Jon Jones Won’t Fight Until 2022, Dana White Says

According to UFC President Dana White, UFC light heavyweight champion Jon Jones will not return to the octagon until 2022.

Jones vacated his title around one year ago while planning to move in the heavyweight division. There were many rumors that Jones would fight heavyweight king Francis Ngannou, but it didn’t happen.

Jones (26-1) was offered to share the octagon with former UFC heavyweight champion Stipe Miocic. Miocic accepted the fight, but it seems Jones doesn’t want to fight until it’s for the title.

The other alternative White gave the 205-pound fighter was to wait for 2022 and fight for the heavyweight title immediately.

Following the news, Jones tweeted “Champion 2022.”

The last time he fought was at UFC 247 in February 2020 where he defeated Dominick Reyes via unanimous decision. When he returns in 2022, he’ll be coming off a two-year hiatus.

White says he isn’t thinking about Jon Jones until 2022.

— Aaron Bronsteter (@aaronbronsteter) August 8, 2021

Ngannou, the current heavyweight champion, previously said he wanted his first title defense to be against Jones. But after Ciryl Gane’s TKO victory over Derrick Lewis on Saturday, he will be the mandatory fight for the current champion, which likely to happen in late 2021 or early 2022.