Chael Sonnen Says Jon Jones vs. Stipe Miocic Fight Has Failed, and UFC is Aiming for Jones vs. Sergei Pavlovich

The fight between Jon Jones and Sergei Pavlovich is certainly unexpected. After Jones’s long-awaited and highly anticipated match against Stipe Miocic was called off, all signs pointed to Jones retiring from the UFC completely. However, with the recent news that the fight between Jones and Pavlovich is now on the table, the MMA community has been left scratching its head.

So, what has changed? According to Chael Sonnen, the fight between Jones and Stipe “went up in flames,” leading to Jones vs. Pavlovich as the new main event of the UFC’s August card. We are yet to find out exactly how or why this happened, but it appears both parties had no qualms about the change in plans.

Coming in at 14-1, and having won 8 out of his past 9 fights, Pavlovich is certainly no pushover. This is a fight that will have many speculating on who will come out on top. According to MMA Fighting, Jones has the highest average fight time among any heavyweight champion, sitting at an impressive 15:08. Couple that with his unbeaten record, it’s hard to pass Jones up as the firm favorite in this fight.

And then there’s the fact that Jones has never lost via knockout or submission. This leaves us expecting him to use his strong grappling experience to dominate the fight – which could be something of a conundrum for Pavlovich.

At the end of the day, there’s no telling how this match-up will play out. Jones is easily one of the best fighters in the world, but Pavlovich should not be underestimated. It remains to be seen if the Russian can overcome the reign of Jones, or if ‘Bones’ will be victorious once again.