UFC heavyweight champion Jon Jones’ road to recovery has begun. 

On Tuesday, Jones posted a video on his Instagram story showing the bandages over his left pectoral post-surgery. 

Jones was slated to headline UFC 295 at Madison Square Garden on November 11. But after suffering the injury on October 25, Jones’ first heavyweight title defense against Stipe Miocic was scrapped.

The co-main event – a light-heavyweight title bout between Jiri Prochazka and Alex Pereira – has been promoted to the new headliner. 

In the heavyweight division, meanwhile, No 4 ranked Tom Aspinall will be facing No 2 Sergei Pavlovich for the the interim title. 

Jon Jones was set to make his first heavyweight title defense at UFC 295 before getting injured

Jones shared a post-surgery video on his Instagram story on Tuesday morning

The cancelled meeting with Miocic would have been Jones’ sixteenth straight title bout. 17 days before UFC 295, UFC president Dana White announced that Jones was injured and would be out for at least eight months. 

‘He tore the tendon that connects your pec to the bone– off the bone,’ White said in the announcement. 

A video of the incident showed Jones shooting a double-leg on his training partner. As he completed the takedown, Jones screamed in discomfort before sitting on his knees with his glove over his chest. 

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The following day, Jones posted a video on Instagram to address the situation.

‘Very sad situation, very upset,’ Jones said after thanking those who checked in on him. ‘But I’ve been through a lot of things in life and injuries is part of being an athlete.’

‘I wanna say thank you to Stipe Miocic for the work that he’s put in,’ Jones added. ‘I’m so sorry to Stipe and his team. Like I said, this comes with the territory.’

Jones submitted Cyril Gane in Round 1 at UFC 285 to win the vacant heavyweight title

Jones became the youngest UFC champion – at 23 years old – after winning the belt against Mauricio ‘Shogun’ Rua in 2011. From then until 2020, Jones only fought to defend the title and regain it when he was stripped over drug-related and legal troubles. 

After a narrow win over Dominic Reyes in 2020, Jones vacated the light heavyweight strap to move up to heavyweight. 

Jones then called for a fight with Miocic following a round-one submission over Cyril Gane for the vacant heavyweight title in March.

While the collision course between Jones and the two-time heavyweight champion in Miocic will not happen in November, Jones still appears keen on the matchup in the future. 

‘The goal is to get surgery and get back to work as soon as possible,’ Jones said. ‘I guess it’ll be Stipe and I at a later date and that’s my plan.’