Jon Jones opts out of hand surgery, hopes to fight again in 2011
Posted on May 13, 2011, 04:14 PM by Joey Santosus
Light Heavyweight Champion Jon "Bones" Jones has decided not to go ahead with the hand surgery that forced him to withdraw from his first title defense against Rashad Evans.
Jones' agent, Malki Kawa, broke the news today via Twitter.
According to reports, Jones made the trip to Las Vegas with expectations of going under the knife on Thursday, however once meeting with hand specialist Dr. James Vahey on Wednesday, an evaluation revealed that the champ's injuries did not necessarily require surgery after all.
Instead, Jones' hand has been fitted with a cast, which is expected to be removed in a month's time.
"To be quite frank, Jon never wanted to have surgery," Kawa tweeted. "Every doctor he saw was a UFC referred doctor, whose advice all along was to have the procedure done."
Jones, who defeated Mauricio Rua to capture the title at UFC 128, was originally scheduled to face former friend and Jackson's MMA training partner Rashad Evans, but announced last month that he would be unable to compete due to the lingering injury.
"This is an injury that’s been recurring since I was a college wrestler, it doesn't affect my punching or grappling, but I am taking the time and the proper measures to correct this now, so that it doesn't happen again,” said Jones. “I look forward to getting back to training and to my first title defense."
"Bones" will be unable to train until the cast is removed, however Kawa did say that he is hoping to return to action as soon as possible, "We immediately met with Dana (White) and Lorenzo (Fertitta) the next day to get his next fight scheduled. He's not fighting Rashad. Rashad is still fighting Phil Davis."
While there is currently no exact date set for his return, Jones hopes make his first title defense before the end of 2011. If successful in his UFC 133 match-up with Phil Davis, Evans will likely retain his position as number one contender.
Photo: UFC fighter Jon Jones before his fight against Vladimir Matyushenko at UFC-Live: Jones vs. Matyushenko at the San Diego Sports Arena on August 1, 2010, in San Diego, California. Francis Specker
Jon Jones and Rashad Evans have since taken to Twitter to "discuss" matters (via @Jonnybones & @SugaRashadEvans)
Comments
Even tho Jones's manager said hes not gonna fight Evans, I would love it if UFC made Jones vs Evans again and have Davis fight Machida.....if not I'm guessing Jones will fight Rampage if he beats Hamill
They sound like two grade six girls writing notes about each other now. Grow up and be professional athletes
There are two things that I have never understood about this whole scenario.
1. Rashad gave Jon his blessing to take the fight with Shogun fully expecting him to win and retain the belt for a while.
I that was the case what was Rashad's plan for his future?
2. If they were such BFFs then why didn't he just call Jon when he made the comment about being willing to fight his friend.
Is this a for publicity or are these two really this bad a communicating?
ARGHHH MATEY, JON JONES BE A SCALAWAG!!!!
i dont see why they dont give the title shot back to evans? he lost his training camp to get the fight and then lost his opponent. now his opponent is back he should have the fight. i dont see what has changed?
not sure where rampage stands in the mix but i wouldnt be suprised to see shogun v machida rubber match sometime soon
This right here tells me Jones never wanted to fight Rashad. LOL... What the heck is wrong with fighters nowadays?
okay honestly if jones did all this on purpose man I don't know what to say that's some coward ass shit, and honestly it's not that hard to believe since he's always playing mind game
I agree Rampage would get the shot if he were to beat Hamil, Evans will probably get a rematch with Machida or he maybe even a bout with Shogun and that winner would get the next shot.
that is after Evans out points Davis.
Yeah, did anyone else notice how shaky and nervous Jon Jones' voice was after the title fight? When Rashad entered the cage and Rogan was asking about the next fight? I also feel the Jones doesn't really want to fight him. Or at least wanted to make sure he got more time off first. I used to really like Jones, but some of the ways he acted lately are pretty lame.
Hahahahaaaa I had to use my pirate voice to read it.
Well two things:
a) I think a part of Rashad didn't expect Jon to win. Of course he SAID on camera that he saw Jones taking the fight, but everyone from every camp always back their fighter. Hell I bet even Tito's camp still say he's going to win his next fight.
b) He expected the camp he helped build and establish to have his back. Yes he's been naive but I think that's why we've seen him react like a child - he's hurt. It's no excuse of course and as I've said before I think it's time for the two to shut up and move on.
I would be pissed if I was supposed to fight the champion for the title but he claimed to have surgery done instead of fight, then end up not getting it done....making me still fight someone else for no reason. Jones is a punk, hes a great fighter but he acts like a punk
Jon Jones is 23 what do you expect, HE STILL IS A PUNK, he doesnt act like it, he really is just a punk kid still, with fckin crazy mad fighting skills
Man I really can't stand Rashad so I would be really amused if Jones did that on purpose haha.
JJ is young, so yea hes not gunna m,ake all the right dec, But rashad needs to man up. Theres no point in bitching about it now when he coulda have just fought his teammate and got the shit over with. Rashad seems to be having the problems figuring out his career moves nt JJ.
he was going to ****ing fight him until jones pulled out of the fight... how is he supposed to fight the man when jones backed out?
So now that Rashad is scheduled to fight Phil Davis out of the nowhere he does not need surgery, ha, this guy is good he must be having advice by the Bush administration...
Can't wait to hear what Rashad has to say about that.
Jones definately did this to get under Rashads skin. I love it
Or cause he is scared of him... who knows...
The UFC should make Jones vs Evan again. Rashad will come out and say Jones was trying to duck him. Have Davis carry on improving his skills against top 10 or even top 5 light heavyweights.
I might be wrong but i don't think Davis is ready for Rashads skill level at this time... give him one or two more fights to sharpen his skills.
It certainly DOES look like Jones' team may have exaggerated the hand injury, however, why would they take the advice of one doctor outside the UFC over the advice of ALL the UFC docs they saw that said he should have the surgery? Seems strange. Anyway, I think in light of this that perhaps Rashad vs Jones should still happen and Davis should be given a new opponent, perhaps Machida or Matyushenko.
My fantasy goes very much the same except that in the end I'm fighting Ariany
I'd pull guard in that one : )
Bruce,
Ariany has been ruled out of any future fighting due to internal injuries she sustained whe she mounted me in our last match.
Now that sounds great! On top of that have them all on the same card :-D
These guys are clearly as bad as each other.
I highly doubt Jones is dodging Rashad...he's always going after the #1.
I don't see Rashad taking the belt from any of the top 3. Which in my opinion is Rua, Machida, as well as Jones.
It could be the fact that I think Evans is a tool. I'm surprised they make doors big enough for his massive ego.
wat a **** ****ing move by jones. First make sure you actually need surgery before you pull out of a fight
go Rashad!
War Rashad Evans!
I still see no reason why Jones vs Rashad can't be re-rescheduled. Davis is young and hungry and would probably accept a fight against someone like Lyoto. It'd be a breath of fresh air after all the cancelled fights we've had due to injury/illness
Are these guys 10 ? You're both Professional Athletics for god Sake ! Stop talking Smack like you still in the 1st Grade, well unless you can talk Smack like Chael Sonnel Does... Cause Sh!t he talks is actually Beautiful, he's talking sh!t like reading a poem. Anyway, just train hard, step up and fight like a real Pro-Athletic DO !
You are absolutely correct but on the other hand you can't blame Rashad for being frustrated. He gets the fight, Bones is out with hand-needs-surgery, Rashad is moved to another fight and then Bones is not going for surgery and trying to line up his next fight?!?!
Understandable that he is frustrated.
Well that's Rashad's punishment for ducking the whole weight class because he was "promised" the title shot. Shouldn't have waited around and maybe he would have separated himself from the pack with a win.
um dumbass he beat rampage which guaranteed him a title shot so yeah he earned it i dont blame him for not fighting he wanted his title shot
For god sakes rashad is sickening. Come on people, we all know that blabbering out s*it and making it look like jons lied about surgery without even knowing what happened. Ya rashad, i'm sure he...."lied"
or you know, maybe he talked it over with his coaches and decided this wasn't a good time to have a break from fighting?? he's newly crowed champ? he want's a title defense? he's at the stage in his career where everyone and your uncle is looking at him. And rashad thinks this wasn't a "choice" and rather that it was a "lie"
Let them fight next. It makes sense. That was the original plan and now Jones will be available sooner than later. I wouldn't be surprised if they got it set up.
As the matchmakers, sure they like to give the fans what they want...
But it makes more money for them if its LATER rather than SOONER. Make the people want to see it more and more, then make it happen. It will make huge sales that way.
Just like Rashad vs Rampage.
Well, I'm fairly sure that the UFC management would not have canceled his fight for the hand injury if the doc's didnt give it some form of legitimacy.
Considering the fact that Jones met with Dana and Fertita, theres no question that if it was as simple as Jones tryin to dodge the fight, management would not be having that shit.
But I'm getting the feeling that this is exactly what the matchmakers could hope for.
Rashad has not been in the octagon for a long time, and it works to give him a warm-up fight before putting him in a title fight.
Plus, as other have stated, things were all good between the fighters until the matchup was officiallly announced, then the "Rivalry" started. Now this hand injury scenario gets the trash talk going even further, which will lead to more build-up for the fight. It gives the hype some legitimacy that was questionable immediately after the Jones fight.
Management has to have a plan with all this. Just as the fans are unhappy with this turn of events, they would be unhappy too, UNLESS if they have a plan at work.
My guess? If they both win their next fight, we're looking at the coaches for the next TUF.
I hear what you're saying, but I think they can make a killing on this fight right now. If one of these guys loses before then it will lose a lot of it's value. I think the stage is set right now.
Drama Queens
Twitter wars are retarded.
How come Rashad is always beefing with somebody. First Rampage now Jones??? not to mention Rampage and Jones seem like easy going guys (if u can handle Rampage breaking ur balls).
How come Rashad is always beefing with somebody. First Rampage now Jones??? not to mention Rampage and Jones seem like easy going guys (if u can handle Rampage breaking ur balls).
Rashad is a really unlucky fellow.
After over a year lay off, I think Rashad is going to have his hands full with Davis. Jones would destroy him.
But they were scheduled to go at it, so why not? I say give the man what he wants. After Rashad loses, he can become the 205 gate keeper he's destined to be.
Or drop to 185 and go after Silva. I'd like to see THAT fight.
I believe the article stated that Jon Jones decided to go against the advice of the UFC Doctors and not have hand surgery. If a Doctor advises hand surgery after which an alternative is found, does this make the fighter a fraud or bad?
How is it that the same information can elicit so many different responses?
It was interesting to note that Rashad didn't deny the allegation of making racist statements. Then again, are the statements presented the only statements which have been made.
Personally, I would like to see Rashad accept or deny the statements were made. Racism is proven to have no place in healthy society. Either Jon Jones is lying or Rashad Evans is a racist.
A white fighter would not and shouldn't get away with making racist statements, so why should Rashad Evans?
Interesting post...
do you believe in the brock lesnar scam?