Join us today on Bloody Elbow for live results, discussion, round scoring, and play-by-play as UFC 235 goes down in Vegas.
The main event will see Jon Jones looking to defend his UFC light heavyweight title against the upstart Anthony Smith. The co-main is a grudge match in the welterweight division, with champion Tyron Woodley taking on Kamaru Usman for the title.
Also of note, is the debut of undefeated Ben Askren, who meets former 170-pound champion Robbie Lawler.
This post will cover the headlining bout between Jones and Smith.
The show kicks off on Fight Pass at approximately 6:30pm ET with three fights. The card then moves to ESPN at 8pm ET for four more bouts, then onto the main PPV card. The full lineup and schedule follows. The preliminary card will be covered in a separate post, as will the rest of the main card.
Check out this week’s MMA Vivisection for predictions, analysis and betting odds on the each matchup.
Round 1 - Outside leg kick from Smith. Inside leg kick too. Jones feinting. Jones misses with two home run punches. Unusual for him. Spinning back kick to the body from Jones, and an outside leg kick. Smith misses twice. Jone misses with an axe kick. Outside leg kick from Smith. Jones misses with a winging left hook again. Another spinning back kick to the body. Head kick from Smith lands but Jones grabs the leg and pushes him against the fence. Shoulder check from Jones. Knee to the body from Jones and they break. Smith sticks a left in his face. Side kick to the body from Jones. Head kick from Jones is blocked. Another side kick, and an outside leg kick. 10-9 Jones.
Round 2 - Jones more active early. Low kick and an oblique kick. They both land rights. Front kick from Jones seemed to hurt Smith. Jones is lighting him up with body and leg kicks. Smith is backed against the cage. Spinning elbow connects for Jones. Back in the clinch. They separate. Smith with a right, and he scores to the body. Outside leg kick from Jones. Front kick and body kick from Jones. Smith one and done with punches. Smith wit ha body kick. Jones has a head kick blocked. Jones with an overhand left that backs Smith off. Outside leg kick. Another. Smith with a counter right. They trade rights, and kicks. Hard outside leg kick from Bones. Right to the body from Jones. Jones looks for a takedown but can’t get it. 10-9 Jones.
Round 3 - Right scores for Jones. Again. Front kick. Leg kick. Jone shoots in but Smith rebuffs him. e lands a knee to the body and clinches. They battle there but there’s not much going on. Jones with some knees to the thigh. The crowd is getting restless. Jones is working over the body. He connects his hands and gets a slam takedown with two minutes to go. Smith is in turtle position and Jones is just holding his arms. Jones is covering Smith’s mouth with one hand. But it’s stalled out. Jones with some body shots. Knees to the shin from Jones? Okay. Smith gets up at the horn. Weird round. 10-9 Jones.
Round 4 - Jones with a flying side kick to the leg. Head kick from Jones is blocked. He lands a spin kick to the belly. Side elbow. Up elbow! Smith is taking them but not firing back. He’s biting on all of Jones’ feints. Jones goes to the body. Jump knee from Jones. Smith cut on the nose from that. Jones throws Smith to the ground and seemed to land an illegal kick. Herb Dean was right there and just ignored it. Smith is in a seated position covering up and Jones is peppering him with punches. He goes to the back and lands a couple of big shots. Smith’s nose is busted and he’s bleeding a ton. He seems pretty close to done. Jones s taking his time though, landing hammerfists and punches from the back. Smith gets up. Jones has a body lock from behind. He looks for a slam and drops him on his face. Knee to the body. Rights to the face. Smith trying to squirm away but eating punches. They’re getting harder. Hard knee to the body. Another. Smith back to a seated position. Jones just standing over him, trying to knee him in the chest. They’re playing the hands game. Smith is just holding on, trying to get out of the round. Jones with a front headlock. He allows Smith to get up, but Jones lands an illegal knee! They’re going to replay. Smith says he’s okay. Dean takes two points from Jones for the knee. But it won’t matter. The horn goes. 8-8 round.
Round 5 - Jones just peppering him with shots. Smith is trying to throw punches at least. He connects witha couple of rights. Jones shoots but Smith stuffs it. Jones jabbing. Smith takes some leg kicks. They clinch. Jones isn’t showing a ton of urgency to finish. He’s landing a few shoulder checks and punches to the body. Jones can’t get Smith down, somehow. The crowd is restless. Jones is just foot stomping and shoulder checking. Jones lets him off the cage and throws a flying knee. 10-9 and 48-44 overall.
Jon Jones defeated Anthony Smith via unanimous decision (48-44, 48-44, 48-44)
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