UFC light heavyweight champion Jon Jones had an incredible reach advantage over his UFC 159 main event opponent Chael Sonnen.
Knowing his wingspan was 10.5 inches greater than that of Sonnen‘s, it would have been very easy for Jones to have utilized that advantage and kept Sonnen to the outside. Somewhat surprisingly, Jones did not opt to do that.
Instead Jon Jones out Sonnen‘d Chael Sonnen.
Jones, perhaps still holding a bit of a grudge over the cheap shots that Sonnen had fired his way in the past, decided to use Sonnen‘s own game plan to beat him. Jones fought in close, using takedowns and clinch work to set up the eventual finish, a finish that came after Jones unleashed heavy ground strikes after taking Sonnen to the mat for the third time in the first round. The end came at the 4:33 mark of the round.
After the fight, an elated Jones began to speak to UFC commentator Joe Rogan when they both looked down at the mat and noticed that not only had Jones been tracking blood across the canvas, but also that Jones’ toe was bent at an unnatural angle.
Rogan asked Jones when he thought he could have injured the toe, to which Jones replied,”I don’t know, but when my adrenaline calms down, I’m going to be in some pain tonight.”
Jones went on to finish the interview with Rogan on a stool as he had his injury looked at.
As for the vanquished challenger, Sonnen had the following to say to Rogan during his in-cage post-fight interview: “I’m not going to be one of the guys to hang around. If there’s not a road to the title, then this sport isn’t for me. I believe that was probably my last opportunity.”
The win gave Jones five consecutive UFC light heavyweight title defenses, tying Tito Ortiz’s record.
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