Tag: UFC 309

VIDEO: Israel Adesanya Applauds Jon Jones Performance During UFC 309 Live Reaction

Former two-time UFC middleweight champion Israel Adesanya appeared impressed while watching Jon Jones send Stipe Miocic into retirement with a brutal kick this past weekend. Jones and Miocic headlined Saturday’s UFC 309 pay-per-view inside Madison Square Garden in New York City, completing their long-awaited matchup over a year on from an injury shelving it first […]

Former two-time UFC middleweight champion Israel Adesanya appeared impressed while watching Jon Jones send Stipe Miocic into retirement with a brutal kick this past weekend.

Jones and Miocic headlined Saturday’s UFC 309 pay-per-view inside Madison Square Garden in New York City, completing their long-awaited matchup over a year on from an injury shelving it first time around.

Returning from a spell on the sidelines that spanned over three and a half years, many dismissed Miocic’s chances of unseating Jones and adding a third heavyweight reign to his illustrious record.

And the veteran ultimately failed in his pursuit of proving them wrong, with “Bones” following a dominant opening round by eventually finding the finish in the third frame with a vicious spinning side kick to the body.

In spite of many focusing on his avoidance of Tom Aspinall, Jones’ latest triumph on MMA’s biggest stage drew widespread plaudits, including from some UFC peers whom he’s not always seen eye to eye with…

During a video recently uploaded to his FREESTYLEBENDER YouTube channel, Adesanya reacted live to the events that unfolded on the UFC 309 main card at MSG.

The Nigerian-New Zealander didn’t have much to say during the finishing sequence in the headliner, instead simply applauding Jones’ work.

“He did it, as he does,” Adesanya said. “Great main event. … Good to see Stipe hang them up. I still think he went out on top.”

He was subsequently asked the question on everyone’s lips — will a unification fight with Aspinall happen?

“I think it’ll happen. If Jones is not retiring, I think they’ll figure it out,” Adesanya said. “Talk to Hunter (Campbell), talk to Dana (White)…sit down in the War Room, they’ll hash it out, they’ll figure it out.”

While Jones initially appeared to tease a stance switch inside the Octagon when he suggested he could give the masses what they want, he quickly reverted back to dismissing Aspinall and expressing a desire to face Alex Pereira when he arrived backstage.

Bo Nickal Doubles Down On Defense Of UFC 309 Performance: ‘This Fight Was Picture-Perfect’

UFC middleweight prospect Bo Nickal continues to push back on suggestions he underperformed this past weekend. Nickal was among those to have their hand raised on the main card of Saturday’s UFC 309 pay-per-view. But unlike his previous Octagon outings — all of which came by way of knockout or submission — the American didn’t […]

UFC middleweight prospect Bo Nickal continues to push back on suggestions he underperformed this past weekend.

Nickal was among those to have their hand raised on the main card of Saturday’s UFC 309 pay-per-view. But unlike his previous Octagon outings — all of which came by way of knockout or submission — the American didn’t draw a positive reaction from the crowd.

The audience in attendance at Madison Square Garden made their displeasure known throughout Nickal’s three-round contest with formerly ranked middleweight and light heavyweight contender Paul Craig.

After the decorated wrestling specialist got the nod after 15 minutes of largely forgettable striking, he was heavily booed during his post-fight interview with Joe Rogan. And they rained down even heavier when Nickal defended the display and expressed how happy he was with the win.

During his post-fight press conference at MSG, Nickal shared the same sentiment, even going as far as to call his performance in New York City “picture-perfect.”

“Definitely, it’s way better for me and my development,” Nickal said. “If you look at my cage time and what I had before this, I over-doubled it, for sure. That’s something that for me I’ve really cornered myself with this reputation of a guy who finishes them and destroys them – because that’s when the expectation is set. My expectation is to compete to the best of my ability at 100 percent effort.

“It’s not anything to do with the result. It doesn’t matter: decisions, submissions, knockouts. I’m definitely not disappointed with this result. I was way more disappointed with my last fight and I subbed the guy,” Nickal continued. “This fight, for me, was picture-perfect.”

With the result, Nickal has moved to a perfect 4-0 in the UFC and 7-0 overall as a professional mixed martial artist.

The three-time NCAA Division I national champion and three-time Big Ten Conference champion out of Pennsylvania State University will now look ahead to his first assignment of 2025, as he edges closer to putting a number next to his name at 185 pounds.

Bo Nickal Doubles Down On Defense Of UFC 309 Performance: ‘This Fight Was Picture-Perfect’

UFC middleweight prospect Bo Nickal continues to push back on suggestions he underperformed this past weekend. Nickal was among those to have their hand raised on the main card of Saturday’s UFC 309 pay-per-view. But unlike his previous Octagon outings — all of which came by way of knockout or submission — the American didn’t […]

UFC middleweight prospect Bo Nickal continues to push back on suggestions he underperformed this past weekend.

Nickal was among those to have their hand raised on the main card of Saturday’s UFC 309 pay-per-view. But unlike his previous Octagon outings — all of which came by way of knockout or submission — the American didn’t draw a positive reaction from the crowd.

The audience in attendance at Madison Square Garden made their displeasure known throughout Nickal’s three-round contest with formerly ranked middleweight and light heavyweight contender Paul Craig.

After the decorated wrestling specialist got the nod after 15 minutes of largely forgettable striking, he was heavily booed during his post-fight interview with Joe Rogan. And they rained down even heavier when Nickal defended the display and expressed how happy he was with the win.

During his post-fight press conference at MSG, Nickal shared the same sentiment, even going as far as to call his performance in New York City “picture-perfect.”

“Definitely, it’s way better for me and my development,” Nickal said. “If you look at my cage time and what I had before this, I over-doubled it, for sure. That’s something that for me I’ve really cornered myself with this reputation of a guy who finishes them and destroys them – because that’s when the expectation is set. My expectation is to compete to the best of my ability at 100 percent effort.

“It’s not anything to do with the result. It doesn’t matter: decisions, submissions, knockouts. I’m definitely not disappointed with this result. I was way more disappointed with my last fight and I subbed the guy,” Nickal continued. “This fight, for me, was picture-perfect.”

With the result, Nickal has moved to a perfect 4-0 in the UFC and 7-0 overall as a professional mixed martial artist.

The three-time NCAA Division I national champion and three-time Big Ten Conference champion out of Pennsylvania State University will now look ahead to his first assignment of 2025, as he edges closer to putting a number next to his name at 185 pounds.

Bo Nickal Doubles Down On Defense Of UFC 309 Performance: ‘This Fight Was Picture-Perfect’

UFC middleweight prospect Bo Nickal continues to push back on suggestions he underperformed this past weekend. Nickal was among those to have their hand raised on the main card of Saturday’s UFC 309 pay-per-view. But unlike his previous Octagon outings — all of which came by way of knockout or submission — the American didn’t […]

UFC middleweight prospect Bo Nickal continues to push back on suggestions he underperformed this past weekend.

Nickal was among those to have their hand raised on the main card of Saturday’s UFC 309 pay-per-view. But unlike his previous Octagon outings — all of which came by way of knockout or submission — the American didn’t draw a positive reaction from the crowd.

The audience in attendance at Madison Square Garden made their displeasure known throughout Nickal’s three-round contest with formerly ranked middleweight and light heavyweight contender Paul Craig.

After the decorated wrestling specialist got the nod after 15 minutes of largely forgettable striking, he was heavily booed during his post-fight interview with Joe Rogan. And they rained down even heavier when Nickal defended the display and expressed how happy he was with the win.

During his post-fight press conference at MSG, Nickal shared the same sentiment, even going as far as to call his performance in New York City “picture-perfect.”

“Definitely, it’s way better for me and my development,” Nickal said. “If you look at my cage time and what I had before this, I over-doubled it, for sure. That’s something that for me I’ve really cornered myself with this reputation of a guy who finishes them and destroys them – because that’s when the expectation is set. My expectation is to compete to the best of my ability at 100 percent effort.

“It’s not anything to do with the result. It doesn’t matter: decisions, submissions, knockouts. I’m definitely not disappointed with this result. I was way more disappointed with my last fight and I subbed the guy,” Nickal continued. “This fight, for me, was picture-perfect.”

With the result, Nickal has moved to a perfect 4-0 in the UFC and 7-0 overall as a professional mixed martial artist.

The three-time NCAA Division I national champion and three-time Big Ten Conference champion out of Pennsylvania State University will now look ahead to his first assignment of 2025, as he edges closer to putting a number next to his name at 185 pounds.

Tom Aspinall Spots ‘Openings’ in Jon Jones’ Game After UFC 309 KO

Tom Aspinall Jon Jones UFC 309Tom Aspinall believes he has spotted some weaknesses in Jon Jones’ game after watching his performance against Stipe Miocic…

Tom Aspinall Jon Jones UFC 309

Tom Aspinall believes he has spotted some weaknesses in Jon Jones’ game after watching his performance against Stipe Miocic this weekend at UFC 309.

For Jon Jones, it must’ve been an incredible weekend. He was away for only about a year this time, but once he started fighting in the cage, it was like he never left. Jones put on a clinic of smothering grappling, slick trips, and beautiful kickboxing. The kicks to the body were landing aplenty, and at one point, Jones even dazed Miocic with a slick combo on the feet. What spelled doom for Miocic was a sinister spinning back-kick from Jones that sent him crumbling to the octagon floor. Some nasty ground-and-pound punches later, and Jones was standing victorious with another title defense on his resume.

Now, the question is whether the UFC and Jones can successfully negotiate a fight between him and Aspinall to unify the titles. Jones is playing coy and tossing out the possibility of retiring or facing the likes of Alex Pereira for a super fight. Dana White, however, has shut that down and now says that after witnessing Jones fight at UFC 309, a battle with Pereira is off the table. White also mentioned that they’d be willing to pay Jones enough to face Aspinall, who is eagerly waiting in the woodworks, ready for blood.

Tom Aspinall speaks on Weaknesses in Jon Jones’ style

“It was, as you American guys say, by design,” Tom Aspinall said on the ESPN MMA post-show (H/T Bloody Elbow) “(The fight) was exactly what I thought, exactly what I thought would happen.”

“To beat Jon Jones, the most important thing that you need is good eyes, good reactions, quick reactions, and in all honestly, Stipe Miocic just didn’t have that at 42 years old,” Tom Aspinall continued. “Of course, I have only seen Jon Jones fighting on TV before; this is the first time that I’ve seen him up close, and I was sitting at arm’s length from the UFC octagon – it is way different watching it on TV than watching it up-close.”

“I am so happy that I got to see an up-close version of what Jon Jones looks like 37 years old and on the back end of his career, I’m very satisfied.”

Tom Aspinall was asked if Jones had any disadvantages compared to him, and he pointed out an easy one: “The speed, just the speed – there is no chance that he can, I don’t want to say too much you know what I mean… Absolutely, I see everything… Whether I can do it in there, you know Jon Jones is arguably the best to ever do it, but I definitely see openings. Whether I can do it myself, I don’t know, but from the outside looking in, I think I can.”

Do you think Tom Aspinall would beat Jon Jones if they fought?

Tom Aspinall Spots ‘Openings’ in Jon Jones’ Game After UFC 309 KO

Tom Aspinall Jon Jones UFC 309Tom Aspinall believes he has spotted some weaknesses in Jon Jones’ game after watching his performance against Stipe Miocic…

Tom Aspinall Jon Jones UFC 309

Tom Aspinall believes he has spotted some weaknesses in Jon Jones’ game after watching his performance against Stipe Miocic this weekend at UFC 309.

For Jon Jones, it must’ve been an incredible weekend. He was away for only about a year this time, but once he started fighting in the cage, it was like he never left. Jones put on a clinic of smothering grappling, slick trips, and beautiful kickboxing. The kicks to the body were landing aplenty, and at one point, Jones even dazed Miocic with a slick combo on the feet. What spelled doom for Miocic was a sinister spinning back-kick from Jones that sent him crumbling to the octagon floor. Some nasty ground-and-pound punches later, and Jones was standing victorious with another title defense on his resume.

Now, the question is whether the UFC and Jones can successfully negotiate a fight between him and Aspinall to unify the titles. Jones is playing coy and tossing out the possibility of retiring or facing the likes of Alex Pereira for a super fight. Dana White, however, has shut that down and now says that after witnessing Jones fight at UFC 309, a battle with Pereira is off the table. White also mentioned that they’d be willing to pay Jones enough to face Aspinall, who is eagerly waiting in the woodworks, ready for blood.

Tom Aspinall speaks on Weaknesses in Jon Jones’ style

“It was, as you American guys say, by design,” Tom Aspinall said on the ESPN MMA post-show (H/T Bloody Elbow) “(The fight) was exactly what I thought, exactly what I thought would happen.”

“To beat Jon Jones, the most important thing that you need is good eyes, good reactions, quick reactions, and in all honestly, Stipe Miocic just didn’t have that at 42 years old,” Tom Aspinall continued. “Of course, I have only seen Jon Jones fighting on TV before; this is the first time that I’ve seen him up close, and I was sitting at arm’s length from the UFC octagon – it is way different watching it on TV than watching it up-close.”

“I am so happy that I got to see an up-close version of what Jon Jones looks like 37 years old and on the back end of his career, I’m very satisfied.”

Tom Aspinall was asked if Jones had any disadvantages compared to him, and he pointed out an easy one: “The speed, just the speed – there is no chance that he can, I don’t want to say too much you know what I mean… Absolutely, I see everything… Whether I can do it in there, you know Jon Jones is arguably the best to ever do it, but I definitely see openings. Whether I can do it myself, I don’t know, but from the outside looking in, I think I can.”

Do you think Tom Aspinall would beat Jon Jones if they fought?