UFC 309: Jon Jones vs. Stipe Miocic background

October 25, 2023. UFC CEO Dana White announced, to the disappointment of combat sports fans, that Jon Jones was out of his UFC 295 clash against Stipe Miocic with a pectoral tendon tear encountered while in training. White's announcement said the injury would require surgery and Jones would be sidelined for eight months at the minimum. The reshuffled card had Alex Pereira vs. Jiri Prochazka for the 205 lbs title at the top, and in the co-main event, Jones vs. Miocic's backup fighter Serghei Pavlovic took on Tom Aspinall on short notice for the interim heavyweight title.

White had assured that Jones vs. Miocic was still the fight to make, raising questions about the interim heavyweight title's purpose. True to his word, the CEO is giving us the rebooked battle of the GOATs at UFC 309, going down at MSG, almost one year to the date, on November 16, 2024.

UFC 309: Jon Jones vs. Stipe Miocic full card

In the 2024 installment of their annual visit to Madison Square Garden, New York, Dana White and the UFC have a treat planned for the fans. Spanning across several weight classes from the men's and women's divisions, the main card will have five fights as usual, and the prelims will have eight. The following is the bout order for the UFC 309 PPV, available exclusively on ESPN+:

Jon Jones vs. Stipe Miocic

Charles Oliveira vs. Michael Chandler

Viviane Araujo vs. Karine Silva

Bo Nickal vs. Paul Craig

Chris Weidman vs. Eryk Anders

UFC 309 Prelims:

Mauricio Ruffy vs. James Llontop

Nikita Krylov vs. Azamat Murzakanov

Jonathan Martinez vs. Marcus McGhee

Jim Miller vs. Damon Jackson

David Onama vs. Lucas Almeida

Mickey Gall vs. Ramiz Brahimaj

Bassil Hafez vs. Oban Elliott

Veronica Hardy vs. Eduarda Moura

Co-main event of UFC 309: Jones vs. Miocic- Charles Oliveira vs. Michael Chandler

The main event of UFC 309 was no surprise. Almost everyone knew, months in advance, that Jones vs. Miocic was the heavyweight title route that the UFC was taking. But the co-main event was a complete shocker. In a rematch of their UFC 262 lightweight title clash, Michael Chandler and Charles Oliveira will go at it again over five rounds at the Big Apple. Why was this a shocker? Because Chandler was waiting to take on Conor McGregor! But we'll get to that in a bit.

The last time 'Iron' took on 'Do Bronx,' he just missed out on a win. Chandler had started strong and had Oliveira in trouble in the fight round. But nineteen seconds into the second, the Brazilian dropped Chandler and secured a TKO finish. And that has been Chandler's story ever since. He's put on entertaining fights one after the other but failed to get past elite competition like Justin Gaethje and Dustin Poirier. So why is he getting a title contender's fight? Because of his loyalty to the promised McGregor fight!

Why is Michael Chandler not fighting Conor McGregor?

Michael Chandler vs. Conor McGregor should have happened sometime in 2023. For bureaucratic reasons, it was delayed and expected to go down in early 2024, with many calling for it to headline UFC 300. Interestingly, the fight did not headline the marquee event but was instead announced in the post-event presser for International Fight Week on June 29. Unfortunately, a fracture on his pinky toe forced McGregor out of the bout. He was not about to risk anything on his comeback from a horrific leg break.

What's noteworthy is how the UFC failed to rebook a fight that was already signed and announced once. UFC 306 at The Sphere was a hot date that came and went, but still no McGregor vs. Chandler. UFC 309 was already slated to be set aside for Jones vs. Miocic so all eyes were on December's UFC 310, which McGregor wanted for his return. Shockingly, it went to Belal Muhammad vs. Shavkat Rakhmonov.

Whatever the roadblock to the fight was, Chandler was done waiting. After Dana White announced Chandler vs. Oliveira 2 in September, the American lightweight went off on McGregor for being inconsistent and unreliable over the past two years. If Chandler can right the wrong and get the win over Oliveira, he has the option to choose between a McGregor fight or a title fight against the winner of the proposed Arman Tsarukyan vs. Islam Makhachev fight.

Main event of UFC 309: Jon Jones vs. Stipe Miocic

Coming to the main event of the night, things take an interesting turn. This might be one of those rare occasions where fans and experts alike argued against making a fight. Why? Because for most of them, Jon Jones should be fighting Tom Aspinall, the interim champion(who defended the interim belt once already), instead of the aging Stipe Miocic.

This is a battle between the consensus GOAT of MMA and the GOAT of the UFC heavyweight division. A legacy fight. A fitting crescendo to Jones's legendary career. Yes, the expectations are for him to retire if he gets the win over Miocic. And the same goes for the 2-time former heavyweight champion too. He's 42 now, and last fought in 2021, where Francis Ngannou delivered a vicious knockout to take his title. But in his prime, Stipe fought them all and beat them all.

Is that merit enough to warrant a title shot? Not for the majority. Still, Dana White remains steadfast in his decision to rebook this fight. So, in the UFC's eighth PPV main event at MSG, Jones, and Miocic will go at it for five rounds in a heavyweight title clash. The expectations are for the winner and the loser of this bout to retire, leaving Tom Aspinall without an ideal next opponent for a title unification bout, and the potential for a dramatic turn of events is part of the allure of UFC 309.

UFC 309: Jones vs. Miocic Fighters’ Record, Stats, Previous Fights

There are several big names taking the stage at UFC 309. Following are some of their records and major achievements in the promotion.

Jon Jones

• MMA Record: 27-1-0 [21-1 UFC]


• 10 wins each via KO/TKO and Decisions, 7 submission wins, 1 loss via DQ


• Last fight - Submission win over Ciryl Gane at UFC 285


• Youngest UFC champion in history

Stipe Miocic

• MMA Record: 20-4 [14-4 UFC]


• 14 KO/TKO wins, 1 submission win, 5 decision wins and 1 decision loss


• Last fight - KO loss to Francis Ngannou at UFC 260


• Longest title defense streak in UFC heavyweight history with 3 straight defenses, 4 total across two reigns

Charles Oliveira

• MMA Record: 34-10 [22-10 UFC]


• 10 wins and 4 losses via KO/TKO, 21 wins and 4 losses via submission, 3 wins and 2 losses via decision


• Last fight - Split decision loss against Arman Tsarukyan at UFC 300


• Oliveira also holds the record for the highest number of finishes in UFC history

Michael Chandler

• MMA Record: 23-8 [2-3 UFC]


• 11 wins and 4 losses via KO/TKO, 7 wins and 1 loss via submission, 5 wins and 3 losses via decision


• Last fight: Submission loss against Dustin Poirier at UFC 281

Bo Nickal

• MMA Record: 6-0 [3-0 UFC]


• All wins are finishes - 4 via submissions and 2 via KO/TKO

Chris Weidman

• MMA Record: 16-7 [12-7 UFC]


• 6 wins and 6 losses via KO/TKO, 4 submission wins, 6 wins, and 1 loss via decision


• Former UFC middleweight champion- beat Anderson Silva twice

Jim Miller

• MMA Record: 37-18 [26-17 UFC]


• 7 wins and 2 losses via KO/TKO, 20 wins and 3 losses via submission, 10 wins and 13 losses via decision


• Miller holds the record for the most UFC wins [26] and most UFC fights [43]

Location, Venue, Date, Time of UFC 309: Jon Jones vs Stipe Miocic

UFC 309 goes down at the Madison Square Garden in New York on Saturday, November 16, 2024, at 6:00 PM ET.

Commentary team of UFC 309 - Will Joe Rogan be there?

The commentary team for UFC 309 has not been announced yet. But fans can expect the trio of Joe Rogan, Jon Anik, and Daniel Cormier to be at the New York PPV. Last year's MSG PPV, UFC 295, had the three of them at the commentary desk with Joe Rogan being the color commentator and Jon Anik on pay-by-play as usual. Since Rogan is almost always part of PPVs in the US, especially those in New York and Las Vegas, fans can expect him to be cage-side to see Jones in action on November 16.

Where to Watch? UFC 309: Jones vs. Miocic Tickets

For those who want to watch the event live at MSG, the UFC offers several packages including the VIP ones. The available VIP packages are priced at $2,250, $4,400, and $14,750. There are also verified resale tickets available on Ticketmaster for as low as $608. For seats closer to the action and with a better view, verified resale tickets are available but buyers will have to shell out anywhere between $1,100 to $7,400 before taxes.

The PPV will be available for purchase on ESPN+ for $79.99