Who doesn’t love long-lost footage?
Before Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) Heavyweight champion Jon Jones makes the walk for his 30th mixed martial arts (MMA) fight at UFC 309 this weekend (Sat., Nov. 16, 2024) against Stipe Miocic inside Madison Square Garden in New York City, previously unreleased footage of a 20-year-old “Bones” fighting a former UFC fighter has surfaced.
Here’s some context.
Jones made his professional MMA debut in 2008, and in a year’s time, he rattled off eight fights, including two inside UFC (Andre Gusmao and Stephan Bonnar). Prior to making his UFC debut in Aug. 2008, he fought Parker Porter at World Championship Fighting 3 (now Combat FC) in June 2008, and up until today, there was only grainy, cageside footage of the fight (that you’d find on the Sherdog forums)
Today, CombatFC released the entire 36-second fight on their YouTube channel.
Jones threw a head kick, took Porter down, let him back up, landed an elbow and then three knees to the body, and finally viciously knocked Porter out.
Check it out below:
Porter eventually made it to UFC as a Heavyweight and had some success, but he also ended up on several fighters’ highlight reels. The 39-year-old was released in 2023 with a 4-4 record inside the promotion.
If Jones really wants legacy fights after his bout with Miocic, then a rematch with Porter is a must.
Remember that MMAmania.com will deliver LIVE round-by-round, blow-by-blow coverage of the entire UFC 309 fight card right here, starting with the early ESPN+ “Prelims” matches online, which are scheduled to begin at 6 p.m. ET (simulcast on ESPNews at 8 p.m. ET), before the pay-per-view (PPV) main card start time at 10 p.m. ET (also on ESPN+).
To check out the latest and greatest UFC 309: “Jones vs. Miocic” news and notes be sure to hit up our comprehensive event archive right here.