Fight-by-fight preview | UFC 309: Jones vs. Miocic

The current heavyweight champion takes on the most successful heavyweight titleholder in UFC history to round out this weekend's fight card as Jon Jones and Stipe Miocic finally share the Octagon together.

Arguably the greatest fighter in the history of the sport, Jones captured the heavyweight title with a quick and relatively effortless first-round submission win over Ciryl Gane at UFC 285, adding his name to the rare list of athletes to win the UFC twice Weight classes won gold. He was scheduled to defend against Miocic last November, but suffered a torn pectoral muscle leading up to the fight, leading to this one-year postponement, meaning he has only fought once in four years and nine months.

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Miocic is the only heavyweight champion to successfully defend his title three times and is looking to write his name into the history books by becoming only the second man to claim the belt three times. The Ohio native has faced two opponents – Francis Ngannou and Daniel Cormier – five times in his last five outings, returning to action here for the first time since losing the title at UFC 260 in March 2021.

There are a lot of legacy implications at stake here besides the heavyweight title, and the closer we get to Saturday night, the more intriguing this fight becomes to me. Jones ran through Gane but was able to make full use of his greatest strength, and it will be interesting to see whether he can do the same with Miocic. Conversely, the 42-year-old former champion is an excellent all-round talent with great striking power and presents himself – at least on paper – as the most experienced and dangerous opponent Jones has faced in a long time.

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