That’s all for now. Thanks for following along with us and be sure to check out our full report below.
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Jones says he was watching and anticipating and imaging techniques land, but he wasn’t reacting. Jones said he knows he wasn’t putting together a tremendous performance. He called the chance to fight OSP instead of Daniel Cormier a “blessing in disguise.” Jones said he has to feel good about his performance. And based on his last 15 months you can understand why he would say so.
Jon Jones wins by unanimous decision!
The official scores are 50-45, 50-45 and 50-44. Jones wins in a whitewash. Wasn’t impressive. Wasn’t dynamic. He did work. And there’s a new interim light heavyweight UFC champion. It was a do-what-you-gotta-do performance from Jones.
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Jones v Saint Preux: Round 5
Jones is throwing single shots now. A kick. A punch. But they’re coming with power. Jones is walking OSP down, looking for another entry into a title shot. Jones slips a lead right. OSP hasn’t been an effective offensive fighter in a few rounds. Jones picked up and dumped OSP to the canvas. A thudding takedown. Jones has two minutes to work. ... Credit Saint Preux. He got back to his feet. Ovince Saint Preux survived five rounds with Jon Jones, but that’s not worth much more than a few bags of ice.
Guardian’s unofficial score: Jones 10-9 Saint Preux (Jones 40-36 Saint Preux)
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Jones v Saint Preux: Round 4
Low kick by OSP turns Jones. Lead right by OSP missed, but he seems extremely comfortable. Jones presses OSP into the fence, was picked up, taken down and scrambled. Yeah, Jones is rusty. Slick elbow by Jones snapped OSP’s chin. Great shot. No one elbows better than Bones. Well, maybe Demetrious Johnson can. Saint Preux is stuck between the fence and Jon Jones. But Bones is doing a good job of maintaining position and landing short, chipping shots. Scramble by OSP didn’t go well. Jones went to mount, landed an elbow and is now fighting for back-control. Jones stands above Saint Preux, drops punches and kicks to the former Tennessee Volunteer’s body. That was a strong finish for Jones, who looks poised to score a fifth round stoppage. As soon as Jones switched to grapple mode he devoured OSP. 40-36.
Guardian’s unofficial score: Jones 10-9 Saint Preux (Jones 40-36 Saint Preux)
Jones v Saint Preux: Round 3
Jones is pumping out jabs. He’s missing a bunch but it’s mildly distracting for OSP. Spinning elbow lands for Jones. Fancy. Jones hasn’t shown much imagination tonight. Hard low kicks can be effective as anything else, and Jones plowed a hard one into OSP’s thigh. More boos from the crowd. Jones hasn’t asserted himself over OSP yet. This is still a fight. You wonder what OSP can do that he hasn’t already shown. Jones just strung together six kicks that went unreturned. Jones is content to pick apart sections of OSP, who’s breathing heavy as the third comes to a close. It’s 30-27, Jones.
Guardian’s unofficial score: Jones 10-9 Saint Preux (Jones 30-27 Saint Preux)
Jones v Saint Preux: Round 2
OSP landed a kick, Jones grabbed it and tested the limits of his foe’s flexibility. Jones wanted to stretch OSP into a takedown, but great balance by the former football player kept it standing. Hard low kick by Jones. OSP is holding up to Jones’ physicality thus far. Good defense by Saint Preux. The dreaded leg check. Strong knee to the lower part of Jones’ midsection by OSP. That was a good moment for Saint Preux. Jones presses forward and works over OSP in the clinch. We’re looking at knees and elbows from the former champion. Hard right hand by Saint Preux. Jones is looking to force a bit much. Rousey forced. McGregor forced. Now Jones? Jones landed a low sidekick to the outside of OSP’s right thigh. That’s bad for knees. Right hand down the pipe by OSP scores. This was a quality round for OSP. Could be Saint Preux’s. You keep waiting for Jones to find his rhythm. And you keep waiting for OSP to run out of gas.
Guardian’s unofficial score: Jones 10-9 Saint Preux (Jones 20-18 Saint Preux)
Jones v Saint Preux: Round 1
Jones steps forward. Well, crawls forward in the opening moments. He stands and switches stances. Jones really does look bigger here. That’s clear as day. The former champion has come out kicking. OSP’s odd angles are always tricky. Jones looks intent on measuring his opponent. Fighters don’t want to think in a fight, but Jones seems to as much as anyone – until he chooses otherwise. Midway through R1 and it’s a slower pace. Jones is stalking. OSP feinting. So far no threat of a takedown by Jones. If there’s a potentially “easier” path to victory, it would be putting OSP on the canvas and scoring with ground and pound. Fans at the MGM Grand are buzzing a bit, offering boos as the light heavyweight pai move and measure.
Guardian’s unofficial score: Jones 10-9 Saint Preux
Jones’ weight work was beneficial, don’t you think? Wow. He’s thicker and somehow more beastly. Round-by-round coverage to begin starting ... now.
Jon Jones’ first walkout to the octagon in 15 months is underway to Coming Home by Diddy – Dirty Money. The deposed light heavyweight champion is smiling and happy, almost forcefully so, though as he enters the arena there’s no doubt he is unquestionably invested in the moment. Jones makes a point to walk over to his family before he gets inspected and steps into the octagon. He’s sure treating this as something cathartic.
Taking the biggest fight of your MMA career on short notice is never ideal. For better or worse, Ovince Saint Preux has handled the call to fight Jon Jones with an ease and comfort factor that at the very least makes it seem like he’s not out of his element.
Watching highlights of his quick destruction of Henry Cejudo, Demetrious Johnson says, “That’s organic fighting. I am the best pound for pound fighter in the world and I’ll keep pulling it.” How do you argue with that? Jon Jones. He’s next.
Demetrious Johnson wins by TKO (knees and punches) in Round 1!
Johnson scored how he wanted and Cejudo folded. It was too early for Cejudo, but he could have seasoned himself for a couple more years and likely wouldn’t have nearly enough to challenge Johnson. What a fighter.
Time of the fight: 2min 49sec of Round 1.
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Johnson v Cejudo: Round 1
The flyweights move to the center of the cage and Johnson misses a winging overhand right. He doesn’t take many chances, but he will when it suits him. The first time the pair lock up in a clinch there’s plenty of work by both men. On the break Mighty Mouse connects with a solid right hand. Cejudo is pressuring Johnson, which is no easy task considering how well the champion moves his feet to great angles. Ninety seconds into the fight and Cejudo sends a message. An early takedown sees Cejudo working on top until the nimble Mouse shoves away his challenger with his legs and creates space to stand. Johnson is happy to fight anywhere. He landed several knees to Cejudo’s head. Beautiful work in the clinch. Midway through the first round and Johnson’s having his way with Cejudo. The Olympian is suffering. Johnson swarms forward and puts Cejudo away. A first-round stoppage by Demetrious Johnson. Absolutely beautiful victory.
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Demetrious Johnson doesn’t give opponents a thing. And as far as Zuffa is concerned, he doesn’t give them much either. There’s a disconnect between Johnson’s ability and Zuffa’s success at selling “Mighty Mouse” and the 125lb class. A win tonight over Cejudo won’t propel Johnson to another level of stardom. But two more wins will tie him with Anderson Silva for all-time consecutive title defenses, and perhaps that might be enough to make people look at him as more than the dominant little guy.
Walking to the cage, first to the Olympic hymn then to a Mexican ballad, Henry Cejudo has made a life of adding his name to short lists. His trainer, Eric Albarracin, said he knew Cejudo dreamt of being the best fighter in the world since they met in 2004. In pressure moments Cejudo has delivered. Can he do so again and best Demetrious Johnson? Yes. But he must do something he hasn’t yet, and that’s put it all together inside the cage.
A question for the gallery. Vote below.
Two fights left on #UFC197 feature the two best fighters in MMA as far as I'm concerned. Who is your No. 1 guy.
— Josh Gross (@yay_yee) April 24, 2016
Edson Barboza earned a slight upset over Anthony Pettis, as the hard-kicking Brazilian masterfully mixed up his striking arsenal over 15 minutes to hand the former WEC and UFC lightweight champion a clear decision loss. Judges saw it 29-28, 29-28 and 30-27 for the Brazilian. Barboza turned up his damaging attack in the second half of the contest, cracking Pettis with jabs, left hooks and kicks to the inside and outside of his foe’s lead left leg. Barboza’s effort represented an important rebound after tapping lightweight buzzsaw Tony Ferguson last December. Pettis dropped his third straight contest, and has fallen in an assortment of ways. Hard to imagine that before his 30th birthday Pettis is at a crossroads in his career.
Midway through the second round and Pettis appears to be having a hard time here. Barboza’s compact and powerful striking style had him ahead 10-9 after the opening round, and so far he’s repelled Pettis’ sporadic attacks. “Showtime” is getting beat on breaks, and he has eaten several hard left hooks, tenderizing the area around his right eye.
A lightweight firefight will serve as the lead-in to Demetrious Johnson’s title defense against Henry Cejudo. Anthony “Showtime” Pettis – how long ago does it feel like he was on the Wheaties box? – needs a big win in a dangerous spot against crippling kicker Edson Barboza. The fighters are in the cage.
Beneficiaries of the card’s cancellations, Rafael Natal and Robert Whittaker each left the Octagon battered following three hard rounds. Coming in on respective four-fight win streaks, the middleweights traded hard kicks and punches en route to a unanimous decision victory the 25-year-old New Zealand native Whittaker.
Whittaker injured his right hand in the opening round and absorbed several hard low kicks to his left leg that made his thigh look like raw hamburger, but constant pressure brought him success against the hittable 33-year-old Natal.
“My left leg is bugging me now,” Whittaker (16-4) said after his fifth straight victory, which judges scored 29-28 and 30-27 twice. “He’s a tough and rugged dude. I know going in I’d have a war on my hands and that’s what he gave me.”
Young Mexican featherweight Yair Rodriguez improved his record to 4-0 in the UFC with an outstanding jumping roundhouse that felled fellow prospect Andre Fili at 2:15 of Round 2. Rodriguez (7-1 overall) showed much more than the flashy stylings that quickly elevated him to one of the UFC’s most intriguing 145lb prospects. In the opening round the 23-year-old Mexican out-grappled Fili, maintaining side control while fighting off his suddenly sputtering opponent. The result cost Fili (15-4) his third stoppage loss in five fights. As Rodriguez continues to improve under the teaching of Greg Jackson and his team in Albuquerque, New Mexico, expect him to get a strong push by the UFC, which is always hungry to find marketable Mexican talent.
Preamble
Listed somewhere on a long list of reasons mixed martial arts has boomed in popularity over the years here’s the simplest: the fights. The action tends to be aggressive. The mixture of striking and grappling lends itself to a fluid and violent competition that, even at an amateur skill level, can grab a person deep down in their core.
MMA at its best can become something much more, a fact Jon Jones and Demetrious Johnson know better than anyone else.
Considered the two best technicians, talents and fighters currently competing in the Ultimate Fighting Championship, Jones (21-1 ... the loss wasn’t a loss) and Johnson (23-2-1 ... 9-0-1 at 125 lbs) headline the main two fights Saturday night at the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas.
UFC 197 was set up as a spectacular showcase, with Jones set to face his rival and current champion Daniel Cormier. However injuries and failed drug tests hurt an excellent card, which is why the deposed former light heavyweight king meets upstart Ovince Saint Preux for an interim title belt tonight. If Jones does as he is expected to do, there is a possibility he will face Cormier at UFC 200 in July. An upset would be truly stunning in a pivotal moment in Jones’ career as he seeks to win for the first time in 476 days following several out of the cage indiscretions.
Meanwhile “Mighty Mouse” Johnson, treated as almost an afterthought on the card despite his success as a UFC champion, faces an opponent with the pedigree to give him trouble. Henry Cejudo, a 2008 Olympic gold medal winning wrestling for the United States, hasn’t lost in 10 MMA fights, and believes he is ready to take a massive step forward as UFC champion.
Josh will be here shortly. In the meantime why not check out his preview of tonight’s card.
There are far tougher claims to sell than suggesting mixed martial arts’ two best fighters will appear on the same UFC card on Saturday night in Las Vegas. Tabbing Jon Jones as the best pound-for-pound competitor in the octagon over his colleague Demetrious Johnson is one easy example.
Jones, the deposed UFC light heavyweight champion, and Johnson, the reigning flyweight king, find themselves inserted into a debate worth waging for no other reason than it draws attention to how well both fighters have fared in recent years.
Jones and Johnson are total opposites in many areas of their lives, yet they’re bonded ahead of UFC 197 at the MGM Grand Garden Arena as physically and technically gifted winners who can also serve as their own worst enemies.
From a skills perspective, few fighters used the elements that make up MMA so seamlessly or effectively as these two, whose combined records stand at 44-3-1.
