Jon Jones will put his light heavyweight title on the line in tonight’s UFC 235 main event when he takes on surging division contender Anthony Smith.
Jones will be making a quick turnaround, this after most recently competing at December’s UFC 232 event. “Bones” defeated Alexander Gustafsson via third round knockout that night in Los Angeles, thus reclaiming his UFC light heavyweight throne.
Meanwhile, since moving up to the UFC’s light heavyweight ranks Anthony Smith has gone a perfect 3-0. During that time, “Lionheart” has scored stoppage victories over Rashad Evans, Mauricio “Shogun” Rua and Volkan Oezdemir.
Round one of the UFC 235 main event begins and the fighters meet in the center of the octagon. Jones misses with a front kick. Smith circles and lands a strong low kick. Anthony with some forward pressure. He throws a light kick to the body of Jones. Jon takes the center of the octagon and changes stances. Smith with a low kick. Jones misses with a big right hand. Jon Jones leaps in with a spinning back kick followed by a low kick. Both strikes connect. Jones misses with an axe kick. That looked violent. Smith with a nice low kick. He lands another. Jones misses with a left hand. “Bones” with another spinning back kick that lands. He goes low and then to the body. Smith with a high kick, Jones catches his leg on the way down and presses him up against the cage. Jones with a shoulder strike. Both men land knees from the position. Jones with another good shoulder strike. The fighters break and Smith misses with a jab. Anthony with a low kick. Jones replies with a jab. Smith leaps in to the pocket with a left hook. Jones lands a side kick. Thirty seconds remain. Jones with a good punch followed by a low kick. He lands another nice side kick followed by a low kick. The horn sounds to end round one.
Round two of the UFC 235 main event begins and Smith takes the center of the octagon. Jones misses with a left hook and then lands a pair of kicks. Jones with a nice right hand. Smith counters with one of his own. Jon Jones with a hard body kick. That got Anthony’s attention. More kicks from Jones now. He lands a spinning back elbow. Smith absorbs the strike and fights on. Jones presses Smith against the cage and lands a shoulder strike. Anthony breaks free from the clinch and circles off the fence. Smith with a right hand and then a shot to the body of “Bones”. Jones responds with a front kick and then a jab. Two minutes remain in round two. Smith lands a nice kick to the body. Jones responds with one of his own. Jon Jones with a big left hand now. That appeared to stun Smith. Jones with a low kick and then another. Smith connects with a left hand over the top. Jones responds with a low kick. The fighters trade right hands. Jon Jones with a chopping low kick. He just misses with a follow up front kick. Jones to the body with a right hand now. He connects with another front kick to the body of Smith. Another heavy low kick. The fighters clinch and the horn sound to end round two.
Round three of the UFC 235 main event begins and Jones lands a straight right to get things started. He lands another right hand over the top. The fighters trade kicks. Jones shoots in and pushes Smith against the cage. He lands a hard knee to the body. Jon Jones works in some shoulder strikes and then some knees. Smith returns fire with a knee of his own. Jones with some brutal knees to the thigh of Smith. Under three minutes remain. More knees from the clinch by Jones. The champion is wearing down the challenger here. “Bones” with a big body shot and then another. He switches back to shoulder strikes. Jones shoots low and picks Anthony up and slams him to the floor. Smith immediately scrambles but Jones is still on top of him. Jon appears to be trying to lock up a choke here. Smith recognizes it and defends. Jones with some body shots. He switches to knees. He targets the shin with those. Yikes. Thirty seconds remain now. More shots to the body from Jones. Smith gets back to his feet just as the horn sounds to end round three.
Round four begins and Smith smiles over at Jones. Jon fakes a takedown shot and then attempts a flying side kick that misses the mark. Jones with a high kick and then spinning back kick that lands flush. Jones with an elbow and then another. Smith circles to his left but Jones cuts him off. Jon with a pair of body shots. He throws a flying knee. Jones has Smith pressed back against the cage. He lands a strike and Smith drops to the ground. It appears he is trying to pull guard. Jones follows him to the floor and takes his back. Big shots from Jon Jones now. He is landing some hammer fists. Smith is bleeding all over the canvas now but still fights his way back up to his feet. Jon Jones drags “Lionheart” right back to the floor and lands a knee to the body. He works in some good punches from the top. Nasty elbows now from Jon Jones. He is just destroying Smith now. One minute remains in round four. Jones lands a massive knee to the body. Another knee from “Bones”. This is getting ugly. Jones with a hard elbow. He looks to lock in a choke. Jones with a knee while Smith’s hand was on the floor. The referee steps in and allows a doctor to take a look at Smith. Anthony says he is ok and we continue. The referee docks two points from Jon Jones. That was weird. The horn sounds to end round four.
The fifth and final round of the UFC 235 main event begins and both fighters exchange right hands. Jones shoots in for a takedown but Smith sprawls and defends nicely. Jon Jones with a few low kicks in a row. He steps in with an elbow. “Bones” presses “Lionheart” against the cage. Jones with some punches to the thigh of Smith. He switches to shots to the body. Anthony replies with a knee. Jones returns fire with some knees of his own. Jon looks for a takedown but once again Smith defends. Anthony’s corner is screaming for him to do something but he is tired. Jon Jones with more shots to the body. He switches to shoulder strikes. More knees now from Jones with just seconds remaining in the fight. This title fight comes to an end.
Official UFC 235 Result: Jones def. Smith via unanimous decision