Coach: UFC 247 A ‘Clear Victory’ For Jones

Photo by Mike Roach/Zuffa LLC/Zuffa LLC

Because it’s Texas, why not just fight to the death?

Jon Jones scored what many people are calling a controversial decision win over Dominick Reyes to retain his light heavyweight title at the UFC 247 pay-per-view (PPV) event last Sat. night (Feb. 8, 2020) inside Toyota Center in Houston, Texas.

You can thank these scorecards for that.

According to John Kavanagh, however, who serves as head coach for former UFC two-division champion Conor McGregor, Jones captured a clear and convincing victory, despite the challenger’s dominant performance in the first half of the fight.

“I know I’m wrong to do what I do because I’m not a trained judge, but I will always weigh later rounds more heavily than earlier ones,” Kavanagh wrote on Twitter. “I ask myself who would survive a no time/rule encounter. Because of that it was a clear Jon Jones victory for me.”

It’s unclear whether or not Reyes ran out of gas in the championship rounds or simply tried to coast his way to a decision victory. Either way, “The Devastator” was not as effective in the latter half of their contest, allowing Jones to surge forward and perhaps steal the fight.

Unfortunately for Kavanagh — but fortunately for fans — championship fights end after five rounds (and 25 minutes). While it would be fun to see a “Last Man Standing” match in UFC, those of us who survived all 36 minutes of Gracie-Shamrock 2 at UFC 5 will tell you that time limits exist for a reason.