Jon ‘Bones’ Jones to Cover to EA Sports UFC Game

EA Sports and the UFC announced Monday that Jon “Bones” Jones, will be one of two UFC fighters to appear on the EA’s UFC cover. The second fighter will be selected by fans in the EA SPORTS UFC Cover Vote, in which fans can win a chance to experience UFC live.

Jones, 26, is the youngest champion in UFC history. The choice of Jones for the game is undoubtedly a vote of confidence for one of the sport’s biggest stars, who is also coming off one of his biggest victories.

Jones boasts a

host of signature wins, including dominant showings against Quinton “Rampage” Jackson, Mauricio Rua, Lyoto Machida, Vitor Belfort and Rashad Evans. But none were as special to him as his last bout against Alexander Gustafsson on Sept. 21. Few believe the match, which busted his lip and closed one of his eyes, won’t win UFC’s Fight of The Year.

Physically and emotionally spent, Jones won in five rounds saying, “I’ve been asking for a dog fight for a long time, and I finally got that dog fight I’ve been asking for.”

“He was just a

tough fighter,” Jones said later. “I spent a lot of time on my boxing in this camp. Maybe that wasn’t the best idea. I should have been like water and used more versatility. But hat’s off to Alexander. That was by far my toughest fight, and I really got to exercise my warrior spirit tonight. That makes me happier than getting the win.”

News regarding the cover comes at a high point in Jones’s young career.

“It’s a huge honor to be selected as one of the fighters to appear on the cover of

EA SPORTS UFC,” said Jones. “I am a big fan of EA SPORTS and appearing on a cover is one of those things you dream about as a kid. I’ll definitely be following the Cover Vote to see which fighter the fans choose to join me as the face of the game.”

The 16 fighters in the running to be featured on the cover with Jones are Demetrious Johnson, Dominick Cruz, Urijah Faber, Jose Aldo, Benson Henderson, Georges St-Pierre, Johny Hendricks, Chris Weidman, Junior dos Santos, Chael Sonnen, Michael Bisping, Anthony Pettis, Daniel Cormier, Ronda Rousey, Miesha Tate and Gustafsson.

“It’s going to be exciting to see these 16 fighters square off outside of the Octagon in a fan vote to see who is ultimately selected for the EA SPORTS UFC cover,” said Tracey Bleczinski, UFC Senior Vice President of Consumer Products. “The UFC continues to engage fans in new and innovative ways. There will be some great conversations and debates amongst UFC fans across social media as they determine the second fighter.”

An announcement about the second fighter will be made at UFC 168 in Las Vegas.