A pair of gloves (Photo by NICHOLAS YEO/AFP) (Photo by NICHOLAS YEO/AFP via Getty Images)
UFC heavyweight champion Jon Jones isn’t retiring, but the man he defeated in the main event of UFC 309, Stipe Miocic, called it a career. Miocic was not alone.
UFC veteran Damon Jackson also retired following his submission loss to 41-year-old ageless wonder Jim Miller. Here’s how both men exited.
Jon Jones Spinning Back kicks Stipe Miocic into retirement
Jones punched and knocked down Miocic with ease in the first round. He hurt Miocic with body kicks before blasting him with this spinning back kick that ended the fight.
After the fight, Miocic didn’t mess around. He quickly told Joe Rogan he was done and seemed at peace with his decision to leave the sport.
Miocic walks away with one of the most incredible resumes in the history of heavyweight MMA.
He is a two-time champion with two wins over Daniel Cormier and a win over Francis Ngannou, Fabricio Werdum, Junior dos Santos, Alistair Overeem, Andre Arlovski and others.
Miocic will be inducted into the UFC Hall of Fame as early as 2025.
Jim Miller guillotines Damon Jackson and forces him to retire
In a fight between a 41-year-old and a 36-year-old lightweight, it seems appropriate for someone to hang up the gloves after the fight. That happened when Jackson put down his gloves in the Octagon after his loss to Miller.
Jed I. Goodman glimpsed the remains of Jackson’s symbolic gesture.
Jackson found himself in a challenging position in his career. In his old age, he was in a period where he lost four of his last five fights.
If he hadn’t retired, there’s a chance he would have been cut by the UFC next week. Jackson took control of his own future and made the call. Here’s a look at all the results from UFC 309.
Complete UFC 309 Results
Main card
- 🏆(c) Jon Jones final No. 8 Stipe Miocic via TKO in the third round
- 🏆No. 2 Charles Oliveira def. No. 7 Michael Chandler via unanimous decision (49-46, 49-46, 49-45)🏆 – Fight of the Night
- Bo Nickal def. Paul Craig via unanimous decision (30-27×3)
- No. 9 Viviane Araujo def. No. 5 Karine Silva via unanimous decision (29-28×3)
- Mauricio Ruffy def. James Llontop via unanimous decision (29-28×3)
Preliminaries
- Marcus McGhee def. No. 13 Jonathan Martinez via unanimous decision (29-28×3)
- Chris Weidman vs. Eryk Anders – CANCELED
- Jim Miller definitively. Damon Jackson via First Round Submission (Guillotine)
- David Onama def. Roberto Romero via unanimous decision (30-27×3)
- No. 9 Marcin Tybura def. Jhonata Diniz via TKO in the second round
Early preliminaries
- 🏆Ramiz Brahimaj def. Mickey Gall via KO in the first round
- 🏆Oban Elliott def. Bassil Hafez via KO in the third round
- Eduardo Moura def. Veronica Hardy via unanimous decision (30-27, 29-28×2)
What’s next for the UFC?
The next UFC event will take place in Macau. The preliminaries begin at 3:00 AM ET and the main card begins at 6:00 AM ET.
- Petr Yan vs. Deiveson Figueiredo
- Xiaonan Yan vs. Tabatha Ricci
- Ozzy Diaz vs. Mingyang Zhang
- Kenan Song vs. Muslim Salikhov
- Cong Wang vs. Gabriella Fernandes
- Volkan Oezdemir vs. Carlos Ulberg
- Carlos Hernandez vs. Nyamjargal Tumendemberel
- Xiaocan Feng vs. Ming Shi
- Kiru Sahota vs. Dong Hoon Choi
- Su Young You vs. Balgyn Jenisuly
- Kangjie Zhu vs. Bin Xie
- Lone’er Kavanagh vs. Jose Ochoa
- Long Xiao vs. Quang Le
- Maheshate Hayisaer vs. Nikolas Motta
