co-main event fight to the card as well: Tom Aspinall vs. Sergei Pavlovich for the interim heavyweight title.
Following the shakeup, here's what the new lineup for UFC 295 looks like now:
- Alex Pereira vs. Jiri Prochazka (for vacant light heavyweight title)
- Sergei Pavlovich vs. Tom Aspinall (for interim heavyweight title)
- Jessica Andrade vs. Mackenzie Dern
- Diego Lopes vs. Pat Sabatini
- Matt Frevola vs. Benoit Saint Denis
- Kevin Borjas vs. Joshua Van
- Stephen Erceg vs. Matt Schnell
- Loopy Godinez vs. Tabatha Ricci
- Jared Gordon vs. Mark Madsen
- Nurullo Aliev vs. Mateusz Rebecki
- Viacheslav Borshchev vs. Nazim Sadykhov
- Dennis Buzukja vs. Jamall Emmers
- John Castaneda vs. Kyung Ho Kang
Jones, the former UFC light heavyweight champion, moved up to the heavyweight division this year, winning the vacant heavyweight belt in his debut against Ciryl Gane by first-round submission. The impressive performance set up a highly anticipated matchup between Jones, who is widely regarded as the best fighter in MMA history, and Miocic, the most successful heavyweight fighter ever in the UFC.
UFC 295 is scheduled to take place on Saturday, November 11, 2023 at Madison Square Garden. The UFC is reportedly hoping to rebook the fight between Jones and Miocic for a card in 2024.
The winner of the interim title between Aspinall vs. Pavlovich at UFC 295 will be entitled to the next title shot, which will presumably be against the winner of the rescheduled Jones-Miocic bout.
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