In one of the most exciting fights of the year thus far, light heavyweight champion Jon Jones (20-1) defeated No. 1 contender Glover Teixeira (22-3) via unanimous decision on Saturday night in the main event of UFC 172.
Not only did Jones successfully defend his championship, but there were several other fights on the card that had MMA fans on their feet with excitement. Saturday’s show was undoubtedly worth the price tag.
Here are the results from Saturday’s pay-per-view and a review of the main event.
Breaking Down Jones vs. Teixeira
There were many fans that expected Teixeira to use his 20-fight winning streak to his advantage on Saturday and give Jones a tougher fight, but the champion’s ability to adapt and overcome is second to none.
Teixeira did not try to out-think his opponent on Saturday but instead leaned on his proven striking ability. The problem was that he was taking too much time setting up for punches, and Jones was able to thwart the attacks.
After Saturday’s fight, Jones spoke to Brett Okamoto of ESPN.com about his game plan against Teixeira and how it changed on the fly:
It was a lot of what we thought it would be. Glover doesn’t always tend to be versatile. We foresaw a lot of things and sure enough, it happened that way. It was a lot of improv. Game plan was to stick takedowns and pick him apart from a distance. I realized he was winding up on his punches so I switched game plans and fought at extremely close range. It worked out great.
With superior wrestling skills and the ability to keep the fight close along the cage and in the center of the Octagon, Jones managed to win each of the five rounds and was the clear winner when the final bell rang.
Teixeira is a great fighter, but he’s not on Jones’ level.
Just as MMAFighting.com’s Ariel Helwani and many other UFC fans have already started looking forward to Jones vs. Gustafsson, the defending champion must immediately shift his focus to his next title defense:
While there is no questioning Jones’ ability to strike with the best in the world or take people down against the best wrestlers in the sport, his biggest strength is his intelligence and ability to adjust on the fly.
Jones will need all of his in-ring I.Q. against another smart fighter like Gustafsson. After proving he was far better than Teixeira, he will be forced to square off against a man who has the ability to beat him.
For Jones, there is no rest after another successful title defense.
*Stats via UFC.com.
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