UFC 247: 4 times Jon Jones did the unexpected inside the Octagon

#4 His spinning elbow against Alexander Gustafsson – UFC 165

A well-timed elbow helped Jones defend his title against Alexander Gustafsson

Coming into his Light-Heavyweight title fight with Alexander Gustafsson at UFC 165, Jones had been dominating the 205lbs division for 2 years, making a total of 5 successful defenses of his crown during that time.

Few observers were giving Sweden’s Gustafsson a chance in the fight, largely because ‘The Mauler’ was essentially unproven at the very elite level and hadn’t fought in nearly a year prior to the fight.

Those people were proven wrong, though, as Gustafsson took the fight to ‘Bones’ like nobody else ever had, and after outstriking him at points and even taking him down, it appeared that the Swedish fighter was ahead going into the fourth round.

That round again saw Gustafsson taking the fight to Jones, and just as it appeared that the champion was minutes away from losing his title, he pulled out something unexpected – and devastating.

Jones uncorked a spinning back elbow from nowhere, landing cleanly and stunning Gustafsson, leaving him badly hurt. The champion followed up with some more elbows from the clinch, wobbling the Swede’s legs further, and while he survived the round, the tide had essentially turned.

A bloodied Gustafsson came up short in the fifth round and when the judges’ scorecards were announced, Jones had retained his title once again.

For all intents and purposes, he was on the verge of losing his crown, before tearing victory from the jaws of defeat with one incredible spinning elbow, a truly unexpected attack.