UFC 182 Main Card Results: Jon Jones Hands Daniel Cormier First Loss

Tonight’s (Sat., January 3, 2015) blockbuster UFC 182 pay-per-view (PPV) card is in the books from MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada.

The MMA world has been waiting more than five months for light heavyweight champion Jon Jones and undefeated challenger Daniel Cormier to settle their differences in the octagon. This evening, UFC fans worldwide finally got their chance. Jones came out throwing wild strikes, landing an elwbow in the clinch. The champ grabbed a kick and jumped on Cormier’s back. “DC” got a front headlock, but Jones countered with some solid kicks. Cormier scored a right over the top but ate a knee to the body. The champ continued to the body, but Cormier snapped some sharp combinations to end the round.

Jones landed kicks to the body to start the second. Cormier clinched and worked his hands, backing Jones up. “DC” scored with big uppercuts from the clinch, and Jones countered with elbows. Jones landed a big head kick and elbows, followed by a leg kick and some big punches from Cormier. “DC” made it the dogfight he talked of as the second round came to an end. The third round saw a kicking match break out, with “DC” landed a big right hand. An eyepoke stopped the action momentarily, and Jones hit a swift kick to the body.

Jones hit a sharp back elbow and a straight right hand, followed by a knee and a jumping knee. Jones jumped guard to eat some ground and pound as the bell sounded on the third. Jones landed a big head kick early in the fourth. Jones scored a big takedown on the fence, following with another. “Bones” ground out “DC” with punches from the clinch, finishing the frame with a toss.

The final round began with Cormier missing a takedown and Jones clinching. The champ looked for “DC’s” back but was reversed. The entire frame consisted of the fighters clinching and Cormier scoring a big slam. Jones landed a spinning elbow, and the fight ended with Joens with his hands raised before throwing some more quick punches. A dominant performance from Jones, who may have cemented himself as the best UFC fight of all-time.

Surging lightweight Donald Cerrone, who has won five straight fights, will take on undefeated challenger Myles Jury in a pivotal co-main event with title implications. Jury got a quick takedown that Cerrone reversed with an omoplata attempt to look for choke from Jury’s back. He eventually locked it on, but somehow Jury escaped and survived an armbar attempt to close the round. It became a chess match in the second, with “Cowboy” landing solid leg kicks. The action picked up in the third, with Cerrone landing a huge head kick, a jab, and more leg kicks. “Cowboy” closed out the fight by throwing Jury to the mat and winging vicious winding kicks to his rear end to win a one-sided unanimous decision.

Now back at middleweight, former title contender Nate Marquardt will look to start a resurgence against Brad Tavares. The first round started a bit slowly, but both fighters landed big front kicks to the face in the latter half. Tavares landed some hard jabs and low kicks to bruise and batter Marquardt in the second. “The Great” clinched to boos in the third, after which Tavares went to work with varied powerful kicks to lock up the third unanimous decision of the night.

Exciting flyweights Kyoji Horiguchi will face The Ultimate Fighter (TUF) vet Louis Gaudinot. The fighters traded crisp shots in an exciting first round Gaudinot owning a thin edge in aggression. Horiguchi got out of a flying arm triangle attempt to land a stiff head kick in the second, closing out the round with a hard punch and a trip. Gaudinot scored with a big shot early in the third, but he was largely picked apart by Horiguchi, who took home an impressive decision win.

Kicking off the main card, top-ranked welterweight Hector Lombard will take part in his first match-up since early 2014 when he battles returning Josh Burkman. Lombard pushed a frantic pace in the first round, controlling the fight with relentless strikes. The second saw a war erupt, with Lombard landing a ton of shots along the cage. “Showeather” continued nailing a taunting Burkman with varied strikes to end the round. Lombard got a trip early in the third, peppering an inactive Burkman with left hands and low kicks to lock up a clear-cut uananimous decision.

UFC 182 Main Card Results:

Jon Jones def. Daniel Cormier via unanimous decision (49-46, 49-46 49-46)
Donald Cerrone def. Myles Jury via unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 30-27)
Brad Tavares def. Nate Marquardt via unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 30-27)
Kyoji Horiguchi def. Louis Gaudinot via unanimous decision (29-28, 30-27, 30-27)
Hector Lombard def. Josh Burkman via unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 29-28)

Photo Credit: Jayne Kamin-Oncea-USA TODAY Sports