Jon Jones can now officially say he has defended a title in two different divisions.
Jones retained his UFC Heavyweight Championship for the first time on Saturday night, turning back two-time champ Stipe Miocic with a third-round stoppage.
The win for Jones headlined UFC 309, the promotion’s latest annual pay-per-view trip to Madison Square Garden in New York City, New York, USA.
Jones was one step ahead of a slow and tired Miocic for practically the entire time their fight took place on Saturday night.
The incumbent champ opened with a strong first round, taking Miocic down roughly a minute into the round and using a controlling position on the mat to unload with tons of ground and pound strikes.
The title fight remained on the feet in the rounds that followed, with Jones leading the dance against a fatigued Miocic for the next 10 minutes. While Miocic was able to land with his own strikes at times, he failed to put together anything as significant as the hard-hitting punches and kicks from Jones.
Miocic focused on strictly boxing, a more rigid gameplan in comparison to the mix of punches to the head and kicks targeting the body which Jones threw stand-up range. Along with landing the harder, more impactful blows, Jones out-scored Miocic in all three rounds of the fight, per UFC statistics.
Eventually, it was a flashy spinning back kick to the liver of Miocic which dropped him late in the third round, leading to a fight-ending ground and pound sequence.
The win for Jones on Saturday was a return to action, appearing in the cage for just the second time since he vacated his light heavyweight title in 2020 to pursue a career at the 265-pound limit.
After a highly decorated career at light heavyweight – one which has made him considered among the greatest of all time by many – Jones officially debuted at heavyweight in March 2023 to capture the division’s vacant belt with a first-round stoppage over Ciryl Gane.
Jones was originally planned to return later that year against Miocic, the only two-time champion in UFC heavyweight history. However, their 2023 Madison Square Garden matchup never came to fruition due to Jones suffering a torn pec during a training camp.
Now that a year has passed and Jones has finally moved on from his bout against Miocic, many wonder what he could do next. Earlier in the week he brushed off the calls for him to unify the division’s belts in a fight against interim champ Tom Aspinall, instead expressing interest in a bout against light heavyweight king Alex Pereira.
Jones remained vague about his next move after a win on Saturday but reassured fans he has yet to retire.
“I decided that maybe I will not retire,” he said. “We have some negotiating to do. And if everything goes right, maybe we’ll give you guys what you want to see.”
42-year-old Miocic confirmed after the fight that he was done competing in MMA. “I’m done. I’m hanging ’em up. I’m retiring,” Miocic, a man of few words, said in his post-fight interview.
Miocic was seen as a massive underdog this weekend, returning for the first time since his second heavyweight title reign came to an end in 2021 due to a brutal knockout by now-PFL talent Francis Ngannou.
Miocic leaves the sport with the longest combined time as heavyweight champion in UFC history, holding the belt for 1,372 days. He was a dominating figure in the division throughout the mid-to-late 2010s, getting past legends like Fabricio Werdum, Alistair Overeem, and having a notable three-fight rivalry against UFC Hall of Famer Daniel Cormier.
My full report on UFC 309, including a rundown of all 12 bouts on the show, can be read at POSTWrestling.com.
Here are the quick results:
Main Card (10:00PM EST) (PPV)
Bout 12: Jon Jones def. Stipe Miocic via TKO, Strikes (RD 3, 4:29) (UFC Heavyweight Championship)
Bout 11: Charles Oliviera def. Michael Chandler via Decision, Unanimous
Bout 10: Bo Nickal def. Paul Craig via Decision, Unanimous
Bout 9: Viviane Araujo def. Karine Silva via Decision, Unanimous
Bout 8: Mauricio Ruffy def. James Llontop via Decision, Unanimous
Preliminary Card (8:00PM EST) (ESPNews / ESPN+)
Bout 7: Marcus McGhee def. Jonathan Martinez via Decision, Unanimous
Bout 6: Jim Miller def. Damon Jackson via Submission, Guillotine Choke (RD 1, 2:44)
Bout 5: David Onama def. Roberto Romero via Decision, Unanimous
Bout 4: Marcin Tybura def. Jhonata Diniz via TKO, Doctor Stoppage (RD 2, 5:00)
Early Prelims (6:00PM EST) (ESPN+ / UFC Fight Pass)
Bout 3: Ramiz Brahimaj def. Mickey Gall via TKO, Strikes (RD 1, 2:55)
Bout 2: Oban Elliott def. Bassil Hafez via TKO, Strikes (RD 3, 0:40)
Bout 1: Eduarda Moura def. Veronica Hardy via Decision, Unanimous
Knockdown News 