Source: MMA News

Jon Jones settled his feud with Rashad Evans, for now, beating him by unanimous decision to retain his light heavyweight crown at UFC 145 in Atlanta, GA. The fight was mainly uneventful as Jones used his craftiness and length to keep Evans at bay. Watching the fight, I couldn’t help but notice that Rashad had the right game plan to beat Jones. He was patient, counter punched when Jones threw weak combinations, and stayed on his toes which kept the fight moving and kept Jones guessing. I really thought Rashad won round one and showed Jones that he was still the better fighter. But in round two, the turning point happened when Jones landed a standing elbow which caught Rashad on his forehead, staggering him. You have to give Rashad credit for surviving but he was never the same after the elbows came. Jones was able to land a couple more elbows in the latter rounds which kept Rashad guessing. After that second round, Jones seemed to have figured Rashad out and took the rest of the fight. One thing I felt Rashad could have done more was force the take downs. I know its a lot to ask for Rashad to take Jones down but thats his bread and butter move. He talked about it all camp how he could always take Jones down at will. Even if he was unsuccessful he should have tried it more often just to throw Jones off his game. Jones looked too comfortable jumping around and even showboating a little bit to show Rashad that he was winning the fight. I hate Jones’ cockiness but he is the champ. There doesn’t seem to be anyone else in his way right now. Next up for Jones is Dan Henderson and his H-bombs. The one thing Henderson has going for him is that he has powerful hands, but if Jones proved one thing this weekend it is that he is legit and can take a punch.

The other surprising fighter was Rory MacDonald who completely dominated Che Mills. Mills looked a man on a mission but he was made to look like a boy against MacDonald. I was saying MacDonald might be ready for a title shot next year but considering how impressive he looked against Mills, I think he is ready for a title shot this year. But I can see the UFC bringing him up slowly and giving him a top 5 welterweight for later this year. MacDonald did say after the fight he is looking to stay busy, so lets just feed him another contender to build up his resume. Here are the results for UFC 145:

Facebook Prelim Fights:

Marcus Brimage def. Maximo Blanco via Split Decision after 3 Rounds.
Chris Clements def. Keith Wisniewski via Split Decision after 3 Rounds.

FX Prelim Fights:

Mac Danzig def. Efrain Escudero via Unanimous Decision after 3 Rounds.
Anthony Njokuani def. John Makdessi via Unanimous Decision after 3 Rounds.
Matt Brown def. Stephen Thompson via Unanimous Decision after 3 Rounds.
Travis Browne def. Chad Griggs via Submission (arm-triangle) at 2:29 of Round 1.

PPV Fights:

Mark Bocek def. John Alessio via Unanimous Decision after 3 Rounds.
Eddie Yagin def. Mark Hominick via Split Decision after 3 Rounds.
Michael McDonald def. Miguel Torres via KO (punches) at 3:18 of Round 1.
Ben Rothwell def. Brendan Schaub via TKO (punches) at 1:10 of Round 1.
Rory MacDonald def. Che Mills via TKO (punches) at 2:20 of Round 2.
Jon Jones def. Rashad Evans via Unanimous Decision after 5 Rounds

Fight Night Bonuses: Eddie Yagin and Mark Hominick took home Fight of the Night honors for their three round war, Ben Rothwell won Knockout of the Night honors, and Travis Browne was awarded Submission of the Night. Those fighters banked an additional $65k for their efforts.