By: Gregoire Beda
Baaaahhhhh!! Baaaahhhhh!! The Goat Jon “Bones” Jones(28-1) is officially back after over a year layoff as he defeated heavyweight legend Stipe Miocic(20-5) by Knockout in the third round to retain the UFC Heavyweight Championship at the main event of UFC 309 in Madison Square Garden Saturday night.
This fight was Jones first title defense in the Heavyweight Division since defeating Ciryl Gane by submission (guillotine choke) at UFC 285 to capture the Heavyweight Championship.
Jones has now won his 16th career title fight.
The Main Event between Jones and Miocic was delayed a year due to Jones suffering torn pectoral muscle, however, Jones looked sharp as ever on Saturday night as he dominated every round vs. Miocic finishing him with a brutal spinning back to the side of Miocic that sent him to the campus of the octagon at 4:29 of the third round.
This fight was Miocic first fight since facing defeat against Francis Ngannou in 2021.
“He’s really, really good,” Jones said of Miocic. “He’s tough, durable. I hit him with some decent shots, and he kept coming forward. Everyone knows Stipe isn’t the biggest heavyweight. He comes lean, in great shape. I watched him have wars with Daniel Cormier and a lot of guys, and they were rock ’em, sock ’em. He doesn’t react much to getting hit in the face, so our plan was to get him in the body.”
Embed from Getty ImagesMiocic officially called it quits on Saturday during his post fight interview.
“I’m done,” Miocic said. “I’m hanging them up.”
“He’s one of the greatest heavyweights ever,” UFC CEO Dana White said to ESPN’s Mike Coppinger. “You can’t deny Stipe. Stipe is [No. 1 or No. 2] all time.”
After his spectacular performance, Jones has no intentions of retiring and will return to the drawing board with White. There has been rumors of a potential fight for Jones between UFC Light Heavyweight Champion Alex Pereira or Heavyweight Tim Aspinall.
“I’ve decided maybe I will not retire,” Jones said, adding that he will have conversations with White and chief business officer Hunter Campbell. “We’ll negotiate. If everything goes right, maybe we’ll give you guys what you want to see.”
