UFC 295: Jon Jones out, Sergei Pavlovich to face Tom Aspinall

🚨 BREAKING #UFC295 NEWS from Dana White! 🚨

UFC heavyweight champion Jon Jones is out of UFC 295 after accidentally tearing a pectoral tendon off the bone during training on Monday night.

UFC CEO Dana White delivered the news in a statement late Tuesday night on X.

“Jon Jones was training last night, got injured, he was wrestling and he tore the tendon that connects your pec to the bone, off the bone. [Out] eight months, going to need surgery. He’s out,” White said.

An interim title fight between Sergei Pavlovich and Tom Aspinall has been scheduled to replace the original fight between Jones and former two-time champion Stipe Miocic.

Pavlovich enters UFC 295 with a six-match winning streak, having previously beaten Tai Tuivasa and Curtis Blaydes. Meanwhile, Aspinall recently returned from a year-long knee injury, defeating Marcin Tybura at UFC Fight Night 24 in July.

There is no explanation as to why Miocic was not named for the interim title fight. The Ohio native often expressed his desire for a fight against Jones, implying on multiple occasions that it would be one of the most defining moments of his career.

Sources said there is still hope of re-booking Jones against Miocic in a 2024 card after Jones finished his physical recovery.

Concurrent with Pavlovich and Aspinall’s upcoming match, Jiří Procházka will face Alex Pereira for the vacant light heavyweight title.

Procházka is returning from a right shoulder injury suffered when he was scheduled to battle against Glover Teixeira at UFC 282 last December.

In the flyweight class, Joshua Van will face Kevin Borjas. They had been scheduled for Dana White’s Contender Series 57 before Van’s schedule was changed into facing Zhalgas Zhumagulov at UFC on ABC: Emmett vs. Topuria.

A middleweight fight between Derek Brunson and Roman Dolidze had been scheduled for the card before being scrapped due to Brunson’s exit from the promotion.