In one of the most anticipated fights of this decade Jon Jones proved why he is one of the greatest mixed martial artists in the world.
Both Jon Jones and Daniel Cormier carried over their pre-fight angst into the octagon and from the fighter intros the crowd fed off of their hatred. ‘DC’ chants echoed as Cormier entered the octagon and a loud mixture of boos and cheers accompanied Jones on his way to the cage, but what really mattered is what happened once the bell rang.
Both fighters came at each other with a pent up fury that had finally been set free. Jones wasted no time showing his game plan which featured a mixture of leg kicks, body kicks, body punches, and jabs. Cormier focused his attention on closing the distance on Jones and using the clinch to land uncontested uppercuts.
The first round featured a back and forth between both fighters but Jones landed the cleaner punches and sealed the round by landing a few nice elbows. The second and third rounds were a different story.
Cormier lived inside Jones’ guard in the middle rounds and avoided many of Jones’ attacks. He also used the cage to position Jones for knees and those deadly uppercuts. I personally scored both rounds for DC but the judges awarded the 3rd to Jon, which is a matter of taste.
The 4th round changed everything.
Cormier had no energy coming out of the corner and Jones sensed it. At one point Jones took down DC three times in a row and made it look fairly easy. That’s when everyone knew that DC was in trouble. From that point on Jones was able to pin Cormier against the cage and have his way with him. He used knees to the gut and sharp elbows to score points while DC tried to figure out how to mount an attack.
The only thing DC had go his way was a slam late in the 5th, which probably didn’t count as a takedown because Jones jumped up so quickly. Jones controlled the fight and knew that he accomplished what many, including myself, said he wouldn’t do.
Whatever equity he built up with fans during the fight quickly dissolved when he DC with a cheap shot to end the fight (Mayweather style) and then DX crotch-chop taunted him after the bell rang. Not the best way to keep his baby face angle, but he won the fight and that’s what matters.
In the end the fight lived up to the hype and Jones added a huge notch on his belt in his claim for best MMA fighter of all time.
Now he has to wonder if Cain Velasquez will be coming for him soon.
