Aged 37, MMA star Jon Jones made a highly anticipated return to New York, having postponed his title defense against Miocic planned a year ago due to a torn pectoral muscle and of an elbow operation.
For his first fight since his success against the Frenchman Ciryl Gane in March 2023, Jones showed himself to be largely superior to Miocic, a former glory aged 42 and who came out of retirement for the occasion.
Jones controlled the tempo of the fight with his devastating body kicks to claim a 28th victory, with only one defeat.
He took Miocic to the ground in the first round, multiplying elbows. Heckled at the start of the 3rd round, he sent a terrible straight shot, shortly before the decisive action. A powerful left spinning kick to the ribs brought Miocic to his knees, before Jones followed up and finished with fists, then elbows.
In the process, Jones celebrated by imitating the sway of President-elect Donald Trump, another star of the evening at Madison Square Garden, where the 78-year-old Republican made a triumphant return after having organized a controversial meeting there before the presidential election. A comedian made comments there that were later denounced as racist towards the Puerto Rican population.
Donald Trump is a regular at UFC evenings, where he is regularly acclaimed, accompanied by the organization’s boss Dana White, an active supporter during the presidential campaign and present on stage during his victory speech on November 6.
“I am proud to be a great American and Christian champion”
“Thank you very much to President Donald Trump for being here this evening. I’m proud to be a great American and Christian champion,” Jones said.
Considered one of the greatest fighters in the history of mixed martial arts in 16 years of fighting, Jones was the youngest UFC champion in 2011 at 23, at light heavyweight, before moving up to the heavy ones.
His career was marred by scandals. Accused of violence by his fiancée, he was arrested by the police in 2021 before the charges were dropped. Jones has tested positive and suspended for doping several times, losing his only fight to subsequent disqualification.
Cameroonian Francis Ngannou, who became the champion of the PFL, a competing organization of the UFC, is demanding a fight against Jones, who explained on Saturday that he was not stopping his career, without specifying who he wanted to face.