All eyes were on the MGM Grand Garden Arena in the wee hours of Sunday morning for the much-anticipated grudge match between Jon Jones and Daniel Cormier.
Light heavyweight champion Jon Jones retained his belt after a 49-46 unanimous decision over his then-undefeated challenger.
But what does the future hold for the two men who are the true table toppers of the 205lb division? A rematch? A weight-class shift? Retirement?
Jon Jones
Jon Jones has now essentially cleaned house in the light heavyweight division. He’s beaten the past, present and future of 205lb contenders with little to no difficulty so what’s next for the champ?
The next opponent for “Bones” is undoubtedly the winner of Alexander Gustafsson v Anthony Johnson. Johnson (18-4) would present a unique challenge for the champion if he gets past Sweden’s Gustafsson when they meet later this month.
“Rumble” is the hardest hitter at 205 and would offer up the first true test of Jones’ so far unquestionable chin. But fight fans will be salivating at the prospect of a rematch between Jones and former challenger Gustafsson (16-2) who was just pipped at the post by “Bones” when they fought for the title in 2013.
That fight was an absolute doozy to behold and the chance to see that again makes Jones’ next fight a very exciting notion indeed. But what comes after that?
Presuming he retains his belt again, Jones will have no true challengers that would present a sellable fight at 205lb.
Jones will turn 28 this year and, while he has no trouble getting down to the light heavyweight limit as of yet, a move to heavyweight is a genuine possibility in the coming 12 months.
That would set up a potential superfight with heavyweight kingpin and long-time training partner of Daniel Cormier, Cain Velasquez.
If Jones was to take on Velasquez while they were both still in their prime, it would undeniably present the biggest fight in UFC history and something that we would give our right arm to watch.
There is no doubt in my mind that Jones will not see out his career at 205lb and that the move to heavyweight will come sooner rather than later if he is to keep himself excited about the fight game.
Daniel Cormier
Daniel Cormier (15-1) can hold his head up high after Saturday night.
While he didn’t live up to the hype that surrounded him in the wrestling department, the challenger hurt Jones a number of times in the clinch with some gorgeous uppercuts.
The 49-46 scorecards flattered Jones a bit, in my opinion, and I would have given more than one round to D.C. but it wasn’t to be and Jones deserved the unanimous decision regardless so the nitty gritty of round scoring mattered is all just conjecture.
But what comes next for Cormier?
D.C. endured his first ever loss as an MMA professional on Saturday and that will weigh heavy on him, especially considering the hatred he felt for the man who handed it to him.
The fact that D.C. didn’t come close to dominating the grappling against “Bones” would suggest that even if a rematch was to take place, that Cormier would still come up short.
And a return to heavyweight to make a title run seems silly considering that he wouldn’t be likely to accept a fight against his close friend Cain Velasquez.
So if a title is not on the horizon for Cormier, then what is? The answer is money.
D.C. did such a good job selling the Jones fight that he could go the Chael Sonnen route of simply trash-talking his way into big-name fights for a few years before retiring.
Let’s face it, the former Olympian turns 36 in March which means he likely has four or less fights ahead of him before he retires.
We all know that Rashad Evans can sell a fight after his trash-talk laden feud with “Rampage” Jackson and we’d love to see how a fight between Cormier and Evans would pan out.
If that’s the standout fight among the few that remain in Cormier’s career we’d be quite happy.
Then Cormier can go back to the stellar work he is doing in the analysis realm for FOX.
