UF C 128 has come and gone and what a night it was. The fight card was pretty good and the action was intense. A new champion was crowned and that was easily the highlight of the night.
In the preview of the light heavyweight title fight, I thought Shogun Rua should have been the favorite Over Jon Jones and I also thought he had an edge almost everywhere. I was wrong and knew that even before the fight started. Yours truly knew that Shogun was in trouble when they had their stare down right before the bell sounded.
The light heavyweight weight limit is 205 pounds. Both Jones and Rua weighed in at 205 exactly. When the fight was about to get underway and they were in the center of the octagon, Jones looked a weight class above Shogun. The size difference was crazy. It didn’t help that Rua looked out of shape.
Jon Jones dominated the fight from start to finish with speed, power, agility, and just overall skill level. He finished the fight in the third round with brutal strikes.
I wasn’t sold on Jones, but I am now. He is going to be tough for anyone to beat. The scary thing is that he is only 23 years old and has only been training and fighting in mixed martial arts for three years.
Next up for Jon Jones will be training partner and good friend Rashad Evans. That will take place a few months down the road and right now I don’t see any way that Evans can handle the size and striking ability of Jones. The fact that they have trained together might be a big help as he has seen his habits up close and personal.
Urijah Faber made his UFC debut and it was a successful one. With the unanimous decision over Eddie Wineland, Faber put himself next in line to try and take Dominick Cruz’s title.
Faber was too fast for Wineland who put up a very good fight but just couldn’t handle the hand speed and aggressive style of Urijah. The first round was very close but the second and third was all Urijah Faber. Quick strikes and ground pound led to another win for Faber who is also in line to be a coach on the Ultimate Fighter reality show.
Brendan Schaub score knockout of the night over Mirko Cro Cop. It happened in the third and final round of a fight Schaub was probably going to lose if his huge right hand wouldn’t have landed. This fight was back and forth and both fighters appeared gassed as soon as round one was over. One shot changed all of that and Crop Cop went to sleep and Schaub got a huge win over a legend in the mma world.
Full results:
Jon Jones def. Mauricio "Shogun" Rua via TKO (strikes) - Round 3, 2:37 to become new UFC light heavyweight champion
Urijah Faber def. Eddie Wineland via unanimous decision (29-28, 29-28, 29-28)
Jim Miller def. Kamal Shalorus via TKO (strikes) - Round 3, 2:15
Nate Marquardt def. Dan Miller via unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 30-27)
Brendan Schaub def. Mirko "Cro Cop" Filipovic via TKO (punch) - Round 3, 3:44
Luiz Cane def. Eliot Marshall via TKO (punches) - Round 1, 2:15
Edson Barboza def. Anthony Njokuani via unanimous decision (29-28, 29-28, 29-28)
Mike Pyle def. Ricardo Almeida via unanimous decision (29-28, 30-27, 30-27)
Gleison Tibau def. Kurt Pellegrino via split decision (29-28, 28-29, 29-28)
Joseph Benavidez def. Ian Loveland via unanimous decision (29-28, 30-27, 30-27)
Nick Catone def. Costantinos Philippou via unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 30-27)
Erik Koch def. Raphael Assuncao via knockout (punch) - Round 1, 2:32
Another solid night of fights. All that people will continue to talk about will be Jon “Bones” Jones and his dominating performance on his way to the lightweight crown. Can this guy be beat? That’s a great question and it will be fun to follow his career and how he evolves as a fighter.