Stipe Miocic says he's retiring after TKO loss at UFC 309 - ESPN

Stipe Miocic has decided to call it a career.

Following his third-round stoppage loss to Jon Jones at UFC 309 on Saturday night, Miocic announced his retirement from the sport, ending a remarkable career orchestrated by the fighter out of Euclid, Ohio.

«I'm done,» Miocic said. «I'm hanging them up.»

Despite the loss, Miocic remains widely recognized as the greatest heavyweight champion in UFC history.

«He's one of the greatest heavyweights ever,» UFC CEO Dana White said to ESPN's Mike Coppinger. «You can't deny Stipe. Stipe is [No. 1 or No. 2] all time.»

Miocic made his UFC debut in 2011 after going 6-0 on the regional scene and won three consecutive fights before suffering a TKO loss to Stefan Struve in 2012. Miocic methodically made his way back up the rankings with wins over Roy Nelson, Gabriel Gonzaga and Fabio Maldonado before suffering his second career loss to former heavyweight champion Junior dos Santos.

That second setback set the stage for a historic heavyweight run.

Following stoppage victories over Mark Hunt and Andrei Arlovski, Miocic was granted a title opportunity against then-champion Fabricio Werdum at UFC 198 in 2016. Werdum was on a remarkable run of his own, staying undefeated for nearly five years. But Miocic ended that with a first-round knockout to claim UFC gold.

Miocic reigned as champion for the next 784 days and made a trio of successful title defenses against Alistair Overeem, dos Santos and Francis Ngannou. To date, Miocic holds the UFC record for most consecutive heavyweight title defenses with three.

He dropped the title to then-light heavyweight champion Daniel Cormier at UFC 226 in 2018, and the two would engage in an epic trilogy. Miocic reclaimed the title by knockout a year later at