Tag: Jon Jones

UFC 309 medical suspensions: Stipe Miocic out for 60 days, several others up to three months

From one week to three months, check out the full list of medical suspensions handed out following UFC 309 in New York.

Every fighter who competed this past Saturday at UFC 309 has been given a medical suspension following their bouts.

Jhonata Diniz, Mickey Gall and Bassil Hafez were knocked out in their fights and were among four fighters who received 90-day suspensions, which was the longest period issued. The fourth fighter who received 90 days was James Llontop, who went the distance with Mauricio Ruffy, but was on the receiving end of multiple damaging strikes over three rounds.

The event, which took place at Madison Square Garden in New York, was headlined by a heavyweight title fight between Jon Jones and former champion Stipe Miocic. Although he announced his retirement following the main event, Miocic was given a 60-day suspension for his TKO loss to Jones.

Wednesday, MMA Junkie acquired a full list of medical suspensions from the New York State Department of State, which oversaw the event. Check out the full list below. The suspensions ranged from a 7-day mandatory rest period to 90 days. Any fighter given 30-90 days may return sooner if cleared by a doctor (unless noted otherwise).

Eduarda Moura def. Veronica Hardy

Nov 16, 2024; New York, NY, USA; Veronica Hardy (red gloves) fights Eduarda Moura (blue gloves) in the flyweight bout during UFC 309 at Madison Square Garden. Mandatory Credit: Brad Penner-Imagn Images

[autotag]Eduarda Moura[/autotag]: 7 days mandatory rest

[autotag]Veronica Hardy[/autotag]: 7 days mandatory rest

Oban Elliott def. Bassil Hafez

Ò(Editors Note: Graphic Content, Blood)Ó Nov 16, 2024; New York, NY, USA; Bassil Hafez (red gloves) fights Oban Elliott (blue gloves) in the welterweight bout during UFC 309 at Madison Square Garden. Mandatory Credit: Brad Penner-Imagn Images

[autotag]Oban Elliott[/autotag]: 30-day suspension

[autotag]Bassil Hafez[/autotag]: 90-day suspension with neurology clearance

Ramiz Brahimaj def. Mickey Gall

Ramiz Brahimaj def Mickey Gall UFC 309

[autotag]Ramiz Brahimaj[/autotag]: 7 days mandatory rest

[autotag]Mickey Gall[/autotag]: 90-day suspension with neurology clearance

Marcin Tybura def. Jhonata Diniz

Ò(Editors Note: Graphic Content, Blood)Ó Nov 16, 2024; New York, NY, USA; Jhonata Diniz (blue gloves) reacts after losing to Marcin Tybura (red gloves, not pictured) in the Heavyweight bout during UFC 309 at Madison Square Garden. Mandatory Credit: Brad Penner-Imagn Images

[autotag]Marcin Tybura[/autotag]: 7 days mandatory rest

[autotag]Jhonata Diniz[/autotag]: 90-day suspension

David Onama def. Roberto Romero

Ò(Editors Note: Graphic Content, Blood)Ó Nov 16, 2024; New York, NY, USA; David Onama (red gloves) fights Roberto Romero (blue gloves) in the lightweight bout during UFC 309 at Madison Square Garden. Mandatory Credit: Brad Penner-Imagn Images

[autotag]David Onama[/autotag]: 30-day suspension

[autotag]Roberto Romero[/autotag]: 30-day suspension

Jim Miller def. Damon Jackson

[autotag]Jim Miller[/autotag]: 7 days mandatory rest

[autotag]Damon Jackson[/autotag]: 30-day suspension

Marcus McGhee def. Jonathan Martinez

Nov 16, 2024; New York, NY, USA; Jonathan Martinez (red gloves) fights Marcus Mcghee (blue gloves) in the bantamweight bout during UFC 309 at Madison Square Garden. Mandatory Credit: Brad Penner-Imagn Images

[autotag]Marcus McGhee[/autotag]: 30-day suspension

[autotag]Jonathan Martinez[/autotag]: 7 days mandatory rest

Mauricio Ruffy def. James Llontop

Ò(Editors Note: Graphic Content, Blood)Ó Nov 16, 2024; New York, NY, USA; Mauricio Ruffy (red gloves) fights James Llontop (blue gloves) in the catchweight bout during UFC 309 at Madison Square Garden. Mandatory Credit: Brad Penner-Imagn Images

[autotag]Mauricio Ruffy[/autotag]: 30-day suspension

[autotag]James Llontop[/autotag]: 90-day suspension

Viviane Araujo def. Karine Silva

Nov 16, 2024; New York, NY, USA; Viviane Araujo (red gloves) fights Karine Silva (blue gloves) in the WomenÕs Flyweight bout during UFC 309 at Madison Square Garden. Mandatory Credit: Brad Penner-Imagn Images

[autotag]Viviane Araujo[/autotag]: 30-day suspension

[autotag]Karine Silva[/autotag]: 30-day suspension

Bo Nickal def. Paul Craig

NEW YORK, NEW YORK – NOVEMBER 16: (R-L) Bo Nickal of the United States of America punches Paul Craig of Scotland in a middleweight fight during the UFC 309 event at Madison Square Garden on November 16, 2024 in New York City. (Photo by Sarah Stier/Getty Images)

[autotag]Bo Nickal[/autotag]: 7 days mandatory rest

[autotag]Paul Craig[/autotag]: 30-day suspension

Charles Oliveira def. Michael Chandler

Nov 16, 2024; New York, NY, USA; Charles Oliveira (red gloves) fights Michael Chandler (blue gloves) in the lightweight bout during UFC 309 at Madison Square Garden. Mandatory Credit: Brad Penner-Imagn Images

[autotag]Charles Oliveira[/autotag]: 30-day suspension

[autotag]Michael Chandler[/autotag]: 30-day suspension

Jon Jones def. Stipe Miocic

UFC Heavyweight Champion Jon Jones (R) fights challenger Stipe Miocic during their heavyweight title bout at Madison Square Garden in New York, on November 16, 2024. (Photo by Kena Betancur / AFP) (Photo by KENA BETANCUR/AFP via Getty Images)

[autotag]Jon Jones[/autotag]: 7 days mandatory rest

[autotag]Stipe Miocic[/autotag]: 60-day suspension

For more on the card, visit MMA Junkie’s event hub for UFC 309.

Former UFC champ ‘comfortable’ saying Tom Aspinall could beat Jon Jones

Demetrious Johnson thinks Tom Aspinall has the physical attributes to beat Jon Jones.

[autotag]Demetrious Johnson[/autotag] believes [autotag]Tom Aspinall[/autotag] has the physical attributes to beat UFC heavyweight champion [autotag]Jon Jones[/autotag].

Interim champ Aspinall (15-3 MMA, 8-1 UFC) is hoping to get his title unification bout with Jones (28-1 MMA, 22-1 UFC), who defended his title with a third-round TKO of Stipe Miocic in Saturday’s UFC 309 main event.

Jones wants to be compensated handsomely for a potential Aspinall fight, and Johnson sees Aspinall as the man to beat him.

“I think Tom Aspinall has the speed, the athleticism and the power to give Jon Jones problems,” Johnson said on his YouTube channel. “Tom Aspinall is still young, and he’s still getting better, but I think this version of Jon Jones vs. Tom Aspinall is very – Tom Aspinall can beat him.

“I feel comfortable saying that just because you have somebody who’s going to take the fight to Jon Jones and not be scared. Now, can Tom Aspinall run into one of those elbows and a spinning back sh*t and a flying knee? One thousand percent.”

Johnson’s current pecking order at heavyweight goes PFL heavyweight superfights champ Francis Ngannou, Jones, then Aspinall. He thinks Ngannou would also be a tough stylistic matchup for Jones.

“I wish I would have seen Jon Jones vs. Tom Aspinall because once again, I still think the heavyweight king of the world is probably Francis Ngannou because he never lost the heavyweight championship,” Johnson said. “He knocked out Stipe Miocic, and that was when Stipe Miocic was a little bit more active. …

“I think Francis has the power factor and the athleticism, and I bet you he can probably defend Jon Jones’ takedown, and I bet you he can probably deal with Jon Jones’ range.”

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For more on the card, visit MMA Junkie’s event hub for UFC 309.

USA TODAY Sports/MMA Junkie rankings, Nov. 19: Jon Jones back on top

Check out the latest USA TODAY Sports/MMA Junkie rankings following UFC 309 in New York.

UFC 309 took place last weekend in New York, and it produced a massive update in the men’s pound-for-pound rankings.

UFC heavyweight champion [autotag]Jon Jones[/autotag] returned to action in the main event at Madison Square Garden, where he stopped former champion Stipe Miocic with a brutal spinning back kick to the body.

Entering the week at No. 5 in the men’s pound-for-pound rankings, Jones vaults back up to the No. 1 spot.

Check out all the latest pound-for-pound and divisional USA TODAY Sports/MMA Junkie rankings.

Chael Sonnen, Daniel Cormier agree how Jon Jones vs. Francis Ngannou would unfold

After UFC 309, Chael Sonnen and Daniel Cormier doubt Francis Ngannou’s chances against Jon Jones.

After UFC 309, [autotag]Chael Sonnen[/autotag] and [autotag]Daniel Cormier[/autotag] doubt [autotag]Francis Ngannou[/autotag]’s chances against [autotag]Jon Jones[/autotag].

Jones (28-1 MMA, 22-1 UFC) retained his UFC heavyweight title when he finished Stipe Miocic in the third round with a spinning back kick to the body in Saturday’s main event at Madison Square Garden in New York.

Watching Jones dominate Miocic (20-5 MMA, 14-5 UFC) from start to finish makes Sonnen think former UFC heavyweight champ and current PFL heavyweight superfights champ Ngannou would’ve struggled against Jones.

“Do you know what Jon would have done to Francis Ngannou in hindsight?” Sonnen said on “Good Guy/Bad Guy” with Daniel Cormier. “Now that we look back, Jon would have picked that big man a part. I mean, I’m just sharing with you, like, that’s a big man’s nightmare. Jon’s not a heavyweight; Jon is fighting at heavyweight. There’s a massive difference.”

Jones and Ngannou were on a collision course before Ngannou opted to sign with PFL. Cormier, who fought Jones twice, was especially impressed with his former rival’s wrestling.

“Yes, dude, Francis would have struggled with Jones,” Cormier said. “Dude, he threw Stipe down and just beat the crap out of him. He literally grabbed him by the neck, stepped behind his leg and threw him down. He choke slammed him and just beat him on the ground.”

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For more on the card, visit MMA Junkie’s event hub for UFC 309.

Jon Jones reacts to No. 2 pound-for-pound ranking after UFC 309

UFC heavyweight champion Jon Jones shares his thoughts on his No. 2 pound-for-pound ranking after his win over Stipe Miocic at UFC 309.

Unlike UFC CEO Dana White, [autotag]Jon Jones[/autotag] had a very different take on his pound-for-pound placement in the UFC official rankings.

Jones (27-1 MMA, 21-1 UFC), considered by most as the greatest fighter in MMA history, was put as No. 2 on the UFC pound-for-pound rankings following his successful title defense at Saturday’s UFC 309. Jones, who defended his UFC heavyweight title by stopping Stipe Miocic, was happy with his rankings – especially considering he’s the oldest fighter on the list. It’s a stance that differs from White, who believes Jones should be the clear No. 1.

“Being ranked number 2 pound per pound at 37 years old, I’m happy with that,” Jones wrote on X on Tuesday.


Jones is seen by many as undefeated in MMA, given his only loss was a disqualification due to an elbow strike that has now been made legal. After dominating the UFC light heavyweight division for years, Jones took a three-year break from the sport to return as a heavyweight and win the title vacated by Francis Ngannou in early 2023.

UFC lightweight champion Islam Makhachev is the only fighter ranked above Jones at ranked No. 1. The rankings are composed of an independent panel that updates them after every UFC event.

For more on the card, visit MMA Junkie’s event hub for UFC 309.

Overreaction Time: UFC 309 and Jake Paul vs. Mike Tyson deliver the not-so-goods

Check out the latest episode of “Overreaction Time” covering Jon Jones vs. Stipe Miocic, Jake Paul vs. Mike Tyson, and more.

The time for overreacting is here!

Check out the latest episode of “Overreaction Time” at noon ET/9 a.m. PT as host Simon Samano and MMA Junkie reporter Farah Hannoun debate these “overreactions” on the following topics in mixed martial arts:

  • [autotag]Jon Jones[/autotag] vs. [autotag]Stipe Miocic[/autotag] was a meaningless UFC heavyweight title fight.
  • UFC 309 proved Jon Jones would lose to [autotag]Tom Aspinall[/autotag].
  • Things are about to get ugly between Jon Jones and [autotag]Dana White[/autotag].
  • [autotag]Michael Chandler[/autotag] should stop acting so desperate to fight [autotag]Conor McGregor[/autotag].
  • [autotag]Bo Nickal[/autotag]’s UFC 309 performance was a huge disappointment.
  • [autotag]Jake Paul [/autotag]vs. [autotag]Mike Tyson[/autotag]: What the hell was that?
  • The UFC totally redeemed itself with the UFC 310/UFC Tampa shakeup.

Watch the full episode in the video above.

Tom Aspinall highlights one clear disadvantage Jon Jones would have against him

Tom Aspinall explains why Jon Jones’ preparation for a UFC heavyweight title unifier “will keep him up at night for sure.”

[autotag]Tom Aspinall[/autotag] thinks UFC heavyweight champion [autotag]Jon Jones[/autotag] would have a hard time preparing for him.

Aspinall (15-3 MMA, 8-1 UFC) was in attendance for Jones’ successful title defense against Stipe Miocic in Saturday’s UFC 309 headliner at Madison Square Garden in New York. Jones finished Miocic with a spinning back kick to the body in Round 3.

Jones (28-1 MMA, 22-1 UFC) prides himself on being great at studying tape and breaking down opponents, but based on Aspinall’s fight time in the octagon, the interim champ believes Jones won’t have much to look at – and that’s a clear disadvantage.

“He loves to study opponents like this. He has no chance of doing that with me because my average fight time is the shortest in UFC history at 2:02,” Aspinall said of Jones on “The Ariel Helwani Show” on Monday. “All 10 fights, and that’s something that keeps him up at night. That will keep him up at night for sure.

“I am a massive, massive question mark for him, and I know a lot of his game. He’s got a lot of octagon time over a lot of years, and I’ve got next to nothing, next to no footage of me, nothing of me out there apart from bouncing people’s heads off the canvas. He has no idea what to prepare for, and that is fantastic for me.”

Jones said he wants “f*ck you” money to fight Aspinall, and Aspinall doesn’t blame him. Despite Jones dismissing him on multiple occasions, Aspinall is confident the fight ends up happening.

“I’m a damn dangerous fight for him, the most dangerous of his career at this stage by far, and he knows it,” Aspinall said. “Of course he wants money. I think he secretly wants it because he has a gigantic ego, and he should have because he’s one of the best fighters ever. And he hates the fact that people are saying that I can beat him. He can’t sleep at night.”

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For more on the card, visit MMA Junkie’s event hub for UFC 309.

Jon Jones still isn’t No. 1 P4P after UFC 309, and Dana White (again) is mad

The official UFC rankings panelists continue to do themselves no favors whatsoever with Dana White.

The official UFC rankings panelists continue to do themselves no favors whatsoever with [autotag]Dana White[/autotag].

UFC 309 saw the return of heavyweight champion [autotag]Jon Jones[/autotag], who successfully returned from a 20-month layoff to defend his title with a third-round TKO of Stipe Miocic, who was coming off an even longer layoff of more than three-and-a-half years. The fight headlined the pay-per-view event at Madison Square Garden in New York.

For months, White has repeatedly fussed about Jones not being No. 1 in the official UFC pound-for-pound rankings, where he sat at No. 3 behind light heavyweight champ Alex Pereira and lightweight champ Islam Makhachev prior to UFC 309. Coming out of the event, Jones has jumped up one spot to leapfrog Pereira for the second spot, but he remains behind top-ranked Makhachev.

Unsurprisingly, White is perturbed by Jones still not claiming the top spot and made that clear Monday night on his Instagram Stories.

“I have to get rid of these CLOWNS!!” White wrote. “(Mark Zuckerberg), let’s get this AI deal done ASAP!!!!!”

White must’ve believed Jones’ easy win over Miocic would convince the UFC rankings panel to place him No. 1, but that’s not the case.

Last month, White said he was open to the UFC rankings being compiled, in part, by AI and consulted Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg, who’s a big UFC fan.

“I could go on and on and on, but I won’t,” White said. “We literally had meetings this week to work on it. I actually talked to Mark Zuckerberg, too, about AI, so yeah, I’m totally going to fix the rankings. We’re going to make a lot of strong moves here coming into 2025.”

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For more on the card, visit MMA Junkie’s event hub for UFC 309.

Debate: Will Jon Jones finally fight Tom Aspinall after UFC 309?

Jon Jones vs. Tom Aspinall is clearly the fight fans want to see after UFC 309. Will it happen? We discuss on “Spinning Back Clique.”

The [autotag]Jon Jones[/autotag] vs. [autotag]Stipe Miocic[/autotag] saga is finally over, and it left the MMA world with one key question: Will Jones finally fight [autotag]Tom Aspinall[/autotag] to unify the UFC heavyweight title?

Jones defended his heavyweight strap this past Saturday by stopping Miocic in the third round of their UFC 309 main event in Madison Square Garden. Jones indicated that he wants to fight Alex Pereira next, or maybe Aspinall if he were paid “f*ck you money.” This may be frustrating to many, as Aspinall won and defended the interim heavyweight title over the past year, making himself the clear No. 1 contender in the division.

So, will Jones get down with Aspinall? And how did Jones look in his return to the octagon?

MMA Junkie’s Brian “Goze” Garcia, Mike Bohn, Danny Segura and host Gorgeous George discuss everything surrounding Jon Jones’ big win over Miocic and what may come next for his career.

Watch their discussion in the video above, and don’t miss this week’s complete episode of “Spinning Back Clique” below on YouTube or in podcast form.

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For more on the card, visit MMA Junkie’s event hub for UFC 309.

Daniel Cormier: UFC 309 showed that Jon Jones and Stipe Miocic ‘were not on the same level’

Daniel Cormier thinks Jon Jones showed that he’s levels above Stipe Miocic at UFC 309.

[autotag]Daniel Cormier[/autotag] thinks [autotag]Jon Jones[/autotag] showed that he’s levels above [autotag]Stipe Miocic[/autotag] at UFC 309.

Jones (27-1 MMA, 21-1 UFC) retained his heavyweight title by finishing Miocic (20-4 MMA, 14-4 UFC) with a spinning back kick to the body in Saturday’s main event at Madison Square Garden in New York.

Miocic was almost stopped in Round 1 when Jones took him down and landed big ground and pound. Jones systematically broke him down throughout the fight before getting the finish in Round 3.

“From the very start of this fight, it was very apparent that these two were not on the same level,” Cormier said on his YouTube channel. “From Round 1, Jon Jones had a 10-8 round. He started the fight with a beautiful kick to the middle, jabs at Stipe Miocic, takes him down with what was a sick takedown.”

Cormier thinks the damage Miocic took on the ground early set the tone for the rest of the fight, where he slowed down drastically.

“It looked like Stipe expected something, and he got something completely different,” Cormier said. “It was a wipeout. It really was a wipeout. And while I was surprised, I knew that this fight could go one of two ways: It could be very close, it could be very competitive, or it could be one-sided. Tonight we got option 2, the one-sided fight where Miocic didn’t get much accomplished.”

Cormier did take the time to praise his former rival, crediting him for what he’s achieved throughout his career.

”This dude proves time and time again, man, how good he is, and I truly believe a lot of it is due to the hard work, the fight IQ, and the toughness, the durability that he possesses inside the octagon,” Cormier said. “It does not matter what I feel about Jon Jones in life. I do respect him tremendously, immensely, as a fighter. He does a lot of the right things when he’s inside that octagon, and that has led to him having more success than anyone has had.

“This guy has defended titles, and over the course of three generations of fighters. That was it for that generation. Stipe was it for that generation. … He has defended this belt over three generations. So no matter what you feel about him, it’s very apparent that you have to respect him and the skills that he possesses in the octagon. He has once again defended a belt and stays UFC champion.”

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For more on the card, visit MMA Junkie’s event hub for UFC 309.