Jon Jones and Stipe Miocic’s heavyweight title bout has been cancelled just three weeks before the pair were scheduled to fight in Maddison Square Garden at UFC 295.
One of the most highly anticipated fights in the history of the UFC has been called off for now, as UFC CEO Dana White announced late Tuesday evening that Jones was forced to pull out of the fight due to a pectoral injury. The injury is rumoured to keep Jones out for at least eight months, with the UFC and White hopeful that the fight can be rescheduled sometime in 2024.
This is a major blow to the UFC’s headline trip to New York. As a result, the new main event will be for the vacant light heavyweight title between Alex Pereira and Jiri Prochazka whilst Sergei Pavlovich and Britain’s Tom Aspinall will move onto the co-main for a chance to win the interim heavyweight title.
Embed from Getty ImagesJones was set to make his first title defence after defeating Ciryl Gane for the vacant crown at UFC 285 on March 4. The bout was his return to the UFC after a three-year absence and marked his first fight in the heavyweight division after moving up from light heavyweight.
Miocic was poised to return to the Octagon for the first time since he lost the UFC heavyweight championship to Francis Ngannou at UFC 260 in March 2021. The 41-year-old said he signed on to fight Jones in part because he wasn’t happy with how his last bout went.
Both Miocic and Jones may view the fight as the perfect showcase bout to sign off two illustrious careers- with Jones telling Fox Sports Australia earlier this year that if he were to beat Miocic then he “would not have much else left to prove.”
The winner of the fight would have been dubbed the ‘baddest man on the planet’ but fans will have to wait at a while longer until they feast their eyes on a fight that would have been between two of the greatest competitors in the UFC’s history.
Embed from Getty ImagesJones is arguably the greatest mixed martial artist of all time. He’s a two-division champion (heavyweight and light heavyweight) and is practically undefeated since making his UFC debut back in 2008- with a record of 27-1 with one no-contest in 29 fights.
Miocic is a two-time UFC heavyweight champion who set the UFC record for the most consecutive successful title defences with three during his first reign. He is 20-4 overall with 15 wins by knockout/TKO in his MMA career.
Let’s hope that the UFC and Dana White can get this one re-booked sometime next year.
