The Jon Jones comeback has begun.
The UFC heavyweight champion announced late Tuesday night that he’s back to training for the first time since having surgery on a torn pectoral muscle suffered last October.
Jones made the news known with a post on his Instagram, posing with his teammates and long-time coaches Greg Jackson and Brandon Gibson.
“First day back in the gym since my injury, felt amazing. And so it began,” Jones wrote.
Jones tore his pectoral muscle ahead of a scheduled title defense against former champion Stipe Miocic. The fight was supposed to headline UFC 295, but the injury forced Jones to withdraw. Shortly after the withdrawal, Jones had surgery and has been recovering ever since.
An interim title fight was put in place at UFC 295, in which Tom Aspinall knocked out Sergei Pavlovich. Despite the interim coronation, Jones is expected to return late summer or early fall to defend his title against Miocic and not Aspinall, despite Aspinall’s calls for a unification.