UFC 239 tests the greatest male and female fighters
Whether you like him or not, it’s hard to deny that Jon Jones is doing a heck of a job repairing the damage he inflicted on his career, legacy and life in recent years. And he’s showing no signs of slowing down.
Jones, 31, is widely considered to be the greatest fighter of all time, and he still receives an enormous amount of support from the public. But there is also a loud cacophony of fans who, because of his past transgressions, want to see Jones fail.
And make no mistake: Jones (24-1) is aware of that. He knows his reputation and legacy took a nosedive in 2015 when he pleaded guilty to a hit-and-run traffic accident. And it bothered him greatly in 2016 and 2017 when he was accused of cheating after he failed multiple drug tests.
The UFC has loaded up another pay-per-view card Saturday, featuring two title fights: Jon Jones vs. Thiago Santos and Amanda Nunes vs. Holly Holm.
UFC 239: Jones vs. Santos
• Early prelims: ESPN+ 6:15 p.m. ET
• Prelims: ESPN 8 p.m. ET
• Main card: ESPN+ PPV 10 p.m. ET – Buy now | Get ESPN+ support
UFC 239 content
• The blueprint to beating Jon Jones
• Holm ready to change her legacy
• The UFC’s 22 Hall of Fame moments
• Who else deserves to be in the UFC HOF?
• Inside Thiago Santos’ final preparation for Jon Jones
• Luke Rockhold’s dual careers
• How the UFC’s mighty have fallen? At the hands of Amanda Nunes
• Detail: Daniel Cormier on Amanda Nunes
Fortunately for Jones, the best way for him to move past those troubles is to win a lot of fights. And that’s something he happens to be very good at.
Jones will attempt to win his 13th UFC championship fight on Saturday when he meets Thiago Santos in the main event of UFC 239 at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas. His JacksonWink MMA teammate Holly Holm will be featured in the co-main event, challenging dominant bantamweight champion Amanda Nunes.
For Jones, it will mark his third appearance in less than seven months. In December, Jones told ESPN he wanted to fight four times in 12 months, and he’s on track to do exactly that. And those picograms of steroid metabolite in his system — the ones scientists say might stick around for years — are becoming less and less relevant with each passing fight. Jones has never been able to explain how they got in his system, but multiple experts agree they’re of no physical aid to him now.
Point is, things are looking up for Jones. Heck, UFC president Dana White recently revealed that the promotion is even looking into working with the Nevada State Athletic Commission to overturn the only loss of Jones’ career, claiming it came due to an officiating error. Who knows? By the end of the year, Jones might be officially undefeated.
As Jones prepares to headline the UFC’s annual International Fight Week — something he has never done before, by the way — the MMA world is once again there for the taking. All Jones needs to do is stay in the cage and keep winning. Just look at how far he has come in seven months.
1: Pound-for-pound spot for Jones in the ESPN rankings. (Nunes is No. 1 on the women’s side.)
11: Knockouts by Santos in his UFC career, tying him (with Anderson Silva and Anthony Johnson) for second behind Vitor Belfort (15). Santos, who has 15 career KOs overall, is on a three-knockout streak since moving to 205 pounds last year.
16: Unbeaten streak for Jones, tying him with Silva for longest in UFC history.
Plus-500: Money-line odds on Santos, making him the biggest underdog on the UFC 239 card at Caesars Sportsbook as of Friday afternoon.
12: Title fight victories for Jones, leaving him one shy of tying Georges St-Pierre for the most in UFC history.
Source: ESPN Stats & Information
“It just feels like another day at the office for me at this point. It’s all so familiar. High-pressure moments. Tough opponents. Fighting the next-scariest guy, the guy that’s been on a tear. It’s all so familiar right now. I’m almost too comfortable in this space. I would appreciate being a little more nervous.” — Jon Jones, speaking to ESPN
“He’s a man. … Two legs, two arms, one body for me in my front. I will break him.” — Thiago Santos, speaking to ESPN
Santos has just the right amount of crazy to surprise Jones with one he doesn’t see coming. But Jones is not only amazing at inflicting damage, he’s also quite good at avoiding it. He never gets overly emotional. He’s calculated. An upset is always possible, but never likely. Jones by TKO, second round.
It wasn’t long ago that the light heavyweight division looked to have been picked clean, with Jones’ only future challenges seemingly at heavyweight. Those big boys do still await “Bones,” but they might not see him for a while now that the 205-pound weight class has been reborn. If Jones gets by Santos, there’s another challenger lined up for him, then another. Corey Anderson. Dominick Reyes. Aleksandar Rakic. Johnny Walker. Maybe even ex-middleweight champions Luke Rockhold and Chris Weidman. They’ll all be watching.
1,093: Days it will have been into Nunes’ bantamweight reign when she steps into the Octagon on Saturday, making her the longest-reigning current champion in the UFC. She became champ on July 9, 2016, and the next-longest reigns belong to men’s featherweight champion Max Holloway (won his belt on June 3, 2017) and middleweight titlist Robert Whittaker (July 8, 2017).
1-3: Holm’s record in UFC championship fights. Since taking the bantamweight belt from Ronda Rousey in 2015, “The Preacher’s Daughter” has lost her past three title bouts.
8: UFC finishes for Nunes, the most in promotion history among female fighters. Her 10 victories are second most ever for a woman.
64.5: Percentage of significant strikes defended by Holm, giving her the third-best rate in UFC women’s bantamweight history behind Liz Carmouche (65.8%) and Marion Reneau (65.2%).
3: Fighters with multiple UFC title fight victories in under a minute: Nunes, Rousey and Frank Shamrock.
Source: ESPN Stats & Information
“You know Holly’s going to move a lot. She’s that kind of dangerous fighter. I have to see, I have to feel her inside the cage first to put in my strategy.” — Amanda Nunes, speaking to ESPN
“I’m going up against someone who is a two-division champion, so to beat her, that means I’m the best. … Amanda’s known for punching hard, but she’s got a very well-rounded game. I’m ready for all of it.” — Holly Holm, speaking to ESPN
Holm’s most likely path to victory is a long one. Not saying she can’t drop Nunes with one head kick (we know she can do that), but the more likely path is wearing Nunes down and beating her on the scorecards. But I think Nunes has addressed any questions about her cardio, and as active as Holm is on the feet, I’m not sure she can really challenge Nunes’ gas tank without putting herself in the line of fire. Nunes by submission, fourth round.
It kind of depends which wing we’re talking about. Nunes owns two belts, so if she wins she’ll hear callouts from featherweights as well as bantamweights. The 145-pound division will keep it simple, as it’s basically Nunes and Cris Cyborg at this point. Of course, if Felicia Spencer beats Cyborg later this month, she’d be in position to challenge for the championship. As for the 135-pound division, regardless of whether Nunes retains her belt or Holm regains the title, the winner of next weekend’s showdown between Germaine de Randamie (No. 3 in ESPN’s bantamweight rankings) and No. 5 Aspen Ladd will stake a claim as No. 1 contender.
Can Askren finish his rise?
Ben Askren has been talking title shot, and it’s not idle chatter, as he was mighty impressive in his UFC debut in March, withstanding an early Robbie Lawler barrage before choking out the “Ruthless” one. That was the fourth straight finish for the former Bellator and ONE champion.
Getting a fifth straight finish on Saturday will be no easy task, though. Askren (19-0, 1 NC), No. 10 in ESPN’s welterweight rankings, is facing sixth-ranked Jorge Masvidal (33-13), who in 16 UFC fights has never been finished. Only Jon Jones (20) and Demetrious Johnson (18) have made more UFC appearances without being knocked out or submitted.
So how does Askren or Masvidal get the job done? Take it, Unlocking Victory crew:
Rockhold must step up in his move up
Luke Rockhold is accomplished and lethal and well-rounded. A former champion in the UFC and Strikeforce, the 34-year-old Californian has 14 finishes among his 16 career victories, and while he has mostly gotten it done via submission (eight), he also has his share of knockouts (six).
But all of that happened at middleweight, and on Saturday he is stepping up to light heavyweight for the first time. Rockhold (16-4) takes on Jan Blachowicz (23-8), who was riding a nice four-fight winning streak before running into Thiago Santos in February.
A breakdown of Rockhold’s entry to 205 pounds:
You’ll see this fight on SportsCenter in the morning
The two title fights are going to eat up most of the TV time, naturally. And the rest of the main card is sprinkled with highlight-worthy competitors, including former champions. But the sparkling performances always get going at these big UFC shows long before the stars hit the stage.
You’re going to want to check out Edmen Shahbazyan in the third fight of the night, the feature bout of the ESPN+ early prelims. At 21 years old, he’s already living up to the nickname “The Golden Boy.”
Shahbazyan is 9-0, with all but one of his fights ending in first-round KO/TKO. Since being signed off Dana White’s Contender Series last season, he has gone 2-0 in the UFC. Now he faces veteran Jack Marshman (23-8), who you will quickly discover likes to engage (13 wins by KO/TKO, five by submission).
It’s a SportsCenter clip waiting to happen.
Our man Melendez is locked into a different role
Those Unlocking Victory videos you see above look a bit different this week, don’t they? Usually it’s not Paul Felder breaking things down in the Octagon with Dominick Cruz — it’s Gilbert Melendez. But our ESPN colleague known as “El Niño” has a work conflict this week. It still involves being inside the Octagon, but on Saturday night he’ll be in there fighting for real.
The most wins without a loss in UFC featherweight history:
Melendez takes on Arnold Allen in the feature bout of the ESPN prelims, and stepping in with the 25-year-old Brit is a job and a half. Allen (14-1) is a rising star at featherweight, having won seven fights in a row, the past five in the UFC.
Meanwhile, the 37-year-old Melendez will be trying to put a halt to a four-fight losing streak. The former Strikeforce and WEC lightweight champion (22-7) has 12 career knockouts, but his last KO win came in 2011.
Allen is a hitter who is tough to hit. He has out-struck his past four opponents, according to UFC Stats, and overall he absorbs just 1.83 strikes per minute, fourth fewest among active UFC featherweights.