UFC 197: Jones vs. Saint Preux post-fight results and analysis

UFC 197 is all finished, and the card as a whole felt a bit uneven. There were some entertaining moments, not a lot of entertaining fights, and I think it’s safe to say the star of tonight’s card was Demetrious Johnson (more on that later). Jon Jones is the UFC interim LHW title with a decision win over Ovince Saint Preux. By his own admittance, Jones said it took him awhile to pull the trigger, and we didn’t actually see him commit to takedowns until the 4th round. He took OSP’s best shots and threw his usual amount of spinning attacks and brutal body shots, but it was a clunky sort of fight that had little rhythm to it.

I’ve read a lot of comments suggesting that this version of Jones loses to Cormier, which is quite possible, but I also don’t think Jones would fight Cormier (or Rumble) the same way he fought a very different style of opponent on less than 3 weeks notice. This is the tough read when you analyze short-notice fights, particularly when one of the combatants last competed in a UFC fight in January 2015. Not everybody can be Dominick Cruz. Jones probably could’ve finished OSP in round 4 but didn’t, and I’m sure this fight will resonate in the minds of fans who believe that Jon is looking very vulnerable heading into a Cormier rematch. Alternatively, you can say that Jones didn’t suffer any injuries while not performing at his highest level, shook off the cobwebs against a credible opponent, still won comfortably, and has now put himself in a position to headline UFC 200, should Cormier also be ready to fight by then.

But let’s leave Jones aside and talk about the UFC’s awe-inspiring dynamo. Demetrious Johnson was taken down by Henry Cejudo, and then the Olympic gold medalist was crumpled on the canvas in incredible pain about a minute later. Johnson’s dangerous clinch striking had Cejudo badly hurt, particularly the knees and the elbows. The flyweight champ finished things off with a beautiful knee to the body to give him his 8th successful title defense. Cejudo got destroyed by the master. Yeah, I’m fine with calling him #1 P4P in the world. Best fighter ever, as Joe Rogan proclaims? How dare he disrespect Ilir Latifi that way? But seriously, Mighty Mouse is no doubt one of the best fighters to ever step foot in an MMA cage, and it is a pleasure to watch him easily defeat high-level competition on a consistent basis.

More thoughts on tonight’s card:

Main Card Daniel Cormier was the guest commentator and I …

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