The night’s main event featured a light heavyweight title tile between champion Jon Jones and former champion Lyoto Machida.
Jones earned the belt in March at UFC 128, where he stepped in for former teammate Rashad Evans. He took the belt from Mauricio “Shogun” Rua, the man who defeated Machida to take the gold. Jones defended his title against Quinton “Rampage” Jackson in September at UFC 135.
The Brazilian Machida has always been one of the toughest tests in the 205-pound division. The Karate practitioner has proved to be a stylistic nightmare for most fighters. While just 1-2 over his last three contests, the former champion scored a highlight reel frontkick knockout over Randy Couture in Toronto at UFC 129.
Round One: Jones started the fight low to the ground. Jones was the first to strike, but failed to connect. A spinning back kick missed the mark from Jones. Machida scored with a kick to the lead leg of Jones. Jones answered with a kick of his own. Machida looked to counter with a left hand but slipped. Jones kicked and Machida flurried but missed with a number of strikes. Machida landed with a kick to the body and followed with a left hand. An overhand right from Jones missed and Machida pushed forward, clipping Jones with multiple shots to the head. Machida landed a left kick to the body. A head kick from Jones missed the mark at the end of the round.
Round Two: The two light heavyweights traded kicks to begin the round. Both fighters fainted repeatedly, looking to solve one another. Jones kicked to the body and Machida countered with two right hands. The pair briefly clinched, but separated. Jones landed a right hand, straight to the jawline of the Brazilian. Jones scored with a huge takedown against the fence, quickly delivering a massive elbow to open a cut on Machida’s forehead. Jones briefly looked for a choke attempt, but abandoned it. The action was stopped to check the cut, but the doctor allowed the fight to continue. A left hand from Jones sent Machida crashing toward the mat. Jones pounced and applied a standing guillotine choke against the fence. Machida refused to tap and John McCarthy was forced to intervene. An unconscious Machida crashed to the mat.
“He didn’t have me hurt, but he wobbled me a bit. He’s just smart and a very tough puzzle,” Jones said of his opponent.
Official Result: Jon Jones def. Lyoto Machida by submission (guillotine choke). Round 2, 4:26
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Rob Tatum is a Featured Columnist for Bleacher Report MMA. You can also find Rob’s work at TheMMACorner.com. For anything related to MMA, you can follow Rob on Twitter @RobTatumMMA.