Issue 183

October 2019

The night when Jon Jones thought his arm was going to break, but somehow he defended his light heavyweight belt

Jon Jones' victory over Thiago Santos at UFC 239 was by split decision which made it technically the closest he's come to a non-DQ defeat in his storied career. Which set us thinking, when had he come closest to losing before this? Others may argue, but we're saying his UFC 152 clash with Vitor Belfort on September 22, 2012. Though he finally prevailed convincingly in the fourth round with a submission over the massive underdog, Belfort, it wasn't before he'd overcome huge trouble from the Phenom who had him in an armbar early in proceedings. Jones later admitted that he thought his arm was going to break before he somehow managed to escape. For all his spectacular victories, it's moments like this which really illustrate why he ranks as one of the all-time greats.