"Hasn't been a heavyweight that long" - Former opponent highlights important aspect that might have led to Jon Jones' injury
UFC light heavyweight Anthony Smith has highlighted the potential reasons that Jon Jones may have suffered such a significant injury.
Earlier this week, Dana White dropped the bombshell that UFC 295's main-event bout between Jones and Stipe Miocic was off. 'Bones' had suffered a major pectoral tear during a wrestling practice session, requiring immediate surgery and putting him out of action for at least 8 months.
Miocic was pulled off the card entirely and will wait to face Jones, with the UFC booking Sergei Pavlovich vs. Tom Aspinall for the interim heavyweight title as a replacement.
Watch Dana White's announcement and the clip of Jones' injury here:
Following the news of Jon Jones' injury, his former opponent Anthony Smith has weighed in on the news.
Speaking on the latest episode of the Believe You Me podcast, 'Lionheart' analysed the potential reasons why the heavyweight champ suffered such a major inury. According to Smith, it may be due to Jones still being relatively new to the weight class because of which his body hadn't adjusted to the extra weight. He explained:
"Let's just be honest and address the elephant in the room, Jon hasn't been a heavyweight that long. These are bigger guys, he's carrying a lot of load and he's heavier than he's ever been and he's training with heavier guys than he ever has. That's gotta play a little bit of a part."
Catch Smith's comments here (4:30):
Francis Ngannou reacts to news of Jon Jones' injury
Former UFC heavyweight kingpin Francis Ngannou has admitted he's surprised by the MMA promotion's decision to book an interim title fight in place of Jon Jones vs. Stipe Miocic.
Speaking to Mike Bohn of MMA Junkie, Ngannou was asked his thoughts on Jones' injury and the news of UFC 295's changes. According to 'The Predator', he's disappointed the fight won't be happening and was surprised by the booking of Sergei Pavlovich vs. Tom Aspinall in its place:
"I think it's sad news. It's never good news when an athlete gets injured basically in training. I hope he recovers well. I was very excited to watch that fight and to see who was going to win that fight... Something like this, it's not a thing that you can blame to somebody. It can happen to everybody. It could've happened here. It could happen to anybody so I don't think that's a part of the decision, but yes, it sucks though."
He continued:
"I haven't taken a look into that [Pavlovich vs. Aspinall] fight. I haven't think about that fight. I just saw the Jon Jones cancellation today. I was even surprised that they didn't get a replacement for Stipe."
Catch Ngannou's comments here: