Alexander Gustafsson's height and reach was supposed to bring him greatness. Jon Jones's freakishly athletic ability and natural talent was supposed to make him the greatest champion the sport has ever seen. The two met tonight (Sat., Sept. 21, 2013) at the Air Canada Centre in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, in the main event of UFC 165 with the light heavyweight title -- and for "Bones" a couple records -- on the line.
No one could possibly know that both would become immortalized after engaging in what color commentator Joe Rogan called "the greatest light heavyweight title fight in the history of the UFC."
After five hard fought, back-and-forth, bloody rounds, it's hard to disagree with him.
In the end, the judges came in with a unanimous decision victory in favor of Jones: 48-47, 48-47, and 49-46.
There are undoubtedly going to be qualms about those scorecards, especially the 49-46 card, but there's no questioning it was an incredibly closely contested fight that likely could have gone either way. Gustafsson had his moments, taking the champion down and turning his face into uncooked hamburger, while Jones had his, nearly finishing the Swede in the fourth and opening up a hole in "The Mauler's" head.
It was a great fight. Now feel free to debate the decision.
For more on "Jones vs. Gustafsson" click here, and for complete UFC 165 results and blow-by-blow coverage of all the night's action click here.