Jones keeps light heavy title, insults foe

EXPECT no reconciliation between MMA fighters Jon Jones and Daniel Cormier, at least not in the near future.

Jones settled the score on the cage as he retained his Ultimate Fighting Championship light heavyweight title last night at the MGM Grand Arena with a unanimous decision win against Cormier, who proved to one of the worthiest challengers in the crowded division.

But Jones had no ready kind words against an opponent, who did everything to get into his head going in their championship faceoff, aptly dubbed “Bad Blood,” a fight that was the most anticipated in the history of the UFC.

After five rounds of action and his hands raised in victory, the undisputed champion opened up the post-fight interview with a statement bordering on insult.

“If you bought Break Bones shirt, it’s now time to throw them away. You just wasted your money,” said Jones.

Just when the fans thought all the trash talks before the fight were just part of the plan to promote the fight, Jones’ abhorrence on Cormier proved to be for real.

The bad blood between them began to boil when the two protagonists figured in an altercation during a media presentation. Then trash talks followed in the TV interviews and social media.

“All the haters and the scrubby talks by DC have motivated me a lot,” added Jones.

For five championship rounds totaling 25 minutes of action, the protagonists slugged it out, with Jones thriving on his short elbows and knees to the body and Cormier living with his uppercuts on the clinch.

The damage on both fighters was almost equal and the decision by the judges all boiled down to the three takedowns and better cage control by Jones.

Jones took down Cormier for the first time in his MMA career right the first round. Cormier was relentless in his attack in the next two rounds, but Jones was successful in keeping the distance and in his short elbows during the clinch.

The fourth round was Jones’ best, taking down Cormier twice although he failed to inflict damages.

Knowing Cormier was behind in the scorecards, his corner asked him to be busier and pressure Jones with punches. But Jones cruised past the fifth and final round as he managed to draw Cormier against the cage most of the time

Jones fought intelligently to retain his title and up his MMA record to 21 wins against a loss, while Cormier absorbed his first loss in 16 fights.

But what really mattered to Jones was to settle who will have the last laugh.

Jones did. “Man, I don’t like DC,” he said in capping the night’s interview.