Jon Jones vs Stipe Miocic – UFC 309: MMA heavyweight championship fight
Jones sends Miocic into retirement with a brutal back kick to the ribs on UFC 309 fight night in New York.
Jon Jones has cemented his position as arguably the greatest mixed martial arts (MMA) fighter of all time by pulling off a stunning knockout of Stipe Miocic to retain his heavyweight belt at the UFC 309 fight night.
The 37-year-old American looked fully in control throughout the main event at Madison Square Garden on Saturday, preventing his opponent from leveraging his boxing skills and finishing with a brutal heel to the body that left Miocic on the canvas clutching his ribs.
“That body shot man, no matter how tough you are, the liver’s the liver,” a jubilant Jones said in the cage following his victory.
In the aftermath, 42-year-old former champion Miocic said he was retiring from the sport.
“I’m done,” Miocic said. “I’m hanging ’em up.”
Widely considered the best fighter in the world, Jones (28 wins, 1 loss, 1 no contest) was the aggressor from the start and took Miocic down with a superbly timed trip and trapped him before raining down elbows as he dominated the rest of the round.
Keen not to get taken down again, Miocic was hesitant as he tried to manage the distance, but Jones was able to measure strikes to the body from his southpaw stance to keep Miocic on the back foot.
Croatian-American Miocic enjoyed some success early in the third round, but once again Jones was able to work out the puzzle, connecting with a couple of punches late in the round before his creative rotating kick ended the bout.
British heavyweight Tom Aspinall looms as the next challenger for Jones. Aspinall won a fight for the interim heavyweight title in November 2023.
UFC CEO Dana White had promised Aspinall, who chatted with Arizona Cardinals QB Kyler Murray, would challenge the winner of the main event in a unification bout.
