Jon Jones vs. Stipe Miocic will headline UFC 309 on Nov. 16

15/09/2024 06:18

The long awaited showdown between heavyweight champion Jon Jones and Stipe Miocic is finally official as the main event for the upcoming UFC 309 card scheduled on Nov. 16 at Madison Square Garden in New York.

The fight and the rest of the main card was announced on Saturday during the UFC 309 broadcast.

In addition to Jones vs. Miocic, Michael Chandler returns for the first time in two years when he faces Charles Oliveira in a rematch in the lightweight division.

The card culminates in the headliner where Jones defends his UFC heavyweight title for the first time after dispatching Ciryl Gane in impressive fashion to win the belt back in March 2023. Jones was originally scheduled to face Miocic later that same year but a torn pectoral muscle kept him from competing.

Now almost exactly one year later, Jones returns with hopes that he can knock off arguably the greatest heavyweight in UFC history.

The UFC 309 card comes nearly four years after Miocic last competed when he suffered a second-round knockout loss to Francis Ngannou in a fight that cost him the heavyweight title. Miocic effectively disappeared after that loss with hopes that he would get another title shot, but Ngannou ended up leaving the promotion and then Jones suffered the injury that further delayed this fight.

Jones vs. Miocic goes down on Nov. 16 with interim heavyweight champion Tom Aspinall almost assuredly keeping a close eye on this fight so he can challenge the winner.

UFC 309 marks the latest collaboration between the promotion and the world famous Madison Square Garden Arena after first partnering together back in 2016 after MMA was finally legalized in New York.