Jon Jones has thwarted takedowns from every UFC opponent, but in the end, it was a 134-pound journalist who finally put the light heavyweight champ on his back.
Mario Filho, a journalist in Brazil, is known for challenging MMA champions to special sparring sessions on “Senseinocao,” a segment featured on the program Sensei SporTV.
In order to be declared the victor, fighters are given a certain time limit to finish Filho with their trademark move. Filho has gone up against and been defeated by several world-class names including Anderson Silva, Lyoto Machida and Junior dos Santos.
The match against Jones marked Filho’s first victory ever on the show.
Jones was required to finish Filho within two three-minute rounds with a spinning kick, punch or elbow. Surprisingly, the Brazilian survived both rounds and even managed to counter a flying knee attempt from Jones with a takedown.
In an interview with Sherdog.com, Filho basked in the moment he snuck in a takedown on arguably the top pound-for-pound fighter in the world.
Who gets the chance to fight the UFC light heavyweight champion inside the octagon if you’re not “Shogun” [Mauricio Rua] or Machida? Nobody. Just to have this opportunity, I was done, personally and professionally – as a reporter, of course. Not as a fighter, because I train a lot, but only recreationally.”
In the “Senseinocao” challenges, I’ve always been annihilated, and this time was no different. I just really, really wanted to take down Jon Jones. And this was done, photographed, filmed and seen by several witnesses who cheered a lot there. Even Jon Jones laughed when he fell!
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