Jones OUT! Pavlovich Vs. Aspinall Set For Interim Title Tilt

The end of the 2023 calendar has been bumpier than anticipated for Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC).

UFC CEO, Dana White, announced early Wednesday morning (Oct. 25, 2023) that UFC Heavyweight champion, Jon Jones, suffered a torn pectoral muscle when training the night before. His title bout with Stipe Miocic for UFC 295 in New York City on Nov. 11, 2023, is now off and Sergei Pavlovich (18-1) will fight Tom Aspinall (13-3) for the interim title in the co-main event. The original co-main event between Jiri Prochazka and Alex Pereira for the vacant Light Heavyweight title has been promoted to the new main event.

“What’s up, everybody? Here we are again,” White said in an X video embedded in the player above. “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. Eight months, gonna need surgery, he’s out.

“So, the main event is Prochazka vs. Pereira,” he concluded. “The co-main event now is Pavlovich vs. Aspinall for the interim Heavyweight championship.”

Jones last fought in March 2023, ending his three-year hiatus with a first round guillotine choke of Ciryl Gane (watch highlights) at UFC 285 to become the new champion. Aspinall recently returned from time away himself, recovering from a torn anterior cruciate ligament (ACL), and finishing Marcin Tybura via a stellar first round technical knockout (watch highlights) in July 2023. Meanwhile, Pavlovich has stayed busy, scoring his most recent knockout against Curtis Blaydes just over three minutes into round one of their April 2023 clash (watch highlights).

The new line up for UFC 295 can be seen below.

• 205lbs.: (C) – Jiří Procházka vs. Alex Pereira
• 265lbs.: (IC) – Sergei Pavlovich vs. Tom Aspinall
• 145lbs.: Diego Lopes vs. Pat Sabatini
• 115lbs.: Mackenzie Dern vs. Jéssica Andrade
• 155lbs.: Matt Frevola vs. Benoît Saint-Denis
• 125lbs.: Matt Schnell vs. Steve Erceg
• 115lbs.: Tabatha Ricci vs. Loopy Godinez
• 155lbs.: Nazim Sadykhov vs. Viacheslav Borshchev
• 155lbs.: Mateusz Rębecki vs. Nurullo Aliev
• 145lbs.: Dennis Buzukja vs. Jamall Emmers
• 155lbs.: Jared Gordon vs. Mark Madsen
• 135lbs.: John Castañeda vs. Kyung-ho Kang
• 125lbs.: Joshua Van vs. Kevin Borjas