Written by Stipe Miocic | Photo by Jeff Bottari/Zuffa LLC
Stipe Miocic is walking away from the octagon.
In the main event of UFC 309, Miocic lost a one-sided fight to heavyweight champion Jon Jones in a failed bid to claim that title for a third time. The 42-year-old veteran was nearly finished by Jones’ ground-and-pound and Round 1, but made it to the third round where Jones put him away with a stunning spin kick to the body.
After the fight, UFC commentator Joe Rogan spoke to Miocic and asked him what might be next for him. Miocic answered, in no uncertain terms, that he was retiring.
“I’m done,” Miocic said. “I’m hanging them up. I’m retiring. Thank God.”
Watch Miocic’s post-fight interview below.
The announcement was unsurprising given Miocic’s inactivity in recent years. Miocic’s most recent fight before UFC 309 took place in March 2021 and his most recent win was in August 2020, over four years ago.
Miocic told Rogan that they had actually prepared for the maneuver that ended the fight, but that he did not execute in the moment.
“It sucked, I lost,” Miocic said. “He’s really tough. I knew he was really good, he’s one of the best of all time. He came strong, hard kicks, I felt good. That spinning kick we worked on, I just mis-blocked it and it caught me in the ribs.”
Miocic (20-5) retire with the record for the most consecutive successful UFC heavyweight championship defenses (3) and the most total defenses of that title (4). His UFC run includes wins over elite competition, including Daniel Cormier, Francis Ngannou, Junior dos Santos, Fabricio Werdum, Alistair Overeem, and Andrei Arlovski.
The 14-year veteran looked far from his best on Saturday, though he refused to make any excuses for his performance.
“I expected everything,” Miocic said. “I just didn’t do what I was supposed to do. Congratulations to him, he did what he was supposed to do and he won. Hats off to him, I want nothing but the best for him.”