A pair of decorated veterans will return for a high-profile heavyweight fight later this year.
Jon Jones will defend his UFC Heavyweight Championship against Stipe Miocic at UFC 309 on November 16th from Madison Square Garden in New York City, New York, USA, per an announcement made by the promotion on Saturday night.
The upcoming fight sees Jones put a title on the line for the first time since joining the heavyweight roster.
37-year-old Jones became the first fighter to capture UFC’s heavyweight title since the departure of Francis Ngannou last year, submitting Ciryl Gane in March 2023 to capture the vacant belt. The win kicked off his reign in the heavyweight class, moving up a division three years after relinquishing his belt at light heavyweight.
Miocic is one of the more successful heavyweight champions in UFC history, having defended the belt four times over the course of two title reigns. However, he will be returning after the longest layoff of his career when he fights in two months, competing for the first time since Ngannou ended his second run as champ with a brutal knockout back in 2021.
UFC originally intended to book Jones and Miocic for the main event of their Madison Square Garden card in 2023, although plans changed after Jones suffered a torn pec in his training camp.
The promotion’s move to once again book a fight between Jones and Miocic means that the heavyweight division likely won’t be able to unify its titles until 2025. An interim title was created in the absence of Jones, with England’s Tom Aspinall capturing the belt last fall in a quick performance against Sergei Pavlovich. He has already defended his title once, beating Curtis Blaydes in June at UFC 304.
Along with the announcement of a fight between Jones and Miocic, UFC also confirmed a co-main event clash between the returning Michael Chandler and former champ Charles Oliveira.
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