The UFC returns to Madison Square Garden for UFC 309 when the highly-anticipated undisputed heavyweight title fight between two of the greatest of all-time finally goes down, as Jon Jones defends his championship against Stipe Miocic.
The two legends were supposed to meet one year ago at the MSG spectacle before Jones suffered a pectoral muscle injury in training just weeks out from the event, but the organisation opted to save the fight until he was ready and the battle to go down as the greatest ever will now take place.
We'll take a look at the clash and provide you with our best free UFC betting picks, as we look to earn you some extra cash while you take in the action from inside the octagon.
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UFC 309 information
- Saturday, 16th November 2024
- Madison Square Garden, New York City, New York
- Undisputed Heavyweight Championship (265lbs limit)
- 5 x 5 minute rounds
- 22:00 ET main card start time
Jon Jones vs Stipe Miocic
Widely considered as the greatest mixed martial artist of all-time, Jon Jones will be pushing to go down as the best ever when he looks to maintain his incredible unbeaten streak. The only defeat in his professional career came against Matt Hamill way back in 2009, in a fight he completely dominated. However, after landing some 12-6 elbows the referee disqualified him controversially and the defeat remains on his record. Ironically though, the rule has now been changed this month and those elbows are a legal strike as of November 2024.
Jones won the light heavyweight championship for the first time in 2011 when he defeated Mauricio 'Shogun' Rua, and defended the belt eight times before he was stripped for a violation of the companies Athlete Conduct Policy. He won the belt back in his next fight, but was once again stripped after a positive drug test. He wasn't banned after proving it to be a contaminated substance, and won the title back against Daniel Cormier in his next fight, but that was overturned to a no-contest despite him winning by KO due to another positive drug test.
He was once again cleared of any wrongdoing, and won the belt back in his next fight against Alexander Gustafsson in a rematch from their fight of the year contender, and he claimed a stoppage victory. He then defended the belt three more times, beating Anthony Smith, Thiago Santos and Dominick Reyes, before moving to heavyweight.
Jones took three years to bulk up and put the weight on, and returned with a stunning first-round submission win over Ciryl Gane to claim the heavyweight title and become a two-weight world champion. This will be his first defense, having recovered from a torn pectoral injury that saw him ruled out for at least a year.
He comes into this fight with a professional record of 27-1 (1 no contest), including ten knockouts and seven submission wins.
He'll be coming up against the consensus greatest heavyweight of all time in Micoic though, who is a two-time champion and is the record-holder for the most defenses of the belt in UFC history.
Miocic first won the title with a knockout win over Fabricio Werdum back in 2016, and he became the first man to successfully defend the title three times when he knocked out Alistair Overeem and Junior Dos Santos, before dominating a rampant Francis Ngannou. He then lost the belt in shocking fashion as Daniel Cormier knocked him out in the first-round of their champion vs champion bout, but he won the belt back in their rematch a year later by knocking 'DC' out in the fourth-round.
He then successfully defended the bout in their trilogy bout at UFC 252 in a unanimous decision win, but lost the belt in his last fight when he was knocked unconscious by Ngannou in their rematch at UFC 260 in the second round.
Stipe had been scheduled to fight for the belt again since, and has rejected the opportunity to fight anyone else, meaning this will be his first time in the octagon since March 2021. He comes into this bout with a professional record of 20-4, including 15 knockouts
Route to victory
This is a difficult fight to call, simply because both fighters have barely been in the octagon over the last five years.
Jones had a brief return two years ago and looked physically dominant against a naturally bigger opponent, but he also had a huge grappling advantage and used it quickly. Against Miocic it won't be that easy, with both men having a fantastic wrestling background as well as power in their hands.
'Bones' is likely to his range management and kicks to stay on the outside and control the pace of the fight, which is without a doubt the best route to success for him. He will fancy his chances in the grappling department however, with better jiu-jitsu and some really vicious ground and pound.
Miocic will want to close the distance and land his powerful strikes, but he will be smaller than his opponent and it won't be easy to do. He could look to wrestle and put Jones on his back, but that's something that has rarely happened in Jones' career and would be a real surprise.
Check out our review for BetOnline sports betting here.
UFC Picks: Jon Jones to retain
This is the main event of UFC 309 simply because Dana White refuses to admit he's wrong, but it's a pretty poor fight to headline a card in 2024.
Neither guy is in their prime anymore, and fan anticipation for the fight has diminished since it was originally scheduled since the rise of Tom Aspinall as interim champion. It's also seen as a very lopsided fight, because Miocic is coming off a huge loss and a lengthy absence.
There's not much to go off, with just 124 seconds of cage time between them since April 2021. Jones is the heavy favorite and is the better fighter, so taking him to win makes the most sense. For some added value, take the decision due to his naturally more cautious approach in these big fights.
Check out our review for MyBookie sports betting here.
