The Jon Jones-Thiago Santos championship main event of UFC 239 may not have had the explosive ending that much of the rest of the card had, but there was no shortage of fireworks and excitement.
The light heavyweight title bout went the distance with Jones narrowly escaping with the belt in a split decision victory. Two judges scored it 48-47 for Jones, while a third had it reversed for Santos.
Jones put on his usual display of technical prowess, but his lack of aggression — not attempting a single takedown, despite a visible injury to Santos' left leg — made the fight much closer than it should have been. Still, Jones showcased exactly why he's such a difficult champion to take down, approaching the fight as if it were a chess match.
"Oh my goodness, boy was he tough," Jones said. "I'm sorry, I know a lot of you guys are booing me right now but his only way to win was to knock me out so I took that away from him. He was a lot more technically sound than I thought. Thiago Santos is a black belt in muay Thai so I am proud of myself."
"I felt like I was winning. There's no need to go for a shot when we are playing a high level of chess in there. Anytime you out kick a guy who is a black belt in muay Thai, you shouldn't get yourself down," he added.
Santos actually appeared to be winning the fight early on, even knocking out Jones' mouthpiece in the first, but he seemed to tweak his knee early in the second round and just wasn't the same after. Jones didn't capitalize on the apparent injury the way many fans probably had hoped to see, but it was clear he was in control of the fight from that point on.
It wasn't a knockout or submission, but Jones did just enough to earn a record-tying 13th title fight victory.