Jon Jones has the talent to make virtually any fighter look like an amateur, and his April win over Chael Sonnen likely made many forget how great the charismatic man from West Linn could be.
Sonnen reminded them with a dominant win over Shogun Rua in the main-event of UFC’s inaugural Fight Night on FOX Sports 1.
Save for one takedown reversal, Sonnen owned the entire single round affair, using his superior strength and control to grind out the former UFC Light Heavyweight Champion. As the fight moved into the latter stages of its opening round, Sonnen locked Rua into a vicious guillotine choke, and the standout fighter was forced to submit.
With no title shot on the horizon, Sonnen used his victory as a platform for calling out Wanderlei Silva.
In the co-main-event, scrappy Travis Browne weathered a devastating onslaught of knees, kicks and punches en route to an upset victory over Alistair Overeem. Victimized by his poor conditioning, Overeem was rendered vulnerable to a front kick from Browne, who followed up with some ground shots to finish the massive fighter.
Other undercard highlights included a comeback win from Urijah Faber, another impressive knockout victory for Matt Brown, an upset, yet lackluster win for John Howard and a dominant W for Michael Johnson.
UFC on Fox Sports 1 Results
James Vick b. Ramsey Nijem via submission (guillotine) at :58 of Round One
Ovince St. Preux b. Cody Donovan via KO (punches) at 2:07 of Round One
Manny Gamburyan b. Cole Miller via UD (30-27, 29-28, 29-28)
Diego Brandao b. Daniel Pineda via UD (29-28×3)
Steven Siler b. Mike Brown via KO (punches) at :50 of Round One
Conor McGregor b. Max Holloway via UD (30-27, 30-27, 30-26)
Michael McDonald b. Brad Pickett via submission (triangle) at 3:43 of Round Two
Michael Johnson b. Joe Lauzon via UD (30-27, 30-27, 30-25)
John Howard b. Uriah Hall via SD (30-27, 28-29, 29-28)
Matt Brown b. Mike Pyle via KO (punches) at :29 of Round One
Urijah Faber b. Iuri Alcantra via UD (30-26, 30-26, 30-27)
Travis Browne b. Alistair Overeem via KO (strikes) at 4:08 of Round One
Chael Sonnen b. Shogun Rua via submission (guillotine) at 4:47 of Round One