5 Fights We Need to See After UFC 309

Saturday's UFC 309 set the stage for what could turn out to be some of the biggest fights of 2025.

The card went down in New York City, with a suitably substantial headliner. The main event saw former light heavyweight champ Jon Jones defend his title for the first time, stopping former heavyweight champ Stipe Miocic with a third-round kick to the body.

The co-main event was also a big one, with former UFC lightweight champ Charles Oliveira rematching former Bellator lightweight champ Michael Chandler after winning a back-and-forth title fight by decision in 2021. The second time around, Oliveira won a wide unanimous decision—despite a dicey final round.

Without a doubt, the other biggest winner of the night was wrestling ace Bo Nickal, who improved to 7-0 in MMA with a decision win over Scottish veteran Paul Craig. It wasn't pretty—and it was closer than Nickal seemed to realize—but it set him up for another huge fight to start the new year.

Jim Miller, one of the most experienced fighters in UFC history, also impressed on the card, picking up a quick submission over Damon Jackson in an undercard lightweight clash.

Keep scrolling for the fights we'd like to see once the dust has settled.

Nobody was surprised by Jon Jones' effortless stoppage victory over Stipe Miocic. That's not to say it wasn't impressive, but the former champion is 42 and hadn't fought since a devastating knockout loss to lineal champ Francis Ngannou in 2021.

Ahead of time, there was some question as to whether Jones would retire after the fight. He has since made it clear he'll stick around, and now that he's decided that, he'll hopefully shift his focus to a far more credible challenge than Miocic: Tom Aspinall.

Aspinall, who was seated cageside at UFC 309, won the interim heavyweight title with a quick knockout of Sergei Pavlovich in 2023. Ordinarily, that would have guaranteed him a crack at Jones, who was healthy and ready to compete, but because the UFC was so hellbent on its Jones vs. Miocic plans, Aspinall was left to defend his title with another quick knockout of Curtis Blaydes this summer.

It was a bizarre situation that affirmed that interim titles now serve an entirely different purpose than what they were originally intended for. Thankfully it's over.

Jones is back, healthy and keen to keep fighting. Aspinall is ready and waiting. Let's unify the title and see who the best heavyweight in the UFC really is. Then, we can start talking about matching that person with Ngannou to crown the true king of the sport—but that's almost certainly wishful thinking.

Brazil's Charles Oliveira reaffirmed that he's still one of the best lightweights on earth in Saturday's co-main event. Michael Chandler nearly turned the tables on him in Round 5, but the Brazilian was otherwise in total control of the fight.

After the fact, he's got options. It would be fun to see him fight Dustin Poirier or Justin Gaethje again, but those two are probably better off fighting each other. Thankfully, there's an even better option for Oliveira: Max Holloway.

Featherweight great Holloway asserted himself as a serious lightweight contender at UFC 300 earlier this year, styling on Justin Gaethje en route to a last-second, one-punch KO that will echo through eternity. He went on to lose to Ilia Topuria back down at featherweight in his next fight, which led to him laying out plans for a permanent move to lightweight to close out his career.

Oliveira should be the guy to welcome him back to the division.

The pair met as featherweights in 2015, but their fight ended under extremely bizarre circumstances, with Oliveira suffering a mysterious neck injury that later turned out to be a "micro-tear" of his esophagus. Gross.

It was a nice win for Holloway, but it was both quick and indecisive. It also occurred well before Oliveira and Holloway became UFC champions and established themselves as two of the greatest fighters of all time.

It's ancient history. Let's have them run it back in a pay-per-view co-headliner next year.

Michael Chandler had a lot to say in his UFC 309 post-fight interview, setting his sights on Conor McGregor and Max Holloway. It was a bit out of pocket, given that he'd just lost pretty decisively. Granted, he still deserves the chance to fight McGregor after spending years of his career waiting for the Irishman, but he wasn't really in a position to be calling people out.

While there's no question he's one of the most entertaining fighters ever, he's currently in a spot where he needs to prove he's still actually a top lightweight. He's 2-4 in the UFC, with his first win, a KO of Dan Hooker, aging very well, and his second, a KO of Tony Ferguson, aging quite poorly.

Just like Dustin Poirier had to prove he's still got it against Benoit Saint Denis, Chandler needs to prove himself with a nice win before he starts calling his shots.

Renato Moicano would be an amazing opponent for him right now, but the Brazilian should be saved for a fight with English star Paddy Pimblett. The next best option for Chandler is probably Rafael Fiziev.

Fiziev, a vicious knockout striker with a willingness to engage in wild slugfests, hasn't fought since he suffered a flukey foot injury that led to a TKO loss to Mateusz Gamrot in September 2023, but was cleared to return from an ACL injury in September.

It's a great fight on paper, and it would tell us a lot about where both guys stand in the lightweight pecking order.

Bo Nickal seemed quite impressed with his decision win over Paul Craig on the UFC 309 main card, but it was not as decisive or as exciting as he clearly believed. After all, fans don't generally start chanting "overrated" when you're blowing their minds.

It's definitely too early to be talking about Nickal fighting guys like Khamzat Chimaev and Dricus Du Plessis. That being said, Craig was ranked at middleweight quite recently. Beating him should be enough to set Nickal up for a fight with a ranked opponent in 2025.

Anthony Hernandez would be a very good test for him right now. Hernandez is on one of the best streaks in the division right now, with six-straight wins behind him. His latest win, a fifth-round TKO over Michel Pereira, proved once again that he has incredible grappling, bottomless cardio, and some serious durability to fall back on when things aren't going his way.

In some ways, he seems like a nightmare matchup for Nickal. However, if Nickal is able to derail Hernandez's momentum, it will send him rocketing up the middleweight ranks. It's the kind of test he needs to pass to recapture the imagination of the fans.

Jim Miller's quick submission win over Damon Jackson on the UFC 309 undercard definitely got lost in the shuffle amid all the drama of the main card, but it was the latest impressive moment in one of the greatest careers in UFC history. It was Miller's 27th UFC victory, and his 45th UFC fight. No fighter has won more in the Octagon, or stepped into it more times.

While Miller is not going to become a serious contender again, and is not a big enough star to call out guys like Conor McGregor or Max Holloway, he has logged enough hours in the cage that he can effectively call his own shots. The UFC loves him. The fans love him. If what he asks is reasonable — like a spot on April's landmark UFC 300 bill — he'll get it.

Speaking to the media after his win at UFC 309, which got him back on track after a bloody loss to Bobby Green at UFC 300, Miller expressed interest in getting to 50 UFC fights, and ideally 30 UFC wins before he retires. He suggested he'd like to fight other veterans and legends at lightweight, but also expressed interest in moving up to welterweight for the right fight.

The welterweight idea is interesting, simply because he's already fought many of the best fighters at lightweight. At welterweight, it's nothing but fresh matchup options.

For example, how about a fight with Neil Magny?

Magny is one of the few fighters on the UFC roster with experience to rival Miller's, with 22 fights in the books. He also holds the most wins in the division's history, beating out even the great Georges St-Pierre. While he spent years in the welterweight Top 15, he was finally ousted from the rankings after a quick knockout loss to Carlos Prates earlier this month. The UFC has been using him as gatekeeper for years, but he's earned the opportunity for some fun fights with other veterans – just like Miller has.

It's a suggestion that will surprise some people, but it's a cool one, and it looks like a winnable fight for both guys. Why not?