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Jones-Evans goes to decision

ATLANTA - As Ultimate Fighting Championship superstar Jon Jones walked to the cage on Saturday, the music blaring through a sold-out Phillips Arena said it all: The champ is here.

Jones, coming off a record-setting 2011 as UFC light heavyweight champion, continued to set a standard matched by few in the sport. The 24-year-old made a case for himself as the greatest in the game, beating former champion and ex-training partner Rashad Evans via unanimous decision in the main event of UFC 145.

``It's definitely my most satisfying victory,'' said Jones (16-1) following the culmination of a year-long feud.

The backstory is a familiar one to UFC fans: they became friends and training partners when Jones joined Greg Jackson's team in New Mexico in 2009, by which time Evans had already held the light heavyweight title. By 2011, though, both were in the title mix and each insisted they would never face the other.

But when Jones said last March that if UFC president Dana White demanded they meet, ``then I guess that's what would have to happen,'' Evans left Jackson's team, Jones won the title and the battle was on.

They were originally supposed to meet last year, but injuries to both kept their schedules out of sync. After Jones became the first person to defeat three former UFC champions in one year in 2011, and Evans won a pair of matches to reaffirm himself as No. 1 contender, their showdown was set.

It was a struggle at times for Jones, who went five rounds for the first time in his career, but he was able to grind out the title defence.

``I didn't really feel the cleanest on my feet, but who I beat, it was very important to me,'' said Jones.

Two judges scored the match 49-46, while the third scored it 50-45.

``I had a goal to finish this fight. Hats off to Rashad . . . What a great competition. First time going five rounds, I'm proving more things to myself.''

Evans was bitterly disappointed with the result, sprinting from the cage to the locker-room after conducting a brief post-fight interview.

``He's pretty crafty. He's pretty tricky,'' said Evans (22-2-1).

In the first round, Jones landed more shots but Evans connected with the biggest - a high kick in the final moments. Jones started to find his range in the second, landing elbows, kicks and a big flurry to finish.

``He had those sneaky elbows that kept getting me,'' said Evans.

Evans tested Jones' chin 30 seconds into third round, landing a vicious right, but Jones was able to shrug it off. The fourth round was the slowest of the match, each appearing winded at times, setting the stage for the final five minutes.

Evans needed a finish but could rarely get in tight quarters with Jones. The champ's length - at six-foot-four with a UFC-record 84.5-inch reach - would cause the five-foot-11 Evans problems much of the night. The fight finished with Evans on top and scoring with some ground-and-pound, but it wasn't enough.

``I'm sitting here very grateful tonight,'' said Jones.

In other pay-per-view matches at UFC 145:

* Considered a future world champion when he was still a teenager, Rory MacDonald keeps getting close to reaching that dream.

In the co-main event, the 22-year-old from Kelowna, B.C., dominated Che Mills fully and completely, until the beating was mercifully stopped at 2:20 of the second round in their welterweight co-main event. MacDonald (13-1) outstruck Mills (14-5) 38-5 in power strikes and 58-12 overall, according to Compustrike. The match was probably more one-sided than even those numbers show.

``Che was a great opponent. I took this fight very seriously . . . I'm very happy with the way the fight went,'' said MacDonald.

``I could tell I was landing big shots. When I hit guys on the ground and they're clean, I know they're going to be hurt.''

* Ben Rothwell, in the best shape of his life, was rewarded with what may have been the biggest win of his career.

The veteran Rothwell (32-8) was hit hard by Brendan Schaub (9-3) and looked close to being finished, but out of nowhere he landed a left to Schaub's chin that sent the rushing star down to the mat and prompted referee Herb Dean to stop the contest just 1:10 into the opening round of their heavyweight bout.

``I'm not backing down. I know my chin can take some shots . . . I just gotta throw back,'' said Rothwell. ``If you're going to stand in front of me, you're probably going to go down.''

* Showing why he's considered one of the brightest prospects in the sport, Michael McDonald (15-1) made short work of Miguel Angel Torres (39-4), who not long ago was talked about as one of the top pound-for-pound fighters in MMA.

McDonald, only 21 years old, knocked Torres down with an uppercut and finished him on the mat just 3:18 into the first round of their bantamweight bout, showing that his time as a top contender may have arrived sooner than anyone thought.

``This was the biggest jump up in competition in my career and easily the biggest win,'' said McDonald. ``He caught me a couple times, but my power and aggression won out . . . I don't know about my next fight, but I'm ready for this level.''

* One year ago almost to the day, Mark Hominick of Thamesford, Ont., was part of the co-main event at UFC 129 in front of nearly 56,000 fans in Toronto. On Saturday in Atlanta, his losing streak that started at Rogers Centre was extended to three fights.

Hominick (20-11), who challenged champion Jose Aldo that night in Toronto, lost a split decision at UFC 145 to Eddie Yagin (35-14) in a featherweight bout that left both men bloodied and swollen. All three judges scored the match 29-28.

``Hominick is veteran and unbelievably bad ass. I was hoping I was going to get that fight with Mark and the fight was exactly as I pictured it,'' said Yagin.

* In a battle of Canadians, Mark Bocek (11-4) of Woodbridge, Ont., got the better of Vancouver's John Alessio (34-15), earning a unanimous decision in their lightweight bout.

Two judges scored the match 30-27, while the third scored it 29-28.

Alessio took the match on just a few week's notice, his first appearance in UFC in roughly six years.

``When John took that fight on such short notice you use what you know,'' said Bocek, who used his superior ground game to outpoint Alessio. ``Strategy is always a part of it but deploying the tools I knew from experience work is what got me the win.''

In preliminary matches at UFC 145:

* Travis Browne (13-0-1) continued to climb up the heavyweight ladder, needing just 2:29 to submit Chad Griggs (11-2) with a head-and-arm triangle choke.

* In a bloody slugfest, Matt Brown (16-11) outwilled Stephen Thompson (6-1) in a welterweight contest on his way to a unanimous decision.

* Showing the kicking prowess of soccer stars Ronaldo or Messi, Anthony Njokuani (16-6) used his feet as his primary attack on his way to a unanimous decision over Montreal's John Makdessi (9-2) in a lightweight match.

* Despite suffering a right ankle injury escaping a submission attempt in the first round, Mac Danzig (22-9-1) gutted out a unanimous decision over Efrain Escudero (19-5) in a lightweight bout.

* Chris Clements of London, Ont., (11-4) put on a performance to remember in his UFC debut, beating Keith Wisniewski (28-13-1) via split decision in a hard-hitting welterweight match.

* In a match more notable for the post-fight antics, Marcus Brimage (5-1) earned a split decision over Maximo Blanco (8-4-1) in a featherweight opener.

Following the bout, the two got into a gymnastics battle of sorts, each trying to one-up the other with backflips and cartwheels, drawing further boos from the fans in Atlanta.



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