Is Jon Jones still the Champ?

Following up on predictions

Is Jon Jones still the champ? Now that the dust has settled following another action-packed UFC event this past Saturday night in Houston, Texas, it’s time to look around and survey the landscape to see where things stand. First, let’s check in and see how we did with our predictions in the two title fights:

First, predicted that Valentina “Bullet” Shevchenko would prevail over Katlyn Chookagian with a unanimous decision. We picked the winner, but we failed to anticipate just how dominating Shevchenko would be.

#UFC247 Texas. Houston. February 2020 pic.twitter.com/80xVMq6xku
— Valentina Shevchenko (@BulletValentina) February 10, 2020
  

Fighting out of Lima, Peru by way of Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan

One of our favorite fighters if not only because she fights out of Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan by way of Lima, Peru, Shevchenko looked as poised as ever and did not let Chookagian’s movement get her off of her game. I believe Chookagian, fighting out of Long Island, New York, and her team, merit some criticism for her movement.

Movement?

Coming into the fight, Chookagian went on record stating repeatedly that her movement was one of her advantages in this fight and that Shevchenko wouldn’t know how to deal with it. However, I believe her movement worked against Chookagian. In my opinion, she seemed to be moving for the sake of moving and that there was no purpose to the movement. Even Joe Rogan pointed out during the broadcast that perhaps Chookagian should wait and make Shevchenko come to her. I could not have agreed more.

Shevchenko has shown repeatedly that she is as good a counter striker as there is in the game. Even though Chookagian’s movement did seem to stifle Shevchenko in the early going, she wasn’t really scoring and significant points, and certainly was not landing any damage.

Jiu-jitsu brown belt

If you remember our prediction, you will know that we pointed out that Chookagian is a brown belt in jiu-jitsu under Renzo Gracie, and that she trains under John Danaher, who was in her corner for the fight. Unfortunately for Chookagian and her team, none of this pedigree deterred Shevchenko from utilizing her black belt in Judo to achieve the clench and take Chookagian to the mat.

STILL DOMINANT. 🏆

🇰🇬 @BulletValentina defends the throne! #UFC247

Get the E+ PPV ➡️ https://t.co/AjIbEjcpmG #UFC247 pic.twitter.com/f0SiFOtZxn
— UFC (@ufc) February 9, 2020
  

Judo Black Belt

Shevchenko showed no fear of Chookagian’s ground game, and took she took down the jiu-jitsu brown belt three times during the fight. The final take down occurred at the beginning of the third round, and Valentina Shevchenko easily got to side mount and secured the crucifix position, ultimately isolating both of Chookagian’s arms while leaving her head exposed to Bullet Shevchenko’s elbows, forearms, and fists raining down on her face. Mercifully, the referee rescued Chookagian from this onslaught of blows before she sustained any serious damage other than a bruised ego as a result of a dominant TKO defeat at the hands of the defending Flyweight Champion Valentina Bullet Shevchenko.

Jones vs Reyes

In our second prediction, we had also predicted that Jon “Bones” Jones would successfully defend his Light-heavyweight Championship belt. In a controversial decision, Jones did emerge victorious, but not before Dominick Reyes took him the distance in an eye-opening performance. We had predicted that Jones would win by TKO in the third. But by the end of the third round, it was the challenger Reyes who was dominating the fight. I want to know, is Jon Jones still the Champ?

Rope-a-dope / exhaustion

From the beginning of the fight, Reyes movement was purposeful and effective, if not entirely efficient. He avoided taking any serious damage from Jones, at least to his upper body. Meanwhile, he appeared to so dominate the first three stanzas that my impression was that Jones was allowing him to work in the hopes that Reyes would punch himself out, not unlike the famous rope-a-dope tactic employed by the Greatest of All Time Muhammed Ali against the legendary George Foreman in Kinshasa, Zaire, Africa, on October 30, 1974. But don’t forget that in the legendary Rumble in the Jungle Foreman was the defending champion, and Ali was successfully seeking to regain his title. But we need to know, is Jon Jones still the Champ?

The challenger pushing the pace in R4!

🏆 The LHW gold hangs in the balance! #UFC247 pic.twitter.com/IqnJzawvMY
— UFC (@ufc) February 9, 2020
  

First three rounds

Throughout the first three rounds, the champ Jones was undeniably outworked by the challenger Reyes. This was not only evident by the number of strikes thrown (99 total strikes by Jones against 173 total strikes by Reyes in the first three rounds), but also by perceived exhaustion. Not only was Reyes working harder, he looked like he was working harder. As early as the second and third rounds, Reyes was noticeably breathing harder than Jones. But, is Jon Jones still the Champ?

Striking totals

Jones looked like the more experienced fighter, which he is, setting an all-time record with 15 successful title defenses on Saturday night. That level of experience is unparalleled anywhere in the history of the sport.

ROCKED! 😱@DomReyes puts the champion down early in R1! #UFC247 pic.twitter.com/rYykH9nPQb
— UFC (@ufc) February 9, 2020
  

Experience

Indeed, when the chips were down, Jones turned it up in the 4^th and 5^th rounds, especially in the 5^th when he was constantly moving forward, stalking Reyes, both of them on busted up legs after a grueling 25 minutes of man to man combat. If was an epic display of championship mixed martial arts in the UFC’s marquee division. But was it enough? Is Jon Jones still the UFC Light-Heavyweight champion?

Still, as I watched the battle unfold, I could not help but think that Jones was holding something back. I kept waiting for him to turn it up and land a significant strike that would stagger Reyes or knock Reyes to the canvass. Neither happened. Both fighters displayed a toughness and durability that might be hard to explain to someone who has never laced up the gloves or who has never taken a kick to the leg. (If you’ve never been kicked in the leg, I highly recommend it).

Still smiling.

🏆 @JonnyBones #UFC247 pic.twitter.com/8SyNFMkGa5
— UFC (@ufc) February 9, 2020
  

Greatest fight in history of MMA

When the final bell sounded, I didn’t know who would win. I couldn’t help but think back to September 21, 2013, in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, and the one of the greatest fights of all time when Alexander Gustafsson took Jones the distance in an all out war. You might remember that Jones was busted up badly in that fight, and his lip was hanging off his face when Bruce Buffer read the cards awarding Jones a unanimous decision.

While Jones did not appear to be as battered or wear the battle on his face this time, as he did against Gustafsson, I couldn’t help but do the math in my head: Reyes won the first three rounds, that’s at least 3-2 for Reyes. None of the judges would agree, however, and again Jon “Bones” Jones found a way to win an incredibly tough fight and successfully defending his title to remain the Light-Heavyweight Champion…at least for now.

STILL THE CHAMP.

🏆☠️ @JonnyBones gets the unanimous decision! #UFC247 pic.twitter.com/V1hGZOUjI3
— UFC (@ufc) February 9, 2020
  

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