Jon Jones (24-1) is still the UFC light heavyweight champion after he managed to secure a unanimous decision win over Anthony Smith (31-14) in the UFC 235 main event.
“Bones” was the superior fighter from the beginning and even though he didn’t get the finish everybody was looking for, his performance was pretty much perfect.
The champ is cut!@LionheartASmith lands a right hand that cuts Jones! #UFC235 pic.twitter.com/oULJtwfAQr
— UFC (@ufc) March 3, 2019
Jon was dictating the pace right from the get-go thanks to his right hands and tremendous body kicks. Smith was relying on his counter right hands and more times than not he was landing clean, but that wasn’t going to be enough for him to win the bout.
Violent takedown from @JonnyBones! #UFC235 pic.twitter.com/UGE28GYsGB
— UFC (@ufc) March 3, 2019
In the third round the champ decided to take the fight to the ground and after a couple of unsuccessful tries, he finally managed to get Smith on the mat and even though he didn’t damage the challenger Jones was able to finish the round strong with some great ground and pound.
In the 4th round, the 30-year-old Smith started showing signs of fatigue and his defense begun to collapse under the barrage of elbows and punches in the face. Then he found himself on the ground again with Jones dominating him and at that point Jones did something that could cost him the match – he landed his knee on Smith’s head while “Lion Heart” was on the mat. The good news was that the judges only deducted two points from Jones and the fight went on.
In the final round “Bones” continued to control the distance and the speed of his attacks and deservingly so his hand was raised with all three judges scoring the fight 48-44 in favor of the champ.
#AndStill Dominant. @JonnyBones #UFC235 pic.twitter.com/m4wUOLchcd
— UFC (@ufc) March 3, 2019
