Jon Jones has suffered an injury two weeks out from UFC 295, ruling him out of his heavyweight title defence against Stipe Miocic.

Light-heavyweight great Jones won the heavyweight belt in March, winning his divisional debut by submitting Ciryl Gane in Round 1. His first defence was due to come against Miocic in the main event of UFC 295, at New York City’s Madison Square Garden on 11 November.

However, 36-year-old Jones will require surgery after sustaining an injury on Tuesday (24 October), meaning his clash with the consensus heavyweight ‘GOAT’ is off. As a result, the co-main event of UFC 295 has been elevated to the new main event, as former light-heavyweight champion Jiri Prochazka faces ex-middleweight champion Alex Pereira for the vacant 205lbs title.

In the new co-main event, British heavyweight Tom Aspinall will face Russia’s Sergei Pavlovich for the interim heavyweight title. The winner of that fight will theoretically be in line to unify the belts against Jones once the American is healthy, and it is unclear how Miocic will factor into the situation.

“Jon Jones was training last night, got injured,” said UFC president Dana White on Wednesday morning, sharing footage of the incident. “He was wrestling, and he tore the tendon that connects your pec to the bone... off the bone.

“Eight months [out], gonna need surgery, he’s out. So, the main event is Prochazka vs Pereira. The co-main event now is Pavlovich vs Aspinall for the interim heavyweight championship.”

American Miocic, 41, has not fought since losing the heavyweight title to Francis Ngannou in March 2021.

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