BREAKING NEWS…………… Sergei Pavlovich vs Tom
Aspinall for the Interim Heavyweight Championship. Main Event is
Jiri Prochazka vs Alex Pereira.
#UFC295 is LIVE at MSG on ESPN+ PPV pic.twitter.com/SaPAwpyHi2— danawhite (@danawhite)
October 25, 2023
There has been a significant change atop the UFC
295 lineup.
Advertisement
Sergei
Pavlovich will now square off against Tom
Aspinall for the interim heavyweight crown in the new UFC 295
co-main event after reigning champion Jon Jones was
forced to withdraw from the card after suffering an injury in
training. Jones was supposed to face Stipe
Miocic in the original UFC 295 headliner, but it’s currently
unclear if Miocic was offered a fight against either Aspinall or
Pavlovich.
Meanwhile, the light heavyweight championship clash pitting
Jiri
Prochazka against Alex
Pereira has been elevated to the evening’s new headliner.
The news was announced by UFC CEO Dana White late Tuesday
night.
“Jon
Jones was training last night, got injured. He was wrestling
and tore the tendon that connects your pec to the bone, off the
bone,” White said. “Eight months, gonna need surgery. He’s
out.”
Pavlovich will take a six-bout winning streak — with all of those
victories coming via first-round knockout or technical knockout —
into the matchup with Aspinall. In his most recent outing, the
31-year-old Russian defeated Curtis Blyades via first-round TKO at
UFC Fight Night 222 on April 22.
Aspinall, meanwhile, made a triumphant return from knee surgery
this past July, when he stopped Marcin
Tybura in 73 seconds in the main event of UFC Fight Night 224.
The 30-year-old Englishman has been victorious in six of his seven
Octagon appearances, with his lone setback coming when he injured
his knee in the opening stanza against Blaydes at UFC Fight Night
208 in July 2022.
Jones returned from a three-year hiatus at UFC 285, where he
claimed the vacant heavyweight strap with a first-round submission
of Ciryl
Gane. “Bones” had hinted he would retire after facing Miocic,
who owns the UFC record for most heavyweight title defenses. If
White’s prognosis is correct, Jones wouldn’t be able to return to
action until mid-2024 at the earliest.
UFC 295 takes place on Nov. 11 at Madison Square Garden in New
York.