The scene was familiar, to a casual fan appearing nearly as if nothing over the previous 16 months had happened. Having been out of the game for more than a year dealing with legal issues, it was a big night for Jones, and a big night for the UFC. First, it was cocaine metabolites in his system.
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Despite his dominant win, Jones certainly looked a little off the pace and he admitted afterwards it was far from his best performance in the Octagon. Jones was expected to face current champion Daniel Cormier, but an injury forced the wrestling stalwart off the card. Johnson was able to get back to his feet after getting taken down early on and land some nasty strikes in the clinch. “I just won a fight in the UFC”.
“I don’t think I want that belt, it’s not the real belt”, he said.
“If you fight me in that way you can’t win”. The second round was where Barboza began to takeover the fight with some damaging kicks to the leg and body of Pettis. But watching him compete tonight, and the way he competed, you can’t help but feel like that opportunity was there.
As he was leaving the cage, Jones had a special message for Cormier, who was sitting at the commentary table cage side. He even said it himself …
Saint Preux showed great courage to make it to the end of five rounds.
The former king of the 205-pound division recorded a unanimous-decision victory over the Haitian-born American at UFC 197.
“I really needed that fight before I fight for my title”. On the ropes heading into the final round, OSP did his best to stay out of trouble in the final round as Jones eased towards the finish. Always in control, he subjected Saint Preux to heavy punishment in the latter half of round four and won every round of each of the judges’ scorecards.
Jones’ main card bout against the Tennessee-born Saint Preux was the first time the world had seen him take to the octagon since his incident.
“If they are both healthy, yeah, it’s a possibility that could be the main event for UFC 200”, White said via ESPN.
“This may sound weird but in a way I’m happy for him to have gotten a taste of the opportunity. That guy does not beat me”.
The co-main event also featured UFC gold on the line as flyweight kingpin Demetrious Johnson took on unbeaten Olympic gold medalist Henry Cejudo.
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“It was just me being a jerk”. “Once I got him off balance I hit him with a knee to the liver and I knew it was over. I did a pretty good job”.
