The UFC's greatest light heavyweight was better than the UFC's greatest heavyweight, at least on one big night.
Jon Jones successfully defended his heavyweight title for the first time, defeating former two-time champion Stipe Miocic with a third-round TKO to close out UFC 309 at Madison Square Garden on Saturday, defeating former two-time champion Stipe Miocic in the same arena. We tied up with a business that would have been completed a year ago. — The one-year delay is due to Jones' torn pectoralis major muscle.
As strikers, Jones and Miocic were competitive from early on. However, Jones' wrestling dominance led to some of his best moments. By the third round, the champion was hitting Miocic with a right hand and the 42-year-old was starting to tire against the 37-year-old Jones.
Miocic withstood a stiff left hand, but was unable to withstand Jones' spinning heel kick, aiming for the liver and permanently crushing the Ohio native.
In the co-main event, Charles Oliveira earned the next shot at the lightweight title he once held, defeating Michael Chandler in five rounds, giving the former Bellator lightweight champion a four-round victory in the world's most famous arena. I suffered a defeat. However, the Brazilian managed to survive the final hailstorm from the man he beat to take the crown in 2021.
Oliveira's grappling prowess proved to be the difference for much of the fight, with the UFC's all-time submission wins leader gaining favorable positions in each round.
However, Chandler remained competitive. The only way to win was to finish, and he almost forced Oliveira out of there. Oliveira suffered a severe injury to his right hand, Chandler got on top and rained blows to his head, forcing referee Keith Peterson to look grim to stop the fight. Oliveira somehow survived and took Chandler again for the win.
Middleweight contender Beau Nickal went 7-0 as a pro, defeating veteran Paul Craig on points, but the nature of that win meant he didn't win any new fans.
Nickal, a three-time NCAA champion wrestler at Penn State, and the Scottish submission ace throw grappling chops to the side and instead engage in a tepid kickboxing match, with up-and-coming Nickal landing an overhand left throughout. achieved success.
By the final bell, Craig had sustained a severe gash near his right eyebrow, but solid “Overrated” chants from the fans in attendance spoke volumes about the entertainment value of the contest.
“I went out there and I dominated for 15 minutes,” Nickal said inside the cage to loud boos. “[The fans] Expect to knock everyone out within 25 seconds or suffocate them within a minute. And the reality is that they are all professional martial artists who have been training for over 10 years. I've spent the last two and a half, three years. ”
Kicking off the pay-per-view broadcast, lightweight Michael Luffy and women's flyweight Vivian Araujo won by decision over James Lontop and Karine Silva, respectively.
In qualifying for the event, Bronx native Ramiz Brahimaj knocked out Mickey Gall of Greenbrook, New Jersey in the first round of a welterweight showdown.
“Man, that's crazy. I think the only thing bigger than this is fighting in Yankee Stadium,” Brahimaj, who turns 33 on Sunday, told reporters after the win. “I don't know if they can do it, but hey, maybe they can. You never know.”
Sussex County, New Jersey native Jim Miller makes his UFC record-extending 45th promotional appearance, winning one round over Damon Jackson with a tight guillotine choke, extending his record-extending 27th appearance since his UFC debut in 2016. Achieved victory. 2008.
