The highly anticipated fight between UFC heavyweight champion Jon Jones and former champ Stipe Miocic went down in the main event of UFC 309 at Madison Square Garden. Jones, arguably the UFC’s GOAT, fought for the first time since he claimed the vacant heavyweight title with a first round submission win over Ciryl Gane in March 2023. In training, he suffered a torn pectoral tendon that sidelined him for over a year and delayed that matchup against Miocic. In the first round of the fight between Jones and Miocic, Jones caught Miocic off guard with an outside trip to score a takedown with over three minutes left in the round. Miocic did his best to defend his back, but Jones still landed some hard elbows. In the second round Jones threw a kick to the body that completely slowed Miocic in his tracks. However, the champ didn’t follow up. Miocic scored with a clean right hand and later caught Jones with a grazing left hook. Jones answered with a high kick but his hands were still a bit low coming out of those exchanges. In the third round Jones pressured Miocic back to the fence and threw a mean spinning back kick that landed flush to the body and sent the  42 year old crumpling to the ground. After a few punches and elbows, referee Herb Dean saw enough to stop the fight at the 4:49 mark of the round, resulting in the win by Jon Jones in the third round by KO.