UFC 247: 4 times Jon Jones did the unexpected inside the Octagon

#2 Using his wrestling to beat Chael Sonnen – UFC 159

Jones surprised everyone by using his wrestling to defeat Chael Sonnen

When the UFC matched Jon Jones against Chael Sonnen at UFC 159, most fans saw the matchmaking as exactly what it was: ‘The American Gangster’ had essentially talked his way into an undeserved title shot in a higher weight class, and the likelihood was that ‘Bones’ would comfortably dispatch of him as he had done his previous opponents.

The question wasn’t even how he would do it; the obvious gameplan for Jones seemed to be a simple one – just avoid Sonnen’s excellent takedown skills and beat him up on the feet, where ‘The American Gangster’ had never been the strongest fighter. It seemed like the best path for ‘Bones’, particularly as no fighter had ever been able to take him down up to that point.

Jones turned that idea on its head, though, by surprising everyone and shooting for a takedown of his own in the fight’s opening seconds.

Sonnen was taken by surprise and easily planted on his back, and while he got up initially, Jones was able to hit more takedowns in the opening round before eventually finishing the challenger with some savage ground-and-pound – basically using Sonnen’s own strengths to put him away.