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Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) was back at it again last night (Sat., Feb. 8, 2020) as UFC 247 went down from inside Toyota Center in Houston, Texas. In the headlining act, Jon Jones escaped “H-Town” with his Light Heavyweight title after earning a unanimous decision against Dominick Reyes (see it). In the co-main event of the evening, Valentina Shevchenko dominated Katlyn Chookagian en route to a third round technical knockout victory (recap).
Biggest Winner: Jon Jones
Regardless if you think he should’ve gotten the nod or not (I personally think Reyes did just enough to win), the victory itself was huge for “Bones,” surpassing Georges St-Pierre with his fourteenth straight championship win, the most in UFC history. He also scored his eleventh title defense, adding to his already stacked resume. It wasn’t a walk in the park for Jones, as Reyes stuck to his word and took it to the champ from the jump. But give credit where credit is due, Jones dug deep in the championship rounds to sway the judges. Afterward, Jones gave Reyes his props, and while there are many who are calling for an instant do-over, I highly doubt “Bones” will grant “The Devastator” and immediate rematch. You can’t be mad at Jones for the decision (see scorecard), and it really could have gone either way. Furthermore, it wasn’t a robbery by any stretch of the imagination, but whoever had it 49-46 for Jones shouldn’t be allowed to judge a fight again.
Runner Up: Valentina Shevchenko
Let’s just keep it real here, “Bullet” is one bad woman, as she completely dominated Katelyn Chookagian before putting on the finishing touches in the third round of their Flyweight title fight. I mean it was a clinic, and Shevchenko not only scored her third straight title defense, she solidified herself as one of the best pound-for-pound female fighters in the world, right behind current “champ-champ,” Amanda Nunes. Coincidentally enough, Shevchenko’s only two UFC losses came at the hands of Nunes, with her most previous defeat to “Lioness” at UFC 215 coming by way of split decision. Yes, Shevchenko has a lot of people to beat at 125 pounds, but there isn’t a fighter who stands out at the moment deserving of a title shot. That being said, I wouldn’t mind seeing Shevchenko move up to fight Nunes at Bantamweight a third time. I know it’s a long shot, but I want what I want.
Biggest Loser: Juan Adams
We’re just going by statistics here, and Adams has been struggling as of late. His technical knockout loss to Justin Tafa is his third loss in a row, bringing his record to 1-3 inside the Octagon. With his lone UFC win coming over Chris de la Rocha, Juan hasn’t done enough to show he can bang with the promotion’s big boys after earning a spot on the roster because of his first round knockout on the “Contender Series.” Where Adams goes from here is anyone’s guess, but he doesn’t have the longevity inside the Octagon to rely solely on that to get him another fight inside the eight-sided cage in order to avoid the pink slip.
For complete UFC 247 results and coverage click here.