Jon Jones, one of the greatest fighters of the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC), returned to the octagon in 2023 to be perhaps the most notable story of mixed martial arts (MMA) of the year. He had stepped away in part because of a disagreement with UFC president and CEO Dana White over how much he would be paid, seeking more to fight as a heavyweight than as a light heavyweight.
The 36-year-old grappler, born and raised in Rochester, N.Y., and the brother of one-time NFL players Arthur and Chandler Jones, is the former light heavyweight champion. But when Jones finally agreed to challenge for the UFC heavyweight championship (between 206 and 265 lbs.), moving up from his previous weight class of 186 to 205 pounds (light heavyweight) after a 37-month layoff, there was a rightful curiosity and doubt about whether he was too old and too far removed from competition.
Could he carry enough weight to battle much heavier opponents? Once the contest started on March 4 in Las Vegas, Jones didn’t wait long to answer those questions.
After a low blow stopped the action in the opening seconds, Jones (27-1) took heavyweight contender Ciryl Gane to the ground and earned a submission victory and the UFC heavyweight championship at the 2:05 mark of the opening round.
Jones was scheduled to make his long-awaited Madison Square Garden debut at UFC 295 on November 11, but suffered a pectoral injury while training to face former two-time UFC heavyweight champion Stipe Miocic. UFC fans are hoping that matchup between two legends will be rescheduled.
Aljamain Sterling had two matches in a three-and-a-half month span, successfully defending his UFC bantamweight championship by split decision against former two-division champion Henry Cejudo at the Prudential Center in Newark, N.J., at UFC 288 on May 6. Sterling wasn’t as successful at UFC 292 in Boston on August 19: He was knocked out by current UFC bantamweight champion Sean O’Malley.
It was an up-and-down year for two-time UFC middleweight champion Israel Adesanya. He regained the middleweight title he lost in November 2022 at Madison Square Garden at UFC 287 in Miami on April 8, but lost the title for the second time in three matches on September 10 at UFC 293 in Sydney, Australia, to Sean Strickland. Strickland who will make his first title defense next month against Dricus du Plessis at UFC 297.
Other highlights of 2023 included Leon Edwards defending his UFC welterweight championship against Colby Covington at UFC 296 in Las Vegas earlier this month. One of the greatest women’s champions in MMA history, Amanda Nunes, retired after defending her UFC women’s bantamweight title against Irene Aldana at UFC 289 in Vancouver in June,
In other MMA news, the Professional Fighters League (PFL) MMA acquired Bellator MMA in November, which now makes ESPN the biggest home of MMA in the U.S. Bellator contests previously aired under the Showtime Sports banner, which ended production of all events in December 2023.
