HOUSTON — It was razor close. Perhaps even controversial. But Jon Jones pulled off another record-setting victory Saturday night.
Jones beat Dominick Reyes by unanimous decision (48-47, 48-47, 49-46) to retain the UFC light heavyweight title in the co-main event of UFC 247. The crowd at Toyota Center rained down boos when the result was read. When the bell rung at the end of the fifth round, both men raised their arms thinking they won.
“That fifth round won me the fight,” Jones said. “Those takedowns won me the fight. I believe with my whole heart I won that fight.”
In 22 career fights, this was the only time Jones had been outstruck by an opponent, according to ESPN Stats & Information research. Reyes landed 116 significant strikes to Jones’ 104. Reyes’ mark is the most ever by a Jones foe.
Reyes came out immediately at the opening bell and pressured Jones with his boxing, footwork and hard kicks to the body and legs. Reyes landed several good left hands in the first three rounds. In the second and third, Reyes was able to muster the kind of quality offense with his striking to put Jones on his bicycle, shuffling away near the cage.
“I had him one through three, man,” Reyes said. “I was all over him. It is what it is. I’ll get better. … I proved that I’m the real deal.”
Jones turned things on in the fourth and fifth rounds by going more to his wrestling, though Reyes never got into too bad of a position on the ground. Reyes thought he won rounds one, two and three. Jones outlanded Reyes, 46-34, on significant strikes in the last two rounds with a pair of takedowns. In the fifth, Jones landed two hard right hands that snapped Reyes’ head back.
“I knew it was a really close fight and I turned it on in the fifth round,” Jones said.
With the victory, Jones became the winningest UFC fighter ever in title fights (14), surpassing Georges St-Pierre. Jones also extended his record UFC unbeaten streak to 18 fights and tied Demetrious Johnson for the most UFC title defenses (11). The New York native has never truly lost in the cage, his only loss coming via disqualification in 2009.
Jones is arguably the greatest mixed martial arts fighter in history. He came in tied atop ESPN’s pound-for-pound rankings with Khabib Nurmagomedov. Reyes, a +375 underdog, is ESPN’s No. 4-ranked light heavyweight fighter. Jones has now defeated four previously undefeated fighters: Reyes, Daniel Cormier, Ryan Bader and Andre Gusmao.
“Dominick did a tremendous job,” Jones said afterward. “Dominick, you have totally earned my respect, man.”
Jones (26-1, 1 NC) earned his 20th UFC win, placing him third on the all-time list. He has returned from a pair of drug-test failures (both proven to be unintentional ingestions) to continue his reign upon the light heavyweight division. He has won four straight since his return in 2018. Jones, 32, was the youngest champion in UFC history at 23 years old when he won it in 2011.
Reyes (12-1) had won all of his six UFC fights coming into Saturday night. The California knocked out former middleweight champion Chris Weidman in October to earn the shot against Jones. Reyes, 30, is a former college football player at Stony Brook University.
“I would not want it easy,” Jones said. “If it was easy, everyone in the audience would be doing it.”