Jon Jones defeated Daniel Cormier by KO at UFC 214UFC champions who were once college wrestlers went 1-1 at UFC 214 at the Honda Center in Anaheim, Calif. Saturday night, as light-heavyweight titleholder Daniel Cormier suffered a third-round knockout at the hands of Jon "Bones" Jones ... while welterweight champ Tyron Woodley kept his crown.
"Bones" takes back the title from Cormier
The 30-year-old Jones, himself a past junior college mat champ at Iowa Central Community College, reclaimed the undisputed 205-pound crown with a devastating head kick and subsequent ground-and-pound, bringing the bout to an end at 3:01 of Round 3.
"In the third round, Cormier ducked into a head kick. Shin met skull, and 'DC' shuddered," Sherdog.com reported. "Jones pursued him across the cage, kicked his legs out from under him and trailed him to the canvas, where he met him with a savage burst of elbow strikes and punches until referee John McCarthy had seen enough."
For Cormier, 38, a 2008 Olympian and NCAA All-American wrestler at Oklahoma State, it was only his second loss in his professional mixed martial arts career going back to Sept. 2009 ... and that was also to Jones back in January 2015.
For Jones, the past couple years have been packed with dealings with the law, as well as a one-year drug suspension ... an aspect that CBS Sports mentioned in its coverage of last night's title bout.
"With his two-year detour of self-destruction behind him, Jon Jones returned to the Octagon on Saturday to reclaim his UFC light heavyweight championship. In the process, he may have cemented his status as the greatest fighter in history."
After the fight, Jones was reflective.
"It is over. I want to take this time to thank Daniel Cormier for being my biggest rival and motivator," Jones said. "Daniel Cormier, guys, he has absolutely no reason to hang his head. He has been a model champion, a model husband, a model father, teammate and leader. And I aspire to be a lot more like that man because he's an amazing human being. Unfortunately, we are opponents but he is a true champion for the rest of his life."
Jones not only reclaimed the light-heavy title, but enhanced his record to 23-1-0, while Cormier dropped to 19-2.
Woodley still welterweight champ
Tyron Woodley, an NCAA All-American wrestler at University of Missouri, earned a unanimous decision from 2007 Abu Dhabi Combat Club Submission Wrestling World Championships gold medalist Demian Maia in the five-round co-main event at 175 pounds. The judges scored it 50-45, 49-46 and 49-46 for the former Mizzou Tiger mat star.
"Maia spent the majority of his time eating punches and shooting takedowns, the Brazilian jiu-jitsu black belt growing more desperate by the minute," Sherdog.com reported. "Woodley, a two-time NCAA All-American wrestler, denied all 23 of his takedown attempts by preliminary count."
The loss snapped Maia's seven-fight winning streak.
Woodley is now 18-3-1, while Maia dropped to 25-7.
Former prep star Brooks wins UFC debut
In a preliminary event, Jarred Brooks earned a split decision over Eric Shelton in a three-round flyweight (125-pound) bout. The 24-year-old Brooks, who was an Indiana high school state wrestling champ, Super 32 champ and Fargo finalist, won 29-28, 29-28, 28-29 ... even though in their live coverage Sherdog.com and the Los Angeles Times both scored the bout a split decision in favor of Shelton. In fact, the LA paper described it as "a questionable decision" in a "lackluster division."
The Warsaw, Ind. native and former wrestler admitted to being nervous in his UFC debut.
"I think the takedowns I got were the difference," Brooks said. "I really had Octagon jitters. I said that it wasn't going to happen, but it was for real. The UFC jitters are for real and just the process of everything is crazy. My next time out, fans will see a lot more striking and a lot more versatility out of me."
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