Jon Jones showed his championship pedigree as he overcame Dominick Reyes in a tough five-round fight to retain his UFC Light Heavyweight Championship. Jones was in trouble early in the fight as Reyes made him scupper with powerful punches. The judges scored the contest 48-47, 48-47, 49-46 in favour of Jones as he takes his unbeaten streak to 18 fights.
Dominick Reyes was a dominant force in the first two rounds with stiff lefts and kicks. He had Jon reeling due to his pressure as the crowd went berserk due to Dominick ’s punching power. But in the later rounds, Jones got his groove back as Reyes tired due to his initial explosiveness. The first two rounds went to Reyes but the third was a contentious one as both fighters went toe to toe with each other. However, Jones turned on the heat in the latter rounds with his superior wrestling and striking, comfortably winning round 4 and 5.
{{/usCountry}}Dominick Reyes was a dominant force in the first two rounds with stiff lefts and kicks. He had Jon reeling due to his pressure as the crowd went berserk due to Dominick ’s punching power. But in the later rounds, Jones got his groove back as Reyes tired due to his initial explosiveness. The first two rounds went to Reyes but the third was a contentious one as both fighters went toe to toe with each other. However, Jones turned on the heat in the latter rounds with his superior wrestling and striking, comfortably winning round 4 and 5.
{{/usCountry}}UFC commentators Jon Anik, Joe Rogan, and Dominick Cruz did not take kindly to judge Joe Soliz’s 49-46 scoreline and lambasted him on air.
“I can’t argue about this enough,” Rogan said. “I can’t get angry enough. I’ve done it so many times. For anyone to think that was 4-1 Jon Jones, that person’s insane.
“They’re insane. Dominick Reyes put on a hell of a fight tonight. And to disrespect that performance by that kind of judging is insane.”
Jones hailed Reyes for his performance in the fight and admitted that he was surprised by it.
“I knew it was a really close right and I turned it on in the fifth round,” Jones said following the win. “That fifth round won me the fight. Those takedowns won me the fight.”
Even Reyes admitted that he was surprised by the scoreline, as he thought that he had won round 1, 2 and 3.
“I thought I won [rounds] 1 through 3,” Reyes said. “He was on me 4 and 5. I had him 1 through 3, I was all over him. I’ll get better. I know I will.”
Reyes, however, stopped short of being extremely critical of the judges’ in the post-match interview, where he just thanked the crowd for coming out and supporting him.
“I just want to say thank you to everybody in Houston. You guys are amazing. Thank you to everybody back home. Everybody who supported me. I love you guys man. You fill my heart with love so thank you all.”
Jones’ arch-rival Daniel Cormier also thought that a 49-46 was a mistake as he had given the fight 3-2 to Reyes.
In the co-main event of the evening, Valentina ‘Bullet’ Shevchenko put in a dominant display to overhaul challenger Katlyn Chookagian via a technical knockout in the third round.
UFC 247 Main Card Results
Jon Jones beat Dominick Reyes via unanimous decision (48-47 x2, 49-46)
Valentina Shevchenko beat Katlyn Chookagian via TKO at 1:03 R3
Justin Tafa beat Juan Adams via TKO at 1:59 of R1
Dan Ige beat Mirsad Bektic via split decision (29-28 x2, 28-29)
Derrick Lewis beat Ilir Latifi via unanimous decision (29-28)