By The Numbers: Jon Jones vs. Stipe Miocic
Legacies will be reshaped when Jon Jones defends his piece of the Ultimate Fighting Championship heavyweight crown against two-time titleholder Stipe Miocic in the blockbuster UFC 309 main event this Saturday at Madison Square Garden in New York. All signs point to it being the most talked-about fight of 2025.
Jones enters the cage on the strength of five straight wins. He last suited up at UFC 285, where he disposed of Ciryl Gane with a guillotine choke in the first round of their March 4, 2023 confrontation, joining Randy Couture and Daniel Cormier as the only men to capture UFC championships in the heavyweight and light heavyweight divisions. Miocic, meanwhile, steps back into view for the first time in more than three years. The Strong Style Fight Team cornerstone last saw action on March 27, 2021, when he surrendered the undisputed heavyweight title in a five-round unanimous decision against Francis Ngannou at UFC 260.
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As Jones and Miocic approach their landmark showdown in The Big Apple, a look at some of the numbers that have accompanied them to this point:
37: Years of age for Jones, who was born in
Rochester, New York, on July 19, 1987. Heart’s “Alone,” Bob Segar’s
“Shakedown,” U2’s “I Still Haven’t Found What I’m Looking For,”
Whitney Houston’s “I Wanna Dance with Somebody” and George
Michael’s “I Want Your Sex” were the Top 5 songs on the Billboard
Hot 100 list at the time.
7: Jones victories by submission, accounting for 26% of his career total. His methods of choice: five guillotine chokes, one rear-naked choke and one keylock. Jones holds 10 other victories by knockout or technical knockout (37%) and 10 more by decision (37%).
540,000: Dollars in post-fight bonuses pocketed by Jones across his 23 appearances in the UFC. He has been awarded “Fight of the Night” four times, “Submission of the Night” twice, “Performance of the Night” twice and “Knockout of the Night” once.
14: Seconds needed for Jones to put away Ryan Verrett with punches under the United States Fight League banner on May 9, 2008. More than 16 years later, it remains his fastest finish to date.
.705: Cumulative winning percentage between the 11 men—Gane, Alexander Gustafsson, Chael Sonnen, Vitor Belfort, Lyoto Machida, Quinton Jackson, Mauricio Rua, Ryan Bader, Vladimir Matyushenko, Brandon Vera and Jake O’Brien—Jones has stopped inside the Octagon. They boast a combined record of 267-111-2.
42: Years of age for Miocic, who was born on Aug. 19, 1982 in Euclid, Ohio. “E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial,” “Friday the 13th: Part 3,” “An Officer and a Gentleman,” “The Best Little Whorehouse in Texas” and “Star Wars: Episode IV – A New Hope” were the Top 5 movies at the domestic box office at the time.
15: Miocic wins by knockout or technical knockout, accounting for 75% of his career total. His list of victims outside the UFC: Bobby Brents, William Penn, Gregory Maynard, Jeremy Holm, Paul Barry and Corey Mullis. Miocic owns five other wins by decision (25%).
464: Total strikes landed by Miocic in his fifth-round technical knockout of Mark Hunt at UFC Fight Night 65 on May 10, 2015. Nine-plus years later, it still ranks as the highest single-fight total in this history of the company’s heavyweight division.
58: Rounds started by Miocic as a professional mixed martial artist. He has gone the distance on six different occasions and carries a 5-1 record in those bouts.
227: Combined victories between the nine men—Cormier, Junior dos Santos, Alistair Overeem, Fabricio Werdum, Andrei Arlovski, Mark Hunt, Fabio Maldonado, Shane del Rosario and Philip De Fries—Miocic has finished inside the Octagon. They sport a cumulative .683 winning percentage at 227-105-2.
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