UFC light heavyweight champion Jon Jones announced on Monday that he has vacated the belt.
"Just got off the phone with [the UFC], today I confirm that I’m vacating the light heavyweight championship," Jones wrote on Twitter. "It’s officially up for grabs. It’s been an amazing journey, sincere thank you to all my competition, UFC and most importantly you fans."
While it appeared at first that Jones could be stepping away from the UFC and possibly professional mixed martial arts, the champion announced shortly after that he was negotiating with the UFC about his next fight being in the heavyweight division. It sounds like Jones has his sights set on conquering a new division.
Jones first won the UFC light heavyweight belt in March 2011, beating Mauricio Rua at UFC 128. He defended the title in eight straight fights before being stripped of it in January 2015 following his win over Daniel Cormier, due to violating the UFC's Athlete Code of Conduct.
He returned a year later and won the interim light heavyweight champion in April 2016, beating Ovince Saint Preux by unanimous decision at UFC 197. He was again stripped of the title after testing positive for clomiphene and letrozole prior to a title unification bout against Daniel Cormier.
He met Cormier for a second time a year later in July 2017 and knocked him out with a head kick to reclaim the belt. But he was stripped of it after testing positive for turinabol. In December 2018, he won the belt again after Cormier had vacated it to focus on the heavyweight division. He has since defended it three more times between March 2019 and February 2020, beating Anthony Smith, Thiago Santos and Dominick Reyes.
Jones hasn't fought since his February fight. His public feud with the UFC over salary negotiations has been well-documented on social media. However, it appears the two sides are actively working together and it looks like Jones' next fight will be at heavyweight. The question now is whether Jones will jump the line and face Stipe Miocic immediately for the belt or if he'll have to work through some of the top contenders first.
Jones (26-1, 1 NC) is arguably the greatest fighter in MMA history, with is only loss coming in 2009 via disqualification. Jones owns the longest unbeaten streak in UFC history (18) and he's tied with Demetrious Johnson for most title defenses in the promotion with 11.