UFC 135 Recap: Jon Jones vs Rampage Jackson

Jon Jones (left) defended his title in impressive fashion against Rampage Jackson on Saturday night at UFC 135 in Denver. Jones threw a wide variety of punches and kicks and lit up Rampage on the feet for three rounds before finishing the fight with a rear naked choke in the fourth. Rampage never even came close to landing a meaningful strike. The 11.5" reach advantage was way too distance for him to close.

Matt Hughes looked sharp on the feet before falling down in a scramble and getting finished by Josh Koschek seconds before the end of the first round. Amazing that such an experienced fighter had no idea how to fight from the back. Just goes to show how truly dominant Hughes was back in the day. I can’t remember the last time I saw him on his back. Koschek looked really good but no one wants to see him fight St. Pierre again, so look for him to drop weight in the not-too-distant future. 

The undercard also featured a pair of heavyweight bumfights. People love heavyweights, or Ben Rothwell would have been out of work ages ago (Ed. note–sounds like another fighting sport we’re familiar with). The division has a lot of talent in it (nevermind), but Ben Rothewell and Mark Hunt both looked like they needed oxygen between rounds. I haven’t seen such out-of-shape fighters since The Ultimate Fighter, heavyweight edition. These guys should really be able to fight for fifteen minutes without looking like they’ve just run a marathon in July.

Same thing for the other heavyweight fight. Rob Broughton can take a shot, there were a few punches from Travis Browne that probably would have knocked out a more Arlovski-ish fighter, but both fighters looked like shit. Travis Browne, a Greg Jackson fighter, landed some decent shots but was so winded by the end of the fight that he could barely speak when Joe Rogan interviewed him. These guys need to work on their cardio. If I’m paying to see fights, I expect the guys involved to be able to at least  make it through regulation without having a fucking heart attack.

Nate Diaz looked slick as hell. Takanori Gomi is a one-dimensional chump and just sort of swings for the fences. Standup is supposed to be Gomi’s strength, but he looked outclassed by the Californian. Once Nate got the Fireball Kid to the ground, he cycled through a bunch of submissions before finally ending it with an armbar. He’s a genius on the ground, even though he sounds like the dumbest person on earth when he opens his mouth.