AMANDA NUNES MADE UFC history on Saturday night with a stunning 51-second knockout of Cris Cyborg.
Nunes won the women’s featherweight championship with a first-round stoppage at UFC 232 and in the process became just the third fighter to hold two belts simultaneously, joining Conor McGregor and Daniel Cormier.
Defending 145lb champion Cyborg (20-2) and bantamweight titleholder Nunes (17-4) both came out swinging but the latter landed a flurry of blows, the last of which was a huge right hand to the temple.
The defeat was Cyborg’s first since May 2005, ending a run of 21 fights without a loss.
In the main event, Jon Jones (23-1, 1 NC) marked his return from a doping ban with a win, claiming the vacant UFC light-heavyweight championship by beating Alexander Gustafsson (18-5).
Fighting for the first time since July 2017, Jones won by TKO in the third round.
Jones, who also beat Gustafsson in September 2013, was on top for the most part before a crucial takedown in the third round led to the victory.
He landed multiple elbows before a flurry of punches to Gustafsson’s head led to the fight being stopped.
The event was moved from Las Vegas to Los Angeles due to a trace of banned substance turinabol being discovered in a test administered to Jones earlier this month.
The United States Anti-Doping Agency (USADA) said the small amount was from Jones’ “prior exposure for which he was previously sanctioned”. He has denied knowingly taking performance-enhancing substances.
Earlier, Australian Alexander Volkanovski (19-1) recorded a TKO win over Chad Mendes (18-5) in the second round of their featherweight bout.
Corey Anderson had a unanimous-decision win against Ilir Latifi at light-heavyweight, while Michael Chiesa registered a submission victory over Carlos Condit at welterweight.
UFC 232 main card results
- Jon Jones def. Alexander Gustafsson TKO3 (2:02)
- Amanda Nunes def. Cris Cyborg KO1 (0:51)
- Michael Chiesa def. Carlos Condit SUB2 (kimura, 0:56)
- Corey Anderson def. Ilir Latifi UD (29-28 x 3)
- Alexander Volkanovski def. Chad Mendes TKO2 (4:14)
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He was banned for cheating, yet he continues to gain an advantage from said cheating (traces of drugs still in his system), and he is still allowed to fight. Makes no sense.
@Frank O’Mahony: not only that the UFC moved the whole event to a different state to facilitate the fight still going ahead as the Nevada Athletic Commission wouldn’t commission the fight. The UFC will not last if they continue to treat their fans like shit
@Frank O’Mahony: completely agree. Jones’ victory is completely irrelevant. DC is the real champ end of.
@The Irish Pain: Jon Jones is the best to ever do it my friend. His fights with DC weren’t even competitive. Superior fighter in every area of the game
@niall murphy: what are you even on about LOL? You can’t judge those performances cause he was on drugs!!! It’s like saying Ben Johnson was the greatest of all time…
@The Irish Pain: they’ve fought 8 rounds. DC maybe won 1 and jon rendered in unconscious. If you want to discount the second fight fine he still handily beat him in the first no drugs
@niall murphy: haha you are delusional niall, he has ALWAYS been on drugs.
@The Irish Pain: I think you’ll find he didn’t fail any tests back then so your point is pure speculation. If you think he wiped out the strongest division in the ufc at the time because of estrogen blockers or picograms of turinabol then I’m afraid it’s you who is delusional. He’s the best of all time
How can Jon Jones claim to be CHAMP all he is a CHEAT
The bad news is a drug cheat became champion. The good news is another drug cheat lost her belt.
Nunes is a beast. Great win. UFC been very arrogant in regards to Jon Jones test results. Will this cause some fighters to leave the organisation?
UFC is nothing more than a drug fueled party for fighters, look at its history. Dana White only cares about the $$$ not the welfare of the fighters nor the fans.
@Malachy Rivers: cry me a rivers
@Malachy Rivers: you mean to tell me the president of a company wants to make money??? Nah you must have it wrong