Jones (pictured) is now interim light heavyweight champion. Photo: Josh Hedges/UFC
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Jon Jones is back. It wasn't exactly the performance that fans expected, or even that the fighter himself intended, but the former champion won with ease Ovince St Preux in the main fight of UFC 197 and won the interim light heavyweight belt. As a bonus, Jones also got his passport stamped for the rematch against Daniel Cormier, resulting in the unification of titles.
After the triumph, Jones spoke about the time away and the feeling of returning. “I don’t want this interim belt, this is not the real belt. I want mine back. Everything happens for a reason. It took me a while to find myself. I'm sorry if my performance didn't please you. I was just watching, anticipating and imagining how I could apply my techniques, but he wasn't taking the bait. On the other hand, I feel very good physically. Mentally, though… I've been stuck for a long time. But I don't think my problems affected my performance. I have a lot of doubts, but I felt a lot of confidence when I came back. I don't want to say that this was a 'warm-up' fight, but I needed this fight. I really want to fight with the Daniel Cormier. I'm going back to training, maybe on Thursday and I want to fight Cormier. All I want is to fight him.”, assured Bones.
OSP, who was selected for the fight just three weeks before the event, praised his resilience and good performance, despite the adverse conditions. "O Jon Jones He is the best fighter in the history of MMA. So, coming here and doing what I did, I'm very proud. He maintained a very fast pace, but in the fourth and fifth he started to accelerate even more. In fact, a high kick of his that I blocked hurt my arm and he's killing me,” said the American of Haitian descent.
The fight
In the first round, still apparently shy about his return after a year, Jones showed just one of his calling cards: front stomps on the knee, keeping his opponent at bay. Furthermore, the former champion also bet on rotating kicks, both to the waist line and to the head. In the end, despite taking a clean jab to the face, Jones managed to take down and hit his opponent.
In the second round, it was Jones's turn to use another weapon, combined with his stomps: elbows. The former champion framed his rival against the railing and hit him with a series of elbows, including an upward one, which shook him. St. Preux, in turn, responded with two powerful rights that made Jon accuse the blow. In the final stretch, there was still time for Bones to land a flying round kick to OSP's head.
In the third round, OSP began to show clear signs of fatigue and Jon Jones he tried to capitalize, abusing kicks to the waistline – in order to undermine his rival's momentum. In addition, Jones also outlined some moments from his “old days” with a straight left and a spinning elbow.
After fifteen minutes, a Jon Jones which was much more reminiscent of the champion finally appearing. With two impressive falls, raising St. Preux above his own head, Jon Jones paved the way for his dreaded ground and pound, with a show of elbows, punches and even a kick to the body. OSP, however, resisted and took the fight to the final stage.
In the fifth round, more of the same. Takedowns, stomps, elbows and distance control for Jones, who secured the victory in a unanimous decision. One of the judges considered Jones a 10-8 victory in one of the rounds and the other two thought that the former champion won 10-9 in the five partial rounds.
Unstoppable, DJ knocks out Olympic champion and keeps the title
DJ (photo) defended his belt for the eighth time. Photo: Josh Hedges/UFC
No wonder that Demetrious Johnson He is the longest-lived champion in Ultimate today. The flyweight champion simply didn't take notice of the Olympic gold medalist Henry Cejudo and defended his belt with a devastating knockout.
The challenger even managed to surprise the champion and take him down right away, but Johnson is not the only owner of the flyweight belt in history for nothing and, not only did he manage to get back on his feet, he also went after his rival.
In the clinch, Demetrious hit Cejudo with a series of knees and elbows that left Cejudo reeling. Walking backwards, Henry was hit with a right by DJ, a knee to the waistline afterwards and a few punches on the ground to finish the job.
After the fight, DJ reinforced his supremacy in the Octagon. “Regarding the game plan, I didn’t have anything specific. I made him lose his balance a little and, with my knee, I shook him. This is my fight, I'm the best pound-for-pound in the world and I'm going to stay that way”, he said to commentator Joe Rogan.
Check out the UFC 197 results:
MAIN CARD
Jon Jones derrotou Ovince St Preux in a unanimous decision by the jurors (50×44, 50×45 and 50×45);
Demetrious Johnson knocked out (knees and punches) Henry Cejudo at 2:49 of R1;
Edson Barboza; defeated Anthony Pettis in a unanimous decision by the judges (29×28, 29×28 and 30×27)
Robert whittaker derrotou Rafael Sapo in a unanimous decision by the jurors (29×28, 30×27 and 30×27);
Yair Rodriguez knocked out (flying kick) André Fili at 2:15 of R2
PRELIMINARY CARD
Sergio Pettis defeated Chris Kelades in a unanimous decision by the judges (30×27, 30×27 and 30×27);
Danny Roberts defeated Dominique Steele in a unanimous decision by the judges (29×28, 29×28, 29×28);
Carla esparza derrotou Ju Thai in a unanimous decision by the jurors (30×27, 30×27 and 30×27);
James Vick defeated Glaico France in a unanimous decision by the jurors (29×28, 29×28 and 30×27);
Walt Harris knocked out (punches) Cody East at 4:18 of R1;
Marcos Foot submitted Clint Hester with a katagatame at 4:35 of R1
Kevin Lee defeated Efrain Escudero in a unanimous decision by the judges (29×28, 29×28 and 29×28)
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