UFC heavyweight champion Jon Jones tore his pectoral muscle right off the bone.
As a result, “Bones” will no longer be competing at the upcoming UFC 295 pay-per-view (PPV) event on Nov. 11 in New York. In addition, the promotion will create an interim title in his absence, to be contested by Tom Aspinall and Sergei Pavlovich in “The Big Apple.”
Get all the relevant details here and here.
UFC CEO Dana White’s announcement included video of the incident. Not surprisingly, conspiracy theorists were quick to cry foul, suggesting the cameras were turned on to capture a manufactured injury. In reality, Jones records most of his training sessions (samples here and here) and rewatches them to measure his progress.
I’d also like the Doubting Thomases to explain how you fake major surgery.
Jones was undoubtedly wrestling against training partners who could provide the most resistance, designed to help him prepare for the takedown defense of the boxing-minded Miocic. Sadly, the strategy Jones implemented to make him stronger is the same one that led to his injury, since one of his “300-pound beasts” was slow to yield.
Fortunately for all parties involved, the promotion has plans to rebook the Jones vs. Miocic title fight for a “big card” in 2024. Expect the winner to move on for a heavyweight title unification bout against the winner of Aspinall vs. Pavlovich around this time next year.
We hope …
This story originally appeared on MMA Mania
