Former UFC heavyweight champion Stipe Miocic is retiring.
"I'm done," Miocic said after losing to Jon Jones at UFC 309 Saturday night in New York. "I'm hanging ‘em up. I'm retiring."
Miocic lost in a third-round stoppage after he took blows to the head and a spinning back kid to the ribs. He retires with a 20-5-0 record in UFC competition.
With the win, Jones retained the UFC heavyweight championship but Miocic got much praise.
"He's one of the greatest heavyweights ever," UFC CEO Dana White told ESPN. "You can't deny Stipe. Stipe is [No 1 or No 2] all time."
Miocic, 42, hadn't fought since his March 27, 2021, loss to Francis Ngannou. Miocic is a two-time heavyweight champion, first winning the belt by defeating then-champion Fabricio Werdum in 2016.
He defended the title four times.
After losing the belt to Daniel Cormier in 2018 at UFC 226, he beat Cormier in a rematch the following year at UFC 241 and again at UFC 252 in 2020.
He lost the title to Ngannou in 2021.
It is expected Miocic will return to his career as a firefighter and paramedic in his native Ohio.