Jon Jones nearly lost the UFC title in the same fashion of his sole defeat.
In the years before he was UFC Heavyweight Champion, Jon Jones had multiple title reigns in the light heavyweight division, defending his world title against all-comers: Daniel Cormier, ‘Rampage’ Jackson, Rashad Evans, Vitor Belfort and many more.
Considered undefeated by many, Jones does have a couple of blemishes on his 28-1 record, a no-contest result following his rematch with Cormier due to a positive drug test for an anabolic steroid and his only loss, a disqualification to Matt Hamill in 2009.
Jones bloodied Hamill with downward ’12-6′ elbow strikes, which were illegal at the time.
A decade later, Jones would be hit with some Déjà vu.
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Jon Jones illegally knee’d Anthony Smith in 2019 title fight
In the first title defense of his last light heavyweight title reign, Jon Jones met grizzled veteran Anthony Smith at UFC 235 on March 2, 2019.
It was a fight Jones absolutely dominated from bell-to-bell, growing stronger in the later rounds.
In round 3, Jones smothered Smith on the ground, making him carry his weight. ‘Bones’ delivered knees to the shin and to the body of Smith.
Round 4 was more of the same with Jones taking down Smith with ease and opened up cuts on his face with elbows. Jones attempted a kick on a grounded Smith that just missed his head.
Smith bloodied and battered with 10 seconds to go in the round, Jones fired a brutal knee as it looked like Smith was going to get back up to his feet with his knee off the canvas. However, seeing the strike coming, Smith put one of his hands down right before he ate a knee, making it an illegal move.
Referee Herb Dean paused the action to check if Smith was okay and Jones prayed to God he wouldn’t lose like this again.
“I just started praying,” Jones told ESPN after he landed the illegal knee on Smith.
“I was just like, ‘Lord, please don’t let it happen like this…’
“I started having Matt Hamill flashbacks, my only DQ.”
Jon Jones says Anthony Smith showed ‘the heart of a lion’
Fortunately for Jon Jones, Anthony Smith opted not to take the easy way out and in less than a minute, a bloody Smith was back up on his feet, telling the referee he was OK.
What was shaping up to be a 10-8 round for Jones turned into a 8-8 round with referee Herb Dean taking not one but two points away for the illegal blow.
Smith later revealed he wanted to win the title off Jon Jones, not steal it by disqualification.
Smith earned the champion’s respect in full that night, making the five-round distance.
“Hats off to Anthony Smith,” Jones said of his former title challenger.
“The fight could have been over when I caught him with a knee while he was on the ground and he fought through that, and I respect him tremendously.
“He’ll always have my respect… Anthony showed the heart of a lion and continued to fight while he was already exhausted, already beaten down and he said give me some more.
“What a man,” Jones added.
His ‘Lionheart’ nickname on brand more than ever at UFC 235, Anthony Smith will makes the final walk of his MMA career at UFC Kansas City this upcoming weekend. The 58-fight veteran is set to meet Chinese knockout artist Mingyang Zhang in his retirement fight.
