Looking for a bone-crunching knockout that will end up in endless GIFs and Vines over the next few days? UFC 182 wasn’t for you. The five fights on Saturday night’s main card featured exactly zero knockouts, with each fight going to the judges’ scorecards.
For the most part, the results were self-explanatory. Donald Cerrone and Brad Tavares each earned clean 30-27 sweeps in wins over Myles Jury and Nate Marquardt, respectively, while Kyoji Horiguchi and Hector Lombard each only dropped a round on one judges’ scorecard. (Note: Of course, those who watched the Fox Sports 1 prelim saw a flurry of knockouts, but we’re not counting those for these purposes.)
One could easily argue the closest fight of the evening came in the main event. The otherwise staid card was to some saved by the world’s best pound-for-pound mixed martial artist, as Jon Jones retained his light heavyweight championship via unanimous decision over Daniel Cormier. While all three judges scored the fight four rounds to one in Jones’ favor, the action lived up to its intense build-up for the most part.
Cormier came out from the opening bell as the aggressor, looking to burrow his way close to the longer Jones and eliminate his reach advantage. The 35-year-old, who’d been undefeated coming into Saturday night, had a strong Round 1 and was by far the better fighter in Round 2. Getting out of the gate strong, Cormier was able to land a series of clean punches to begin gathering momentum
Early in Round 3, it would have been fair to wonder if we were headed for a historic upset to start 2015. Cormier went immediately back to the strategy that got him the second-round victory, peppering Jones with shots that appeared to make the champion a little weak in the knees.
But following a short stoppage, Jones gathered himself, took control and did not look back. A flurry of well-placed kicks and continued movement forced Cormier‘s aggressive tactics to slow, and Jones’ impeccable conditioning seemed to be an advantage as the fight progressed. He dominated the fourth round from start to finish and closed the final round with enough gusto that he decided to top off the victory with a nod to WWE’s Attitude Era.
“It felt great (to take him down),” Jones said after the fight to Joe Rogan (h/t Steven Muehlhausen of Sporting News). “The undefeated ‘DC,’ the haters, all the crap he talked, it motivated me. I took him down. I think it was like, I don’t know, five takedowns to zero. For everybody who bought a Break Bones shirt, take it back now. You wasted your money. I’m sorry I’m being classless right now. I do not like ‘DC,’ and this is why I’m being this way.”
Jones’ win was his eighth title defense and 12th straight victory overall. There is rarely any question that Jones is the best light heavyweight in the sport’s history. Now, increasingly, it’s a question of whether he’s the baddest man the sport has ever seen period.
The shortlist begins with Anderson Silva and Georges St-Pierre, well-rounded superstars with long and storied careers. After that would be a series of question marks, depending on how much leeway you give forebears like Chuck Liddell and Randy Couture, who helped build the sport from the ground up but may not have always been as polished as today’s elite.
“I will put Georges and Anderson above me, and that will keep me honest. It will keep me determined and driven. I’ll keep that as my psychology until it can’t be argued anymore,” Jones told Anton Tabuena of Bloody Elbow, though at the same time saying he has the “toughest resume” of anyone in history. “2015 will be my best year.”
For as much bluster as he brings to the table, Jones isn’t far off. He’s two away from matching Silva’s record for the most title defenses with 10, and there doesn’t appear anyone within his general stratosphere as a fighter. No light heavyweights come close to touching most pound-for-pound rankings. The best potential match on the table would be against Cain Velasquez, but that would involve one of the pair shedding or gaining significant weight.
Like Silva’s reign atop the middleweight division, Jones appears to have no equal in sight. Anthony Johnson is probably next in line if he can defeat Alexander Gustafsson later this month, and Rashad Evans looms as a potential spoiler if he can stay healthy.
But for now, any effort to take down Jones appears futile. Get used to it.
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