Jon Jones makes the first defense of his heavyweight championship when he faces former champ Stipe Miocic in the main event of UFC 309 on Saturday in New York.
The main card at Madison Square Garden is on ESPN+ pay-per-view starting at 10 p.m. ET, with prelims on ESPNews, ESPN+, ESPN Deportes, Hulu and FX at 8 p.m. and early prelims on ESPN+ at 6 p.m.
Jones (27-1, 1 NC) will be fighting at heavyweight for only the second time, after winning the UFC belt with a quick submission of Ciryl Gane in March 2023.
Miocic (20-4) last fought in March 2021, losing his title to Francis Ngannou by second-round knockout.
What are the storylines behind the top fights at UFC 309? How are experts breaking them down? What do the fighters have to say? Here is the fight card, how to watch it and a collection of all of the UFC 309 essentials.
How to watch the fights
Watch the PPV and all other fights on ESPN+: Get ESPN+ here.
Watch the prelims on ESPNews, ESPN Deportes and ESPN+. Download the ESPN App | WatchESPN | TV schedule
Don't have ESPNews? Get instant access.
Purchased the fight on your phone and want to stream on your TV? Find out how here.
There's also FightCenter, which offers live updates for every UFC card.
The UFC 309 fight card
ESPN+ PPV, 10 p.m. ET
Heavyweight championship: Jon Jones (c) vs. Stipe Miocic
Lightweight: Charles Oliveira vs. Michael Chandler
Middleweight: Bo Nickal vs. Paul Craig
Women's flyweight: Viviane Araujo vs. Karine Silva
Lightweight: Mauricio Ruffy vs. James Llontop
ESPNews/ESPN Deportes/ESPN+/Hulu/FX, 8 p.m. ET
Men's bantamweight: Jonathan Martinez vs. Marcus McGhee
Lightweight: Jim Miller vs. Damon Jackson
Featherweight: David Onama vs. Roberto Romero
ESPN+, 6 p.m. ET
Marcin Tybura vs. Jhonata Diniz
Welterweight: Mickey Gall vs. Ramiz Brahimaj
Welterweight: Bassil Hafez vs. Oban Elliott
Women's flyweight: Veronica Hardy vs. Eduarda Moura
(c) = defending champion
Top stories
UFC 309 by the numbers: GOAT vs. GOAT, retirements, history at MSG
Though the UFC is still a relatively young promotion -- November marks 31 years since the company was founded in 1993 -- it seems there aren't many "firsts" left to check off the list.
Perhaps, the most notable remaining first is a matchup between the greatest fighters of two different divisions.
Sure, there have been plenty of champion vs. champion fights. And plenty of great matchups between fighters with a case for calling themselves the best within the same division. But, the main event of UFC 309 is different.
When Jones, the best light heavyweight in MMA history, squares off against Miocic, the UFC's most decorated heavyweight, it will be the first time two UFC divisional GOATs have gone head to head.
UFC 309 early look: Is Jones-Miocic the right heavyweight title fight?
Big questions loom after the rebooking of Jones and Miocic atop a PPV card. How sharp should we expect both heavyweights to be by November? Just how good is UFC 309 now? Will we see a few retirements by the end of the night?
Andreas Hale, Brett Okamoto and Jeff Wagenheim address these questions and more, including assessing what interim heavyweight champion Tom Aspinall should do at the end of the main event.
Aspinall? Jones? Ngannou? Who is the best heavyweight in the world right now?
The Big 3 debate in MMA is over who is the top heavyweight: UFC champion Jon Jones, interim UFC champion Tom Aspinall and former UFC champion and current PFL Super Fights champion Francis Ngannou.
Unfortunately, they have yet to be locked in a cage to determine who the best heavyweight in the world is. And who knows if it will ever happen? Aspinall has been chasing a fight with Jones, who is threatening retirement after he faces Stipe Miocic at UFC 309. As for Ngannou, he also desires a fight with Jones but is currently competing in another MMA promotion. And considering his war of words with UFC CEO Dana White, the chances of Ngannou returning to the UFC are, at most, slim.
Since the debate cannot be settled with a sanctioned MMA bout, ESPN asked fighters, analysts and coaches to rank the three heavyweights to determine who the current "Big Me" of this version of the Big 3 is.