UFC 309 went down final evening (Sat., Nov. 16, 2024), which noticed Jon Jones defend his Heavyweight title by knocking out Stipe Miocic within the third spherical of their headlining bout inside Madison Sq. Backyard in New York Metropolis (see it once more right here). Within the co-main occasion, Charles Oliveira secured his second win over Michael Chandler in one other entertaining Light-weight affair (highlights).
Greatest Winner: Jon Jones
Is that this one actually a shock? “Bones” returned after one other prolonged layoff to earn his first-ever 265-pound title protection by ending Miocic’s MMA profession slightly violently within the third spherical. Whereas Jones himself stated he may have completed significantly better — and he most likely may have — it was nonetheless a one-sided win for the previous Mild Heavyweight champion. Afterward, Jones revealed that he had no plans to retire anytime quickly, that means {that a} title unification bout towards Tom Aspinall or a mega-fight towards present 205-pound king, Alex Pereira, awaits us in 2025.
Runner Up: Charles Oliveira
“Do Bronx” put himself proper again within the thick of the championship image at 155 kilos by placing on a dominant efficiency towards Chandler and securing his second straight win over the previous Bellator MMA Light-weight champion. For the primary 4 rounds. Oliveira had his manner with Chandler, earlier than working into some bother within the fifth and ultimate spherical. Ultimately, Oliveira reversed his fortune within the ultimate body to finish the spherical in a dominant place to take house the unanimous choice victory. With present 155-pound champion, Islam Makhachev, possiblly defending his belt towards Arman Tsarukyan in early 2025, Oliveira will likely be an observe within the end result as a result of he might be subsequent.
Greatest Loser: Paul Craig
“Bearjew” had a golden alternative to finish the hype of UFC’s new potential golden goose in Bo Nickal, and he got here up flat. And it wasn’t as a result of Nickal out-wrestled him as he has completed to all of his different foes. Quite the opposite, the explanation why Craig dropped the ball is as a result of Nickal really performed the hanging sport for quarter-hour with out going for a single takedown all evening. That was tee’d up completely for Craig to put all of it on the road and out-strike a person who barely bought into MMA a little bit over two years in the past. As an alternative, Craig seemed like a deer caught within the headlights as a result of he froze and didn’t let his fingers fly. To make issues worse he stored getting tagged by the identical left hand all evening and didn’t make changes to counter it. It was a mediocre kickboxing match between each males, which prompted a number of boo birds. To high all of it off, Craig’s loss is his third straight, dropping him to 1-5 in his final six UFC fights.
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