UFC 172 Results: Jon Jones Dominates Glover Teixeira, Retains UFC Light Heavyweight Title

Jon Jones retained his UFC light heavyweight title, earning a unanimous decision over Glover Teixeira at UFC 172 in Baltimore on Saturday.

Jones held the edge in striking from bell to bell, picking up the judges’ nod with scores of 50-45 across the board.

“It was a lot like we thought it would be,” Jones said, following the win. “Glover doesn’t tend to be the most versatile. We saw a lot of the things he was going to look for and sure enough it happened that way.”

Teixeira pressured the champ early, but Jones did well to counter each attempt at a strike. Jones scored the first takedown of the fight halfway through the opening round, but Teixeira popped up shortly after. Jones added a spinning back kick to his number of strikes that he landed in the first five minutes.

Action paused in the second round when Jones repeatedly poked Teixeira in the eyes. When the fight resumed, Teixeira swarmed in with flurries, but Jones persevered and largely kept his opponent at arm’s reach thereafter. Almost any time Teixeira entered the pocket, he was met with an elbow by Jones.

Jones continued to hold the edge in the third round, landing a significant uppercut that made Teixeira drop his mouthpiece. Later, Jones clinched with Teixeira against the fence and scored with several elbows, eventually opening up cuts that left the challenger bloody. The round ended with the two trading uppercuts and short strikes at close range.

Jones utilized his jab to keep his opponent at length, and landed the strike a number of times into the fourth round. When he closed distance, Jones battered Teixeira with more elbows and largely avoided getting hit back.

As the fifth round went on, Jones taunted Teixeira by dropping his hands and then landing a left hook. Moments before the fight’s end, Jones raised his hands and avoided any offense that Teixeira could offer in the final moments.

Texieira said he might have a broken rib in the fight, and gave his respect to Jones for performing the way he did.

“He took my best shots,” Texiera said. “He kept coming back strong. [He is] a great champion.”

With the win, Jones improved his overall record to 20-1 and picked up his 7th consecutive UFC title defense.