UFC 309 takeaways: Jones king of the heavyweights; McGregor-Chandler still teases

A 12-fight card at UFC 309 in New York City was headlined by a heavyweight clash between current champion Jon Jones and former champion Stipe Miocic. Jones and Charles Oliveira emerged as big winners from the night, but what do their victories mean for the bigger picture in the sport? Also of note, did Michael Chandler salvage a fight with Conor McGregor in the fifth round, even in a loss? To make sense of it all, Mike Coppinger, Jeff Wagenheim and Brett Okamoto offer their final takeaways on a fun night of fights in Madison Square Garden.

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NEW YORK — Jon Jones and Stipe Miocic were set to fight last November at Madison Square Garden before the fight was postponed. Once Jones was recovered from his surgery to repair a torn pectoral tendon, UFC president Dana White rescheduled the heavyweight championship fight to headline the annual November show in Madison Square Garden.

Jones left no doubt once again that he’s the greatest MMA fighter of all time with a third-round TKO of Miocic in the first defense of his UFC heavyweight championship. The 37-year-old bloodied Miocic, busted up his right eye and then finished him off with a beautiful spinning back kick to the body.

After his first fight in 20 months, Jones quickly extinguished any retirement talk and said he would meet with White and UFC chief business officer Hunter Campbell to plan his next fight. Jones has tossed around the idea of a superfight against light heavyweight champion Alex Pereira, but White said in the lead-up that he must first face interim heavyweight champion Tom Aspinall, who was cageside.

“Jon’s already the best ever,” White said to ESPN on Friday during an extended interview. “I don’t think anybody debates that. He moved up to f—ing heavyweight and fought the No. 1 guy in the world. Ciryl Gane doesn’t go for that armbar in the third round, he wins that fight against f- – -ing Francis [Ngannou].

“And the fight was that tight. [Jones] buzz saws right through him when he moved up. He’s annihilated all the greats, the all-time greats, at light heavyweight. … He hasn’t f—ing lost a fight in his life; 16 f—ing years. …I don’t know if anybody will ever do that again.”

That Jones has reached this lofty status was far from a formality despite his tremendous athletic gifts. He’s been stripped of his championship twice as he’s dealt with multiple performance-enhancing drug bans and run-ins with the law.

But now, after a lengthy run as light heavyweight champion and two impressive wins in heavyweight title fights, Jones is primed to finish his career on a high note with Aspinall and perhaps Pereira waiting in the wings next year.

“It’s so hard to stay on top of this game,” said White. ” … It’s not like this guy was a f- – -ing square, hardcore athlete. He’s a freak of f—ing nature and he’s a dark dude; Jon Jones is a scary motherf—er.

Miocic wasn’t the latest to feel the impact of those elbows, punches and kicks. He didn’t put up much of a fight, and he wasn’t expected to by oddsmakers, who installed him as a 5-1 underdog. It’s no surprise given his age (42) and inactivity level (first fight since March 2021, when Ngannou avenged a previous loss with a KO victory to win the heavyweight title). But in his prime, Miocic was among the best.

Now a full-time firefighter, Miocic is finished fighting for good.

“I’m done,” Miocic said in his post-fight interview. “I’m hanging ’em up. I’m retiring. Thank god.”

“He’s one of the greatest heavyweights ever,” White said. “If you look outside the organization, people always make the argument, Fedor [Emelianenko] and … many others would say him. And you can’t deny Stipe is one or two all-time.

“Stipe took so much time off. Listen, this is a brutal business, man. Everybody’s got f—ing amnesia real quick when you don’t stay active, right?”

The heavyweight division that once belonged to Miocic — with wins over Ngannou, Daniel Cormier and Junior dos Santos — is now ruled by Jones. The question isn’t how much success Jones will find at heavyweight, but how much longer he’ll do it. — Coppinger

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Miocic’s sunset fight a familiar final act

Wagenheim: It would have surprised no one if, by the end of Saturday night, the Octagon inside Madison Square Garden was littered with gloves. That’s the traditional postfight ritual for a fighter who has decided that the bout just completed is the final one of his or her career. Several stars were candidates to call it quits at UFC 309.

As things turned out, only two fighters did so, and one was no surprise. Stipe Miocic, the former UFC heavyweight champion, returned from an absence of three-and-a-half-year years at age 42 and looked old and slow in a lackluster TKO loss to reigning champ Jon Jones. Afterward, Miocic said, “I’m done, I’m hanging them up, I’m retiring.”

Wise decision. Miocic should never have come back. He is the most accomplished heavyweight in UFC history, with a record three consecutive title defenses. But if this night’s performance is what some fans will remember him by, he did his legacy a disservice. But that’s what aging fighters do all too often.

There was some speculation that Jones would retire as well, but he said he will keep fighting. He did not say if he will agree to face interim champ Tom Aspinall, his biggest threat, or if he will continue insisting on a lucrative superfight with light heavyweight titlist Alex Pereira.

Another fighter for whom retirement seemed a possibility was Chris Weidman, but his fight was canceled after his opponent, Eryk Anders, fell ill hours before their fight. That robbed Weidman of the opportunity to compete not far from his Long Island hometown — and possibly get a hero’s sendoff.

The evening’s other retirement came immediately after 41-year-old Jim Miller’s prelim bout — only it was his opponent, 36-year-old Damon Jackson, who put his gloves at center cage after Miller submitted him in the first round. It was Miller’s UFC-record 27th victory in his UFC-record 45th fight in the Octagon, and he told the crowd, “There’s still tread left on the tire. This was 45. Let’s see if I can make 50.” He’s not going anywhere, and that was good to hear. Unlike Miocic, Miller still can deliver thrills inside the Octagon.

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If McGregor doesn’t come back now, he is truly never coming back

Okamoto: Honestly, I’m already very skeptical of Conor McGregor ever fighting again. I don’t see what the point would be in it. He does not seem to be living a lifestyle that’s conducive to a return, and he didn’t ever seem completely motivated by a fight against Michael Chandler during the build-up of a scheduled bout. He certainly doesn’t need the money, and a return against Chandler wouldn’t have a major impact on his legacy, win or lose. However, I do believe he still wants to fight, or at least, he wants to identify as a fighter again, and he likes the attention. I can’t say definitively he still won’t come back.

Here’s the deal: If McGregor doesn’t come back now, against this opponent, he truly is done. Game over. Again, I already think it’s a wrap, but the door is open, just a crack. This fight against Charles Oliveira proved once again that Chandler is the perfect opponent for him to come back to. One could easily make the argument that Chandler has become an entertainer first, a fighter second. Three years ago, he was close to winning a title against Oliveira. On Saturday, he lost rather handily, and he didn’t seem too beat up about it.

Chandler’s here to give McGregor the kind of fight he wants. A slugfest. He’s coming in guns blazing, and you can’t help but think about McGregor’s old saying, “Precision beats power, timing beats speed.” Chandler’s stock is high and fans love to watch him fight. He’ll give McGregor the kind of fight he wants and he’s beatable. It’s the perfect scenario to come back to. If McGregor passes on it again, he ain’t ever coming back.