Jon Jones will make his first heavyweight title defense against former 265-pound titleholder Stipe Miocic as part of the upcoming UFC 295 pay-per-view (PPV) event, recently made official for Sat., Nov. 11, 2023 at Madison Square Garden in New York City.
Joining them will be No. 1-ranked heavyweight contender (and UFC 295 backup) Sergei Pavlovich, who is expected to fight the winner of Jones vs. Miocic at some point in early 2024. Pavlovich also served as backup for Jones’ title fight against Ciryl Gane last March.
Jones, 36, has a history of fight-canceling problems, which includes his UFC 200 blunder back in summer 2016. There was also this subsequent incident that forced the promotion to relocate its entire PPV card from Las Vegas to California (blame the picograms).
The 31 year-old Pavlovich (18-1) has won six straight under the UFC banner with all six wins coming by way of first-round knockout. That said, it would certainly come as a disappointment to lose Jones vs. Miocic, a fight more than six years in the making.