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#5. Jon Jones (C) vs. Thiago Santos (UFC Light Heavyweight Championship)
It was time for the main event! Could Thiago Santos pull off the biggest upset in recent memory? Let's find out.
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Round 1: Both men began in Southpaw positions. Jones opened up with the kicks and Santos did the same, attacking both legs in the opening minute.
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Santos moved nicely and looked awfully relaxed against Jones who shot for the legs and almost caught Santos with a spinning back elbow on the break. Jones tried to keep the distance with the oblique kicks and then shot for an overhead kick. Santos fired back with a calf kick.
Santos came in with a combination that knocked Jones' mouthpiece out. He landed another right after an exchange. Santos then waited for Jones to come to him and got the better of the exchanges.
Jones connected with a solid spinning body kick to end the round. Tough round to score.
Round 2: Jones began the round in the orthodox stance. Santos weirdly hit himself but recovered and pushed Jones back with a combination only to be met by a good inside leg kick from Jones.
Santos answered with an outside leg kick. Jones was being extremely respectful of the power that Santos possessed although it seemed like Santos had a slight niggle in his knee. Jones began to find his distance but ate a body kick. Santos had a tough time moving around as his left leg was giving him a lot of problems.
He lost balance after a Jones kick. However, he kept rushing in and tried to connect with bombs. Jones blocked most of the strikes and avoided all that he could.
The scorecards kept ticking as both men had the same number of significant strikes in the second round, at 9. Jones ended the round with two wild spinning kicks.
10-9 Santos
Round 3: Santos tweaked his knee in the second round and may have torn his ACL. The fight went on though. Santos moved fine but his head kick got caught by Jones. He then ate three big strikes and walked forward with an iron chin to knock Santos down.
Jones followed it up with a big knee. He began to pick up the pace and landed a few kicks to Santos' legs. Jones' elbows came to the fore and one of them opened up a cut on Santos' forehead. A nice head kick followed by a side kick and body kick by Jones proved that 'Bones' was finally here.
Jones ended the round with a spinning back elbow.
10-9 Jones
Round 4: Santos came in hot in the first Championship round! Jones escaped a flurry of strikes and steadied the ship before launching a wheel kick attempt. Despite having hurt his knee, Santos kept using his left leg for various strikes.
Jones kept connecting with the leg kicks. Oblique, side, and body - Jones mixed it up really well and it was painful to watch Santos struggle with his left knee.
10-9 Jones
Round 5: A beautiful body kick from Santos opened the round. The Brazilian knew he had five minutes to pull off one of the biggest upsets in UFC history. Santos attempted a kick and a few big shots but Jones just absorbed them like they were nothing.
90 seconds to go and the fight was yet to go to the ground. Santos had the big power shots in the Championship round and that could have proven detrimental to Jones' fortunes.
Result: Jon Jones def. Thiago Santos (48-49, 49-48, 49-48) via split decision
As Jones admitted amidst a chorus of boos in the post-fight interview, the champ played it smart. Santos gave Bones one of his best fights in recent years. The Brazilian could have pulled off an upset if his knee had held up. A rematch you reckon?
