Jon Jones has retained his light heavyweight title with a closely fought split-decision win over Thiago Santos in the main event of an action-packed UFC 239 in Las Vegas.
'Bones' had to work hard against the dangerous Brazilian, who appeared to sustain a significant knee injury in the opening round that left him hampered through the remainder of the contest.
Despite being clearly hindered, Santos hung in the fight valiantly and delivered his fair share of damage, particularly with his inside leg kick that saw Jones need assistance to leave the Octagon after the fight.
Clearly wary of Santos' power striking, Jones kept his range and did most of his damage with his kicks, targeting the compromised leg of his opponent with a measured variety of predominantly kick-based offence.
Santos had some success with his counter punching but faded as the bout entered the championship rounds, the mounting toll of repeated shots to his injured leg becoming increasingly apparent.
The American cut a relived figure after having his hand raised in victory.
"Oh my goodness, boy was he tough," Jones said in his post-fight interview.
"We all know his best chance of winning this fight was by knockout. I played it smart, and I brought home the gold for my family and my team."
In the card's co-main event, Amanda Nunes erased any doubt regarding her status at the greatest women's fighter of all time with a highlight first-round head kick knockout of Holy Holm to defend her women's bantamweight title.
With less than a minute remaining in the opening stanza, 'The Lioness' unleashed a devastating right kick that landed flush to Holm's temple and sent her staggering to the mat, then followed with two big head shots to force the referee to step in.
But the highlight of an enthralling event came in Jorge Masvidal's welterweight title eliminator against Ben Askren.
With plenty of words exchanged in the lead up to the fight, the Cuban made his final statement in the most emphatic fashion possible - a five-second flying knee kockout that switched Askren's lights out and claimed the mantle of the UFC's fastest-ever finish.
The victory instills 'Gamebred' as the likely next challenger to Nigerian Kumaru Usman's welterweight title.
In other results, Luke Rockhold suffered a first-round KO defeat to Poland's Jan Blachowicz in his light heavyweight debut, while Michael Chiesa cruised to a three-round shutout against Diego Sanchez.
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