Jon Jones will be wearing custom fight trunks for UFC 309.
“Bones” defends his heavyweight strap against former 265-pound titleholder Stipe Miocic atop Sat. night’s (Nov. 16, 2024) pay-per-view (PPV) card inside Madison Square Garden in New York City, a five-round showdown that could lead the winner to this impatient opponent.
Or perhaps even retirement.
“I’m so excited about these,” Jones told UFC. “It’s got the lion and my favorite bible verse, the cross, my last name. Philippians 4:13, my mom used to recite it to me all the time, my late mother. ‘I can do all things through Christ who gives me strength.’ I believe it, sincerely in my heart that with God, all things are possible. This is my superpower. My relationship, my faith, God has brought me through so many battles. Not only in the Octagon, but in life.”
God also chose Jones to be undefeated, which makes Steve Mazzagatti the Devil.
Jones, 37, is returning from a major pectoral injury, one that has kept him sidelined since defeating Ciryl Gane for the heavyweight title at UFC 285 back in early 2023. As for Miocic, 42, he’s been patiently waiting for his combat sports comeback since falling to Francis Ngannou in March 2021.
For the rest of the UFC 309 fight card and PPV lineup click here.
Featherweights Edson Barboza and Steve Garcia are set to clash at the upcoming UFC Fight Night event scheduled on Feb. 22 with a location for the card still to be determined.
Multiple people with knowledge of the promotion’s plans confirmed the news to MMA Fighting on Tuesday.
A 36-fight veteran with 14 years spent in the UFC, Barboza has a reputation as one of the nastiest strikers on the entire roster. When the Brazilian returns in early 2025, he’s looking to get back on a winning track after coming up short in a Fight of the Night against Lerone Murphy back in May.
That was actually Barboza’s third consecutive fight to earn him a bonus after he also picked up a Fight of the Night for his battle with Sodiq Yusuff as well as a Performance of the Night for his knockout over Billy Quarantillo.
Meanwhile, Garcia has been on a tear with wins in his past five fights in a row while finishing every single opponent by knockout. The Jackson-Winklejohn fighter has been tearing through his competition, which included a first-round finish over Kyle Nelson in a short-notice bout he took in September.
Garcia now looks to add a veteran like Barboza to his resume when the featherweights meet in February.
Daniel Cormier is set to call the UFC 309 main event where two of his greatest rivals meet with the heavyweight title on the line.
Jon Jones returns to action to face Stipe Miocic in a long-awaited showdown between two all-time greats to cap off the event from Madison Square Garden in New York. The fight was originally scheduled for November 2023 but Jones suffered a torn pectoral muscle that delayed the fight for a year.
While Cormier is no stranger to calling fights involving some of his former opponents, Saturday’s main event is particularly interesting considering Jones and Miocic were arguably the toughest challenges he faced during his Hall of Fame career. He faced them a combined five times during his career so Cormier certainly knows Jones and Miocic better than most.
Cormier is joined on the broadcast by play-by-plan man Jon Anik and comedian/podcaster Joe Rogan as the three-man booth calling UFC 309.
Megan Olivi is set to serve as the in-arena reporter for the event with Din Thomas providing analysis throughout the event.
UFC officials confirmed the broadcast team to MMA Fighting on Tuesday. MMA Junkie was the first to break the news.
UFC 309 also features a five-round co-main event when former lightweight champion Charles Oliveira takes on Michael Chandler in a rematch. In their previous encounter, Oliviera survived a near finish in the opening round and then put Chandler away in the second round to claim the vacant 155-pound title.
Now they meet again just over three years later with the winner almost certainly jumping right back into title contention in the lightweight division.
The UFC 309 pay-per-view main card kicks off at 10 p.m. ET with the prelims set to begin at 6 p.m. ET with 13 total fights scheduled from New York.
Former UFC women’s flyweight champion Alexa Grasso may be out of the octagon for a while.
On Monday event, Grasso revealed via her Instagram account that she broke her leg training while posting a photo with a crutch and with her leg in a boot.
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Grasso didn’t reveal a timetable for recovery, or when she could return to competition.
The 31-year-old recently lost the women’s 125-pound championship in a lopsided decision against Valentina Shevchenko in their trilogy bout at UFC 306 in September. It was Grasso’s first loss in five years — a controversial decision loss in her final strawweight bout against Carla Esparza in September 2019.
After winning her next four fights, Grasso got her first opportunity to fight for a UFC title, and she came through with a stunning upset win, submitting Shevchenko at UFC 285 in March 2023. They would compete in a rematch at Noche UFC six months later and fought to a split draw in one of the best fights of the year.
As permissive as the Texas commission has been on licensing Paul vs. Tyson, there could still be issues if Tyson doesn’t pass his physical with flying colors.
We’re just four days away from the Mike Tyson vs. Jake Paul boxing match at AT&T Stadium in Arlington, Texas (Fri. Nov. 15, 2024) and both men have made it to fight week healthy and ready to compete.
That was a big question for Tyson, who was forced to pull out of an earlier July date with Paul due to an ulcer that he admits almost killed him.
“When I came to, I was in the bathroom throwing up blood,” Tyson revealed in a recent interview. “I lost 25 pounds in eleven days and couldn’t eat. Only liquids. Every time I went to the bathroom, it smelled like tar. Didn’t even smell like s—t anymore. It was disgusting … I had like eight blood transfusions. The doctor said I lost half my blood. I almost died.”
There’s been no near-death experiences during this November camp, unless Tyson is still licking the toad on his days off training. But it certainly makes you wonder whether it’s smart to sanction this 58 year old man to fight. The Texas Department of Licensing and Regulation is notoriously loose when it comes to everything but marijuana, and according to ESPN they approved the fight after officials watched a Tyson sparring session.
In person? On Instagram? Tik Tok? It’s unclear.
“Our combative sports staff evaluate numerous factors to determine if an event can be held in a manner that is both safe for both contestants and in compliance with Department laws and rules,” said TDLR spokesperson Tela Mange. “[The commission] will conduct the usual prefight physicals the day before the fight.”
That will include but may not be limited to a mandatory EEG (electroencephalography) and EKG (electrocardiogram) — in other words, a brain and heart scan.
As for Tyson’s concerning comments about almost dying a few months ago? They’ll ask about it.
“Thorough pre-fight physicals will be conducted by TDLR-appointed physicians, who will discuss Mr. Tyson’s medical history with him,” Mange said.
Waiting until the day before the fight to do all of this is pretty crazy, but this whole fight is pretty crazy when you think about it. The age difference, the experience difference, the near death incident. Jesus. That’s why it’s happening in Texas and not somewhere like New York, where it would have been rejected outright by the no fun NYSAC.
But as chill as the TDLR is, there’s no coming back from an iffy EEG or EKG reading. We’ll let you know on Thursday how those go.
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