Stipe Miocic (proper) and Jon Jones commerce punches within the UFC mild heavyweight championship battle throughout the UFC 309 occasion at Madison Sq. Backyard, New York, US on November 17, 2024. — AFP
Combined martial arts (MMA) fighter Jon Jones on Sunday pulled off a surprising knock-out of Stipe Miocic at UFC 309 on Saturday evening, folding his opponent with a spinning back-kick to the physique to cement his standing as arguably the best fighter of all time as he retained his heavyweight belt.
The 37-year-old American appeared absolutely in management all through the principle occasion at Madison Sq. Backyard, stopping his opponent from leveraging his boxing abilities and ending with a brutal heel to the physique that left Miocic on the canvas clutching his ribs.
“That body shot man, no matter how tough you are, the liver’s the liver,” a jubilant Jones mentioned within the cage following his victory.
After a cautious opening minute, former mild heavyweight champ Jones took Miocic down with a wonderfully timed journey and trapped him earlier than raining down elbows as he dominated the remainder of the spherical.
Eager to not get taken down once more, Miocic was hesitant as he tried to handle the space, however Jones was capable of measure strikes to the physique from his southpaw stance to maintain Miocic on the again foot.
Croatian-American Miocic loved some success early within the third spherical, however as soon as once more Jones was capable of work out the puzzle, connecting with a few punches late within the spherical earlier than his inventive rotating kick ended the bout.
With US President-elect Donald Trump within the viewers, Jones then imitated the president-elect’s campaign-trail dance as he celebrated.
Within the aftermath, 42-year-old former champion Miocic mentioned he was retiring from the game.
Within the co-main occasion, Brazil’s Charles Oliveira defeated Michael Chandler by unanimous resolution to place his identify again in competition for a crack on the light-weight title he was stripped of for lacking weight in Might 2022.
