Injured Jon Jones out of UFC 295 vs. Stipe Miocic; Sergei Pavlovich vs. Tom Aspinall interim title fight set

Prepare for disappointment as one of the most highly anticipated fights in recent UFC history has been canceled.

Jon Jones, the reigning heavyweight champion, has been forced to withdraw from his scheduled title defense against the legendary Stipe Miocic at UFC 295. The unfortunate news was announced by UFC CEO Dana White, who revealed that Jones suffered a torn pectoral muscle during training. This debilitating injury will keep him out of action for eight months. White took to social media to share a video of the incident.

Due to Jones’ absence, Miocic will also be removed from the fight card for undisclosed reasons. In their place, top contenders Sergei Pavlovich and Tom Aspinall will now vie for the interim championship in the co-main event on November 11th, taking place at New York’s Madison Square Garden.

In a surprising turn of events, the vacant light heavyweight title fight between Jiri Prochazka and Alex Pereira will now assume the role of the main event for UFC 295.

Pavlovich, currently riding a six-fight win streak, will face Aspinall in their highly anticipated clash. Since his debut loss to Alistair Overeem, Pavlovich has been on a rampage, securing victories over Marcelo Golm, Maurice Greene, Shamil Abdurakhimov, Derrick Lewis, Tai Tuivasa, and Curtis Blaydes. Notably, all six of his wins have come by way of first-round knockouts.

Aspinall has successfully bounced back from a devastating knee injury in 2022. In his most recent outing, he dispatched Marcin Tybura with strikes in just 73 seconds. This victory maintained his 100% finishing rate in the promotion.

The revised UFC 295 lineup features:

• Alex Pereira vs. Jiri Prochazka – competing for the vacant light heavyweight title

• Sergei Pavlovich vs. Tom Aspinall – battling for the interim heavyweight title

• Jessica Andrade vs. Mackenzie Dern

• Diego Lopes vs. Pat Sabatini

• Matt Frevola vs. Benoit Saint Denis

• Kevin Borjas vs. Joshua Van

• Stephen Erceg vs. Matt Schnell

• Loopy Godinez vs. Tabatha Ricci

• Jared Gordon vs. Mark Madsen

• Nurullo Aliev vs. Mateusz Rebecki

• Viacheslav Borshchev vs. Nazim Sadykhov

• Dennis Buzukja vs. Jamall Emmers

• John Castaneda vs. Kyung Ho Kang

For additional details, be sure to visit MMA Junkie’s event hub dedicated to UFC 295.

This story originally appeared on MMA Junkie