After his success at UFC 128, Jon "Bones" Jones has vaulted into the upper-echelon of UFC stars.
NEWARK, N.J. -- At the tender age of 23, Jon (Bones) Jones defeated the No. 1 fighter in his class, Mauricio (Shogun) Rua, to become the new UFC light-heavyweight champion.
Bones dominated the former champion, forcing referee Herb Dean to step in and halt the bout at 2:37 of the third round, while the Brazilian warrior was on all fours, tapping the mat. The official result will show as a TKO, but Shogun had clearly had enough, proving once and for all that Jones is officially the best 205-pound fighter in mixed martial arts today.
Immediately after the decision was announced, the man "Bones" replaced, (Suga) Rashad Evans entered the Octagon to formally accept what he and his (now) former teammate have been dreading for weeks: a championship fight. The match will pit two friends in a pairing that will divide one of the most cohesive squads in the sport today. What was once a family under esteemed coach Greg Jackson has been split into a fragmented bunch, leaving all of its members in the difficult position of having to choose sides.
A source has informed me that the Jones-Evans championship fight is tentatively slated to take place in November, although that is more "pencil-written" than "etched in stone."
Another topic of conversation amongst the MMA media and fan base can also be summed up by a tweet sent off by UFC CEO Lorenzo Fertitta, which read: "Bones vs. Silva? Who wants it?"
The theme centered around bypassing the long-anticipated super-fight between Anderson Silva and Georges St-Pierre in favour of pitting "The Spider" against the newly-crowned light-heavyweight champ. I for one am beginning to lean towards the new matchup.
During the post-fight press conference, I asked Jones to recount his experience earlier in the day, where he, Jackson, and striking coach Mike Winklejohn subdued a thief. Bones went on a six-minute diatribe describing the scenario, which ended with rousing applause from the hundreds of media and VIPs in attendance.
The UFC now has another top-shelf pay-per-view asset. Brock Lesnar may be king and GSP may be second but Jones is now going to be another top draw that will likely push the buy rate to new levels.
In other action, Urijah Faber earned a unanimous judges decision over former WEC bantamweight champion Eddie Wineland, setting up a potential title fight between "The California Kid" and current title-holder Dominick Cruz. This bout makes sense, and I am fairly confident that Zuffa will make both of these two 135-pounders coaches on Season 14 of The Ultimate Fighter, setting the stage for a 13-week preview of a bitter rivalry, whose score can only be settled in the cage.
It was a bittersweet night for the Miller family, as middleweight Dan Miller lost a unanimous judges decision to Nate Marquardt, while lightweight Jim Miller earned a third-round TKO over Kamal Shalorus. It's been a tough road for Dan these past few months, while Jim has endured his own issues just trying to get a crack at UFC gold. While this pales in comparison to what his brother has and is enduring, what else does Jim have to do to earn a title shot? Now, if he must have at least one more fight before the title mix is ironed out, I would like to see Jim face off against the winner of UFC 129's Mark Bocek and Ben Henderson.
As predicted on MMA Connected, Dana White said we have seen the last of MMA legend Mirko (Cro Cop) Filipovic, who was knocked senseless by rising heavyweight Brendan (The Hybrid) Schaub. For his own health and safety, Cro Cop should walk away from the sport. He should hang up his gloves and keep his head held high, for he was one of the greatest heavyweights to have ever competed. Cro Cop's fights in the days of Pride always had me holding my breath, on the edge of my seat, waiting for that left high kick to be thrown, while wondering what the end result of his opponent would be.
During two fights that were shown on Rogers Sportsnet, light-heavyweight Luiz Cane returned to his winning ways, knocking out Eliot Marshall, while one of my favourite new fighters, lightweight Edson Barboza, defeated Anthony Njokuani via unanimous judges decision. While I've said it on many occasions, I feel compelled to say it again: watch this Brazilian phenom -- he has future champion written all over him.
Rest of Results, Bonuses and Event Figures
o Mike Pyle defeated Ricardo Almeida via unanimous judges decision
o Gleison Tibau defeated Kurt Pellegrino via unanimous judges decision
o Joseph Benavidez defeated Ian Loveland via unanimous judges decision
o Nick Catone defeated Constantinos Philippou via unanimous judges decision
o Erik Koch defeated Raphael Assuncao via KO at 2:32 of round one
Seventy thousand dollars in bonuses were handed out to Barboza and Njokuani for Fight of the Night, while Schaub and Koch each earned Knockout of the Night, as there was no Submission of the Night.
Attendance: 12,619
Total Gate: $2,140,000
