Jon Jones vs. Stipe Miocic will no longer happen at UFC 295.
Late Tuesday night, UFC CEO Dana White announced that Jones suffered an injury in training that will prevent him from competing on Nov. 11.
“Jon Jones was training last night, got injured, he was wrestling and he tore the tendon that connects your pec to to the bone, off the bone,” White said on Twitter. “[Out] eight months, going to need surgery. He’s out.”
BREAKING NEWS…………… Sergei Pavlovich vs Tom Aspinall for the Interim Heavyweight Championship. Main Event is Jiri Prochazka vs Alex Pereira. #UFC295 is LIVE at MSG on ESPN+ PPV pic.twitter.com/SaPAwpyHi2
— danawhite (@danawhite) October 25, 2023
With Jones sidelined, Sergei Pavlovich — who was already set as the backup fighter for UFC 295’s main event — will now clash with Tom Aspinall to crown a new interim heavyweight champion. The interim title fight will serve as the co-main event, with Jiri Prochazka vs. Alex Pereira for the vacant light heavyweight title bumping up into the new headliner.
White didn’t mention any details about Miocic or why he didn’t end up as one half of the new interim title fight, although the Ohio native spoke often about his desire to return to compete against Jones in what could potentially be the final bout of his career. It’s unknown at this time if Miocic was offered the opportunity or just opted to wait until Jones is healthy again to rebook that fight.
Meanwhile, Pavlovich will seek to claim UFC gold for the first time after rattling off six straight wins, with all of his victories ending in first-round knockouts. In his most recent outings, Pavlovich dispatched both Curtis Blaydes and Tai Tuivasa in impressive fashion to propel himself into title contention.
As for Aspinall, he’s back following a win over Marcin Tybura in July that served as his return to action after suffering a torn ACL in his knee early in his own fight against Blaydes back in 2022. Outside of that loss due to injury, Aspinall earned six wins in the UFC, including victories over Alexander Volkov and Sergey Spivak.
Pavlovich vs. Aspinall joins Prochazka vs. Pereira at UFC 295, with the card taking place at Madison Square Garden in New York on Nov. 11.