Jones, Woodley rule UFC 214 in Anaheim
Brazilian Cris Cyborg new women’s featherweight champion
LIGHT heavyweight fighter Jon “Bones” Jones reclaimed the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) title in his division just as welterweight champion Tyron “The Chosen One” Woodley retained his at “UFC 214” in Anaheim, California, yesterday.
Back after more than a year of inactivity because of personal and professional troubles, Mr. Jones got back at the top of the division and underscored his standing anew as possibly the best light heavyweight fighter there was by knocking out and retaking the title from Daniel “DC” Cormier in three rounds.
In the co-main event, welterweight champion Woodley made it three successful title defenses in as many fights with a unanimous victory over number one contender Demian Maia, 50-45, 49-46 and 49-46.
Earlier in the fight card, Brazilian Cris Cyborg wrapped the UFC women’s featherweight belt under her after a clinical beating of American Tonya Evinger by technical knockout in the third round of their title fight.
Rivals Cormier and Jones got their fight to a competitive start with both men going back-andforth and having their moments of gaining the upper hand.
The third round proved to be the difference, however, when Mr. Jones struck hard with a leg kick to the head of Mr. Cormier that staggered the erstwhile champion.
Sensing that he had his rival badly hurt, Mr. Jones went for the finish with a barrage of punches and elbows before referee John McCarthy stopped the fight at the 3: 01 mark of the match.
“I made it back, man. It such a beautiful moment. I had to do a lot of right things to be back here. Anybody who let yourself down, your family down, your peers and coaches down, it’s never over. As long as you never quit, it’s not over. And now I’m back here,” a tearyeyed Jones said after his win.
Mr. Jones, who padded his already- impressive record to 23-1, also gave credit to his rival Cormier for displaying what a true champion should be and how he has inspired him to get his act together and set himself back straight.
“I thank Daniel Cormier for being my biggest rival and motivator. He has no reason to hang his head. He has been a model champion, a model husband, model father, leader and teammate. And I aspire to be like that because he is an amazing human being. Unfortunately we were opponents but outside of that he is a true champion,” said Mr. Jones, who later called on Brock Lesnar to fight him in the Octagon.
With the loss, Mr. Cormier dropped to 19-2 and saw his fourfight winning streak stopped.
STAYING WITH THE GAME PLAN
Mr. Woodley, for his part, played his game plan to the hilt, staving off 21 takedown attempts throughout the contest by the challenger Maia with great success.
The champion displayed incredible patience and bombarded Mr. Maia with solid punches that immediately did damage to the face of the Brazilian.
Despite being continuously frustrated by Mr. Woodley, Mr. Maia remained active but was not to be allowed much headway by the American en route to slumping to the loss.
“He cut the ring very well and I knew he was going for the takedown. So I had to stay patient and look for my shots. He did hit me a couple of times and credit to him but I’m the best in the world and looking forward to taking on the next challenger,” Mr. Woodley said.
Mr. Woodley now sports an 18-3-1 record and has been undefeated in his last six fights while 39- year- old Maia dropped to 25-7 and halted his seven-fight winning streak.
Ms. Cyborg, meanwhile, took some time to finish off a determined Evinger but eventually finish things off via a devastating way.
The end came for Ms. Evinger midway into the third round when she found herself in a tough clinch spot where she was a recipient of a series of knees from Ms. Cyborg from which the former could not recover from, prompting the referee to stop the fight at 1:56 mark of the round.
“Words cannot express how happy I am with this win. I happy to be the world champion and I think it’s about time. I give credit to my team for preparing me well,” said Ms. Cyborg, who improved to 18-1 after her latest win, after her victory.
In other fights at UFC 214, welterweight Robbie Lawler narrowly beat Donald Cerrone by unanimous decision (29-28, 2928 and 29- 28) and lightweight heavyweight fighter Volkan Oezdemir knocked out Jimi Manuwa (punches) in the opening round.
Next for the UFC is “UFC Fight Night 114” that will feature the battle of flyweights Sergio Pettis and Brandon Moreno in Mexico City on Aug. 6 (Manila time).
In the Philippines, Cignal TV, the country’s foremost directtohome ( DTH) company, is the home of the UFC after the two groups agreed to an extensive deal that will see the UFC beamed on various platforms.