This past weekend served up a feast of combat sports action, as two of of the all-time greats of the cage and the ring returned to action, with vastly different results.
In Arlington, Texas, 58-year-old Mike Tyson made his return to the ring to take on influencer-turned-prizefighter Jake Paul in a professional bout that served up little more than disappointment and a little bit of sadness, as Paul did no more than he needed to do (and possibly no more than he could do) to go all the way to the scorecards with Tyson, who looked every one of his 58 years in a bout that had most boxing fans just hoping he could make it to the end unhurt.
Thankfully, that wasn’t the only big attraction at Jerry’s World on Friday night, as the co-main event rematch between Katie Taylor and Amanda Serrano delivered another brilliant back-and-forth contest. Taylor ran out the winner on the scorecards, just as she did in the first bout. But, just as we saw in the first matchup, there was a fair degree of controversy over the final result.
After the action in Texas on Friday, all eyes turned to Madison Square Garden in New York on Saturday, as UFC 309 produced a night packed with finishes, exciting moments, and the victorious return of heavyweight champion Jon Jones, who TKO’d former champion Stipe Miocic with a spinning back kick to the body in the third round.
That win saw Jones look close to the fighter who dominated the light heavyweight division for a decade, and immediately led to the question that now consumes the MMA fanbase right now – will Jon Jones agree to put his title on the line against interim champion Tom Aspinall? Or will he drop the belt and fight Alex Pereira, or just retire?
With the dust finally settled after a crazy weekend of combat sports, The RDX Sports Podcast with Simon Head takes a considered look back at the events of UFC 309 in New York, where Jones defeated Miocic and talked down a fight with Aspinall, and Paul vs. Tyson in Arlington, Texas, where the co-main event between Taylor and Serrano stole the show.
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