NEW YORK — Combat sports fans love a dominant heavyweight champ. And Jon Jones loves to be loved.
The UFC heavyweight champion protected his spot at the apex of mixed martial arts on Saturday night with a dominant win over Stipe Miocic, delivering a roundhouse kick to Miocic’s gut with his left leg that crumbled Miocic to the mat in the third round.
Really, it was probably an inevitability before then. Miocic had taken tremendous punishment in Round 3 already, including a flush 1-2 combination, another kick and another hard left cross moments before the decisive kick.
And with that, Jones — the legend of the sport with a problematic history — was well primed to embrace the roar of Madison Square Garden. After the bout was stopped, he shimmied for President-elect Donald Trump, who sat at the side of the octagon in his first major public sporting event since winning election to a second term.
“I’m proud to be a great American champion,” Jones said after thanking Trump for attending, the culmination of a night rife with political pageantry. “I’m proud to be a Christian American champion.”
Afterward, Jones was in no rush to leave, walking around the cage apron before re-entering to do a quick salsa dance, point to the crowd, and take photos as “Greatest of All Time” by LL Cool J blared.
The champ is here indeed. Jon Jones’ GOAT resume grows longer, and he’s in no rush to leave pic.twitter.com/vqjpCLcGYh
— Mark Puleo (@ByMarkPuleo) November 17, 2024
In the fight, Jones was dominant from start to finish. He slammed Miocic to the canvas in the first round with a trip so stiff it shook the media tables 15 feet away. From there, he rained elbows down on the challenger as his Super Bowl-winning brothers stood in awe.
Miocic, somehow, survived the round and found morsels of success in the stand-up that kept Jones from rushing in for another takedown. But that only lasted until the midpoint of the third, when Jones split Miocic open with a starching straight and then finished the fight two minutes later with a vicious spinning heel kick to Miocic’s body followed up by the final ground strikes.
The 42-year-old Miocic stayed curled against the fence for minutes in visible agony as doctors tended to his cuts. Afterward, he told the commentator Joe Rogan that this fight was his last. “I’m done,” he said.
The screams haven’t always been positive for Jones, whose career has been just as rocky as historic, with numerous arrests, failed drug tests and stripped belts. But in his 17th career title fight, Jones walked out of the cage with the title for the 17th time, extending his record for most title fight wins in UFC history.
At 42, Miocic was the oldest fighter to contend for the UFC heavyweight title since Randy Couture in 2008.
His only non-win in a title fight came in 2017 when Jones’ knockout of Daniel Cormier was overturned following a positive steroid test.
In the co-main event, Charles Oliveira defeated Michael Chandler after one of the most thrilling fifth rounds in UFC history. Oliveira controlled Chandler with dominant positioning for the first four rounds, backpacking the American much to the anxiety of Chandler’s cornermen.
In Chandler’s corner, former UFC welterweight champ Robbie Lawler yelled out desperate pleas to his training partner, but Chandler was mousetrapped on the opposite side of the cage, too far away to hear as Lawler could only shake his head as Oliveira took Chandler’s back again and again and again.
That all changed in the fifth as Chandler dropped Oliveira, then slammed Oliveira on his back twice in a move that was simply for the sake of the crowd. Still, Oliveira took the easy decision.
For Chandler, the defeat is bitter after he spent the past two years inactive waiting for a promised bout with Conor McGregor. That fight never materialized after McGregor pulled out of their June date with an injury, and Chandler decided to risk his money fight positioning for a chance to improve his championship standing.
But despite the loss, Chandler’s megafight prospects may not be dimmed. The American lived up his thrilling reputation by repeatedly back-slamming Oliveira in the final minute of the fifth round, a maneuver that wasn’t for the hope of winning but simply for the sake of the crowd.
Those fans rewarded him with an ear-splitting standing ovation, Trump included. Afterward, Chandler returned to calling out McGregor, telling the former two-division champ, “Get your house back in order” and return to the octagon.
“We wonder where you’ve been, Conor,” Chandler added.
On the opposite end of the career spectrum, Bo Nickal continued his progression toward stardom with his seventh straight win to open his career, but his lackluster fight might have slightly slowed that sprint toward the title picture.
(Top photo: Chris Unger / Zuffa LLC)
