UFC 235 — Jon Jones vs. Anthony Smith: Five storylines to watch on a loaded fight card in Las Vegas
A short turnaround from light heavyweight champion and pound-for-pound king Jon “Bones” Jones headlines an incredibly deep UFC 235 card on Saturday from Las Vegas. Jones (23-1, 1 NC), who returned in late December from a 15-month drug suspension, regained his 205-pound title by stopping Alexander Gustafsson in their rematch at UFC 232. Just over two months later, Jones will seek his ninth title defense overall when he faces Anthony “Lionheart” Smith.
The card, which also brings the return of welterweight champion Tyron Woodley (19-3-1) against Kamaru Usman, carries with it a number of intriguing storylines. Let’s take a closer look at the biggest ones entering Saturday.
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1. Is “Lionheart” a legitimate threat to the 205-pound title?: As history has consistently shown, there is no such thing in UFC as a stay-busy fight or soft touch. Just ask Brock Lesnar in his promotional debut or even Cain Velasquez just a few weeks ago. But it’s hard to ignore how much Jones is benefitting right now from an alarming lack of depth within the division. It’s also hard to act as if Smith (31-13) is necessarily deserving of such an opportunity. To his credit, Smith has both the size at 6-foot-4 and an aggressive style to make him a somewhat attractive opponent from a style matchup for Jones, and he’s also riding a fairly dominant three-fight win streak.
His victories, however, came against a pair of has beens via knockout (Rashad Evans and Mauricio Rua) and a submission win over a potential never-will-be (Volkan Oezdemir). One only has to go back 13 months to have seen Smith get stopped by fellow division upstart Thiago Santos. While Smith’s story of overcoming a 5-6 start to his career and a pair of three-fight losing skids is uplifting, his 13 career defeats are hard to look past. This one has “Jon Jones squash match” potentially written all over it; just ask the oddsmakers.
2. Jones might be closer to leaving light heavyweight than we realize: Although the idea has been kicked around for years of Jones taking his 6-foot-4 inch frame to heavyweight, a glaring lack of quality competition might bring him there sooner than later. Outside of a trilogy fight against Daniel Cormier — which just as easily could come at heavyweight considering DC is the reigning champion — who else is there after Smith for Jones (or fans, for that matter) to get excited about? While Dominick Reyes and Johnny Walker (who returns on Saturday’s undercard following a 28-day turnaround) have shown potential as future title contenders, neither are quite there yet.
The majority of the remaining names in the top 15 at 205 pounds are either retreads Jones has already defeated or fighters coming off of defeat. While Jones has proven he can produce an honest level of buys against almost anyone, he would have a shot at easily becoming the promotion’s biggest pay-per-view star not named Conor McGregor by challenging himself at heavyweight.
3. Tyron Woodley in for a real fight against Kamaru Usman: If there has been a pattern in the underrated brilliance of Woodley’s welterweight title reign, it has been how efficiently he has disarmed opponents of their greatest weapon and then defeated them by using it. Need a refresher? Woodley outslugged Robbie Lawler, outpointed the karate stylings of Stephen Thompson in a chess match and outgrappled jiu-jitsu legend Demian Maia. Against Usman, however, Woodley may not have an opportunity to focus on one particular strategy and he very well could find himself facing the toughest challenge of his reign.
Whatever Usman (14-1) may be lacking in terms of name gravitas or spectacular finishes inside the Octagon, the native of Nigeria makes up for in well-rounded brute force. He’s 9-0 since making his UFC debut in 2015 and shown a workmanlike ability to grind opponents out either on the ground with his wrestling or by wearing them down with strikes. While Woodley certainly brings advantages in speed, power and experience, his 36-year-old body could be tested the full 25 minutes in this one from a workhorse who won’t back down nor be easily dissuaded.
4. Finally, Ben Askren gets an opportunity at his Ultimate close-up: For the better part of the last 10 years, Askren’s name has always held an asterisk of sorts around it when talking about who the best welterweight was in all of mixed martial arts. A master wrestler, Askren (18-0, 1 NC) won titles in Bellator MMA and ONE Championship but was sternly denied an opportunity to prove his greatness against the very best in the world in UFC. It didn’t help, of course, that he engaged in a few Twitter battles with Dana White along the way (and was even called everything from boring to an “absolute moron” by White).
Yet, it took a retirement from Askren and a previously inconceivable trade of sorts between UFC and ONE involving former flyweight champion Demetrious Johnson that opened the door for Askren to prove his years of big claims. True to history, UFC has thrown Askren directly into the deep end against former champion Robbie Lawler. It’s a fight Askren can surely win with his wrestling considering it’s far from Lawler’s strength (Not to mention, Lawler is also entering the twilight of his career). But if Askren has not improved his striking game above remedial levels, Lawler is the exact fighter who can spoil his dreams. Either way, if Askren’s social media game of late has proven anything, it’s that he can be an unlikely marketable force for UFC should he prove able to stay undefeated.
5. An undercard worth settling in early for: While UFC doesn’t officially have “majors” akin to tennis or golf, there’s an understanding from fans which PPV cards are annually the most important. There’s, of course, International Fight Week in July and New Year’s Eve weekend, both in Las Vegas. The last three years have also brought standout events to New York’s Madison Square Garden in November. The first weekend in March has also grown to become an expectantly large show, only this one brings an old-school feel to the undercard due to how stacked it is between sneaky-good fights, names you need to see and creative matchmaking.
From the aforementioned Walker making his return against Misha Cirkunov to a tough test for Tecia Torres at women’s strawweight against Weili Zhang, there is certainly plenty to see. How about Cody Garbrandt returning from two knockout defeats to face Pedro Munhoz? Or a hot-fire action bout at featherweight between Jeremy Stephens and Zabit Magomedsharipov? When it’s all said and done, the best undercard fight may end up being a crossroads bout at welterweight where TUF Season 1 veteran Diego Sanchez returns at 37 to face former rising stud Mickey Gall. However you slice it, UFC did its best to make up for what should be a lopsided main event by packing in something for everyone throughout the night.
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