UFC 197 delivered as Jon Jones made a successful return while Mighty Mouse finished early.
In the main event slot, former (or current, depends on who you ask) light heavyweight champion Jon Jones entered the Octagon for the first time since he was stripped of his title and suspended. Initially scheduled to take on the man who picked up his vacant belt, Daniel Cormier, an injury forced Cormier out of the bout with Jon Jones. In stepped Ovince St. Preux, the 6th ranked light heavyweight in the division.
Stepping in on just three weeks notice, it was difficult to gauge what type of shape OSP would be in. While he lasted 5 full rounds with the pound-for-pound king Jon Jones, OSP seemed ill-equipped to deal with the rangy kicks and sharp clinch work. Jon Jones dominated each and every minute of the fight, but in the end appeared a little gun shy. Jones’s offensive game was limited to snappy oblique and side kicks to the legs and body, and some dangerous elbows in close quarters. OSP on the other hand had a few moments where he charged forward and landed clean on the jaw of Jones, but ultimately failed to follow up on any momentum. Jones cruised easily into the fifth round to win the decision, but expressed discontent with his performance. Next up for Jones will most certainly be Daniel Cormier; now that Jones has had a chance to dissolve the rust, it should be a fight for the ages.
In tonight’s co-main event feature, UFC flyweight champion Demetrious “Mighty Mouse” Johnson dispatched challenger Henry Cejudo with relative ease. Cejudo was quick to tie up with Johnson early in the first round, and while he was able to take Johnson down, a sequence played out in the clinch where Mighty Mouse was able to score with a barrage of knees. Targeting the body, and then the head, Johnson rocked Cejudo and followed up with further attacks. Cejudo was left crumped against the cage as the referee saved him at just 2:49 into the first round.
Another big feature at UFC 197 was a lightweight tilt between Anthony Pettis and Edson Barboza. A match up between two fantastic strikers, it was Barboza who left with the victory. Ever since losing his lightweight title to Rafael dos Anjos, Anthony Pettis has been on a hunt to regain the same fire he had when he was the reigning champion. A controversial split decision loss to Eddie Alvarez proved that more work had to be done, and Barboza was a perfect opponent to really display his striking potential. However, Barboza played the spoiler as clean left hooks and inside low kicks left Pettis in a defensive shell for a majority of the bout. Both men were able to land clean on each other with their hands, but it was the kicking game of Barboza that was more effective. Barboza safely picked up the unanimous decision victory as he out-struck the former champion for a majority of their 3-round bout.
To open up the pay-per-view card, exciting prospect Yair Rodriguez was set to take on Team Alpha Male representative Andre Fili. What resulted was a highlight-reel knockout win for the prospect “Pantera” Rodriguez. The first round took place with Yair landing takedowns and attacking from the top position with ground and pound and a few submission attempts. Midway through the second round, Rodriguez put Fili out cold with a jumping switch kick to the face. The knockout won Performance of the Night awards, and will most certainly put Yair Rodriguez on the fast track to becoming a star in the featherweight division.
Prelims also delivered some notable outcomes. Sergio Pettis took home a hard-fought decision victory over Chris Kelades which featured well-rounded action coming from both men. Ultimately, Pettis had too much offense and too diverse of an attack for Kelades to deal with. Former women’s strawweight champion Carla Esparza also made a triumphant return to the Octagon as she shut down Julianna Lima for a clear-cut three round decision victory. Esparza was able to floor Lima easily with takedowns, and dominated the action through out. On Fight Pass, Walt Harris picked up the first round TKO finish over Cody East, Marcos Rogerio de Lima choked out Clint Hester in the first round, and Kevin Lee out-struck Efrain Escudero for a unanimous decision win.
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