Tag: Stipe Miocic

UFC 309 ‘Embedded,’ No. 5: Jon Jones meets Queen Latifah at a Knicks game

In the fifth installment of UFC 309 ‘Embedded,’ Jon Jones hangs out with Queen Latifah after a Knicks game.

The UFC is back in New York for UFC 309, and the popular “Embedded” fight week video series is here to document what’s happening behind the scenes.

UFC 309 (pay-per-view, ESPNews/Hulu/FX, ESPN+) takes place Saturday at Madison Square Garden in New York.

In the headliner, heavyweight champion [autotag]Jon Jones[/autotag] (27-1 MMA, 21-1 UFC) puts his title on the line for the first time when he takes on former champ [autotag]Stipe Miocic[/autotag] (20-4 MMA, 14-4 UFC) in a fight delayed by a year. In the co-feature, former lightweight champ [autotag]Charles Oliveira[/autotag] (34-10 MMA, 22-10 UFC) takes on [autotag]Michael Chandler[/autotag] (23-8 MMA, 2-3 UFC) after he was left at the altar by Conor McGregor.

The fifth episode of “Embedded” follows the featured fighters while they get ready for fight week. Here is the UFC’s description of the episode from YouTube:

UFC 309 athletes make their media day rounds; Champ Jon Jones runs into Queen Latifah at the Knicks game; Stipe Miocic talks golf with Daniel Cormier and is gifted memorabilia at Madison Square Garden; Charles Oliveira gets dressed up; The stars of UFC 309 square off at the press conference.

Previous UFC 309 ‘Embedded’ episodes

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

UFC 309 weigh-in results: Title fight official, but one fighter off the mark in New York

Check out the results from the official UFC 309 fighter weigh-ins.

NEW YORK – MMA Junkie was on scene and reporting live from Friday’s official UFC 309 fighter weigh-ins, where all but one fighter hit their marks on the scale.

In the main event, heavyweight champion [autotag]Jon Jones[/autotag] (27-1 MMA, 21-1 UFC) takes on former champ [autotag]Stipe Miocic[/autotag] (20-4 MMA, 14-4 UFC) in a long-awaited matchup. Jones was 237.6 pounds. Miocic will have a slight weight advantage at 248.6.

In the co-feature, former lightweight champ [autotag]Charles Oliveira[/autotag] (34-10 MMA, 22-10 UFC) takes on [autotag]Michael Chandler[/autotag] (23-8 MMA, 2-3 UFC). When he was champion, Oliveira missed weight for a title defense against Justin Gaethje and was stripped of the belt. He’s trying to work his way back to a title shot, and this time was on the mark at 155.6. Chandler, who was the first fighter to come to the scale, was the same.

To open the main card, James Llontop (14-4 MMA, 0-2 UFC) takes on Mauricio Ruffy (10-1 MMA, 1-0 UFC) in a bout that was originally set for lightweight when Ruffy was fighting Charlie Campbell. Llontop stepped in on short notice and the fight was set for 165 pounds at a catchweight. But Llontop missed that limit on the scale by 1.2 pounds and was fined 20 percent of his purse.

The early weigh-ins took place at the UFC host hotel in New York and preceded the ceremonial weigh-ins for the fans, which take place at 5 p.m. ET at The Theater at MSG. The attached Madison Square Garden hosts Saturday’s event (pay-per-view, ESPNews/Hulu/FX, ESPN+).

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The full UFC 309 weigh-in results included:

MAIN CARD (Pay-per-view, 10 p.m. ET)

  • Champ Jon Jones (237.6) vs. Stipe Miocic (248.6) – for heavyweight title
  • Michael Chandler (155.6) vs. Charles Oliveira (155.6)
  • Paul Craig (186) vs. Bo Nickal (185.4)
  • Viviane Araujo (125.6) vs. Karine Silva (125.8)
  • James Llontop (166.2)* vs. Mauricio Ruffy (164.4) – 165-pound catchweight

PRELIMINARY CARD (ESPNews/FX/Hulu, 8 p.m. ET)

  • Jonathan Martinez (135.8) vs. Marcus McGhee (135.6)
  • Eryk Anders (185.6) vs. Chris Weidman (186)
  • Damon Jackson (155.2) vs. Jim Miller (155.6)
  • David Onama (155.6) vs. Roberto Romero (155)

PRELIMINARY CARD (Hulu/ESPN+, 6 p.m. ET)

  • Jhonata Diniz (253.2) vs. Marcin Tybura (251)
  • Ramiz Brahimaj (170.2) vs. Mickey Gall (170.8)
  • Bassil Hafez (171) vs. Oban Elliott (170)
  • Veronica Hardy (125.8) vs. Eduarda Moura (125.2)

*Llontop missed the catchweight limit and was fined 20 percent of his purse.
For more on the card, visit MMA Junkie’s event hub for UFC 309.

UFC 309 weigh-in video: Jon Jones, Stipe Miocic set for title bout

Jon Jones and Stipe Miocic completed the final hurdle before their UFC 309 title fight at Friday’s official weigh-ins.

NEW YORK – [autotag]Jon Jones[/autotag] and [autotag]Stipe Miocic[/autotag] completed the final hurdle to lock in their UFC 309 heavyweight title headliner at Friday’s official weigh-ins.

Reigning champion Jones (27-1 MMA, 21-1 UFC) and former titleholder Miocic (20-4 MMA, 14-4 UFC) will finally complete the long build to their matchup when they meet in Saturday’s main event at Madison Square Garden (ESPN+ pay-per-view, ESPNews, ESPN+).

Before that happens, however, they had to step on the scale for the formality of making weight. As usual, it was a drama-free affair for the heavyweights, with Jones registering at 237.6 pounds for his first title defense, while Miocic was 248.6 pounds for his first octagon appearance since March 2021.

Watch the video above to see Jones and Miocic make weight for the UFC 309 main event.

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

UFC free fight: Stipe Miocic blasts Daniel Cormier with body shots to avenge title loss

Watch Stipe Miocic blasts Daniel Cormier with body shots to avenge his UFC heavyweight title loss in 2019.

[autotag]Stipe Miocic[/autotag] showed one of the best in-fight adjustments in UFC history during his second title fight against Daniel Cormier.

In August 2019, Miocic entered UFC 241 with revenge on his mind, as he came off a knockout loss to Cormier the year prior. That defeat saw him lose his UFC heavyweight belt. The Ohio native returned the favor that night in Anaheim, Calif., as he blasted Cormier with body shots that led to a fourth-round TKO victory.

Miocic (20-4 MMA, 14-4 UFC) returns to the octagon Saturday in the main event of UFC 309, which takes place at Madison Square Garden in New York. He takes on Jon Jones (27-1 MMA, 21-1 UFC) for the UFC heavyweight title.

Check out Miocic’s impressive win over Cormeir in the video above.

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

Israel Adesanya gives UFC 309 prediction for Jon Jones vs. Stipe Miocic

Israel Adesanya gives his UFC 309 main event analysis for Jon Jones vs. Stipe Miocic and his pick is clear.

[autotag]Israel Adesanya[/autotag] expects [autotag]Jon Jones[/autotag] to make it look easy against [autotag]Stipe Miocic[/autotag].

Jones (27-1 MMA, 21-1 UFC) makes his first heavyweight title defense against Stipe Miocic (20-4 MMA, 14-4 UFC) in Saturday’s UFC 309 (pay-per-view, ESPNews/Hulu/FX, ESPN+) main event at Madison Square Garden in New York.

Jones’ heavyweight debut was impressive. He needed just over two minutes to submit Ciryl Gane and claim the vacant title at UFC 285. Adesanya admits he didn’t expect Jones to run through Gane like that.

“Jon Jones lately looks better at heavyweight already,” Adesanya said on his YouTube channel. “He has been taking it seriously, and the way he fights, the Ciryl Gane fight was the one that made me go, ‘He’s the best,’ because I thought Ciryl Gane was going to give him some trouble.

“Ciryl was the new-age heavyweight, and Jon’s like, ‘Hold my beer.’ He just sneakily, none of us knew, even ‘DC’ was like, ‘What did he catch him with?’ It was a sneaky front choke. The guy is just crafty, creative at what he does.”

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Miocic is a former two-time UFC heavyweight champion, but hasn’t competed since losing his belt to Francis Ngannou by knockout in March 2021. Despite being high on Miocic’s ability, Adesanya thinks Jones will be too much for him.

“Stipe is tough,” Adesanya continued. “He can outwork a lot of heavyweights, we’ve seen what he’s done in the past. We’ve seen his reign as a heavyweight, he’s knocked people out, submitted people. But this fight, I think he’s up against it. I’m going to pick Jon Jones. First two rounds, he’s going to finish him.”

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

Photos: UFC 309 pre-fight press conference from New York

Check out these photos from the UFC 309 press conference in New York City.

Check out these photos from the UFC 309 pre-fight press conference in New York, which featured [autotag]Dana White[/autotag], [autotag]Jon Jones[/autotag], [autotag]Stipe Miocic[/autotag], [autotag]Charles Oliveira[/autotag], [autotag]Michael Chandler[/autotag], [autotag]Bo Nickal[/autotag], and [autotag]Paul Craig[/autotag]. (Photos by Per Haljestam for MMA Junkie)

Jon Jones declares Stipe Miocic fight at UFC 309 is ‘very personal’

Jon Jones’ demeanor toward Stipe Miocic has taken an unexpected turn during UFC 309 fight week.

NEW YORK – [autotag]Jon Jones[/autotag]’ demeanor toward [autotag]Stipe Miocic[/autotag] has taken a turn during UFC 309 fight week, and with the fight more than 48 hours away, it’s clear things have gotten personal.

Jones (27-1 MMA, 21-1 UFC) returns from a more than 20-month layoff Saturday when he puts his heavyweight title on the line for the first time against former two-time champion Miocic (20-4 MMA, 14-4 UFC) in the main event at Madison Square Garden (ESPN+ pay-per-view, ESPNews, ESPN+)

After initially displaying respect toward Miocic in the months leading up to this week, reigning champ Jones said he got riled up when Miocic called him a “b*tch” – “bring it on, b*tch” were his exact words – on the UFC 309 “Countdown” show. Jones also claims Miocic said he was a poor example for his children given his history of personal missteps, and now Jones’ attitude has changed.

“Everyone likes first responders, and I actually respect men and women in the armed forces and law enforcement, things like that, so I made it a point to try to be very respectful to him,” Jones told MMA Junkie and other reporters at the UFC 309 press conference. “There’s been two scenarios now. First scenario, he said ‘my kids will never look at me like I’m an a**hole.’ That was a direct attack at me and my family and my relationship with my kids. Second attack was him calling me a b*tch. So the respect is a little bit out the window, and we’ll see that on Saturday.”

When asked outright how things have changed, Jones said, “It’s very personal to me, yes.”

Miocic appeared dumbfounded by Jones’ comments. He said with Jones claiming he would defeat him in front of a sold-out crowd in New York and in front of the world, he told him “bring it on, b*tch.” How that made things so personal is lost on Miocic, but it also doesn’t matter to him.

“I don’t even remember saying that, ‘My kids won’t look at me like an asshole,'” Miocic said. “That was no direct thing to him. And when I said ‘bring it on, b*tch,’ pretty much he was calling me out, telling me he was gonna beat my ass in front of a whole arena of people. So, sorry for defending myself. I apologize. …

“I think every fight is personal no matter what. You’re fighting another man in the octagon. It’s always personal.”

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

UFC 309 full press conference faceoffs video: Charles Oliveira vs. Michael Chandler 2, more

In addition to main event, UFC 309 press conference faceoffs included Charles Oliveira vs. Michael Chandler and Bo Nickal vs. Paul Craig.

NEW YORK – The stars of UFC 309 main card athletes came face to face for the first time during fight week following Thursday’s pre-fight press conference.

With fight week festivities rolling on, the athletes for the card took the stage to answers questions from the media, then engaged in staredowns ahead of Saturday’s event, which takes place at Madison Square Garden (ESPN+ pay-per-view, ESPNews, ESPN+).

In addition to the Jon Jones vs. Stipe Miocic heavyweight championship main event, the anticipated five-round lightweight rematch between [autotag]Charles Oliveira[/autotag] and [autotag]Michael Chandler[/autotag], as well as the middleweight main card bout of [autotag]Bo Nickal[/autotag] vs. [autotag]Paul Craig[/autotag] was also in attendance and participated in faceoffs.

Watch the video above to see the full pre-fight press conference faceoffs ahead of UFC 309.

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

UFC 309 video: Jon Jones ignores Stipe Miocic handshake during first faceoff

After more than 20 months of build, Jon Jones and Stipe Miocic finally faced off for the first time at the UFC 309 press conference.

NEW YORK – After more than 20 months of buildup, [autotag]Jon Jones[/autotag] and [autotag]Stipe Miocic[/autotag] finally crossed paths in a formal setting in advance of their heavyweight title fight at Thursday’s UFC 309 pre-fight press conference.

After answering questions from the media, reigning champion Jones (27-1 MMA, 21-1 UFC) and former titleholder Miocic (20-4 MMA, 14-4 UFC) came face to face for a staredown before what’s being promoted as a historic encounter between two all-time greats.

Jones made it clear during the press conference that things have gotten personal for him thanks tosome previous comments made by Miocic. When they came together to face off, Miocic extended for a handshake that Jones ignored, creating a tense moment before they clash in Saturday’s headliner at Madison Square Garden (ESPN+ pay-per-view, ESPNews, ESPN+).

Check out the video above to watch the Jones vs. Miocic staredown from the UFC 309 pre-fight press conference.

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

Video: ‘UFC 309: Jones vs. Miocic’ press conference live stream

UFC 309 fighters Jon Jones, Stipe Miocic, Charles Oliveira, Michael Chandler and more will attend Thursday’s pre-fight press conference.

NEW YORK – The UFC 309 pre-fight press conference takes place Thursday, and you can watch a live stream of the event in the video above.

The press conference takes place at The Theatre at MSG, attached to Madison Square Garden, which hosts Saturday’s fight card (ESPN+ pay-per-view, ESPNews, ESPN+).

UFC 309 is built around the return of two of the most decorated fighters in UFC history. Heavyweight champion [autotag]Jon Jones[/autotag] (27-1 MMA, 21-1 UFC) makes history comeback for the first time in 20 months, while former titleholder [autotag]Stipe Miocic[/autotag] (20-4 MMA, 14-4 UFC) sees action following a nearly 44-month layoff. And in the co-main event, former lightweight champ [autotag]Charles Oliveira[/autotag] (34-10 MMA, 22-10 UFC) rematches [autotag]Michael Chandle[/autotag]r (23-8 MMA, 2-3 UFC).

Here’s what you need to know about the UFC 309 press conference.

What time does the UFC 309 press conference start?

The UFC 309 press conference starts at 5 p.m. ET/2 p.m. PT.

Who’s taking part in the UFC 309 press conference?

Six of the the 10 fighters scheduled in main card bouts are slated to participate in the UFC 309 press conference: Jones, Miocic, Oliveira, Chandler, Bo Nickal and Paul Craig.

UFC CEO Dana White will oversee the UFC 309 pre-fight press conference.

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