Nunes too good for Cyborg

Jones reclaims light heavyweight title after a 17-month cage absence

INGLEWOOD (California): Amanda Nunes (pic) knocked out Cris “Cyborg” Justino 51 seconds into the first round at UFC 232, ending the featherweight champion’s 13-year unbeaten run with one of the most surprising victories in mixed martial arts history.

Jon Jones also reclaimed his light heavyweight title in his return from a 17-month cage absence, stopping Alexander Gustafsson with strikes on the ground in the third round on Saturday.

Nunes, the UFC’s bantamweight champion, made history when she moved up 10 pounds to challenge Justino (20-2), widely considered the world’s greatest female fighter. Nunes became the third fighter in UFC history to hold two title belts simultaneously, joining Conor McGregor and Daniel Cormier.

“I knew this was happening, I told you all!” Nunes said.

“Cris is a great fighter, nothing but respect. It was an awesome opportunity to share the octagon with her. I’m very thankful to her for this. I’m the new ‘champchamp.’ I said that before, and now I’m just achieving this dream.”

Nunes (17-4) was thought to be an under-sized underdog, but she seized her second title belt by overwhelming her fellow Brazilian. Nunes buckled Justino’s knees in the opening seconds, and she eventually knocked down Justino twice.

She ended the fight spectacularly with an overhand right to the ear, putting Justino face-down on the canvas.

Nunes also knocked out Ronda Rousey in less than a minute two years ago.

Jones (23-1, 1 no-contest) followed up that bout with a methodical dismantling of Gustafsson in a rematch of Jones’ toughest fight. Jones earned a thrilling decision in 2013 over Gustafsson, who tested the champion to the limits of his ability.

But in Jones’ first fight since completing his second drug suspension, the star picked apart Gustafsson with kicks in the first two rounds. He got a takedown in the third and finished the fight with several brutal shots to Gustafsson’s head on the ground.

The 31- year- old Jones had fought only twice in the previous 47 months, losing an enormous chunk of his fighting prime due to his misbehaviour.

During 2015 alone, he tested positive for cocaine use and was later stripped of his 205-pound title because of a hit-and-run accident in which he broke a pregnant woman’s arm. He returned in early 2016, but was pulled from a title bout at UFC 200 later that year after testing positive for two banned substances often taken in concert with steroid use.

Jones returned from his first doping suspension with a stoppage of Cormier in July 2017 to reclaim his light heavyweight title, but he lost the belt again after testing positive for steroids.

Jones’ latest tests revealed extremely low levels of the same substance, and the US Anti-Doping Agency said it considered the results to be an echo of his previous positive test, not a new violation. California officials agreed, allowing Jones to fight in Inglewood after Nevada demanded more answers in a hearing in January.

Gustafsson was thoroughly infuriated by Jones’ misbehaviour, flatly calling Jones a cheater and vowing to wreck his latest comeback. The Swede lost to Anthony Johnson and Cormier after Jones beat him, but won his last two fights to vault back into contention.

Just six days after the UFC moved the entire show from Las Vegas to the famous Forum south of downtown Los Angeles, a capacity crowd watched another ground breaking achievement by Nunes, the ferocious brawler who calls herself “The Lioness.”

Nunes’ punching power is often too much for her male sparring partners, and she carved up the formidable Justino with astonishing ease despite a size disadvantage. Justino had won 20 consecutive fights since her MMA debut in 2005, and she had dominated since the inception of the UFC’s 145pound division, which was created largely as a showcase for her talent. — AP