Watch the highlights of the UFC 197 bout between Jones and Saint Preux below.
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Saint Preux (19-7) steps in to replace Cormier and could provide an interesting challenge for Jones.
The end of the third round was greeted with boos from a discontented crowd as Jones still hadn’t got out of second gear with Saint Preux offering little in return.
One woman said she has concerns about Jones’ run-ins with the law, but she said she still wanted him to the fight on behalf of everyone in Albuquerque.
Jones has never been beat in the Octagon, with his lone loss coming via disqualification for a 12-6 elbow at The Ultimate Fighter 2 reality show finale.
“Bones” Jones showed a few signs of rust in his first appearance in 15 months at UFC 197, but still swept the judges’ cards with scores of 50-44, 50-45 and 50-45 to claim the interim light-heavyweight belt.
On Monday, an x-ray photo of Saint Preux’s broken arm has surfaced via MMA-focused website MMAfighting. The hate these two have for each other is intense, and we can’t wait to see them go at it again!
Jones paced himself entering the fifth and final round and controlled the action, landing a big slam and neutralizing any attempt at a late Saint Preux rally.
White was more measured in his assessment of the fight, but basically agreed that it was probably a good thing Jones didn’t fight Cormier straight away.
On probation for a previous hit-and-run crash in New Mexico, Jones had been stripped of the title.
That fits right with the minus-600 price Jones is laying against St. Preux, who comes back at plus-450 (risking $1 to win $4.50). With Jones out of action for the a year ago, the light heavyweight division was devoid the great push of fans he brought to the sport.
Cejudo is a +300 underdog in this match going up against the speedy and athletic champion Johnson (-400). “They prepared him. They had him ready for a five-round fight in three weeks – that’s hard to do”.
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“I don’t think that played a factor in my performance at all”, Jones said of his long layoff. I tend not to sleep with my wife leading up to a fight.
