Already sidelined for an extended period due to a pec injury, UFC heavyweight king Jon Jones has decided to make the most of his time off and address a lingering issue with his elbow.
Considered by many to be the greatest fighter in the history of MMA, “Bones” further added to his already impressive legacy when he moved up to heavyweight last year and submitted Ciryl Gane to claim the division’s vacant title.
Jones was booked to defend his new belt against two-time champion Stipe Miocic in the main event of UFC 295 but was forced to withdraw due to a torn pec, and now the former light heavyweight champion has announced that he recently underwent another surgery to address bone spurs in his left elbow.
“Instead of doing a pec repair, we are working on my left elbow,” Jones said on his Instagram story. “I’m actually about one hour off the table, we had a two-hour surgery shaving down some bone spurs. Good news is that it’s about a ten-week heal process, and I’m out for months anyways because of this pec surgery. So I just thought I’d kill two birds and get this elbow taken care of once and for all…Sometimes you have to take a small step back in order to move forward.”
Even while sidelined, “Bones” has remained a fixture in combat sports headlines thanks to the UFC’s insistence that the matchup with Miocic will be rebooked even though Tom Aspinall now holds the interim heavyweight belt and is eager for a chance at the undisputed title.
It doesn’t appear as if the second procedure will do anything to alter the timetable for Jones’ return, but both fans and the rest of the UFC’s top heavyweights are eager for the all-time great to return to full health so that he's able to defend his belt.
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