Fighters to Watch at UFC 309 (And Their Cards to Collect)

Top UFC 309 Fighters

UFC 309 has that big fight feel about it. Not only is the Octagon back in the middle of Madison Square Garden, the absolute mecca of combat sports, but the event features the first Jon Jones fight since he became the UFC heavyweight champion and the first Stipe Miocic fight in nearly four years. With interim heavyweight champ Tom Aspinall waiting in the wings to take on the victor of this fight, the heavyweight division’s future could be shaped for years now that this long-awaited battle is finally coming to fruition.

But that isn’t the only fight that will send ripples through the UFC: former lightweight champ Charles Oliveira is once again taking on Michael Chandler in a lightweight title eliminator. Their last fight was an absolute barnburner, and Oliveira came back from being rocked and bloodied to finish Chandler. Check out the cards to collect from fighters on the UFC 309 card.

Top UFC 309 Fighter Cards

Bo Nickal – Middleweight

One of the most decorated collegiate wrestlers to ever enter the Octagon, Bo Nickal has racked up an impressive undefeated record as he continues to make his name in the UFC. The Olympic trialist and three-time NCAA Division-I champion has only been a professional fighter for a little over two years (if you could believe it). Still, in that time, he’s fought five of his total six bouts inside the UFC against increasingly challenging opponents, and you’d be hard-pressed to find a more awe-inspiring early run than his first six wins. He’s only left the first round once, absorbed only a handful of significant strikes, and finished every opponent he’s faced – easily. Now, he’s taking on by far his toughest opponent to date: Paul Craig, a former BAMMA light heavyweight champion and a man who has defeated multiple former champions (Shogun Rua and Jamahal Hill).

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Marcin Tybura – Heavyweight

With an 8-3 record over the last four years and no.9 in the heavyweight rankings, Tybura is a couple of key wins from being right back in the title picture. Granted, those three losses come from interim champion Tom Aspinall, contender Alexander Volkov, and most recently, a submission loss to no.7 ranked Serghei Spivac, so he’s lost to top competition. Still, Tybura is a heavyweight force with all the tools to physically dominate anyone who steps into the cage with him. He currently has the highest takedown accuracy percentage in UFC Heavyweight division history (65.1%), and the heavies have multiple fighters in the top ten that are susceptible to the takedown (looking at you, no.2 ranked Ciryl Gane).

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Marcin Tybura

Charles Oliveira – Lightweight

Former UFC lightweight champion Charles Oliveira has quietly amassed one of the greatest resumes in UFC history. Not only does he have the record for the most finishes in UFC history, but he also owns the record for most performance bonuses in UFC history and has the record for the most post-fight bonuses in UFC history. The BJJ black belt can finish you anywhere – on the ground, standing up, with strikes, or with submissions. He’s one of the most dangerous fighters ever, and Michael Chandler found that out firsthand when Oliveira came back to defeat him.

Since that Chandler fight three years ago, Oliveira has gone 3-2, with wins over the legendary Dustin Poirier, Justin Gaethje, and losses to current lightweight champion Islam Makhachev and no.1 ranked lightweight Arman Tsarukyan. His last win came at UFC 289 with an impressive TKO over Beneil Dariush, but with 45 fights to his name – many of them wars – one has to wonder how much he has left in the tank.

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Michael Chandler – Lightweight

Few fighters have made fans lean forward in their seats and take notice of the incredible display of chaos and utter showmanship in such a short period as Michael Chandler. He has declared himself “the most exciting lightweight in the world,” and frankly, it’s hard to argue that point. Despite spending most of 2023 and 2024 on the shelf waiting for a Conor McGregor fight that never materialized, Chandler is getting straight back into the title picture with a rematch against Charles Oliveira, a man he was seconds from defeating until Oliveira was able to rally back and TKO Chandler.

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Stipe Miocic – Heavyweight

The record holder for the most consecutive title defenses in UFC heavyweight history, Stipe Miocic has stepped into the Octagon and defeated a who’s who of championship-level opponents in the division. Alistair Overeem, Daniel Cormier (x2), Francis Ngannou, Junior dos Santos, Fabricio Werdum, and Mark Hunt have all fallen to the part-time firefighter and full-time warrior, but Jon Jones could quite possibly be his toughest test.

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Jon Jones – Heavyweight Champion

There is no other way to describe Jon Jones other than: “he’s the final boss of MMA.” He may have a single loss on his fight record, but to put that into context, it was via a disqualification by using a 12-6 elbow to his opponent he was utterly destroying up to that point. That rule has since changed, and aside from a few close fights in which Jones turned it on in the final rounds to retain his championship gold, he has dominated everyone in his path. He is, by far, the scariest and toughest man to enter the Octagon. He proved it again by demolishing scary heavyweight title challenger and violent knockout artist Ciryl Gane at UFC 285.

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