Jon Jones sent a shockwave through the fighting realm when he knocked Stipe Miocic out in the third round of their bout at UFC 309. With 30 seconds left in round three, Jones threw a powerful spinning back-kick that visibly hurt Miocic, flooring him. What followed was a barrage of strikes before Herb Dean stopped the fight. The MMA world joined Jones as he celebrated his 19th straight victory. However, the fighting community was also concerned about the fallen Miocic, with even Dana White rushing out to see if he was alright. 

But what is it about the kick thrown by Jones that dropped ‘Stone Cold’ to his knees? Dr. David Abbasi, an MD and orthopedic surgeon, took to X and explained what happened to Miocic’s body as a result of that kick. Let’s see what the good doctor had to say!

What really happened to Stipe Miocic when Jon Jones kicked him?

The parasympathetic nervous system deals with the body’s digestion response and manages the resting phase of the human body. But after stressful situations, when the sympathetic nervous system keeps the heart rate and respiration in a heightened state, the parasympathetic nervous system reverses the work of the fight-or-flight system, reverting blood flow to the guts.

But when Jon Jones’s spinning back-kick dug deep into Stipe Miocic’s left abdominal quadrant, his parasympathetic nervous system activated and he was forced to go down. Well, that was his body’s way of maintaining blood flow to his brain and avoiding blacking out. 

The surgeon reflected on this and said, “Look how much that foot is digging into the body, into the ribs and the underlying organs. On the other side of the body would be the liver – on the right side. This would be Stipe’s left side. So, we’re talking about organs like the spleen and the guts. You hear about this way more with the liver because there’s parts of the liver which are not covered by the ribs. So you can poke them a little bit easier. You can get there with the spleen on the other side, but you really gotta dig into those ribs.” 

“But if you’re able to dig in and activate it even on the spleen, you will activate that parasympathetic nervous system, dropping the heart rate, dropping the blood pressure, decreasing the oxygen. [The] fighter has to go down and continue to get the blood flow to the brain. Not only that but the pain must have been horrible.”, continued Dr. Abbasi. Finally, he concluded by acknowledging Dana White’s heavyweight champion as ‘the greatest of all time’. 

If a fighter gets hit on the upper right quadrant of their abdomen, they have their sympathetic nervous system shut down. Shutting down one’s sympathetic nervous system directly translates to the deactivation of the fight-or-flight response of the human body, due to which, blood flow to the brain is cut off momentarily. Jones’ kick didn’t affect Miocic’s sympathetic nervous system, rather, ‘Stone Cold’ went down because his parasympathetic nervous system was affected. 

We understand the science behind Jon Jones’ devastating spinning kick, affecting Miocic’s parasympathetic nervous system. But what was the effect of the kick on his body? Was Miocic gravely injured by the end of that sequence? Let’s find out.

What was the extent of ‘Stone Cold’s injuries at UFC 309?

Dr. Brian Stutterer took to his YouTube channel to analyze the main event of UFC 309, shedding light on the injuries that the ‘Stone Cold’ might have sustained. He said, “We can see the initial impact is going to be absorbed by Miocic’s primarily latissimus dorsi – that’s going to be his lat muscle. Unfortunately, it doesn’t absorb that much of the blow and we see this significant amount of deterioration go into the ribs and that upper left thoracic region.”

The good doctor suspected that the force of the kick might have caused a laceration on Miocic’s spleen and guts. No doubt, this would have been fatal. Thankfully, Miocic received all the medical attention he needed following the fight. But looking at the impact of the kick, Dr. Stutterer was sure that ‘Stone Cold’ had his ribs fractured. “I would be shocked if Miocic does not have a rib fracture,” he said. 

Nevertheless, Miocic seemed okay during the post-fight press conference. Whatever damage he had incurred could be healed with proper rest. Now that he announced his retirement, ‘Stone Cold’ has ample time to recover and live out his life as a firefighter and paramedic. The MMA world bid farewell to the former champ on his retirement but the hope of watching him once again still lives on. 

What did you think of Jones’ spinning back kick? Were you worried about Miocic’s health after his defeat at UFC 309? Let us know what you think in the comments down below.