UFC 247 results: Jon Jones controversially squeaks by Dominick Reyes

Esther Lin, MMA Fighting

Jon Jones took the scorecards against Dominick Reyes to retain his light heavyweight belt in the UFC 247 main event.

UFC 247 is officially over and the promotion’s light heavyweight belt was up for grabs as the champ, Jon Jones, and the challenger, Dominick Reyes, went to war for the full 25 minutes. Reyes got ahead early, landing a lot of strikes across the first three rounds. Jones rallied in the championship rounds as Reyes started to slow down, landing a lot more strikes than he did in the earlier frames. When the dust settled, it was Jones who controversially took the decision to retain his title. With the win, Jones sets the record for most championship defenses in UFC history at 15. As for Reyes, this is the first loss of his young career.

Zero feeling out happened to start this fight. Jones attacked the legs of his opponent while avoiding the left hand of Reyes. Reyes started to kick the legs himself. A straight left to the body from Reyes knocked Jones to the ground as he threw a quick, but the defending champion sprung right back up. Reyes started to pour it on, throwing powerful volume in his foe’s direction. Jones remained composed and started launching head kicks at the challenger.

The fighters exchanged kicks to open the second stanza. Reyes flurried with a blitz, but Jones avoided the big shots and remained safe. Jones pressed forward, forcing Reyes to use his footwork to move backwards. Reyes was still throwing, but Jones was being solid with his defense. Jones stayed with his leg attack, but Reyes was landing more strikes.

Both fighters came out in the third throwing kicks again. Reyes went high, but it was blocked, while Jones went low and landed. Blood began to trickle out of the nose of Reyes, but he kept finding his strikes. Jones shot in for a takedown, but Reyes stayed vertical and returned to open space. The forward pressure of Jones did not let up and Reyes was forced to keep up his backwards movement.

Reyes landed some big hooks to open the fourth frame. Jones responded by getting a takedown, but Reyes jumped back up to his feet. Jones shot in again for the takedown, but failed to secure it. He did land a knee to the body followed by an elbow over the top upon the break. Jones stayed with his pressure, and started to land as Reyes started to slow down his movement.

Jones shot in and got a takedown early in the final round, but Reyes worked right back up. Jones started to land with straight punches and kicks to the legs and body. Jones had a lot more pep in his step, and his output was higher than that of the challenger. Reyes spent a lot of time moving, but the strike count was in favor of Jones.

Jon Jones def. Dominick Reyes by unanimous decision (49-46, 48-47 x2): Light Heavyweight title