After withdrawing from a scheduled February title defense against Glover Teixeira at UFC 171, light heavyweight champion Jon Jones is targeting either March or April 2014 for his return to the cage, according to a report from Ariel Helwani on UFC Tonight.
Jones, 26, was initially slated to defend his title against Teixeira on February 22 at the Mandalay Bay Events Center in Las Vegas, NV for the headlining attraction of UFC 170. However a lingering foot injury stemming from Jones’ recent battle of attrition against Alexander Gustafsson forced Jones to withdraw from such a quick return date.
According to Jones’ manager Malki Kawa, Jones “needs a mental and physical break” to recover after a busy 2013, after which Jones expects to resume training in January, with the hopes of entering camp injury-free.
“Jon Jones went back in the gym and just didn’t feel good,” UFC President Dana White said recently. “He said his legs were still bothering him and his eye is bothering him. He still banged up from that fight.
“That fight wasn’t that long ago. It’s like being in a car accident.”