Ufc: the return of Jon “Bones” Jones

Photo courtesy of bleacherreport.com

Las Vegas, Nevada (PSF) — The biggest story from Saturday night did not come from anything that went on inside of the octagon, but from the developments outside of the octagon.

MMA fans were given two big pieces of news at once from UFC president Dana White on Saturday night. The first was that the long saga surrounding the now former heavyweight champ Francis Ngannou’s contract was over. Ngannou and the UFC were unable to reach a new deal and Ngannou has been released from the UFC.

The second, and monumental piece of news, was that former light heavyweight champion Jon “Bones” Jones has agreed to move up to the heavyweight division to fight the number one challenger Ciryl Gane at UFC 285 for the title.

Jones could be back for a while as it was reported that the contract is reportedly an eight fight contract. Jones is, according to many, the greatest MMA fighter of all time. You would be hard pressed to find a better resume. Jones (26-1-0) has not lost a fight in over 13 years. His last defeat coming in 2009 via disqualification. He held the light heavyweight belt from when he won it via KO/TKO over Shogun Rua in 2011 to when he relinquished the belt in 2020, almost a decade.

During that time, Jones made 14 successful title defenses that featured wins over Daniel Cormier, Lyoto Machida, Alexander Gustafsson, Rashad Evans, and former champ Glover Teixeira.

It is sad to see Ngannou go, but Jon Jones is back and that is the most exciting news for fight fans in a long time.