"Potentially be a death sentence" - Jon Jones gets brutally honest about soldiering through pectoral injury to come back at UFC 309
Jon Jones will finally make his return at UFC 309 but his comeback trail to the sport of mixed martial arts was far more uncertain this time last year. In a recent interview with TNT Sports, Jones was asked about the mindset he had after the massive setback he had this time last year.
This was an obvious reference to the pectoral injury that pulled Jones out of his heavyweight title defense against Stipe Miocic in November last year. While things have fallen into place where their initial booking for Madison Square Garden now sees the two clash inside MSG this year, there could have certainly been worries at the time.
Anxieties on whether or not this massive fight to further galvanize a hugely impressive legacy could have just been lost forever. When getting into his mindset regarding the Miocic fight being scrapped last year, Jones said:
"I didn't think that it was gone but I knew that it would be a long way back to it. You know, Dana White told me six months to a year and I was just thinking man, this could potentially be a death sentence. But I knew that I just had to do the right things. I thought you know day to day was going to matter in the long run."
"I did gain a bunch of weight in my recovery but I stayed really focused. I stayed really focused. I did something every day to try to get back to my full form and we're here now. I'm very grateful for the team that I have."
Check out Jon Jones' comments on his mindset before pulling out of UFC 295 below (3:39):
Jon Jones and the butterfly effect of his UFC 295 pullout
While Jon Jones and Stipe Miocic stayed locked in even though their Nov. 11, 2023 booking fell out, a lot has happened since that day as we head into UFC 309 on Nov. 16.
The 37-year-old heavyweight champion pulling out from his pectoral injury led to the promotion booking an interim title fight for the card. That contest saw Tom Aspinall capture the strap after scoring a 69-second knockout against Sergei Pavlovich.
'Bones' has maintained a myopic focus on Miocic through the last year despite the prolific former titleholder being inactive for years following his championship loss to Francis Ngannou.
The Rochester native did not even have his interests peeked by Aspinall defending his interim strap with a one-minute knockout of Curtis Blaydes at UFC 304 in July. The interim champ is waiting in the wings as the backup opponent for Jones vs. Miocic with many in the MMA world preferring the Jon Jones vs. Tom Aspinall title unification option as it is in closer alignment with athletic meritocracy.