Tomorrow night in the main event of UFC 309, the heavyweight title is on the line. The champion Jon Jones (27-1, 1 NC) returns to defend his title against the former champion and arguably the greatest heavyweight in the history of the promotion, Stipe Miocic (20-4).
This fight was supposed to take place last November, but Jones tore his pec shortly before the fight and it was cancelled. Instead of having Miocic move on to a different fight, the promotion kept this matchup together and we finally get to see it tomorrow night.
For Miocic, this will be his first fight since March 2021. Three and a half years ago, Miocic was the champion, but he lost the title to Francis Ngannou. The two-time heavyweight champion will make the walk to the octagon for just the fifth time since July 2018 tomorrow night.
Standing across from him will be Jon Jones. Back in 2020, Jones vacated the light heavyweight title with his sites set on the heavyweight title. Just about three years after his final fight at 205, Jones returned at UFC 285 and submitted Ciryl Gane in the first round to win the vacant heavyweight title. Now, he’ll get to face another all time great in his first official title defense.
UFC 309 Prediction
It’s hard to really predict a fight when one guy has only fought once since 2020 and the other hasn’t fought at all since March 2021. That said, I’m going to look at this as if we are going to see the best of both tomorrow night. Jon Jones is the big betting favorite, and honestly, he should be.
When analyzing this UFC 309 main event, I struggle to see a lot of areas for success when it comes to Stipe Miocic. I think Miocic has the better boxing, but he’s going to have to consistently be in boxing range. Jones’ biggest strength on the feet is his length and his striking defense.
I believe Jones is going to be very active with kicks and I see Miocic struggling to land anything big on Jones. When they grapple, I think Jones has a big wrestling advantage and I think we will see takedowns in this one. I’m not comfortable picking Jones to finish Miocic, but I definitely see him retaining his title.
Prediction: Jon Jones by Unanimous Decision