Fight Coverage
Mason Jones Wants Redemption In London
After His First UFC Stint Came to a Close Following A Defeat in London Four Years Ago, Mason Jones Is Back In The English Capital And Ready To Put Things Right
Mason Jones is back on British soil and ready to continue the second chapter in his rollercoaster UFC career.
Jones is set for action at UFC Fight Night: Evloev vs Murphy, where he’ll return to the arena that marked the end of his first stint with the UFC. That came back in July 2022, where Jones lost a unanimous decision to L’udovit Klein in a performance that clearly still stings him today.
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“So, the last time I fought in London, for those who didn’t know, it was horrific,” he admitted. “I fought terrible. It was just one of those performances which was horrific, and it ended. The end. It was the last fight of my contract for what was something that didn’t go anywhere near to plan.”
Jones had arrived in the UFC as a two-division Cage Warriors champion, but wasn’t able to carry that same form onto the world stage.
His UFC debut saw him edged out on the scorecards in a competitive fight with Mike Davis, then an accidental eye poke against Alan Patrick saw his second appearance end in a no contest in a fight he was winning handily. He bounced back with a hard-earned win over short-notice opponent David Onama, but then lost out to Klein at The O2 in the summer of 2022.
That fight was the last on his first UFC contract, and rather than signing another deal with the promotion, Jones proactively took the decision to take some time away from the Octagon to reset and rebuild.
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“I decided, with along with my coaches, that I needed to take a step back, and I needed to sort of re-jig a lot of things and really work on myself if I wanted to make it in the sport, because another big loss, and that would have probably been the end of my career. There was nothing that I could have done by staying in the UFC that would have really restarted it.
“So, we took a break. We chose to leave the UFC instead of re-signing. Then we had loads of offers for different things; the Ultimate Fighter was mentioned, then there was something else mentioned, and there's different organizations abroad mentioned. And I started working on everything at home. I spent six months working on just perfecting what I did. And then we went back to Cage Warriors.”
That move proved to be exactly what Jones needed. In the space of 12 months, he racked up four consecutive wins, three via knockout, as he rediscovered his fighting mojo again. Eventually, the chance to return to the UFC presented itself and, in his words, “it’s been a barn burner ever since.”
His UFC return saw him out battle Jeremy Stephens in a slugfest in Des Moines, then he recovered from a first-round knockdown to finish Bolaji Oki in the second round in Paris in a fight that saw him bank a Performance of the Night bonus.
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Now Jones will take on undefeated opposition in the form of France’s Axel Sola, a former amateur standout who has transitioned seamlessly to the professional ranks and heads into his second UFC bout with an 11-0-1 record.
“He is a talent, and I am a talent, and they want to know which one of us is the one they're going to push,” said Jones.
“He’s very tricky. He's got a very awkward style. He's very long, he's very explosive, and he's just tricky everywhere. It's hard dealing with range with him. And then you get in and he likes to do his work, and then run. He's very L’udovit Klein-esque.”
It’s a challenge Jones is ready to face with his trademark aggression as he bids to continue his winning run since returning to the UFC.
Victory over Klein would extend Jones’ UFC win streak to three, and his overall win streak to seven. And Saturday night will see the Welshman, who is seemingly never in a boring fight, fight under the UFC’s newly increased bonus regime for the first time, where the possibility of a six-figure bonus hangs tantalizingly in front of him. But, despite the lure of a life-changing sum of money being up for grabs, he’s not focused on the monetary reward. He’s just focused on the win, by any means necessary.
“My last fight was a six-figure fight,” he said. “These things don't scare me. They don't bother me. I had the bonus the last one, which pushed me over (to six figures). And to be fair, it doesn't add any pressure. I’ll happily go out there, and I'll happily point (fight) Axel over three fives (to) secure this win. But again, I don’t go backwards. I have no intention of taking him down and holding him down. I have the intentions of going out there and taking his chin off.
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“So for me, exciting fights are just part and parcel (of what I do). I never look for a bonus. All I do is look to secure that win. I'll happily finish him – I’m always looking for that finish. But if this goes three fives and I end up beating him over every round, that's more than good enough for me.”
While a big bonus would certainly be welcome for Jones, who is in the middle of trying to buy a house, Saturday night is all about completing the turnaround, as he bids to secure victory in London to bury the bad memories of his last fight at The O2, where it looked like his UFC story was close to being over.
“This, for me, is gonna be my London redemption arc,” he stated. “For me, this is very significant, because after London last time, people told me to quit, and I refused. I doubled down and invested more in myself, dealt with a lot of things, and come out stronger.
“So for me, this is my redemption arc. And unfortunately, Axel Sola is just a character in my story.”
UFC Fight Night: Evloev vs Murphy took place live from The O2 in London, England On March 21, 2026. See the final Prelim & Main Card Results, Official Scorecards and Who Won Bonuses - and relive the action on UFC FIGHT PASS!