UFC 232: Jon Jones beats Alex Gustafsson to win light-heavyweight title in LA (AS IT HAPPENED)

30 December 2018

And we'll leave the final word on this live blog to returning UFC light-heavyweight champion Jon 'Bones' Jones, whose challenge to old rival Daniel Cormier already has fans and media salivating at the possibility of a third meeting between the pair.

It's the hottest rivalry in mixed martial arts and it looks like it's not quite over yet.

Perhaps the biggest win of the night belonged to Amanda Nunes.

The Brazilian UFC women's bantamweight champion was a significant underdog heading into her featherweight title challenge against all-conquering champion Cris Cyborg.

But a crazy 51-second firefight ended in spectacular fashion as Nunes knocked out Cyborg with a huge right hand to become the first simultaneous two-division female champion in UFC history.

For a fighter who has not always received the plaudits her performances have deserved, the crowd reaction during her ecstatic post-fight interview must have been music to her ears.

Tonight was a big night for another Australian as Alexander Volkanovski claimed a career-defining stoppage victory over former title challenger Chad Mendes in the opening bout of the main card.

Volkanovski asked for the Mendes fight after his previous victory, and he proved his worth as a top contender in the UFC's featherweight division with a brilliant display after a back-and-forth war.

And he reflected on his success when chatting backstage after the fight.

Australian featherweight contender Megan Anderson got the win she wanted against Cat Zingano, but it didn't quite happen in the way she would have chosen pre-fight.

Here's her considered backstage take on how things played out in her bout over Zingano.

Let's look back at some post-fight reaction from a few of the notable bouts this evening.

Firstly, have a listen to the super-classy backstage interview from middleweight Uriah Hall, who was well and truly dominated by debuting Bevon Lewis before he found the newcomer's chin with a perfectly-placed right hand that earned him a stunning one-punch knockout victory.

NEW CHAMPS CEMENT THEIR LEGACIES

It was a huge night for both Jon Jones and Amanda Nunes, who captured world titles in the main and co-main events respectively.

Both can legitimately lay claim to being the greatest male and female mixed martial artists in history.

For some, Jones' checkered past will forever hang over his career, and the strange nature of the build-up to this weekend's fight will leave an element of doubt in the minds of those who reject the claims of USADA and the California State Athletic Commission.

But irrespective of the circumstances surrounding Jones over the past week, Nunes' performance arguably eclipsed his display tonight.

Her finish of Cris Cyborg will surely go down as one of the great highlight-reel moments in women's UFC history, sitting alongside Holly Holm's spectacular head-kick knockout of Ronda Rousey back at UFC 193.

CORMIER LEAVES THE DOOR OPEN FOR LIGHT-HEAVYWEIGHT RETURN

The consensus view heading into the weekend was that Daniel Cormier would be best off staying at heavyweight and facing Jones for the UFC heavyweight title.

But despite Jones seemingly ruling out a move up to heavyweight to face Cormier for a second world title, 'DC' left the door open for a possible return to light-heavyweight.

Responding to former UFC bantamweight champion and UFC 232 co-commentator Dominick Cruz, Cormier tweeted, referring to the drug testing situation, hinting that if they did sufficient testing and Jones passed with flying colors, he'd be open to a third fight at 205lbs.

"You just said outside of all the testing stuff. Is there really stuff outside of the testing?" he asked Cruz.

"Or we just do more testing and neither of us fail. That would be best case! We do that I’ll be back at 205!!!!!"

After the fight, Jones challenged old adversary Daniel Cormier to "come get your belt back" as he hinted at a potential trilogy fight with his longtime rival and current UFC heavyweight champion.

"I know there's a guy who's been calling himself 'champ champ'," he said.

"I mean, what guy just gives up his belt because somebody else made it home? Daddy's home, DC.

"Prove to the fans you're a 'champ champ'. Come get a taste, I'm here. Get your belt back. I'll be waiting right here."

Cormier held the light-heavyweight belt at the start of the week, but opted to vacate it rather than be stripped of the title on fight night.

And now Jones has the title around his waist once again, talk of a third fight between the pair will dominate the headlines in the days and weeks to come.

The two big questions are clear. Will Cormier accept a third fight with his nemesis? And if he does, in which weight class will the fight take place?

Based on his post-fight tweet, Cormier is not impressed with the circumstances surrounding Jones' victory, tweeting his displeasure with the hashtag #usadafake.

GROUND AND POUND

Here's how Jones finished Gustafsson to reclaim the UFC light-heavyweight title at UFC 232.

JONES STOPS GUSTAFSSON IN THREE

We said Gustafsson needed to up his intensity in the third round, but it was Jones who turned things up to dominate the Swede and finish him clinically with some vicious ground strikes after taking him to the mat and transitioning to his back.

At least one of the ground strikes looked to be to the back of Gustafsson's head, but the rest were as clean as can be and, with the Swede trapped face-down on the mat, referee Mike Beltran saw there was no escape and moved in to stop the contest.

Jones is back on top, reunited with the UFC light-heavyweight championship belt he never lost inside the octagon, thanks to a third-round KO victory.

Jones takes the second round on our unofficial scorecard to move into a 20-18 lead.

Gustafsson had more joy with his punches in that round, but Jones' more varied array of strikes meant he was more dangerous, more often throughout the round as he scored more frequently through the course of the five-minute period.

Gustafsson needs to up his intensity to take Jones out of his comfort zone, but so far the former champ appears to have the edge.

Cagey stuff in the opening round, as both fighters looked to read each other's movements and work out their timing.

But overall, it was Jones who appeared to settle the better of the two, landing the heavier strikes over the course of the first round.

Gustafsson was touching Jones with strikes, but only a late right hand really connected with force. He'll need to load up more as the fight progresses.

THE FIGHTERS MAKE THE WALK

IT'S MAIN EVENT TIME

As if that wasn't enough, now it's time for the main event of the evening. And main events really don't get much bigger.

Jon Jones and Alex Gustafsson served up arguably the greatest title fight in UFC history when they first met at UFC 165 in September 2013, and now the pair will meet for a second time with the vacant UFC light-heavyweight title on the line.

Gustafsson firmly believes he was robbed of the title in the first fight, while Jones says he was far from 100% when he edged the first meeting between the pair.

Now they're both back, both at 100% and both convinced that it is their time. But who will be proved right in Los Angeles tonight?

It's a huge rematch to cap off a huge night in the City of Angels, and it's up next.

FIFTY-ONE SECONDS

That's all it took for Amanda Nunes to write her name in MMA history as the greatest female fighter of all time.

Miesha Tate...

Ronda Rousey...

And now Cris Cyborg.

That's a trifecta of women's MMA legends, and Nunes doesn't just hold wins over them all. She holds FINISHES over them all.

It doesn't get much better than that, folks.

NUNES KNOCKS OUT CYBORG!

That was absolutely incredible!

Amanda Nunes came out all guns blazing and knocked out Cris Cyborg in decisive, destructive fashion to surely write her name in the history books as the greatest fighter in women's MMA history.

Nunes finished Miesha Tate to win the UFC women's bantamweight title. Then stopped Ronda Rousey to defend it.

And now she's moved up to featherweight to face the seemingly indestructible Cyborg, and knocked her out cold with a phenomenal display of power punching.

The female GOAT? It's hard to argue with a trio of wins like that. She's now the first ever female fighter to hold TWO UFC world titles at the same time.

She's an incredible fighter, and that was an incredible performance. The Lioness is the new 'Champ-Champ!'

IT'S TIME FOR THE TITLE FIGHTS

It's been a fantastic night of fights so far at UFC 232, but the final two fights on the card are the ones the fans pay the big bucks to see.

First, it's the battle of Brazil, as UFC women's featherweight champion Cristiane Justino, better known to her legion of fans as Cris Cyborg, puts her title on the line against UFC women's bantamweight champion Amanda 'The Lioness' Nunes.

'MAVERICK' GETS THE SUBMISSION!

What a way to introduce yourself to a new weight class!

Chiesa went straight back to work at the start of the second round and secured an early takedown before locking up a Kimura shoulder lock that hyper-extended Condit's shoulder joint and may well have done some damage.

And after securing his submission win, Chiesa declared that he is "one of the best in the world" regardless of the weight class he competes in.

He looks much healthier at 170lbs, and with his win over a former interim champion, he clearly believes he's ready to face some of the top contenders in the division.

And he ended his post-fight interview by calling out another longstanding contender Neil Magny. Smart move.

Michael Chiesa absolutely dominates Round 1.

Co-commentator and former UFC bantamweight champion Dominick Cruz described Chiesa's style as being like glue, and the former lightweight was sticking to Condit just like glue in that opening round.

But despite dominating much of the round, Chiesa received three warnings that Condit is no slouch on the mat himself.

With Chiesa seemingly well on top, Condit locked up first a tight armbar, then a heel hook attempt, and then a reverse triangle choke, as he showed that he has the submission skills to take the fight away from 'Maverick' on the mat if he loses concentration for a second.

Chiesa is most likely to be round ahead on the cards, but Condit is right in this. And if he can keep the fight standing in the second round, he'll be even more in it.

UP NEXT: CARLOS CONDIT VS MICHAEL CHIESA

Our next bout is the final non-title contest of the night, as perennial fan favorite 'The Natural Born Killer' Carlos Condit looks to end his poor run of form against former lightweight contender Michael 'Maverick' Chiesa, who is moving up to welterweight to reignite his career.

Chiesa was injured in Conor McGregor's bus attack at UFC 223, and went on to lose to Anthony Pettis at UFC 226. That fight convinced Chiesa that he had depleted himself to make lightweight once too many, and pledged to move up to the 170lb division.

Now he faces former interim world champion Condit, who is looking to snap a four-fight losing streak.

ANDERSON GETS THE NOD!

After a punishing back-and-forth war, Corey Anderson earns the verdict from all three judges at octagonside, with scores of 29-28 on all three scorecards.

The usually calm Anderson then launched into an emotional rant at the camera before composing himself for an energetic post-fight interview with Joe Rogan.

That was a huge win for 'Overtime', though we wish he hadn't abandoned his previous fighting moniker, the much better 'Beastin' 25-8'.

It's been a back-and-forth battle so far between Latifi and Anderson, with the American coming on strong in the second round to push himself to the fore heading into the third and final round.

Will 'Overtime' close out the win, or can the powerful Swedish 'Sledgehammer' come storming back to claim victory?

UP NEXT: ILIR LATIFI VS COREY ANDERSON

A pair of powerhouse light-heavyweight contenders go head to head next as Swedish tank Ilir Latifi faces off against American wrestler Corey Anderson at 205lbs.

Latifi has steadily moved his way up the rankings with little fanfare, while Anderson has kept pace with the Swede.

Now the pair will face off for the right to move on and challenge one of the division's elite in 2019.

WE HAVE A NEW FEATHERWEIGHT CONTENDER!

At the end of a phenomenal round of action Volkanovski pours on the pressure and turns up the power, hurting Mendes to the body, then going upstairs to the head to finish Mendes with a furious display of power punching.

The Australian took everything Mendes could throw at him, grinned at him and came storming back to finish him. Only Jose Aldo, Conor McGregor and Frankie Edgar have finished Mendes before, but now Volkanovski can add his name to that shortlist of stellar names.

"I'm Max Holloway's worst nightmare," he declared as he staked his claim for a run at the belt in 2019.

That was one hugely impressive performance. Alexander 'The Great' certainly lived up to his nickname tonight.

Mendes briefly drops Volkanovski with a huge punch, but the Aussie bounces back up, smiles then stuns the American with a big left.

These two fighters are so well matched, and it's turning into a slugfest in Round 2.

Chad Mendes came out aggressively, but if he was looking to intimidate former rugby player Volkanovski, he was left disappointed.

The Aussie stayed in the pocket and looked to strike, forcing Mendes to back off a little. And even when the American made a takedown attempt pay late in the round, Volkanovski was able to get straight back to his feet.

It's a super-close fight after one round, and Mendes knows his opponent isn't going to be a pushover. With neither man likely to be completely convinced they won Round 1, Round 2 should be very interesting.

Halle Berry is in attendance at The Forum to check out the women's featherweight title fight later tonight.

The Hollywood star has been tweeting her support for the fight today, and is now ready to check out the fights.

UP NEXT: CHAD MENDES VS ALEX VOLKANOVSKI

This is one of the most intriguing fights on the entire card.

Chad 'Money' Mendes is undoubtedly one of the best featherweights in the world, and his return to action after an anti-doping suspension showed that he's still right there as one of the best 145-pounders on the planet.

But in former rugby player Alex Volkanovski he is fighting a surging contender who hasn't lost a fight in five years.

Volkanovski called for this fight, and the UFC matchmakers granted his wish. Now he has the opportunity to topple one of the featherweight division's elite contenders and announce his arrival as a world title contender.

But Mendes has other ideas, and plans on registering a statement victory of his own as he looks to position himself for a title shot in 2019.

The former champ is here.

Jon 'Bones' Jones has arrived at The Forum ahead of his main event bout with Alex Gustafsson.

Will he reclaim the title once again tonight?

But the fight that has dominated the news cycle throughout the week after the event was switched from Las Vegas to Los Angeles is the main event, as Jon Jones takes on Alexander Gustafsson for the vacant UFC light-heavyweight title.

Daniel Cormier vacated the belt yesterday, leaving the way clear for one of these two 205lb rivals to claim the title and move into 2019 as the world champion. 

But who will be crowned champ tonight? UFC co-commentator Joe Rogan breaks it down for us here...

The night's co-main event features a battle between the two most devastating female strikers in the UFC, as reigning UFC women's bantamweight champion Amanda Nunes steps up to featherweight to challenge the ferocious 145lb world champion Cris Cyborg.

Cyborg typically dominates her opponents and has rarely - if ever - found herself in serious trouble in her recent career.

But against Nunes she is facing a fighter who might just have the sort of punch power to give her the toughest test of her UFC title reign.

It should be a thrilling matchup.

Jones is set to face the man who pushed him harder than any fighter before or since inside the octagon, Swedish superstar Alexander 'The Mauler' Gustafsson.

Gustafsson believes he won the first fight between the pair, and is determined to leave no doubt in their hotly-anticipated rematch for the title in Los Angeles tonight.

The controversial former UFC light-heavyweight champion Jon 'Bones' Jones is back in the main event at UFC 232, and he is desperate to reclaim the belt he claims is his...

The stars are out in LA for UFC 232, including WWE Hall of Famer and the man behind Cactus Jack, Dude Love and Mankind, pro wrestling legend Mick Foley...

That's the prelims done and dusted. Now it's time for the big show as we move to the pay-per-view main card.

FIVE world-class matchups.

TWO world title fights.

And one huge event at The Forum.

HARRIS GETS THE DECISION... JUST!

The judges have rendered their verdict, and it's a SPLIT DECISION.

30-27 Arlovski

29-28 Harris

29-28 Harris

We're not sure how one judge scored all three rounds to the former UFC heavyweight champion, but in the end Harris got the victory his performance deserved.

Harris briefly stunned Arlovski with a slick one-two combination as he outworked the former world champion in the third and final round.

That should be enough to secure him a decision victory, but we'll see how the judges score it...

Alex 'The Mauler' Gustafsson is in the house for UFC 232. Can he score the upset and defeat Jon Jones in tonight's main event? 

If Harris shaded Round 1, there's a chance Arlovski may have pulled level in the second, which was very close. Harris started the round the better, but Arlovski finished the stronger.

In truth, the fight hasn't come to life in the way we had hoped, and with the fight likely to be even on the scorecards going into the final round, it's now decision time for the two fighters.

Do they go out for the stoppage win or look to nick the round on points?

Interestingly, Harris' corner are telling him he is 2-0 up in rounds, so they're certainly confident. 

A competitive opening round between Arlovski and Harris saw both men have their successes, but neither were able to land that elusive knockout punch.

Harris had success with his straight shots and started to time the former UFC champion with his right hook, while Arlovski also tested the American's chin with a few solid shots early on.

It's anyone's fight heading into the second round.

UP NEXT: ANDREI ARLOVSKI VS WALT HARRIS

Heavyweights take over the octagon in our featured preliminary bout of the night, as former UFC heavyweight champion Andrei Arlovski looks for victory in the 46th fight of his MMA career.

Arlovski is riding a two-fight losing streak heading into tonight's contest with Walt Harris, who is a regular sparring partner for former heavyweight boxing champion of the world Tyson Fury.

Both men love to stand and bang, and they have 28 knockouts between them, so don't blink!

Described by UFC commentator Jon Anik as "The Power Sisters" of the UFC, UFC women's flyweight champion Valentina Shevchenko and her newly-signed sister Antonina are sat at octagonside at The Forum for UFC 232.

TKO!

Anderson looked to push forward early on and connect with strikes, and her first kick thrown in anger connected, causing an instant stoppage.

Anderson's left high kick caught Zingano's open right eye on the upswing, cutting her eyelid and leaving her standing against the fence, keeping her eyes closed. 

Referee Marc Goddard saw the distress Zingano was in and correctly stopped the fight instantly. Now everybody is hoping that no serious eye damage was done.

UP NEXT: CAT ZINGANO VS MEGAN ANDERSON

While the UFC women's featherweight title will be contested in tonight's co-main event, this battle between Zingano and Anderson may well decide the identity of the fighter who will get the first shot at the winner.

Zingano has been a longtime contender at bantamweight, but has moved up to featherweight for this fight and is looking to storm into a contender spot straight away.

Anderson, meanwhile, has already held a featherweight title for female-only promotion Invicta FC, and is looking to bounce back from a decision loss to Holly Holm in her last appearance.

After his win, Petr Yan says he would like to face noted bantamweight knockout artist John 'Hands of Stone' Lineker in his next matchup.

That's an exciting enough matchup to headline a European UFC Fight Night event in 2019, or feature on the main card of a pay-per-view in either Brazil or the United States.

Petr Yan is going places, and a big bout will surely be next for 'No Mercy'.

IT IS ALL OVER!

Silva de Andrade's corner has decided to protect their man and spare him another round of punishment by throwing in the towel and pulling him out of the fight.

It gives Yan a stoppage victory after two dominant rounds of action against a highly-rated, dangerous opponent.

Expect to see 'No Mercy' pushed up the ladder to face a bigger name in his next bout in 2019.

Yan is best known for his excellent boxing, but the Russian star showed he is a true mixed martial artist in the second round as she worked his grappling skills, utilizing the front headlock and dominating Silva de Andrade on the ground.

He also took the opportunity to land some punishing strikes on his grounded opponent whenever he could as he dominated the second round even more convincingly than he did in the first.

A big elbow also left Silva de Andrade with a cut above the eye as he finished the round hammering the Brazilian with ground and pound.

That round may be worthy of a 10-8 on the judges' scorecards.

Good opening round by Petr Yan. The Russian started the faster of the pair and established his boxing early in the round.

Silva de Andrade looked to fire back, but his technique has been noticeably wilder and Yan has countered him well.

'No Mercy' even finished the round with well-executed takedown to put an exclamation point on an excellent first round.

Petr Yan is ready for action at UFC 232...

Russian UFC women's bantamweight contender Yana Kunitskaya is settled in for the night and enjoying the fights.

Here's her latest tweet...

UP NEXT: DOUGLAS SILVA DE ANDRADE VS PETR YAN

Russia's former ACB bantamweight champion Petr Yan will look to put away the most dangerous opponent of his UFC career to date.

Brazilian Silva de Andrade has 19 knockout victories from his 25 career wins and has only been defeated twice.

Yan is one of the most exciting rising stars of the UFC's bantamweight division, and victory over the Brazilian will almost certainly catapult him towards a bout with a ranked opponent early in 2019.

But he needs to be on his game to avoid a momentum-halting defeat tonight. Can he get the job done? We're about to find out next.

Here's how Ryan Hall submitted UFC legend BJ Penn with a slick heel hook in the first round of their lightweight contest.

To pull off a submission like that against someone as decorated as BJ Penn is some statement from Hall, who tells Joe Rogan in his post-fight interview that competing against the Hawaiian legend was "a surreal experience" and that he's learned a lot from the former UFC champ.

SUBMISSION!

After a half-decent start from BJ Penn, Ryan Hall showed the world just why he's one of the most dangerous grapplers in the UFC.

Hall went to the mat, locked up a leg lock and forced a VERY quick tap from Penn, who cried out in pain as "The Wizard" applied the hold.

It was a near-perfect application of a heel hook, and it submitted a BJJ black belt and two-division UFC world champion in the blink of an eye.

UP NEXT: BJ PENN VS RYAN HALL

Grappling ace Hall takes on returning UFC legend and former two-division world champion Penn in a lightweight contest.

Penn is a bona-fide legend of the sport, but few believe his return to the octagon is a good idea at the age of 40.

Matched with grappling specialist Hall, Penn is unlikely to get lit up in striking exchanges, but his world-class jiu-jitsu may get a solid workout if the fight goes to the mat.

Once the prelims are done and dusted, the main pay-per-view card takes over, with five outstanding matchups to round off the night:

Chad Mendes vs Alexander Volkanovski (featherweight)
Ilir Latifi vs Corey Anderson (light-heavyweight)
Carlos Condit vs Michael Chiesa (welterweight)
Cris Cyborg vs Amanda Nunes (women's featherweight title)
Jon Jones vs Alexander Gustafsson (light-heavyweight title)

WE ARE LIVE!

The credits are rolling ahead of the televised preliminary card at UFC 232.

Tonight's prelims feature the following four bouts:

BJ Penn vs Ryan Hall (lightweight)
Douglas Silva de Andrade vs Petr Yan (bantamweight)
Cat Zingano vs Megan Anderson (women's featherweight)
Andrei Arlovski vs Walt Harris (heavyweight)

Middleweight veteran Uriah Hall looked to be on the way to a lopsided decision defeat before he unleashed a stunning one-punch knockout to starch undefeated newcomer Bevon Lewis.

And the night's battle of bantamweight prospects saw Britain's former Cage Warriors champion Nathaniel Wood claim a dominant performance and a third-round submission finish of Andre Ewell at 135lbs.

We're joining the action as the event goes live on television across the world for the TV prelims. We've already had a quartet of early prelims on the UFC's streaming platform, UFC Fight Pass.

Montel Jackson claimed victory in the first fight of the night with a beautiful D'Arce choke, then welterweight prospect Curtis Millender outstruck Siyar Bahadurzada to earn a unanimous decision win.

29 December 2018

Welcome to RT Sport's live coverage of UFC 232: Jones vs Gustafsson, which is taking place at The Forum in Inglewood, California, USA.

It's been a controversial week, with the event being moved from Las Vegas to Los Angeles at less than a week's notice following an abnormality was found with Jon Jones' pre-fight drug test.

USADA and the UFC have made clear they believe Jones is clean, and the California State Athletic Commission has cleared him to fight for the UFC light-heavyweight title tonight against fellow challenger - and former foe - Alexander Gustafsson.