Sherdog’s Top 10: Five-Round Fights

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3. Jon Jones vs. Alexander Gustafsson
UFC 165
Sept. 21, 2013 | Toronto
By the time he stepped into the cage against Gustafsson, Jones had dominated all five of the challengers who had tried to take his belt from him, and it seemed as if the UFC had run out of ideas to promote his fights. It marketed Gustafsson as a tall guy, and that was about it. It was supposed to be another routine defense for the still-young and seemingly invincible champion, who entered the fight as a 7-to-1 favorite.

From the opening bell, it was clear that those odds were far too optimistic. Gustafsson came out jabbing and kicking to show Jones he could not operate with impunity at long range, and he easily stuffed the champion’s takedown attempts while avoiding his devastating clinch game. A glancing right hand opened up a serious cut over Jones’ right eye. The Swede even became the first man to plant Jones on his back, albeit only for a moment, and while Jones likely took the first round it suddenly became obvious that viewers had a competitive fight on their hands.

Jones found his range in the second, scoring with low and middle kicks while dropping sharp elbows in the pocket. He even grazed Gustafsson with a high kick that the challenger shrugged off. Still, the Swede was in the fight, and he got into a slick rhythm in the third round. His jab and left hook landed cleanly on multiple occasions; he opened up the straight right to the head with a consistent body attack; and it seemed as if the momentum had turned in his direction.

Gustafsson carried that success into the fourth frame, slamming home a right-hand lead over and over again while still staying out of the clinch and avoiding Jones’ takedowns. With 70 seconds left in the round, however, the champion came to life. He grazed Gustafsson with another high kick and then got off his elbows at close range. He looked for a spinning elbow and missed and then finally connected with 37 seconds left. The shot rocked Gustafsson, and Jones jumped on him with knees and yet more elbows in the clinch along with a flush flying knee.

Somehow the challenger survived, but Jones dominated the fifth round and squeaked out a unanimous decision. It was as close as anybody had come to dethroning the champion, and it showed that styles do in fact make fights.

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