With the scorecards from UFC 165’s main event released, we now get a better look at how the judges saw Jon Jones successfully defending his light heavyweight title to Alexander Gustafsson. After a brutal, five-round bout, here’s how the judges scored it:
Judge Doug Crosby
Rd. 1: Gustafsson 10-9
Rd. 2: Gustafsson 10-9
Rd. 3: Jones 10-9
Rd. 4: Jones 10-9
Rd. 5: Jones 10-9
Judge Richard Bertrand
Rd. 1: Gustafsson 10-9
Rd. 2: Jones 10-9
Rd. 3: Gustafsson 10-9
Rd. 4: Jones 10-9
Rd. 5: Jones 10-9
Judge Chris Lee
Rd. 1: Gustafsson 10-9
Rd. 2: Jones 10-9
Rd. 3: Jones 10-9
Rd. 4: Jones 10-9
Rd. 5: Jones 10-9
Doug Crosby, who scored the bout 48-47 for the champion, gave Jones rounds three, four and five while giving Gustafsson the first two. Richard Bertrand, who also scored it 48-47 for Jones, saw him win rounds two, four and five with the challenger taking one and three. Chris Lee, scoring the fight 49-46 for Jones, only had Gustafsson winning the first round. Each judge scores the first round for Gustafsson, while Jones swept the championship rounds. Had it been a three-round contest, Gustafsson would have walked away with the decision.
Fans and fighters alike instantly clamored that Gustafsson had earned the nod, leaving the door open for debate. Even so, keep in mind that seemingly close fights often aren’t reflected on the score cards. Judges are discouraged from scoring 10-10 rounds, forcing them to treat each independent round as its own competition. As our own Dave Meltzer pointed out, the scoring of Saturday’s main event wasn’t nearly as curious as some think.
“It was close. Chris Lee wasn’t crazy, certainly not in this fight. It’s rare, but you can have a razor close fight and end up 50-45. Razor-close fights ending 30-27 are not rare. You can have a near slaughter in the end and it end up 48-47. The score can reflect the closeness of the fight, but it’s a round-by-round system. Plenty of 29-28 fights are not close fights at all.”
5 MUST-READ STORIES
Scrums. On the first stop of their seven city media tour, catch scrums with Dana White, Anderson Silva and Chris Weidman. Dana stands behind Jones, Anderson still wants Roy Jones Jr. and Weidman open to superfight with Jon Jones.
McCarthy rips Kizer. Following the Nevada State Athletic Commission’s public support of a controversial scoring of Floyd Mayweather vs. Canelo Alvarez, ‘Big’ John McCarthy says executive director Keith Kizer is endangering athletes. “So if you’re doing that, you keep putting those same people back, you don’t care about the fighters. You don’t care about them as athletes, you don’t care about their livelihood.”
Grudge match. After Wanderlei Silva said he wanted to ‘destroy’ him in Oregon, Chael Sonnen says it’s all a bunch of bluster. “Anyone who believes the UFC hasn’t offered or tried to put on this colossal mega-fight between two guys that genuinely disdain each other is more than silly.”
The Beard. Dana White sympathizes with Daniel Cormier potentially having to deal with Roy Nelson’s impressive facial hair. “I don’t want that nasty thing rubbing on my face either if I was in a fight.”
Silva by KO. On the heels of his first knockout inside the Octagon, Anderson Silva vows to return the favor for his rematch with Chris Weidman. “I (will) give back the knockout.”
MEDIA STEW
UFC 166 preview.
UFC 165: backstage pass.
Cris Cyborg TKO’s Jennifer Colomb. You can see the full broadcast here, but this version has great angles on the Round 2 flurry and TKO.
Gilbert Melendez talks about the future of Nick and Nate Diaz.
Brendan Schaub walks us through his D’Arce choke from UFC 165 in the latest Gracie Breakdown.
Dan Hardy shares the recipe for post-workout shake.
Super Fight League 26.
Tommy Toe Hold answers your questions.
TWEETS
@ufc Cant make it november 30th ive gotta high school reuinion i have to tend too…
— Nathan Diaz (@NateDiaz209) September 23, 2013
Interesting.
Ok let’s make this clear, there was no begging the Ringside Physician 2 let the fight continue. There was normal interaction between him & I
— Big John McCarthy (@JohnMcCarthyMMA) September 23, 2013
Never a doubt.
For the fans who supported my teammate @AlexTheMauler thank u…N the ones who gave him no shot at all-ull c the rematch soon! #ufc
— Dominick Cruz (@TheDomin8r) September 23, 2013
A legit challenge for Rousey?
MMA?👊 (foto por bjjpix) http://t.co/nMzvgIEk3b
— Kyra Gracie (@kyragracie) September 23, 2013
Didn’t he call them the ‘Sacramento Queens’ once?
Pumped that @SHAQ is on board with the @SacramentoKings atta boy Shaq daddy!
— Urijah Faber (@UrijahFaber) September 23, 2013
Not much difference in forearm size.
My friend @toquinhomma … Com meu amigo toquinho na @teamnogueirarec “O bixo esta voando e com muita… http://t.co/kqPXhbimMG
— Antonio Pezao Silva (@BigfootSilva) September 23, 2013
Why scan this far out from a fight?
Body scanning for EA Sports.. http://t.co/nGEerg131t
— Chris Weidman (@ChrisWeidmanUFC) September 23, 2013
Gettin’ paid.
@supernorms @JonnyBones @RosenhausSports @Chan95Jones @malkikawa I’m telling you he makes more then me and @Chan95Jones together.
— Arthur Jones (@Artj97) September 23, 2013
That’s a show I’d watch.
I think while im down im going to get a.job in alaska on one of those fishing.boats anyone have any info ?
— phil baroni (@philbaroni) September 24, 2013
What?
No shit,@mark_munoz says he’s gonna hit me in the ass and when I get up I’ll be like aagh, my ass hurts..You know where I’m going with this
— michael (@bisping) September 24, 2013
FIGHT ANNOUNCEMENTS
Announced yesterday (Sept. 23 2013)
NA
FANPOST OF THE DAY
Today’s Fanpost of the Day comes via MMA Fighting member Steve Borchardt.
Notes From the Undercard: UFC 165 Edition
When Charles Dickens wrote his famous line, “It was the best of times, it was the worst of times,” he could just as easily have been prognosticating the outcome of UFC 165’s undercard as setting the stage for one of his most famous novels.
The preliminary portion of this past Saturday’s show from Toronto was marked by a pronounced dichotomy between highly entertaining short fights and three rounders so dull watching them felt like monitoring a slug’s progress as it attempted to slither its way through a marathon. Join me bellow as I take a closer look at the good, the bad, and the frustratingly incompetent from the UFC 165 prelims.
A win may not always be a win, but is there ever a time when a loss isn’t a loss for an undercard fighter?
Sometimes fighting in the UFC can be a real “damned if you do, damned if you don’t” kind of job. Fighters are encouraged by the promotion to make a name for themselves with exciting performances, but at the same time there’s so much riding on every fight the pressure to win at all costs can be overwhelming.
Check out the rest of the post here.
Found something you’d like to see in the Morning Report? Just hit me up on Twitter @SaintMMA and we’ll include it in tomorrow’s column.