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Jon Jones Teases Next Fight After UFC 309 Masterclass, Stipe Miocic Retires

The two UFC greats fought for Jones' heavyweight title on Saturday night.

Drew Beaupre

(Zuffa LLC)

A year after they were first scheduled to fight, Jon Jones and Stipe Miocic finally met in the Octagon as the main event of UFC 309 at Madison Square Garden.

Jones Dismantles Miocic At UFC 309

After a more than three-year layoff that saw Jones relinquish his light heavyweight title in order to move up a division, Jones finally made his heavyweight debut at UFC 285 last year and submitted Ciryl Gane to claim the UFC's vacant heavyweight belt.

UFC 309 Live Results & Highlights – Jon Jones vs. Stipe Miocic

"Bones" was then scheduled to defend his new belt for the first time against Miocic at UFC 295, but after a pec injury forced Jones off the card Tom Aspinall defeated Sergei Pavlovich in the night's co-main event to claim a newly-created interim title.

UFC CEO Dana White remained committed to rebooking the Jones vs. Miocic fight even with fans and Aspinall himself calling for a title unification bout, and year on from UFC 295 the two men finally entered the Octagon in the headlining bout for UFC 309.

"Bones" was a massive pre-fight favorite to defend his belt in Miocic's first Octagon outing since 2021, and after the two-time champion started finding some success on the feet it encouraged Jones to bring things to the mat and dominate the round with some brutal elbows from top position.

The 37-year-old was content to trade strikes for the entirety of the second round and found particular success with his body shots, and in the third frame he rocked an increasingly-hesitant Miocic with a big punch before landing a perfect spinning back kick to the body that set up a finish.

UFC 309 Winner Reminds Joe Rogan of Prime Conor McGregor

Jones confirmed to Joe Rogan during his post-fight interview that he wouldn't be retiring, but he was noncommittal on whether or not he'd meet interim champ Aspinall next or pursue a super fight with UFC Light Heavyweight Champion Alex Pereira..

Jones' dominant showing was the only finish on a UFC 309 main card that also saw Charles Oliveira improve to 2-0 against Michael Chandler and undefeated prospect Bo Nickal best Paul Craig, and in his own post-fight interview after the main event two-time champion Miocic also confirmed that he was officially retiring from fighting.

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Drew Beaupre
DREW BEAUPRE

Drew is an MMA writer that regularly watches regional events in addition to major promotions such as the UFC, PFL, Bellator, and ONE Championship. He joined MMA Knockout when it was founded in 2023.

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