UFC 239 official scorecards for Jones vs. Santos

Here’s how the three judges scored the UFC 239 main event between Jon Jones and Thiago Santos.

Jon Jones defended his light heavyweight title with a win over Thiago Santos, but the UFC 239 main event was a lot closer than anticipated.

The scores read 48-47 Santos, 48-47 Jones, and 48-47 Jones. It marked the first time that Jones had ever lost on an official scorecard, but fortunately for him it didn’t result in the end of his reign atop the 205 lbs division.

Judge Derek Cleary’s Round 5 score proved to be the deciding factor in this one. Mark Bell had it 39-37 Jones entering the final frame, while Junichiro Kamijo scored it 39-37 for Santos. Cleary had the fight dead-even at 38-38 with five minutes to go, and it’s his decision to award Jones the final round that meant the title would stay in Jones’ hands.

Bell gave Jones rounds 2-4, Cleary gave Jones 2-3 and 5, while Kamijo saw rounds 3 and 5 for the champion. Obviously if Cleary sided with Bell in the fifth, we’d have a new champion right now. All three were in unanimous agreement that Santos took the opening round, while Jones won round 3. Everything else saw mixed opinions, and things broke in Jones’ favor on this occasion.