After speculation courtesy of the former champion himself Jon Jones, the UFC seems to have moved ahead with a different plan for UFC 282.
The promotion announced via press release that they are moving ahead with the bout previously reported by Ariel Helwani of Jiri Prochazka versus Glover Texeira. That bout will be a rematch of their perennial fight of the year at UFC 275. Prochazka shocked the world and won via submission in what was Texeira’s first title defense.
What this fight being announced really tells us is the UFC may in fact be moving on from previous plans of Jon Jones returning at UFC 282. The proposed return bout would be Jones’ heavyweight debut against former champion Stipe Miocic. Compared to usual though, it seems that bout not coming to fruition is more on the fact that Miocic hasn’t come to an agreement with the UFC about his contract.
I’m preparing to fight Stipe December 10 in Las Vegas. Not really sure what’s going on between Stipe and the UFC but I’m ready to compete! I’m going to control what I can and stay in shape. https://t.co/3Ouu9Xk8Ns
— BONY (@JonnyBones) October 25, 2022
While the light heavyweight championship bout between Prochazka and Texeira is one to be excited about, the world must continue to wait for a Jon Jones return. At the time of writing this, it has been 990 days since we saw Jones defend his title against Dominick Reyes at UFC 247. Jones has stayed in the news due to the incident that occurred the night he was inducted into the UFC Hall of Fame but that isn’t what people want to see. People want to see the greatest fighter in the sport’s history try and rebuild his legacy.
If Miocic can’t be an option for Jones, not asking him to sacrifice any money to make a fight for the fans, then the UFC needs to realize they need to move on. The issue though? Option B is the current heavyweight champion Francis Ngannou who has his own contract issues to sort out. If they can’t come to an agreement with either fighter, give Jones anyone at heavyweight.
Francis Ngannou coach wants Jon Jones fight in March 2023, top #UFC exec on board with it #MMA https://t.co/XFxeRjpRLt
— MMA Mania (@mmamania) October 25, 2022
The UFC isn’t above cash grab events, Jones against anyone inside the heavyweight top ten would do decent in terms of pay-per-view numbers. Matchups against guys like Derrick Lewis or Alexander Volkov would be favorable for Jones. Now there are matchups that as a promotion they may want to stay away from such as Curtis Blaydes and Sergei Pavlovich who could be more dangerous.
The UFC needs to get Jon Jones back in the octagon, if not for their benefit then for his. That is the one place it seems his chaos finds some sort of calmness. UFC 282 is going to be a great event with the light heavyweight title on the line as well as other reported bouts. Imagine though the UFC ending the year with a Jon Jones return versus hoping for one in the first quarter of 2023. As is always the case with Jones it will have to be chalked up in the “what could have been” column.
