THE CANADIAN PRESS
NEWARK, N.J. — Jon (Bones) Jones lived up to the hype Saturday night, stopping light-heavyweight champion Mauricio (Shogun) Rua in dominating fashion at UFC 128 to become the UFC’s youngest ever title-holder.
The 23-year-old Jones was creative and dangerous from the get-go. Younger, stronger and bigger, he controlled the fight.
"With what I saw tonight, it looks like he’s a mile ahead of everybody else," UFC president Dana White said. "He looks incredible.
"In my opinion, not only is he the No. 1 light-heavyweight in the world, he just shot right up in the (best) pound-for-pound category too. What he did tonight was phenomenal, I don’t even know what else to say."
Jones (13-1) finished it with a cruel body shot and a knee two minutes 37 seconds into the third round, leaving a battered Rua (19-5) on the ground.
"It feels so good," said Jones. "Dreams can come true."
"I have to congratulate him," Rua said through his manager Eduardo Alonso. "He was better than me."
In the co-main event at the Prudential Center, Urijah (The California Kid) Faber earned a workmanlike unanimous 29-28 decision over hard-nosed bantamweight Eddie Wineland in a battle of former WEC champions.
For Faber, it was a step closer to a meeting with current bantamweight title-holder Dominick Cruz, whom he has already beaten as a featherweight and has little time for.
"Hide your kids, hide your wife, hide your UFC belt, I’m going to come get it," Faber warned the champion.
Jones, who makes his home in Endicott, N.Y., came out to Alicia Keys’ "Empire State of Mind," looking ultra-cool. He paused as he entered the cage as if to ponder the moment, then entered and did a cartwheel.
The champion followed, to a pounding techno beat, looking business-like. Jones, the favourite according to the oddsmakers, paced in the cage.
The six-foot-four Jones, who had three inches in height and 8.5 in reach on Rua, dipped into his bag of tricks early, pulling out a flying knee and spinning kick before slamming Rua to the ground.
Jones threw elbow strikes to the body. Rua got back up with 90 seconds remaining and took some punishment on his feet. The Brazilian looked tired and a little frustrated, again ending the round on his back.
In the second, Jones hurt him with a spinning elbow and jab. Rua came forward, but his range seemed off and he was taking punches rather than giving them. He went down, with Jones again in control.
Rua’s face was showing damage as he came out for the third. Nothing the champion tried was working and he found himself under Jones yet again. The crowd roared as Jones battered him with strikes.
Rua got up unsteadily only to be put down at the fence.
Jones scored another victory earlier in the day when he and two coaches took down a would-be car thief in nearby Paterson. They chased him down with Jones flooring him with a leg sweep. Coaches Greg Jackson and Mike Winkeljohn then took over and held the man until police arrived.
Canadian Carlos Newton and Josh Barnett were 24 when they won their titles. Current featherweight champion Jose Aldo was 23 when he won the WEC title, which was transferred to the UFC when he was 24.
Jones did not make his pro debut until March 2008 and was in high school when Rua won the Pride Grand Prix title in 2005.
He got his title shot at the 29-year-old Rua when training partner Rashad Evans dropped out with a knee injury. Jones heard the news in the cage after dominating Ryan (Darth) Bader at UFC 126 on Feb. 5.
Rua lost in the first defence of the 205-pound title he won from Lyoto Machida last May in Montreal.
The light-heavyweight championship has been a hot potato of late. Evans and Forrest Griffin both lost it on their first title defence, while Machida and Quinton (Rampage) Jackson were beaten in their second.
Evans entered the cage after Jones’ win. He is next in line and there had been talk they didn’t want to fight each other.
"I’ve got to do exactly what I have to do," said Jones, when asked about fighting his teammate.
Said Evans: "I guess you should never say never."
Flashing a big smile, Faber came out to his trademark "California Love" by 2Pac featuring Dr. Dre and Roger Troutman.
But underdog Wineland, an Indiana firefighter, was more than equal to the task in the first round, slamming Faber to the canvas. Faber took control in the second, putting Wineland on his back and scoring from the top position. And he found his striking range midway through the third, then managed a rapid-fire takedown.
Faber defended the WEC featherweight (145-pound) title five times, while Wineland was the organization’s first bantamweight (135-pound) champion, losing in his first defence.
Earlier, heavyweight Brendan (The Hybrid) Schaub stopped Mirko (Crop Cop) Filipovic at 3:43 of the third round, dropping the Croatian veteran with a right behind the ear as he launched a kick.
Filipovic crumpled and dropped on his head, eating another punch to the face for good measure before referee Herb Dean could rush in.
Schaub earned US$70,000 for co-knockout of the night.
Schaub was bigger, stronger and eight years younger than the 36-year-old Filipovic and started strongly. But he had a rocky second round, when he was cut and had a point deducted for hitting the back of the head.
Filipovic (27-9-2 with one no contest) has now lost two straight and three of his last five, dropping his UFC record to 4-5. Schaub (9-1) has won four in a row.
New Jersey lightweight Jim Miller (20-2) ran his win streak to seven, stopping former WEC fighter Kamal (Prince of Persia) Shalorus with a flurry of blows at 2:15 of the third round.
"I’m ready for it," said Miller when asked about a title shot.
The 38-year-old Shalorus (7-1-2), despite a background in wrestling, opted once to stand and trade shots and paid for it. The end started with a nasty uppercut followed by a knee.
Nate (The Great) Marquardt put his middleweight career back on track with a unanimous 30-27 decision over Dan Miller, Jim’s older brother. Marquardt (34-10-2) had lost two of his last three and been criticized by White.
"I feel really invigorated after this victory. I wanted to go out and show how I’m the new Nate Marquardt," he said after the win.
Miller (13-5 with one no contest) had been slated to fight on the undercard but stepped in for Yoshihiro Akiyama in the wake of the natural disaster in Japan.
He was game but outgunned by Marquardt, especially in the final round.
Brazilian light-heavyweight Luiz Cane battered Eliot (The Fire) Marshall en route to a first-round TKO that followed five straight decisions on the undercard.
Cane (12-3 with one no contest) knocked Marshall (11-4) down and then had his way, firing more than two dozen punches at the turtled fighter before referee Dan Miragliotta stepped in at two minutes 15 seconds.
An unsteady Marshall exited with his cornerman holding his shorts at the back, guiding him to the dressing room area.
Brazilian Edson (Junior) Barboza preserved his unbeaten record with a unanimous 29-28 decision over former WEC lightweight Anthony Njokuani in a battle of strikers.
The two each got $70,000 for fight of the night.
Barboza (8-0) drew oohs from the crowd with a spectacular spinning back kick that connected with the head of a tired Njokuani (14-5) in the final seconds.
Welterweight Mike (Quicksand) Pyle (21-7-1) won a unanimous 29-28 decision over Ricardo (Big Dog) Almeida (13-5) in a lacklustre bout that drew boos.
American-based Brazilian lightweight Gleison Tibau (32-7) won a split decision (29-28, 28-29, 29-28) over local favourite Kurt (Batman) Pellegrino (21-6), riding a strong third round to the unpopular win.
Bantamweight Joseph Benavidez (14-2) won a unanimous decision (29-28, 30-27, 30-27) over Ian (The Barn Owl) Loveland (14-8) in a back-and-forth contest.
Featherweight Erik (New Breed) Koch (12-1) opened the night with a bang, knocking out Raphael Assuncao (15-4) with a right hook to the back of the head at 2:32 of the first round. Koch also got a $70,000 bonus for the knockout.
Middleweight Nick (The Jersey Devil) Catone (9-2) won a unanimous 30-27 decision over late replacement opponent Constantinos Philippou (7-2 with one no contest) in a fight contested at a catchweight of 195 pounds.
The UFC’s next pay-per-view show is April 30 at Toronto’s Rogers Centre.
