It appears that the
Ultimate Fighting Championship is covering all its bases in
pursuit of a suitable headliner for its 300th event.
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During an interview with Submission Radio, Jones revealed that he
was contacted by the promotion in the hopes that he might be
healthy enough to compete in the main event of UFC
300. Jones, who was forced to withdraw from UFC 295 this past
November due to a torn pectoral, also
underwent elbow surgery earlier this year. “Bones” is expected
to be rebooked against Miocic once he is fully healthy, but it
won’t be at UFC 300.
“I got a call from Hunter
Campbell, one of the head lawyers of the UFC, asking me, he
said, ‘Jon I know it’s only nine weeks away but if there’s any
chance that you’re feeling up to it, it’d be awesome news for the
community that you’re coming back and headlining one of the biggest
events ever.’ As honored as I am for the opportunity, I just don’t
think I’ll be ready. I just don’t,” Jones said. “I’m getting up
there in age and I only have a few more events left, and I want to
give those events my all and make sure I come back 100%.”
UFC 300 takes place on Aprl 13 at the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas.
The card features a “BMF” title clash between Justin
Gaethje and Max
Holloway, while Weili Zhang
will defend her strawweight crown against Xiaonan Yan.
Additionally, Charles
Oliveira will lock horns with Arman
Tsarukyan in a five-round title eliminator at lightweight. UFC
CEO Dana White has teased a marquee headliner, but thus far nothing
has been confirmed in that regard.
While Jones is unable to be a hero for UFC 300, he did provide some
potentially good news regarding the status of his fighting career.
Jones had previously indicated that he could retire after facing
Miocic, but he sounded more open to a future booking against
interim heavyweight king Tom
Aspinall during his most recent interview. Aspinall has
repeatedly called for an opportunity to fight Jones in recent
months, both in interviews and on social media. That led to some
back-and-forth between Jones and Aspinall last month.
“I’m going to base whether I continue to fight on how I compete
against Stipe, how I heal up from this injury,” Jones said. I could
blow Stipe out of the water or it could be an absolute war. I feel
like I need to take one step at a time before seeing what I do
next. The Tom fight is definitely not off the table. Especially
with how I’ve been feeling being out here. I feel totally
reinvigorated and reenergized just being around all these fans. I
can’t just walk away. The ball is rolling in a very positive
direction for the career to continue.”