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Jon Jones defeated Dominick Reyes by unanimous decision in the UFC 247 pay-per-view (PPV) main event last Sat. night (Feb. 8, 2020) inside Toyota Center in Houston, Texas, and in the process, leapfrogged Georges St-Pierre and took over the No. 1 spot as the winningest champion in promotion history.
That’s the good news.
The bad news, at least for Team Jones, is that Reyes nearly walked out of “The Lone Star State” with the 205-pound strap. I wouldn’t go so far as to call it a robbery, but you would have probably heard less complaining had the judges given the nod to “The Devastator.” That said, Reyes decided to coast in rounds four and five, which is not something you can do against one of the greatest fighters of all time.
Especially in Texas.
Not to poke fun of all you Houston locals, but even Adalaide Byrd was like “Wow, those were some wacky scorecards” (see them here). And while we are on the topic of scoring, maybe we can also stop whining about takedowns. Judging by the reactions on Twitter you would think a takedown should no longer be scored when the grounded fighter pops right up.
Should we also stop scoring significant strikes when they do no damage?
Jones (26-1, 1 NC) might be proud of his performance now that all is said and done but this is the second straight fight that he needed a bailout from the judges, so I would imagine coach Greg Jackson and his team of handlers will be having a very honest conversation with “Bones” after the 32 year-old champ is done partying.
Since that might take until July, better they just interrupt him some time next week.
I’m referring, of course, to that much-ballyhooed trip to heavyweight. Reyes was a big, strong 205-pounder with serious power and before “The Devastator” ran out of gas in the championship rounds, Jones looked ill-equipped to deal with a fearless opponent of his size and strength.
One who refused to be bullied.
By his own admission, Jones can’t bust a grape, so I’m not sure what kind of gameplan he would employ against a monster like Francis Ngannou, a powerhouse wrestler like Curtis Blaydes, or a rugged boxer like current heavyweight champion, Stipe Miocic. “Bones” just hasn’t looked very special in his last few outings.
I know the easy answer is “he’s off the gear” but what made Jones unique for most of his career was his ability to be unpredictable, dynamic, and a master of range. Seemed like every time a round would end in the UFC 247 headliner, the corner of Reyes would tell him exactly what was coming and then right on cue, Jones stuck to the script. Maybe the coaches have caught up to him at this point or the division is just much tougher than it once was.
This shouldn’t sound like I’m downplaying Reyes because he looked fantastic. But we can’t pretend that Jones hasn’t been sleepwalking these last few years, either, and if you want me to get excited about a trip up to heavyweight, I’m going to need to see “Bones” do some serious breaking against a formidable opponent.
Instead, we may have to settle for the winner of this fight.
For complete results and round-by-round, blow-by-blow coverage of the entire UFC 247 fight card CLICK HERE. To check out all UFC 247: “Jones vs. Reyes” news and notes be sure to hit up our comprehensive event archive RIGHT HERE.