Jon Jones defiant following UFC 232 victory

Newly crowned UFC light heavyweight champion Jon Jones put a week of controversy behind him with victory on Saturday night. The 31-year-old produced a dominant performance to best Alexander Gustafsson in three rounds, which showed little indication of the turbulence “Bones” has found himself in over the past year.

Predictably, no sooner had Jones left the Octagon in The Forum, Inglewood, CA, the tough questions over his drug testing record resumed. For his part, the New York native made the right noises to the waiting media, cutting a conciliatory figure in some respects, while still remaining typically defiant on the whole.

Jones apologises – but not to ‘DC’

Jones took the time during his post-fight press conference to apologise to a journalist he’d “disrespected” during fight week, as well as thank those who’d helped him “find out who Jonathan Dwight Jones” is during his 15-month suspension from the sport. While “Bones” largely cut a humble figure while fielding questions, he also vigorously maintained his innocence throughout, pointing out on a number of occasions that he had never knowingly taken a banned substance in his career.

When it came to archnemesis Daniel Cormier, Jones was even more defiant when questioned on whether a trilogy match could be his next outing in the Octagon. “[DC] was never the light heavyweight champion. He never beat me,” Jones said. “This has been my era since 2011. I want to make that loud and clear. DC is no champ-champ. When we talk about an asterisk next to my name, there’s always gonna be an asterisk next to the idea of him being a champ champ. The only way he can shut me up… is to beat my ass. It’s simple.”

The Jackson Wink Academy product cemented his claim for the greatest light heavyweight of all time with a one-sided victory over the “Mauler”, a far cry from the pair’s incredible first matchup in 2013 when many believed Gustafsson had done enough to win. Jones didn’t seem to have to get out of first gear this time around, utilising his superior wrestling to take the Swede down, take his back and eventually make his opponent succumb to vicious ground-and-pound strikes in the third round.

Dramatic main event follows week of turbulence for UFC

UFC 232 rounded off a dramatic week for the promotion – Jones’ most recent USADA drug test ‘abnormality’ led the entire card to be moved from Las Vegas after the Nevada Athletic Commission refused to license him without a full hearing into the full details of the case. Ultimately, California State Athletic Commission director Andy Foster was willing to sanction the bout after hearing evidence that Jones had not freshly ingested any prohibited substance since his 2017 suspension.

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Elsewhere on the night, Amanda Nunes became the first woman in company history to simultaneously hold two titles in different weight classes, delivering a devastating knockout to Cris Cyborg in their featherweight title match; the latter’s first loss in over 13 years – and only her second overall in MMA.

Featured image: “Джон Джонс- действующ” (CC BY-NC 2.0) by legendashow