Featured Image Credit: TNT Sports
Topics: Jon Jones, Stipe Miocic, UFC, MMA
Chris Nee
UFC 309 took place at Madison Square Garden but the future of MMA might not be limited by such earthly bounds.
Jon Jones stopped Stipe Miocic with a spinning back kick to the ribs in the third round to retain the heavyweight title at the top of a UFC 309 main card that also featured wins by decision for Charles Oliveira and unbeaten middleweight Bo Nickal in New York City.
After the fight, Jones was congratulated by Elon Musk and president-elect Donald Trump. He set Musk a challenge the Tesla and X owner is likely to find irresistible.
"Jon Jones is talking to Elon about fighting on Mars!" reported UFC commentator Joe Rogan. While some fans might prefer Musk himself to step into the Martian octagon with the champion, a challenger from within UFC is the more likely opponent in this mixed martial arts space adventure.
37-year-old Jones knocked out former champion Miocic to take his overall record to 28-1-0 and retain the title he won in his heavyweight debut against Ciryl Gane at UFC 285 in March 2023. He now has more successful title defences than any other fighter, having held the light heavyweight title twice and retained it in eleven fights.
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Jones handed his championship belt to Trump but his focus was on Musk and an unearthly future. Before blasting off to Mars, Jones has his eye on light heavyweight champion Alex Pereira rather than a bout with England's Tom Aspinall, the interim world heavyweight champion.
“I don’t want to fight dangerous up-and-comers anymore. I want to fight dangerous, established champions," said Jones after UFC 309. Aspinall's 15-3-0 record puts him in the former category but he defeated Sergei Pavlovich by knockout last November to pick up the interim title and prove he fulfills at least the first part of Jones' fight criteria.
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Meanwhile, Miocic has retired from the sport at the age of 42. He leaves the octagon with a 20-5-0 record and as a two-time UFC heavyweight champion. He won 15 fights by knockout but lost the title in his penultimate bout against Francis Ngannou in 2021.