5 times that a legendary UFC champion was made to look very human

#4. Jon Jones vs. Alexander Gustafsson – UFC 165

Alexander Gustafsson remains the only man to really make Jon Jones look human in the UFC

Jon Jones is one of the most dominant UFC champions of all time. Prior to 2013, the former UFC light heavyweight kingpin had rarely been tested inside the octagon, let alone made to look human.

‘Bones’ had claimed his UFC title two years prior and had turned back the challenges of some truly great opponents, including Rashad Evans, Lyoto Machida and Quinton ‘Rampage’ Jackson. Realistically, none of them looked like they belonged in the same octagon as him.

However, that all changed at UFC 165 when Jones fought Alexander Gustafsson. Heading into the fight, it seemed like few people were giving ‘The Mauler’ a chance. After all, Gustafsson hadn’t fought in nearly a year and his only elite-level win had come over the aging Mauricio ‘Shogun’ Rua.

Even the UFC’s own promos for the event seemed more focused on the fact that the Swede had a lengthy reach, albeit still 5” shorter than Jones’, than anything else.

But when it came to fight time, Gustafsson pushed Jones like nobody had ever done before. He continually landed hard, accurate punches on Jones, cutting him open around the eyes and forcing him to retreat for large portions of the fight. He even took him down at one point.

As the fourth round ticked away, it looked like Jones was on the verge of losing his title.

Somehow, 'Bones' rallied. In the dying seconds of the fourth round, Jones landed a spinning elbow that stunned Gustafsson and nearly knocked him out. It was enough for Jones to wrestle control of the fight away from the Swede. He was awarded a tight decision victory.

Sep21.20137 years ago today,Jon Jones & Alexander Gustafsson competed in a classic. pic.twitter.com/XDSUEGakC9

— MMA History Today (@MMAHistoryToday) September 21, 2020

However, nobody had ever come quite so close to dethroning Jones and nobody had ever hurt him quite as much in a fight. To this day, it remains the closest any fighter has come in the UFC to defeating this legend, although Dominick Reyes also gave it a pretty good try.

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#3. Demetrious Johnson vs. Ian McCall – UFC on FX 2

Ian McCall seemed moments away from stopping Demetrious Johnson in their first meeting

The record for the most consecutive UFC title defenses still belongs to former UFC flyweight champion Demetrious Johnson, who turned back the challenge of eleven successive opponents. ‘Mighty Mouse’ was such a virtuoso fighter that he was rarely challenged in the octagon, no matter the opponent.

Even the fight that saw him lose the UFC flyweight title to Henry Cejudo didn’t exactly see Johnson look human. In the opinion of most fans, the judges made a bad call and ‘Mighty Mouse’ should’ve retained.

However, one fight in the UFC saw Johnson look very human. In fact, he could easily have lost in devastating fashion on another day. And if that were the case, UFC history would’ve looked very different indeed.

At the UFC’s second event on FX in 2012, Johnson was faced with newcomer Ian McCall. The fight was a semi-final in a tournament to decide the promotion’s inaugural flyweight champion.

50K to Johnson/McCall FOTN, Joe B Ko of Night; SOTN Kampmann

— UFC (@ufc) March 3, 2012

The fight was close to call across the first two rounds. But in the third, ‘Mighty Mouse’ found himself running out of steam. And in the later stages of the frame, ‘Uncle Creepy’ took Johnson down, found himself in full mount and proceeded to put a beating on ‘Mighty Mouse’. He came just seconds away from stopping him in the process.

It looked for all intents and purposes like McCall would be awarded a decision. But instead, the fight was declared a majority draw.

The UFC naturally booked an immediate rematch. Despite making Johnson look completely human the first time around, McCall had nothing for him in their second meeting. ‘Mighty Mouse’ duly won a decision, went onto defeat Joseph Benavidez for the title and the rest is history.

Had McCall stopped him, though, who knows what might’ve happened in the UFC’s flyweight division? It remains one of the UFC’s ultimate “what if?” moments and stands as the only time Johnson truly looked human inside the octagon.