At UFC 145, Jon Jones
defeated Rashad Evans to retain his light heavyweight title for the
third time. He did so by dominating the next best fighter in the
division without getting into any serious trouble. The post fight
discussion though, has seen people call the fight disappointing for
one of two reasons; it was not exciting enough or Jon Jones did not
look great in his win. I think Jones looked fantastic and I was on
the edge of my seat all the way through the fight.
The first part of that
is pretty subjective, you either liked the fight or you didn't. I
suppose there is something of a divide amongst MMA fans over what
they are looking for in an exciting fight, this divide was exposed
after the Diaz vs Condit fight earlier this year. Some people really
loved to see Condit find a way to deal with Nick Diaz's forward
pressure and hit him without being hit too much. Others really love
fights where opponents stand toe to toe. In the Jones vs Evans
fight, I was just excited to see someone dominate a fighter of Rashad
Evans credentials for five rounds. Add in to that the fact that I
like Jones a lot and that I felt Rashad posed a real threat and the
tension and admiration added up to some serious enjoyment.
To say that the
performance was not that great though, that seems a bit unfair. Jones
battered Rashad Evans, a fighter who had only lost once and had
looked really dominant himself in his last fight against Phil Davis.
Jones did so not by smothering Evans or by being conservative, but by
constantly innovating and looking for a way to finish the fight.
While Jones complained that a few things he threw were a little
sloppy because he was intimidated, the impressive thing is that he
nevertheless looked far superior to the opponent he has faced to
date.
I guess Jon Jones
doesn't exactly need someone to sing his praises, but it has
surprised me a little to read that the main event was a little
underwhelming and that Jones' performance was a little off par. I
thought it was awesome.
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