Jon Jones Retires Stipe Miocic at UFC 309, but Will He Follow Him?
Jon Jones had to wait a year to fight Stipe Miocic due to injury. But Jones, 37, seemed as ageless as ever. Jones defended his UFC heavyweight championship at UFC 309 in spectacular fashion.
Late in the third round, Jones uncorked a spinning back kick that landed in the former champion’s midsection. Miocic immediately doubled over on the canvas, and the fight was waived off shortly after. While MMAfighting latest news shows that Miocic, 42, immediately announced his retirement after the fight, most of the focus was on what Jones would do next.
Jones has little to prove to anyone. He is the long-reigning light heavyweight champion in UFC history and has now defended the heavyweight belt. But there has been a real uproar about Jones fighting Miocic in the first place.
Miocic hadn’t fought in more than three years before Saturday’s fight at Madison Square Garden. English fighter Tom Aspinall won the interim heavyweight title a year ago and has already defended it. Jones said he is leaning toward not retiring but didn’t promise he would fight Aspinall.
During the leadup to the fight, Jones said he may prefer a shot at light heavyweight champion Alex Pereira.
“I’ve decided maybe I will not retire,” Jones said. “We’ll negotiate. If everything goes right, maybe we’ll give you guys what you want to see.”
Oliveira & Chandler Produce Wild Fight
Charles Oliveira and Michael Chandler’s first fight for the lightweight title ended with a relatively quick knockout. The rematch wasn’t similar to the first fight, according to MMA breaking news. While there were a few spots where both men could have finished, the fight instead went the distance.
Chandler sprung to life with Oliveira ahead big on the scorecards in the fifth round. Chandler landed a bunch of nasty punches that nearly hit Oliveira. But the final round ended with Oliveira on Chandler’s back, where he spent a lot of the fight.In a memorable moment, Chandler attempted to slam Oliveira off of him at the end of the fight. After doing it the first time, Chandler could stand up again and try to slam him again. Oliveira won by unanimous decision.
Nickal Wins a Snoozer
Bo Nickal discovered that dominant wrestling isn’t enough to win over UFC fans. Nor should it be, really. Nickal has been hyped as a potential future champion, but the American showed he is still green when it comes to being in the octagon.
Nickal didn’t attempt a takedown during his unanimous decision win over Paul Craig. The best MMA news sites showed that Nickal focused mostly on striking. Nickal appeared a little intimidated to face off with Craig on the ground.
Craig is an excellent submission grappler, and that seemed to worry Nickal. Instead, Nickal outstruck Craig and ended up being greeted with a chorus of boos as he improved to 7-0 in his career.
Miller is an Ageless Wonder
Jim Miller isn’t as accomplished as a fighter as Jones, but he has proven to be just as durable. Miller, 41, improved on his all-time record for wins in the UFC by submitting Damon Jackson in the first round. During Miller’s career, he has competed 54 times in the promotion and also grabbed 27 wins.
Miller was able to catch Jackson off guard by dropping for a guillotine as the two men locked up. It was the 21st submission win of Miller’s career.
Tybura Dominates Diniz
The question when it comes to combat sports is when should people save a fighter from himself? Jhonata Diniz was furious with the cageside doctor following the second round of his fight with Marcin Tybura, but the doctor made the right decision. During the waning seconds of the second round, Tybura worked himself into full mount.
From the top position, Tybura unleashed a series of hellacious elbows that cut Diniz on his nose. Blood was pouring from Diniz’s face as Tybura continued to land elbows to close out the round. Referee Herb Dean could have chosen to stop the fight, but he didn’t.
Dean did ask the doctor to take a look at Diniz. The doctor determined that the fight should be stopped. It was the right call. Diniz had taken an immense amount of punishment.
Old Gloves Paid Dividends Early
While the main card was full of decisions, the early prelims showed a pair of fights ending by knockout. After the UFC made a switch to a new type of gloves earlier this year, the promotion was criticized for there being fewer stoppages in fights. The early prelims produced a lot of memorable moments.
Ramiz Brahimaj folded Mickey Gall midway through the first round with some stiff punches. It was a difficult loss for Gall, who may receive his walking papers from the promotion. Gall, who is best known for beating former WWE champion C.M. Punk during a brief stint in MMA, has lost four straight and is 7-7 in his career.
Oban Elliott also picked up his first-ever UFC knockout. The Welsh gangster impressed everyone by picking apart Bassil Hafez. Elliott’s steady work ended up allowing him to secure a knockout 40 seconds into the third round.
While seven of the 11 fights on this card still ended up going to the scorecards, there is a hope that the UFC will stick with the old gloves. The new gloves were widely panned, just like New Coke was back in the 1980s.
Here’s a look at the results from the rest of the fights not mentioned above:
Women’s flyweight, Viviane Araujo win by decision over Karine Silva, 29-28 (x3)
Catchweight (166.2 pounds), Mauricio Ruffy win by decision over James Llontop, 29-28 (x3)
Bantamweight, Marcus McGhee win by decision over Jonathan Martinez, 29-28 (x3)
Lightweight, David Onama win by decision over Roberto Romero, 30-27 (x3)
Women’s flyweight, Eduarda Moura win by decision over Vanessa Hardy, 30-27, 29-28 (x2)
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By Dean McHugh.
