Jones 's arms being raised / Photo: UFC
It wasn’t one of the liveliest bouts, nor was there a single moment of action on the ground, despite both participants being stalwart wrestlers. The five rounds between Jon Jones and Rashad Evans this Saturday played out entirely on the feet.
Jones controlled the center of the cage and was the more aggressive, besides connecting with better strikes. Rashad withstood the barrage well, though, not taking too much damage; still it wasn’t enough for the win. The unanimous decision favored the 24-year-old Jones, yielding him the 16th win in his 17-fight career—he has lost just once, via disqualification. This was the third successful title defense in a row for “Bones,” who now goes on to face the veteran Dan Henderson, as Dana White, the president of the UFC, announced shortly after the event came to a close.
“I was surprised I didn’t get the knockout; Rashad’s game has improved a lot,” remarked Jones.
“What set me back the most were the elbows; I think I had the wrong game plan. I don’t feel I did a good job,” said Rashad after the fight.
“Knockout of the night” honors went to Ben Rothwell for ending his encounter with Brendan Schaub 1:10 minutes into the first round, bringing his win tally to 32—with eight career losses. For his efforts Rothwell took home an extra 65,000 dollars. The “fight of the night” bonus went to Eddie Yagin and Mark Hominick, which the former won by unanimous decision. Now the “submission of the night” was Travis Browne’s, for his arm-triangle on Chad Griggs 2:29 minutes into the first round. It was the only submission of the event.
Check out the complete results from the event in Atlanta, Georgia:
Jon Jones defeated Rashad Evans via unanimous decision;
Rory MacDonald defeated Che Mills via TKO in R2;
Ben Rothwell defeated Brendan Schaub via KO in R1;
Michael MacDonald defeated Miguel Angel Torres via KO in R1;
Eddie Yagin defeated Mark Hominick via unanimous decision;
Mark Bocek defeated John Alessio via unanimous decision;
Travis Browne subbed Chad Griggs via arm-triangle in R1;
Matt Brown defeated Stephen Thompson via unanimous decision;
Anthony Njokuani defeated John Makdessi via unanimous decision;
Mac Danzig defeated Efrain Escudero via unanimous decision;
Chris Clements defeated Keith Wisniewski via split decision;
Marcus Brimage defeated Maximo Blanco via split decision.