The biggest rivalry in the sport finally came to a head last night (Sat., July 29, 2017) at UFC 214 live on pay-per-view (PPV) from inside Honda Center in Anaheim, Calif., when Jon Jones returned to action in a rematch with UFC light heavyweight champion Daniel Cormier. It was just the second time Jones had stepped foot inside of the Octagon since defeating “DC” back in early 2015.
With so much emotion bottled up, Jones came out firing. He rushed Cormier and forced him to throw down early. But the champ responded, knocking Jones’ mouthpiece out during one mid-cage exchange. Jones would rely heavily on oblique kicks and body shots to try and slow the champion down, but “DC” caught Jones late into the first round to score some points. In Round 2, Cormier started to slam shin into Jones’ lead leg, forcing the former light heavyweight king to switch up stances. An unintentional clash of the heads temporarily stopped the title fight, but action would resume. Jones seemed a little tentative to mix it up inside so he opted for leg kicks instead. On the other hand, Cormier confidently walked towards Jones, waving his finger in the air, and invited the hand-to-hand combat.
The third frame saw Jones open up a little more with his hands as he dug deep hooks into Cormier’s body. The champ seemed to take a little more steam off his shots to conserve energy, but he still pressed forward into Jones’ range. And in the split of a second, Jones landed a head kick heard around the world. Cormier stumbled backwards and Jones chased him around the cage. “DC” fell to the canvas and Jones jumped on top to end the champion with ferocious elbows. Referee John McCarthy gave Cormier enough time to respond, but ultimately jumped in for the third-round TKO.
Check out the full fight video highlights above courtesy of UFC.
With this win, Jones reclaims the same title he was stripped of back in 2015. Jones may have taken a little too much damage over the course of the first two rounds, but absolutely came alive in the third. He becomes the first fighter to ever finish Cormier and comfortably steps back onto his throne as the best pound-for-pound fighter in the world.
For complete UFC 214 results and coverage click here.
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