What mattered most at UFC 247 in Houston? Here are a few post-fight musings …
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1. Jon Jones barely gets away with one
For Jon Jones or any of his supporters, that was far too close for comfort. The UFC light heavyweight title stayed with “Bones” in a controversial unanimous decision against Dominick Reyes, and the fight and fallout brought on eerily familiar vibes.
Those vibes are that of former longtime UFC welterweight champ Georges St-Pierre, who, after putting on a series of five-round decision wins, seemed to be getting figured out by his opposition. St-Pierre’s final title fight at 170 pounds saw him get a controversial win over Johny Hendricks at UFC 168 in November 2014, and after that fight the French-Canadian vacated his belt and vanished from the scene for years.
St-Pierre had all sorts of reasons for making that move. His relationship with UFC management wasn’t great, his motivation was waning and he was unhappy with the state of drug testing in the sport. None of those things really apply to Jones, but the parallels of the actual fights are similar in that Jones took an inordinate amount of damage against a surging challenger, and many believe the title should have changed hands.
Jones’ head still seems to very much be in the game, but the fight with Reyes was a closer call than he and his team would have liked. Did Reyes just have a perfect night? Was Jones slightly off? These are questions we’ll never fully have the answers too.
What I do know, though, is that it does feel like Jones’ greatness is either slipping by a small margin, or his contenders are rapidly closing the gap. Remember that the Reyes fight comes after Jones eked out a split decision of Thiago Santos at UFC 239. Either way it could spell trouble, and it will be interesting to see how this fight changes his approach going forward.
2. Dominick Reyes proves many people wrong
On paper, it certainly seemed like Reyes had some attributes that could pose problems for Jones. I had strong doubts he would be able to put it all together on fight night, but he managed to rise to the occasion better than expected and arguably do enough to get the win.
Although his dreams were somewhat crushed in that he wasn’t able to get the belt, Reyes’ stock skyrocketed with the performance against Jones and he showed his true capabilities. And there’s a good chance this isn’t even the best he has to offer.
Reyes earned a great deal of new experience, from the leadup to the fallout of the fight with Jones, and everything in between. From all appearances, he’s got a good head on his shoulders, and if he channels the disappointment and frustration of the situation in a position way, the future remains bright and there’s a chance he has that UFC title wrapped around his waist for real one day.
3. Valentina Shevchenko unbeatable at 125?
The header kind of says it all here. Valentina Shevchenko has possibly taken over the status as the UFC’s most dominant titleholder after putting on another one-sided display in a title defense, this time against Katlyn Chookagian.
Going into this fight the odds were steep in Shevchenko’s favor. Did we expect it to be that much of a blowout before the merciful third-round TKO? I don’t think so. Chookagian came in with a nice body of work at 125 pounds, and Shevchenko essentially made her look as though she didn’t belong in the same cage.
Personally, I find it quite amazing to watch Shevchenko show how far the gap is between No. 1 and the rest in her division. There’s no urgency in putting her back in the cage with Amanda Nunes for the trilogy (though that’s admittedly the most competitive potential fight for her), because these efforts are somewhat breathtaking. It’s going to get old eventually, but for now, Shevchenko making artwork of her colleagues is something we can go with.
4. Derrick Lewis calls his shot
What more can we say about this one? During our pre-fight interview Thursday at media day, Derrick Lewis basically called what unfolded in his fight with Ilir Latifi to a tee. Was he joking at the time? Probably. But check this out (via Twitter):
Lewis ended up getting a unanimous decision over Latifi which garnered plenty of disagreement. I scored it 29-28 for him while on play-by-play duties for the card, so I can’t get on board with the idea it was a massively unjust decision. Latifi did essentially no damage and his only effective offense was takedowns and little else to go along with it.
Still, though, the whole scene of Lewis making his pre-fight comments then the fight happening as it did is quite the scenario.
5. Fortis MMA’s turn in fortune
I spent most of 2019 praising the Dallas-based Fortis MMA team for its tremendous success and 19-4 UFC record over the course of the year, so it seems only fair that we point out a rare rough night in which the team went 0-3.
Alex Morono and Miles Johns were both stopped in their fights, while Austin Lingo lost a decision in the opening bout on the card. It took one night for the team to nearly match its loss total for the previous year, and that goes to show the brutal and unpredictable nature of the sport these athletes play.
One bad evening by no means brings head coach Sayif Saud’s leadership into question, though. He’s still one of the very best in the game, and I have no doubt the results will turn back for the better in short order.
