Jon Jones cemented his status as the greatest mixed martial artist of all time by finishing perhaps the greatest heavyweight of all time, knocking out Stipe Miocic in the third round with a spinning back kick to the body to retain his belt Saturday night in the main event at UFC 309 at Madison Square Garden.
The stoppage came 4 minutes, 29 seconds.
The question remains: What’s next and who’s next for Jones, who teased retirement leading up to Saturday night’s fight but also indicated a desire to move back down to light heavyweight for a potential fight with Alex Pereira?
UFC president Dana White said this week that Jones’ only option if he continues his UFC career is a unification fight with interim heavyweight champion Tom Aspinall.
Jones (28-1), who beat Ciryl Gane at UFC 285 to claim the title, was putting his belt on the line for the first time. Saturday’s fight was just his second as a heavyweight.
Miocic (20-5) returned to action after more than three years away from the Octagon. In his previous fight, he lost his title to Francis Ngannou in March 2021.
Jones made a big opening statement in Round 1. After an early feeling-out period, Jones scored a takedown about two minutes in and quickly did damage with big elbows and punches on the ground. Miocic tried to work his way back to his feet, but Jones stayed in top control and continued to hurt Miocic with strikes. The round ended with Jones raining big elbows, opening up a cut under Miocic’s right eye.
Jones went to work on Miocic’s body and legs in Round 2, mixing in hard kicks and a big knee from the clinch. Miocic tried to rush in with a flurry of punches, but struggled to close the gap as Jones danced out of harm’s way.
Jones popped Miocic with two stiff jabs to start the third round and hurt Miocic with a big right hand, catching him flush on the chin and forcing him to retreat backward. Miocic continued to try to close the distance, pressing forward with punches.
The finish came toward the end of the round, with Jones landing a spinning back kick to the body that crumbled Miocic to the ground. Jones pounced with a few strikes before the referee jumped in to stop the fight.
