UFC 140 Main Event Results - Jones Finishes Off Year For The Ages With Sub Of Machida

TORONTO, December 10 – We can’t say UFC light heavyweight champion Jon Jones looked human yet, but in his second title defense in the main event of UFC 140 at Air Canada Centre Saturday night, “Bones” did actually get punched by challenger Lyoto Machida. But soon enough, the inevitable sunk in, Jones found his range, and he cut, hurt, and then submitted the Brazilian in the second round, capping off a year in which he handed Ryan Bader his first loss, defeated Mauricio “Shogun” Rua for the 205-pound title, and then defended his belt with submissions of former champs “Rampage” Jackson and Machida. See post-fight interview

And he’s only 24. Just how do you top that in 2012? Expect Jones to find a way.

“He’s just smart,” said Jones of Machida. “He’s definitely a very tough puzzle. He didn’t have me hurt, but he did punch me pretty good and wobbled me a bit.”

But that was it. From there, it was all Jones, but Machida did present some interesting problems for the young champion at first.

Coming out of his corner in a crouch, Jones slowly rose to his feet and scored first with a leg kick. Machida, eyes fixed on the champion, did his best to stay out of range as he backpedaled and looked for an opening to fire back. Jones did his part, staying the aggressor as Machida aimed to counter, but neither fighter was landing with anything of consequence and the brief exchanges were sloppy at close range. A slapping left kick from Machida drew a roar from the crowd, with Jones firing back but missing. With a minute left, a quick flurry knocked Jones off balance, and the crowd erupted. In response, Jones kept pressing, but he was unable to get a clean shot off before the bell sounded.

Jones continued to seek out Machida’s legs for kicks as round two commenced, following the strategy Mauricio “Shogun” Rua used in his first fight with “The Dragon.” With two minutes gone, Jones moved in, but got cracked with a hard right hand for his trouble, but moments later, he landed with a hard right of his own before shooting for and getting his first takedown of the fight. After eating a couple strikes, one that cut his forehead, Machida made it to his feet, but referee John McCarthy wanted to have the Octagonside physician check the cut out. After getting the green light to resume, Machida escaped Jones’ grasp against the fence, only to get nearly dropped by a left hand. Jones, staying calm, locked in a guillotine choke on the stunned challenger. Seconds later, at the 4:26 mark, Machida was asleep and the new champion had finished perhaps the greatest year a UFC fighter has ever had with another impressive victory.

With the win, Jones improves to 15-1; Machida falls to 17-3.