With fans having to wait over a month since the last Ultimate Fighting Championship event, Saturday nights UFC 152: Jones vs. Belfort event at the Air Canada Centre in Toronto provided an entertaining night of submissions, knockouts, and hard fought victories.
UFC president Dana White announced the “Fight Night” bonus winners, awarding $65,000 to light heavyweight champ Jon Jones for “Submission of the Night”, to Cub Swanson for “Knockout of the Night”, and to prelim combatants TJ Grant and Evan Dunham for “Fight of the Night”.
White also announced an attendance of 16,800 into the Canadian venue, for a live gate of $1,921,000.
Jones faced former title holder Vitor Belfort in the main event, and was almost a “Submission of the Night” victim in the first round of their match. After surviving a nasty armbar from ‘The Phenom’, Jones would control the fight from top position dropping elbows on his Brazilian opponent. In the fourth round, following a scramble which ended with Jones on top in side control, the champ looked to transition into a crucifix but locks up a keylock submission instead to force the tap at 0:54.
Swanson faced Charles Oliveira in a 146.2-lbs catchweight bout, finishing his Brazilian opponent via first round knockout at 2:40. Oliveira looked to use his taller size early, and even managed an early takedown. As the two got to their feet, Swanson landed a hard shot to the liver which Oliveira looked to shake off, but an overhand right to the temple forced the end. As Oliveira attempted to shake both strikes off, he simply crumpled to the mat forcing referee Yves Lavigne to step and and call the fight.
Grant and Dunham put in an entertaining three rounds of action on the FX broadcasted prelim card. Both men kept the fight standing for the most part, with both stepping into the pocket and throwing toe-to-toe on several occasions. At times, Dunham would cheer his opponent on, knowing that the two of them had an entertaining fight on their hands. Grant opened up a cut on Dunham’s head but not enough to force a stoppage to the match, but enough to leave the floor of the cage bloody. In the end, the judges would award Grant with a unanimous decision by scores of 29-28, 30-27, and 29-28.