Jon Jones easily defended his UFC light heavyweight title, defeating former friend and training partner Rashad Evans in a unanimous decision at Philips Arena on Saturday.
Jones won all three cards, 49-46, 49-46, 50-45 by using a series of elbow shots to stagger Evans throughout the match, notably in the second round. He improved to 16-1. Evans fell to 17-2-1.
“This was definitely my most satisfying victory,” Jones said. “I just didn’t want to make any mistakes. For who I beat, it was very important for me.”
Jones and Evans trained together in New Mexico for more than a year before they had a falling out. Evans sustained a knee injury in Feb. 2011 that kept him from a title bid. Jones, who began training as a MMA fighter in 2007, stepped in and won the title, beating Mauricio Rua in UFC 128. Just 23 years and 242 days old, Jones became become the youngest champion in UFC history.
Because of their friendship, Jones said he wouldn’t fight Evans for the title. Evans said he wouldn’t fight Jones. But during a TV interview before UFC 128, Jones said he would fight Evans if UFC wanted it.
Evans later he said he felt betrayed and has since described Jones as a fake.
The feud was on, culminating in Saturday’s event at Philips Arena that included 15,545 fans, including Hawks players Jerry Stackhouse, Al Horford and Zaza Pachulia.
Neither Jones nor Evans seemed affected by the fact that they knew each other so well and fought each other so many times. Jones, who has won seven consecutive fights, said he’s a more confident wrestler and fighter than he was then.
Evans said other than the anxiety of having to talk about his relationship with Jones so many times before the fight, he felt “dialed down, maybe too dialed down.”
"I don’t think I did a good job,"Evans said. "I didn’t do the things I trained to do. A few moments I think I could take advantage of."
Jones came in with an advantage in age (24 to Evans’ 32), height (6 feet, 4 inches to Evans’ 5-11) and reach ( 84.5 inches to Evans’ 74.5). Evans, with a strong wrestling background, needed to either put Jones on the mat or get inside his reach to have a chance to win.
Evans could do neither because he couldn't get past what he called Jones’ “sneaky elbows.”
“I played the wrong game for that,” he said.
Jones said using his elbows was an advantage that he couldn’t use when he and Evans trained together. He wasn't allowed.
“He was pretty crafty, pretty tricky,” Evans said.
Neither fighter pressed the action in the first round. Jones opened with a right kick to Evans' head that didn’t seem to affect him and later jabbed him with an elbow. Evans answered a few minutes later with a powerful right kick that knocked Jones back with less than 20 seconds remaining. Jones finished the round with a left elbow to Evans’ head as the horn sounded.
The second round started similarly to the first, until Evans did a bit of showboating after he escaped from the cage as Jones tried to close him down. Jones responded later with a left hand and said the showboating had a different effect than expected.
"It didn’t get me going, but I thought ‘Man this guy is so smooth'," he said. "He’s just a smooth operator."
The two grabbed hands and Jones used his reach advantage to slam his left elbow into Evan’s head. He followed that a few seconds later with the same elbow, staggering Evans with less than 2 minutes remaining in the round.
Jones kept up with the elbows landing three more later in the round as Evans struggled to avoid Jones’ reach.
Evans said he expected the elbows as soon as Jones went to what he called the hand game. However, he said Jones kept throwing elbows before he could prepare to drop and try to take him down.
With a few seconds remaining, Jones landed two punches to Evans’ head.
Evans finally did some damage in the third round with a right hand that pushed Jones back, but that was the extent of his offense in the period.
Jones came back with a left kick to Evans’ jaw. He followed that minutes later with a flying left knee that hit Evans, causing him to drop his hands, but Jones couldn’t take advantage.
Evans could muster little offense as the round progressed, with Jones catching him with a kick to the midsection near the end of the round.
Jones tagged Evans with a right hand in the fourth round after he tried to again come in to deliver his own right hook. Evans tried to come inside again and Jones locked him up, delivering a knee and another punch to the head.
After dominating the first four rounds, Jones seemed to content to throw a few punches and kicks in the fifth round, but not do anything to lose his title in the final round. Evans finally got Jones to the mat with less than 10 seconds left, but by then it was too late.
Jones said Evans didn't hurt him, but he did cause him to wobble during the match.
"There was one point where I had gotten hit and I realized ... I tried to side-shuffle, and I stumbled," Jones said.
Jones has now defended his title with this victory in addition to submission victories over Rampage Jackson and Lyoto Machida. UFC President Dana White said Jones will fight Dan Henderson (29-8) next. Jones said he was already looking forward to the fight and "excited to conquer."
But Saturday was all about Jones vs. Evans.
"These grudge matches, it usually means the guys respect each other," White said. "We saw that tonight. The thing that was great for Jones, he fought a great fight. He was throwing el bows like they were hands.
"I thought Rashad did too, though. Rashad hasn’t gotten the respect he deserves. He’s only been beaten by Jones and Machida."
As for when UFC could be coming back, White said the Atlanta market is a great market that's improving.
As for the relationship between he and Evans, Jones said he has learned to welcome elite fighters to the camp, but not to get too close. He said he hopes to one day build a respect factor with Jones again.
Evans said he would probably go home and cry a little, and it takes time for lessons to sink in.
"Who knows? Maybe we will fight each other again," Evans said.
"Oh, man," Jones answered.
On the pay-per-view portion of the undercard:
Rory MacDonald (13-1) dominated Che Mills (14-5) to earn a technical knockout 2:20 in the second round of their welterweight fight in the co-main event.
MacDonald got Mills to the mat and began pounding him with fists and elbows, opening up large gashes on his forehead in a dominating first round.
MacDonald got Mills down again within 30 seconds of the start of the second round. In the process of trying to roll over and escape, Mills opened himself up and MacDonald landed a series of left hands until the referee stepped in and stopped the fight.
“Che was a great opponent,” MacDonald said. “He didn’t get much respect in the media because of his lack of fights in UFC. I took this fight very seriously.”
Mark Bocek improved to 11-4 with a unanimous decision over John Alessio (34-15) in an action-less lightweight match that started the pay-per-view fights.
“When John took that fight on such short notice you use what you know; there's not a lot of time to do research on your opponent and then retrain for it for either guy,” Bocek said. “Strategy is always a part of it but deploying the tools I knew from experience work is what got me the win.”
Eddie Yagin improved to 16-5-1 with a split decision over Mark Hominick (20-11) in a featherweight fight.
A right-hook, left-jab combination by Yagin knocked Hominick to the mat in the first round. The combination also cut the areas around Hominick’s eyes. By the start of the second round, the area around his eyes was swollen.
Yagin put Hominick down again with a strong right hand in the second round. Yagin used either hand effectively throughout the first seven minutes of the fight to keep the aggressive Hominick back. Midway through the second round, the around Hominick’s left eye was the size of a walnut.
But Hominick kept attacking through Yagin’s jabs. He eventually returned the damage later in the round, bloodying Yagin’s nose and mouth to the point that the lower half of Yagin’s face was bright red, with drops of blood falling steadily to the mat.
Hominick landed several more punches in the third round that bloodied Yagin again, but it wasn’t enough.
Michael McDonald improved to 15-1 by knocking out Miguel Angel Torres (39-5) in the first round of a bantamweight fight.
Torres’ mouthpiece had gotten knocked out a few seconds earlier. The referee stopped the fight and allowed him to put it back in. However, it came out again a few seconds before McDonald caught him with a right uppercut followed by a left hook. Torres appeared out before he hit the canvas.
“This was the biggest jump up in competition in my career and easily the biggest win,” McDonald said. “He caught me a couple times but my power and aggression won out. When he went out I was like ‘go go go go` and I finished it. I don't know about my next fight but I'm ready for this level.”
In the quickest fight, Ben Rothwell knocked out Brendan Schaub 1:10 into the first round of the heavyweight battle.
Schaub (9-3) appeared to have the advantage with a kick that staggered Rothwell. As Schaub moved in and landed more punches, Rothwell (32-8) caught him with a left hook, putting him down arms raised in a useless defense.
“He got a couple of quick shots through,” Rothwell said. “I knew I would get mine. He started to come, in the beginning he was in and out but then he just stood there but I got him to commit and he came in with a couple of punches —and that was it. I started letting mine go at the same time and I was going to keep throwing. They always say it's when you don't expect to knock someone out when you do.”
In the earlier matches, Marcus Brimage improved to 5-1 with a split decision over Maximo Blanco (8-4-1) in a flyweight fight. The only entertainment was the gymnastics competition between the two after the fight, each trying to one-up the other with flips and jumps.
“I was watching him for a long time and waiting for the right opportunities,” Brimage said. “It wasn't the same guy I thought I was going to fight. He was running from me a bit. I was trying to pick my shots. I wanted to outdo the main event and even though it's not the fight I thought it would be, I'm happy.”
Chris Clements improved to 11-5 with a split decision over Keith Wisniewski (28-13-1) in a welterweight fight. Though Wisniewski got Clements to the mat in the first and second rounds, Wisniewski landed the more effective blows, including a kick to the ribs that knocked Wisniewski down in the first round and a spinning elbow to Wisniewski’s head that knocked him down in the third.
“I play with each person's movement, I don't do preconceived combinations,” Clements said. “I also don't have a formula going in. I play it based on what I see. I feel good about this win and I want to be on the Toronto card if possible. I have a big family and would love to fight in front of everyone back home. I'm sure they're happy with how things went tonight.”
Mac Danzig improved to 22-9-1 with a unanimous decision over Efrain Escudero (19-5) in a lightweight division fight that lacked any excitement other than a first-round take down and kneebar by Escudero. Danzig landed more strikes during clutches than did Escudero to earn the victory.
“This performance wasn't that great but I am happy to win,” Danzig said. “Nate Diaz is someone I want to fight. He's at another level right now and I know I need to put three very impressive wins together to get back up there. But that's what I am aiming for now that I am healthy.”
What was expected to be an entertaining lightweight match between John Makdessi and Anthony Njokauni, kickboxers known for their striking and aggressive styles, didn’t materialize. Njokauni improved to 16-6 by unanimous decision. Makdessi (9-2) had a hard time penetrating the taller Njokauni’s length, and Njokauni wasn’t able to do much damage with kicks to Makdessi’s jaw. Njokauni did wear out Makdessi’s left, or front, leg, leaving it bright red from front to back with a few toe prints because of constant kicks.
“I wish I got what I really wanted: a knockout or a submission,” Njokauni said. “I'm tired of getting decisions, I'm disappointed in myself for that reason but happy I got the win. My leg kicks had to take out his legs because he relies on his legs so much. It was a great fight, he's a tough dude and he didn't go down.”
Matt Brown improved to 16-11 with a unanimous decision over Stephen Thompson (6-1) in a welterweight fight. Thompson, from South Carolina, had been 63-0 as a kickboxer and MMA fighter.
Thompson caught Brown’s head with a kick that staggered him in the second round, but he couldn’t close in and take advantage. Brown didn’t look like the same fighter for several seconds after the kick, walking the octagon with hunched shoulders, open mouth and a lack of energy.
But Brown took advantage of Thompson’s aggressiveness with a wild punch that knocked him down later in the round. He jumped on Thompson, opening up a gash on the top of his forehead and several more on his cheeks with punches and elbow shots.
Thompson answered in the third with a combination that opened a cut above Brown’s right eye. But Brown took over from there, once again getting Thompson to the mat and bloodying him badly with a series of left-handed punches to the forehead.
“Coach said if he touches your face, smash his, if he touches your bones, go for his body and I did it,” Brown said. “Every fight is its own thing. Happy to get the win but I haven't had a vacation since I started in UFC. I probably will turn the vacation into something other than that but my wife deserves it. She's home with the kids and needs a break too.”
Heavyweight Travis Browne (13-0-1) made short work of Chad Griggs (11-2), causing him to tap out with a submission hold in the first round. It was the first fight on the card that didn’t go the distance.
Browne caught Griggs with a flying left knee to the right side of his jaw in the first round that staggered him. Browne then threw him down and put him in an arm-triangle submission choke a few seconds later for the victory.
“I can't be stopped physically and mentally when I'm at my best,” Browne said. “I wanted to push the pace. He was trying to get in my face and bully me but I put him against the fence and threw him down.
“For the finish, I felt the cage real close to me. That's why I was on my knees I had to use my shin to keep him as far away as possible. I knew I had to stay there and use time instead of pressure.”
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