The main event of UFC 309 promises a fight for the ages as two of the greatest champions in UFC history go toe to toe in a battle for heavyweight supremacy and the biggest prize in MMA, the undisputed UFC heavyweight championship of the world.
In the blue corner, two-time former heavyweight champion Stipe Miocic, an Ohio firefighter and paramedic who became the greatest heavyweight champion in UFC history. In the red corner is the reigning, defending UFC heavyweight champion Jon Jones, a fighter who has already cemented his status as pound-for-pound, the best fighter ever to set foot in the UFC Octagon. He’s now looking to add to his legacy by defeating the UFC’s most successful heavyweight champion ever.
MORE: UFC 309 fight card – Jones vs. Miocic, Chandler vs. Oliveira 2 headline Madison Square Garden event
Jon Jones: The UFC’s greatest-ever world champion
At the age of 37, Jones has already “completed” MMA. In 29 career fights, his lone loss came via a contentious disqualification via a rule that has since been wiped from the Unified Rules of MMA, and many consider him to be effectively unbeaten. Considering the list of his past opponents, that’s some feat.
Jones’ run in the UFC light heavyweight division may never be topped. Between August 2008 and February 2020, he faced a who’s who of the light heavyweight division, defeating the likes of Stephan Bonnar, Ryan Bader, Mauricio “Shogun” Rua, Quinton “Rampage” Jackson, Lyoto Machida, Rashad Evans, Vitor Belfort, Chael Sonnen, Alexander Gustafsson, Glover Teixeira and Daniel Cormier.
Jones’ resume as a professional fighter stands up against any fighter of the modern era and has led many, including UFC president and CEO Dana White, to call him the sport’s GOAT (Greatest Of All Time). But, not content with his dominance of one weight class, Jones announced his move up to heavyweight in 2020 and demolished top contender Ciryl Gane in just 124 seconds to capture the vacant heavyweight title at UFC 285 in March 2023.
That win meant Jones became a two-division UFC champion to join his long list of other accolades as he extended his record for the longest undefeated streak in UFC history to 19 fights. He plans to add another achievement to his long line of successes by defeating Miocic, but the former heavyweight champion has other plans.
Stipe Miocic: The best UFC heavyweight champion of all time
The UFC heavyweight title was statistically the toughest UFC title to keep hold of, with newly-crowned champions routinely struggling to register more than one title defense before eventually losing the belt to the next challenger to step up. That all changed when Miocic rose to the top of the division.
Miocic knocked out then-champion Fabricio Werdum in the first round at UFC 198 in Curitiba, Brazil, to capture the undisputed title back in May 2016, then stopped Dutch ace Alistair Overeem in the first round four months later at UFC 198 in his native Cleveland, Ohio to register his first defense of the title.
Miocic then continued his form with another first-round stoppage as he TKO’d former champion Junior dos Santos at UFC 211 in Dallas, Texas, and then faced surging contender and terrifying knockout artist Francis Ngannou at UFC 220 in Boston in January 2018.
Many believed that Ngannou’s power would be Miocic’s undoing. But in a one-sided contest, Miocic dominated Ngannou with his wrestling to claim a shutout win on the scorecards and set a record for the most consecutive heavyweight title defenses with three.
Miocic’s title run came to an end in Las Vegas when Cormier knocked him out at UFC 226. But, in one of the best performances of his career, Miocic came storming back in the rematch 13 months later to stop Cormier with strikes in the fourth round at UFC 241 in Anaheim, California.
With one win apiece, a trilogy fight was a must, and the pair faced off in the rubber match at UFC 252 in Las Vegas in August 2020. This time, the pair knew each other well enough to avoid being stopped, and they battled to the scorecards, with Miocic taking the win and the trilogy, with scores of 49-46, 49-46, 48-47.
With Miocic’s fourth championship defense in the history books, a rematch with a resurgent and much-improved Ngannou was ordered, and Miocic was knocked out in the second round at UFC 260 in March 2021. Some expected Miocic to retire after that defeat, but he vowed to continue.
Now, following Jones’ rise to the top of the heavyweight division, Miocic finds himself with the chance to become the UFC’s first-ever three-time heavyweight champion and the first man to legitimately defeat Jones inside the Octagon.
UFC 309: Full fight card
Main card
- Jon Jones vs. Stipe Miocic – for undisputed heavyweight title
- Charles Oliveira vs. Michael Chandler – lightweight
- Viviane Araujo vs. Karine Silva – women’s flyweight
- Bo Nickal vs. Paul Craig – middleweight
- Chris Weidman vs. Eryk Anders – middleweight
Preliminary card
- Mauricio Ruffy vs. James Llontop – lightweight
- Marcin Tybura vs. Jhonata Diniz – heavyweight
- Nikita Krylov vs. Azamat Murzakanov – light heavyweight
- Jonathan Martinez vs. Marcus McGhee – bantamweight
Early prelims
- Jim Miller vs. Damon Jackson – lightweight
- David Onama vs. Lucas Almeida – featherweight
- Mickey Gall vs. Ramiz Brahimaj – welterweight
- Bassil Hafez vs. Oban Elliott – welterweight
- Veronica Hardy vs. Eduarda Moura – women’s flyweight
Read the full article here