It’s always a special atmosphere when the octagon returns to Madison Square Garden. Add to that a heavyweight championship main event and perhaps the greatest fighter the sport has ever seen, and you have a truly memorable night. Fights up and down the card helped to up the ante even more as well.
Let’s take a look at some of the highlights of the night and break down the three fights we looked at in our UFC 309 preview.
Prelim Highlights
In an early lightweight bout, heavy favorite David Onama faced off with Roberto Romero. In the early going, you would never know Romero was a +850 underdog, as he opened up with some aggressive leg kicks. Eventually, he even dropped Onama with a big left hand and looked to close for the finish. Obama survived though and managed to turn the tides in the closing seconds of the first round, scoring a knockdown of his own. Suddenly, what figured to be a one-sided fight on paper, was instead an early Fight of the Night contender. The two opened the second absolutely swinging and looking for a knockout. After about a minute, Obama settled in and started fighting his usual, more controlled fight, landing technical strikes and scoring some big points. He dropped Romero again, this time with an elbow, late in the round and controlled position until the bell. He then kept that energy up and dominated the final round en route to a decision victory. It was a great showing for Romero, but in the end, Obama got the job done.
No one in the history of the UFC has more wins that Jim Miller. The octagon veteran stepped into his bout with Damon Jackson with 26 career UFC wins under his belt. The 41-year-old didn’t appear to lose a step at all as the fight started out at a frantic pace and Miller stayed step for step with Jackson. Jackson initiated a grappling exchange and Miller immediately dropped onto his neck and locked up a guillotine choke. After just a few seconds, Jackson tapped and Miller extended his record to 27 career wins. After the fight, the 45th in his career, Miller said he would like to try and get to 50.
The punching power of Marcus McGhee was the story of his featured prelim meeting with Jonathan Martinez. Typically, that would mean the fight resulted in a knockout, but it was really just the threat of the knockout shot that dictated the way Martinez fought. McGhee controlled the pace of the fight and was much more active for the first two rounds. However, in the closing moments of the second round, Martinez landed some brutal leg kicks that compromised McGhee’s right leg. The third round was much closer because of that leg issue and Martinez tried to push for the finish. McGhee survived though and was able to gut out a tough decision victory.
Main Card Highlights
The betting odds were strongly in favor of Mauricio Ruffy in the opening bout of the main card. James Llontop made it clear from the beginning though that he came to fight and he pressured Ruffy early. It appeared the moment may have gotten the best of Ruffy in the early going, but late in the first he opened up and cracked Llontop with a straight right. In the second, Ruffy opened up his striking even more and dropped his opponent with a beautiful left hook. Llontop displayed incredible toughness though and continued to come forward after Ruffy. The underdog even managed to up the pressure in the third round and had some moments in that final frame. In the end though, it was clear Ruffy was the more talented fighter and he coasted to an easy decision victory.
Karine Silva and Viviane Araujo met for a very competitive bout in the women’s flyweight division. Silva had the clear power advantage but in the early going, Araujo’s movement seemed to puzzle her just a bit. While Araujo controlled the pace of most of the first round, Silva landed a few big shots that seemed to rock her opponent, possibly stealing the round. Araujo opened the second round hot, landing a couple of good shots, but Silva fired back and landed some big shots of her own. After a grappling exchange, both fighters traded very close submission attempts, but both survived and we reached the end of the second. In the final round, it was clear right away that Silva was completely gassed. Araujo brought some pressure and Silva repeatedly went to her back to attempt to get the fight to the ground where she could rest. The fight ended with Araujo scoring a takedown and securing top position before taking a unanimous decision victory.
Middleweight bout: Bo Nickal def. Paul Craig
This was a very interesting matchup for the young rising star Bo Nickal who came into this bout a -1200 betting favorite. Nickal is typically a smothering grappler who can take his opponent down at will, but the submission threat of Paul Craig kept him from enforcing that gameplan and instead he was left to his striking game. And Nickal showed out pretty well on that front but the fight was much closer than most thought it would be as Craig kept him at distance and defended well. Nickal did land a few big shots, particularly in the later rounds, but never really pressured Craig or came close to a finish. It was a solid performance for the young up-and-comer, but perhaps not quite as impressive as many had hoped.
My pick: Nickal via 3rd round knockout
Result: Nickal via decision
Lightweight bout: Charles Oliveira def. Michael Chandler
We all knew what we were in for with these two meeting for a rematch for their 2021 classic. This time around though, Charles Oliveira established dominance early as he took Michael Chandler down again and again and controlled the position while looking for submissions. Chandler defended well, but round after round we saw more of the same, with each ending with Oliveira in a dominant position. Eventually, Chandler’s back was up against the wall as we entered the fifth and final round. Chandler continued to throw his hands throughout the fight, as he always does, and eventually he’s going to land. He rocked Oliveira in the fifth and wound up on top landing ground and pound, though many of his shots landed to the back of the head. Oliveira survived the onslaught though and got back to his feet. Moments later, Oliveira got Chandler’s back and it looked as though the fight was going to end in the position we saw most throughout the five rounds. However, Chandler had a bit of fight left in him and he stood with Oliveira on his back, walked to the center of the octagon, yelled something we can’t repeat here and slammed down on his back. Oliveira held on, so Chandler did the whole process again. Oliveira held on yet again though and the fight ended in the center of the octagon. In the end, it was a dominant decision victory for Oliveira, but Chandler always manages to entertain, even in defeat. Oliveira should be next for a title shot, while Chandler once again called out Conor McGregor, a fight that was scrapped earlier this year.
My pick: Oliveira via 3rd round submission
Result: Oliveira via decision
Heavyweight Championship bout: Jon Jones def. Stipe Miocic
This was a main event between arguably two of the greatest heavyweights of all time, even if it was only the second outing in this class for Jones. And while there were a lot of signs pointing to this being a very even fight on paper, Jon Jones did away with those rather quickly. It was clear almost immediately which of these two fighters was the more talented and the definitive answer, as it has always been, was Jon Jones. He did a great job of keeping Miocic at range and landing kick after kick to the body. Miocic got some good shots in in the second round, but it was always Jones in control of the fight. In the third, Jones landed a spinning back kick to the body that immediately buckled Miocic and ended the fight. After the fight, Jones ruled out the possibility of retiring and instead said he has some negotiating to do with the UFC to hopefully give the fans what they want. He did not however, specify exactly what that means, though a title fight with Tom Aspinall and a super fight against Light Heavyweight champion Alex Pereira are both on the table. Miocic said after the fight that he is officially retiring from the sport, so this will be the last time we see one of the greatest heavyweights of all time.
My pick: Jones via 4th round submission
Result: Jones via 3rd round knockout
The UFC will return to ESPN+ on Saturday, November 23 for UFC Fight Night: Yan vs. Figueiredo.