As a star-studded Madison Square Garden audience waited in anticipation for the latest round of Ultimate Fighting Championship fights in its 309th edition, many familiar faces could be seen on its card. Long-time veteran and UFC fan-favorite Charles Oliveira was pitted in a rematch against fellow veteran Michael Chandler, while in its main event, Jon Jones, current champion of the heavyweight division, would face off against Stipe Miocic, an icon of the division.
Charles Oliveira vs. Michael Chandler
Leading up to the fight, both fighters were looking to make a statement victory and stake their claim for a shot at the lightweight belt, with both trying to reclaim the belt they formerly held. As Oliveira, hailing from Brazil, came into the fight as the second-place ranked lightweight, as well as boasting a 34-10 record and defeating Chandler in their first fight, he was widely considered a favorite for the fight. Meanwhile, Chandler, known to thrive in underdog situations and feed off adversity, was confident in his ability to pull off the upset in the rematch as he came into the fight with a 23-8 record.
“Going into the fight, I really hoped Oliveira would win as it was one of my favorite fighters against one of my least favorite fighters. I love Oliveira’s fighting style and he deserves another shot at the belt and a rematch against Islam [Makhachev],” sophomore David Perez said.
In their previous bout, Chandler had the lightweight belt taken from him by Oliveira after he was knocked out in the second round by him. Hoping to be able to use this as fuel to win this fight, Chandler started off the first round hot, landing a few shots on Oliveira. However, Oliveira subsequently went to what he does best and began trying to grapple with him, to which he was successful for the most part as he neutralized Chandler. Oliveira dominated Chandler on the ground for the most part for the rest of the first round, but Chandler defended well and was able to prevent the submission.
Going into the second round, Oliveira carried his momentum from the first round, landing a few strong punches to the head and putting Chandler into his defense. Oliveira went back to what worked for him in the first, going for the takedown again and earning crucial strikes to Chandler on the ground. The third and fourth rounds were not any different, as Oliveira put on a clinic and had almost 15 minutes of control time on the ground in the fight.
Meanwhile Chandler, infamous for fighting dirty at times, got away with a few illegal eye pokes and hits to the back of the head. By getting away with these, Chandler gave himself a lifeline in the fight and was able to slow Oliveira down slightly.
Leading up to the fifth and final round, Chandler knew he was relying on a knockout or submission to win the fight, as he had pretty unanimously lost the first four rounds. This showed in his style, as he came out of the gates swinging. He connected on a few of his strikes, doing damage to Oliveira. Oliveira attempted to control this situation by going for a takedown again, but this time, he was unsuccessful and Chandler punished him for it. As he went for his takedown, he missed and found himself on the bottom of the two. Chandler furiously pounded Oliveira with 12-6 elbows to the back of the head, a strike recently made legal in the UFC. As it began to look as if Chandler was going to pull off the unlikely and knockout Oliveira, the Brazilian escaped from below and managed to survive the rest of the round.
As it came down to a decision, all three judges unanimously concurred that Oliveira had won the fight, and he moved to 35-10 as well as the second spot in the lightweight division. Moving forward, Oliveira will have to wait for the winner of Makhachev vs. Tsarukyan to have his first shot at the title since he lost it in October of 2022.
“Oliveira is a really good fighter, but I think the skill gap between him and Islam is the same as between himself and Chandler. Just like Oliveira beat Chandler twice, I think if Oliveira fights [Makhachev] again the result will be the same,” said sophomore William Pedron.
Jon Jones vs. Stipe Miocic
As Charles Oliveira and Michael Chandler left the ring, the stage was set for the main event of the night. Widely regarded as the best of all time in the sport, Jon Jones prepared for his second fight in the previous four years and his first since March of 2023. Fans packed the arena eager to see the UFC icon face off against fellow great of the sport, Stipe Miocic, in a fight where the heavyweight belt was at stake.
Miocic came into the fight rather inactive as well, with this being his first fight in over three years. Many sports betting books favored Jones in the fight, but plenty believed Miocic, the former champion, still had enough for one last surprise.
Leading up to the fight, Jones was swarmed with controversy over his choice of opponent and status as undisputed champion. Jones was originally scheduled to fight Miocic during UFC 295, in November of 2023, which he pulled out of due to an injury. The UFC opted to pull Miocic from the card as well as to honor the match-up to be rescheduled. Tom Aspinall was notified on short notice to step in for the main card and fight Sergei Pavlovich. Aspinall obliged, and won the fight to become the interim champ of the heavyweight division. Controversy arose as the issue lied in the fact that the interim champ is meant to fight the defending champ in their next fight. However, due to the UFC protecting the matchup between Jones and Miocic as well as Jones’ injury, this was not the case. Aspinall has been vocal about his protests to this, with Jones being accused of “ducking” him and avoiding the fight.
“Jones is definitely scared of Aspinall otherwise this would not be so complicated. If Jones loses to Aspinall, he no longer has his technically undefeated record and he loses status in the greatest of all time conversation,” sophomore Erik Hjelm said.
After entering the octagon to much applause and cheers from eager fans, the fight began. Round one started and both fighters came out with big shots, hoping to take an early control on the fight. Following an exchange of strikes with each other, it was Jones who secured a takedown by tripping Miocic over his heel. After gaining the high ground over his opponent, Jones took advantage, dominating Miocic on the ground and dealing severe damage. In the second round, the two fighters tested each others striking with some stand up fighting. Jones proved he was vastly superior over Miocic in this aspect, as he showed off his speed and ability to land powerful body shots while Miocic attempted to counter to no avail.
Following the first two rounds, which both went Jones’ way, Miocic came out attacking in round three and landed some shots. Jones quickly countered this and went back to work, continuing to chip away at Miocic. Midway through round three, Jones delivered a spinning back kick to Miocic’s ribs, which crumbled him to the canvas and resulted in a TKO victory for Jones as he retained his heavyweight belt.
“With this fight, Jones proves he still has it and is still almost, if not just as good, as he was years ago. That was a near perfect performance and Jones is still fully deserving of the UFC heavyweight belt,” sophomore Fabian Troia said.
The dominant performance from Jones propelled him from the third to the second spot in the overall UFC Men’s Pound for Pound fighters ranking, putting him over light-heavyweight champion Alex Pereira. Jones has spoken about his plans for the future, as he deals with pressure from Aspinall to fight him in what would be a belt unification fight. Dana White has given a statement that Jones would have to fight Aspinall in his next fight if he planned to keep the heavyweight belt. Despite this, Jones has expressed his wishes to fight Alex Pereira in what would be considered a super-fight for the UFC. If he intended to do this, he would have to give up the belt to Aspinall, as well as move to down to Pereira’s light-heavyweight division.
