Morning Report | Gordon Ryan: Jon Jones rehearsed Donald Trump dance during warmup for Stipe Miocic
Jon Jones made sure to master a special move for UFC 309, but it wasn’t for Stipe Miocic.
In the main event of the November pay-per-view at Madison Square Garden in New York, Jones defended his UFC heavyweight title with a clinical destruction of Stipe Miocic. It was the first fight for Miocic in three and a half years, and apparently Jones was so assured of victory he took time out of his pre-fight warmup to work on his celebration.
With President Donald Trump sitting cageside, Jones hit Trump’s signature dance in front of him, and cornerman Gordon Ryan says Jones put a lot of time into getting the moment just right.
“Good Jon Jones story that nobody knows because I was cornering him for his last fight against Stipe, and we found out that Trump was going to be there,” Ryan said on a recent Joe Rogan podcast. “For probably a solid 15 to 20 minutes, while he was warming up, he’s getting ready to go out to fight for the belt and probably 20 minutes of that warmup was him just practicing the mechanics on how to do the Trump dance right.”
“We, like, looked it up,” Ryan added. “We YouTube’d it, and he was practicing the Trump dance in the locker room getting ready to dance.”
Though Jones is just was just in his second appearance at heavyweight, the 37-year-old is no stranger to title fights. During his run atop the light heavyweight ladder, Jones won 14 championship bouts, including eight straight defenses of the 205-pound belt from 2011 to 2015.
Rogan laughed at Ryan’s story, remarking, “How confident are you of victory where you’re already practicing your victory dance?”
According to Ryan, Jones’ team were committed to the champion’s playful rehearsal and they helped him perfect his technique as if he was drilling a fight-finishing combo.
“The best is we were all for it,” Ryan said. “We’re like, ‘No, the hands got to be a little bit higher, a little bit lower.’ So we were coaching him through it as he was doing it.”
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SOCIAL MEDIA BOUILLABAISSE
I can honestly say I’ve never seen this one before.
A BKFC fighter just tried to hit his opponent with the scale during their face off pic.twitter.com/9EvRzUwXrc
— FULL SEND MMA (@full_send_mma) March 26, 2025
Ilia Topuria nickname change. Thoughts?
The essential combat sports lineup.
Live Combat Sport Schedule: 3/27 - 3/30
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Complete schedule w/ fight cards, PPV & free live streams HERE:
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Looks legit.
Nick is healthy and doing good. pic.twitter.com/S40183AFZY
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Fight?
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Happens to the best of us.
I’m my dad now it’s so strange
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Neat.
Raul Rosas Jr. @FromHellPichel
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We will have the youngest and the oldest fighter on the UFC roster fighting at #UFCMexico this Saturday! pic.twitter.com/L350NITFrJ
Though scenes.
It's been a year and 3 days since I last fought and won the @BellatorMMA title.... 3 canceled bouts later..I hope @PFLMMA and @DonnDavisPFL changes this soon.... @AliAbdelaziz00 @MikeKoganMMA
— Corey 'Overtime' Anderson (@CoreyA_MMA) March 26, 2025
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FINAL THOUGHTS
I’ve never been in the camp of saying people can’t come up with their own nicknames, because some athletes have come up with some good ones, but changing your nickname after you’ve already established a decent brand? I don’t know.
I don’t mind “La Leyenda,” but it definitely feels like Topuria is setting himself up for a fall, especially if his first lightweight opponent turns out to be Islam Makhachev. The legend could be over before it begins.
EXIT POLL
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