UFC light-heavyweight champion Jon Jones defended his title against Alexander Gustafsson at UFC 165 in an epic bout, which will now be inducted into the UFC Hall of Fame.
Jones faced Gustafsson in his 6th UFC light-heavyweight title defense at UFC 165 back in September, 2013. Jon Jones was looking to establish himself as the most dominant champion in LHW history with a win over Gustafsson. The Swede had a near perfect professional MMA record of 15-1 at the time, including wins over the likes of “Shogun” Rua, Thiago Silva, Vladimir Matyushenko, Matt Hamill, James Te Huna, Cyrille Diabaté and others. When the two men finally met inside the Octagon, the fight turned out to be an instant classic. At the time, not many people gave Gustafsson a chance at beating Jones, but it turned out to be the toughest fight of the champions career. Recap on the fight with this video UFC released below:
The fight ended up being an action-packed 5 round battle that earned the two fighters a “Fight of the Night” bonus, as well as the “Fight of the Year” award later in 2013. In the end, it was Jones who walked away with a unanimous decision (48–47, 48–47, 49–46) victory over Gustafsson. It’s now highly regarded as one of the greatest fights in UFC history.
It was announced on Saturday during the UFC 248 event that Jones vs. Gustafsson 1 will be inducted into the UFC Hall of Fame’s Fight Wing at International Fight Week this July in Las Vegas.
UFC president Dana White gave the following statement regarding the bout and why it deserves the recognition:
“To be there and watch it live was amazing. It was an incredible fight and both athletes gave everything they had for all five rounds. This fight was such a classic it was named the 2013 Fight of the Year and will always be considered one of the greatest fights in combat sports history. This fight showed what a true champion Jon Jones was, as this was the first time he was taken into deep waters and truly tested. This fight also put Gustafsson on the map and showed his true potential. Congratulations to Jon Jones and Alexander Gustafsson on being inducted into the UFC Hall of Fame ‘Fight Wing’ for such an epic fight.”
This article first appeared on CLOSEDGUARDMEDIA.com on 9th March, 2020.
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