Jon Jones faces Ciryl Gane this weekend at UFC 285 in Las Vegas. The matchup will determine a new undisputed UFC heavyweight champion in a fight that marks Jones’ return to the octagon after an almost three-year layoff.
The former light heavyweight king has dominated the UFC since his promotional debut in 2008. In that time, he has accumulated many great performances and finishes, here are five of the best.
The Decimation of Maurício ‘Shogun’ Rua
Immediately following his fight with Ryan Bader in 2011, it was revealed that Rashad Evans, title contender and training partner of Jones, was injured and therefore unable to compete in his match against Maurício ‘Shogun’ Rua for the UFC light heavyweight championship. Joe Rogan told Jones in the post-fight interview that he would be stepping in to face the champion.
At UFC 128, just a month after his fight with Bader, Jones defeated Shogun by TKO midway through the third round to become the youngest-ever UFC champion – a record that still stands today. However, it wasn’t the finish itself that stood out from this fight, from the very first minute Jones absolutely dominated Rua, landing a flying knee early that hurt the Brazilian. From there, it was completely one-way traffic, with Jones eventually landing a body shot and knee to the head that ended the fight.
You can watch the full fight below:
Standing Guillotine vs Lyoto Machida
‘Bones’ faced Lyoto Machida in his second title defence at the end of 2011. Despite getting hurt by ‘The Dragon’ in the first round, he stopped Machida with 34 seconds left of the second round via a standing guillotine that left the Brazilian unconscious and slumped against the cage. This was Machida’s first loss by submission.
A lot of people will see this as Jones’ best finish, you can see it below:
Jon Jones vs Alexander Gustafsson 1 – Hall of Fame Status
In 2013, Jones faced Alexander Gustafsson at UFC 165. The champ suffered a bad cut above his eye during the first round but rallied to win the fight by unanimous decision in what was an incredible back-and-forth war. After the bout, he revealed that the Swede gave him the toughest fight of his career and both men were sent to the hospital for their injuries.
The match received countless praise from the media, fellow fighters, and fans of the sport – earning legendary status when the UFC inducted it into the Hall of Fame in 2020 under the ‘Fight Wing’.
You can watch the full fight below:
Jon Jones vs Daniel Cormier 1 – The Grudge Match
Jon Jones vs Daniel Cormier is one of the most bitter and fierce rivalries in UFC history and still stands as one of the best today. It started in 2010 when they met backstage at UFC 121 where Cormier felt offended by some comments made by Jones, despite not knowing who he was. A couple of years later, at UFC 178, the pair were finally scheduled to fight – with the event appropriately titled ‘Bitter Rivals’. The animosity between the two was clear during the buildup to the grudge match, with a physical altercation taking place at a media event prior to the bout.
However, the match fell through after an injury sustained by Jones, leading to a rescheduled date of 3rd January 2015 at UFC 182. The fight was very evenly contested with both men putting up impressive performances but it was Jones that prevailed, winning the fight by unanimous decision. During the fight, he even became the first man to take the former Olympian down.
This wasn’t the end of the rivalry and the pair would eventually rematch two years later.
You can see how the first fight played out, including the buildup to the clash, below:
Long-Awaited Rematch vs Gustafsson
Jones returned from a 15-month layoff at the end of 2018 following his stripping of the light heavyweight title. The UFC announced that he would face Alexander Gustafsson in a long-awaited rematch for the vacant title, five years after their first fight. As mentioned earlier, the first meeting between the pair was razor close and warranted UFC Hall of Fame status – however, this couldn’t have been any further from how the rematch played out. Jones dismantled Gustafsson, he flattened his opponent out in the third round while raining down strikes which caused the referee to end the fight.
You can see the buildup to the rematch, as well as highlights of the fight, below:
What is your favourite Jon Jones moment? Leave it in the comments below!
Featured image credits to Embed from Getty Images
