The greatest fighter in MMA history shook off an 18-month layoff and recovery from a torn pectoral muscle to defend his heavyweight title inside the historic venue of New York’s Madison Square Garden on Saturday.
Jon Jones added yet another legendary name to his all-time great resume when he dominated former champion Stipe Miocic in the main event of UFC 309. In the co-headliner, Charles Oliveira took a massive step toward fighting once more for the lightweight title he once held by holding off a furious rally from Michael Chandler in their rematch.
As the dust begins to settle following another memorable trip for the world’s leading MMA promotion to “The World’s Most Famous Arena,” let’s take a closer look at what we learned from UFC 309.
1. All Jon Jones does is win, win, win … no matter what
Sixteen years into his incredible pro career, Jones extended his UFC record for victories in title bouts to an incredible 16 with the brutal and efficient victory over Miocic, the most decorated heavyweight champion the promotion has ever known. Considering this was only Jones’ second bout at heavyweight, his second appearance in nearly a five-year span and his first since recovering from surgery, the fact that there wasn’t anything close to cage rust or even compromising moments for Jones in the cage speaks to his greatness. Jones extinguished most of the danger Miocic brought with him to the Octagon by taking him down in Round 1 and savagely bombarding him with elbows as he closed the round with over 3:30 of dominant top position time. From there, Jones flashed a heavy jab and a variety of dangerous kicks that slowly wore Miocic down until a spinning back kick to the ribs put him away for good in Round 3. Yes, there were equal questions about Miocic entering the fight considering he was snapping a three-year layoff at age 42 and hadn’t won since 2020. But Jones put forth such a well-rounded and thorough performance that it was hard to tell whether Miocic looked old or whether he was simply overwhelmed from the start and forced to constantly play catch up against a more dynamic opponent. Jones’ skills appeared to have evolved and aged perfectly for the heavyweight division at 37, teasing a bright future to come. But the fact that Jones continues to find new ways to win at his age and this far into his G.O.A.T. career that was most impressive.
2. Jones appears to have put the topic of retirement behind him
This was arguably the greatest result that came from UFC 309 as Jones, during his postfight interview with Joe Rogan, announced he will not walk away on top and intimated that recent talks with UFC brass have him poised to continue fighting. That doesn’t mean that Jones officially addressed the elephant in the room, which is the fact that fans desperately want him to unify the title against interim champion Tom Aspinall, who was in attendance. In fact, Jones appeared to go out of his way (as did Rogan) to avoid bringing Aspinall up and the native of England wasn’t allowed to enter the cage for a faceoff. But considering UFC CEO Dana White said this week that Jones will be forced to defend against Aspinall should he want to secure the fight he covets much more — a superfight against light heavyweight king Alex Pereira — it isn’t difficult to take an optimistic approach about the possibility of Jones-Aspinall being next. Jones routinely contradicted himself throughout the fight’s build by making countless excuses as to why Aspinall didn’t deserve a fight against him. But some of that could be chalked up to the questions Jones had about himself coming in following such a long layoff and surgery. The fact that Jones dominated Miocic so thoroughly was likely enough to show Jones that he would be very competitive against Aspinall. It now just comes down to the UFC offering Jones the right number financially to make the unification bout a reality.
3. Stipe Miocic deserves nothing but our full respect
Routinely maligned by critics coming in due to his age and layoff, Miocic proved unable to turn back time against Jones and took systematic beatdown for his troubles. Yet, Miocic still took the time to face the music during his post-fight interview where the two-time champion humbly laid down his gloves signaling the end of his legendary 18-year career. Miocic, a full-time firefighter in suburban Ohio who told CBS Sports last week he would be back at work next week win or lose this weekend, exemplified the blue-collar spirit that fans respect to the core. He was never about fanfare or trash talk, and always took the responsibility of being a sportsman to heart. As one of the most honest champions UFC has ever promoted, Miocic will be remembered most for his durability, well-rounded skills and penchant for dominant finishes. A family man with strong morals and a great work ethic, Miocic’s everyman vibes will remain a huge part of his legacy, as will career victories over a who’s who of heavyweight legends including Daniel Cormier, Francis Ngannou, Junior dos Santos, Alistair Overeem, Fabricio Werdum, Andrei Arlovski and Mark Hunt.
4. At 35, Charles Oliveira is not done competing for world titles
Even though he needed to survive a furious rally in the final round from Chandler in their rematch, Oliveira’s dominance over the first four rounds should be enough to get him a shot at the winner of a Islam Makhachev-Arman Tsarukyan rematch for the lightweight title, which could come in January. BMF champion Max Holloway has also shown interest in defending his title against Oliveira in another high-profile rematch. But Oliveira’s desire seems to be running back his 2022 submission title loss to Makhachev. Either way, Oliveira proved against Chandler that his poise, speed, sharp striking and dominant grappling are still very much elite despite having lost two of three fights coming in (to Makhachev and a split decision to Tsarukyan in April). Oliveira also never panicked despite the fifth-round surge from Chandler, which included two slams in the final minute when Oliveira held on to the back of his standing opponent.
5. Bo Nickal stiff arms boos to pass a necessary test against Paul Craig
While it’s hard to look at a fight that ended with an angry crowd referring to the unbeaten Nickal as “overrated” and call it a huge success, the Penn State wrestling legend and three-time NCAA champion very much benefitted from what he learned in defeating Paul Craig. Not only did Nickal go the full 15 minutes without once shooting for a takedown, he also went the distance for the first time in seven pro fights. Nickal did well to win the striking battles against the larger Craig even if he still appears to be a work-in-progress on his feet. Craig’s lead leg was bruised and battered by Nickal’s kicks and the grappling standout’s striking defense was solid. He will just need to up his output in the future and continue to add variety to his overall striking game. Yet, had he taken the fight to the ground and submitted Craig early, it would’ve prevented him gaining the valuable in-fight experience he ultimately did.
