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What's the story?
Jon Jones made his much-awaited return to the UFC tonight for the first time in almost a year, as the former two-time Light Heavyweight Champion headed into UFC 232 hoping to become a three-time champion by defeating arch-rival Alexander Gustafsson.
In case you didn't know...
Jon Jones and Alexander Gustafsson first met way back at UFC 165 in one of the best fights of all time in UFC history. Jones and Gustafsson went back-and-forth, with the former eventually winning via split decision.
The heart of the matter
For the first time since UFC 214, former two-time UFC Light Heavyweight Champion, Jon Jones made his return to the Octagon and his first fight back in the cage, he faced-off against 'The Mauler' Alexander Gustafsson in a rematch from their first classic fight in 2013.
Jones started off the fight showcasing his striking abilities in the early stages and was more clinical with his striking than he usually was in his first fight against Gustafsson. Jones landed several leg kicks, punches, his classic elbow shots, and also an unfortunate knee to the cup which saw the two fighters being pulled apart. Gustafsson, however, didn't allow Jones to make any successful takedowns and countered everything with perfection almost.
In the early stages of the second round, Gustafsson landed an eye poke which received a bad reaction from the LA crowd. But, the Swedish striker eventually thrived forward and made Jones move backwards instead. However, Jones did get some offence in order to end the second round.
The third round, Jones finally landed the takedown and climbed on Gustafsson's back. Despite having teased a possible rear-naked choke, Jones instead went for the hard ground and pound and that's when the referee decided to call it a day, as Jones came out victorious via TKO.
What's next?
With the win, Jon Jones now has become a three-time Light Heavyweight Champion and in his post-fight interview, he also called out DC, teasing a potential third fight with the current UFC Heavyweight Champion.
