The UFC is heading back to the Mecca of Combat Sports, New York, for a massive PPV event this month. In the main event of UFC 309, Jon Jones, in a legacy fight for the ages, will defend his UFC heavyweight championship belt against former heavyweight champion, Stipe Miocic.
The blockbuster event will place at the iconic Madison Square Garden in New York City on the 16th of November.
Besides the main event heavyweight ringer, the card promises a lot more, featuring several prominent names like Michael Chandler, who returns to the octagon after a hiatus, to take on Charles Oliveira.
The much-anticipated event is the perfect fight to go with a 42-year-old Miocic returning to the octagon following his devastating KO loss to Francis Ngannou three years ago.
Now that that’s out of the way, here’s how the card stacks up.
UFC 309 Main Card explained
As mentioned above, the whole card revolves around the main event and co-main event fights. While the heavyweight champ squares up with Miocic, the interim heavyweight champ, Tom Aspinall serves as a backup for the two legends in case of any unlucky developments.
In the co-main event, Chandler takes on Oliveira in a rematch following their previous bout in 2021.
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Apart from these two scraps, undefeated American middleweight prospect, Bo Nickal, will look to climb up the ladder, taking on former light heavyweight contender, Paul Craig, in a thrilling bout. Furthermore, UFC veteran and ex-champion, Chris Weidman, returns to action against 37-year-old Eryk Anders.
Lastly, there’s the women’s flyweight banger between Karine ‘Killer’ Silva and her fellow countrywoman, Viviane Araujo.
All in all, the UFC 309 card will have five fights while the undercard for the same is set for four preliminary and four early preliminary fights. That being said, below are the rest of the card listed.
UFC 309 undercard detailed
At the helm of the preliminary card is the sensational knockout artist Mauricio Ruffy. The 28-year-old after his round 1 Ko of Jamie Mullarkey at UFC 301 finally has an opponent. He is set to return to the big stage at MSG to fight James ‘Goku’ Llontop of Peru. Apart from this lightweight banger, Ukraine’s Nikita Krylov faces Azamat Murzakanov in a light heavyweight bout.
Remaining are two fights in the bantamweight division and the featherweight division – Jonathan Martinez vs. Marcus McGhee & Jim Miller vs Damon Jackson. Now coming on to the early prelims, here are the matchups –
Lucas Almeida vs. David Onama
Mickey Gall vs. Ramiz Brahimaj
Bassil Hafez vs. Oban Elliott
Veronica Hardy vs. Eduarda Moura
Note that while the main early prelims are scheduled to kickstart at 6 PM ET, the preliminary card is slated to commence at 8 PM followed by the main event at 10 PM.
UFC 309: How to follow
For fight fans in the States, the event is available exclusively on ESPN + while for English fans TNT Sports airs the event with the preliminary action expected to start at 11 PM UK time. As for the main event, it is anticipated to be around 3 AM on Sunday (November 17).
Besides, TNT Sports, fans can also catch the action on Discovery + while the early prelim bouts are made available on the UFC Fight Pass.
