Jon Jones made a triumphant return to the Octagon on Saturday night after three years away from the UFC. He was making the step up to the heavyweight division, and boy did he have a debut to remember!
He was taking on Ciryl Gane, but in truth, the fight really wasn’t a contest, just like Jones had promised in the build-up to the fight. He got the job done quickly to ensure he wasn’t left eating his own words come the end of the night.
Gane tapped out in the first round after Jones took him to the canvas and showed his wrestling prowess. After working his way on top of the Frenchman, Bones deployed a guillotine hold on his opponent which ultimately forced him to tap out.
Jon Jones loses first clash as heavyweight champion
Bones escaped the fight unhurt and was in very high spirits backstage, as you would imagine. However, his title reign got off to the worst possible start when he lost the first challenge as a champion. Granted it would normally come after a nice break rather than immediately after the fight backstage.
Zion Clark, a man who fights in the MMA world despite being born with no legs, was waiting for Jones and challenged him to a duel. In true champion fashion, he accepted, although he may be wishing he hadn’t done after losing.
The men went head-to-head, quite literally, in a push-up tussle. It was Clark who emerged victorious, still going at the same impressive rate he started at when Bones accepted defeat and got back to his feet, realising it was game over for him.
Video: Jon Jones vs Zion Clark push-up challenge
Clark showed impressive strength to come away with the victory, Jones can have no complaints or excuses. Bar the kick to his groin seven seconds into the fight, he wasn’t touched. So he was more than ready to take on some more competition.
What the future holds for Jones is unknown, most heavyweights would struggle to live with such a talented fighter, regardless of his experience levels in the division. That was evident tonight as Gane lasted a matter of minutes.
Stipe Miocic is a likely candidate to be the next challenger to the heavyweight crown. Bones will certainly be hoping that goes better than the push-up competition went because he was never really in that fight, Clark was always going to win.
