| UFC 235: Jones vs. Smith | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
 The poster for UFC 235: Jones vs. Smith | ||||
| Promotion | Ultimate Fighting Championship | |||
| Date | March 2, 2019 (2019-03-02) | |||
| Venue | T-Mobile Arena | |||
| City | Paradise, Nevada | |||
| Attendance | 14,790[1] | |||
| Total gate | $4,035,156.50[1] | |||
| Event chronology | ||||
| ||||
UFC 235: Jones vs. Smith was amixed martial arts event produced by theUltimate Fighting Championship held on March 2, 2019, atT-Mobile Arena inParadise, Nevada, part of theLas Vegas Metropolitan Area.[2]
AUFC Light Heavyweight Championship bout between two-time championJon Jones and challengerAnthony Smith headlined the event.[3]
AUFC Welterweight Championship bout between current championTyron Woodley andThe Ultimate Fighter: American Top Team vs. Blackzilians welterweight winnerKamaru Usman served as the co-headliner.[4]
As a result of the cancellation ofUFC 233, a welterweight bout between formerUFC Welterweight ChampionRobbie Lawler and promotional newcomer and formerBellator Welterweight World ChampionBen Askren (also formerONE Welterweight Champion) was rescheduled for this event.[5]
A women's bantamweight bout between formerUFC Women's Bantamweight ChampionHolly Holm andAspen Ladd was expected to take place at the event. However, on January 31, it was reported the matchup was scrapped due to undisclosed reasons and both fighters are expected to face new opponents in other events.[6]
Thomas Almeida was expected to faceMarlon Vera at the event. Almeida pulled out of the fight on January 31 citing an injury.[7] He was replaced byFrankie Saenz.[8] However, the fight was cancelled entirely on February 27 when Vera pulled out of the fight due to illness.[9]
Former interim title challengerOvince Saint Preux was expected to faceMisha Cirkunov at the event. However, on February 11, it was announced that Saint Preux suffered an injury and was pulled from the fight.[10] He was replaced byJohnny Walker.[11]
Song Yadong was expected to faceThe Ultimate Fighter: Latin America bantamweight winnerAlejandro Pérez at the event, but pulled out of the bout on January 11 due to an undisclosed reason. He was replaced byCody Stamann.[12]
| Main Card | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Weight class | Method | Round | Time | Notes | |||
| Light Heavyweight | Jon Jones (c) | def. | Anthony Smith | Decision (unanimous) (48–44, 48–44, 48–44) | 5 | 5:00 | [a] |
| Welterweight | Kamaru Usman | def. | Tyron Woodley (c) | Decision (unanimous) (50–44, 50–44, 50–45) | 5 | 5:00 | [b] |
| Welterweight | Ben Askren | def. | Robbie Lawler | Technical Submission (bulldog choke) | 1 | 3:20 | |
| Women's Strawweight | Zhang Weili | def. | Tecia Torres | Decision (unanimous) (29–28, 30–27, 30–27) | 3 | 5:00 | |
| Bantamweight | Pedro Munhoz | def. | Cody Garbrandt | KO (punches) | 1 | 4:51 | |
| Preliminary Card (ESPN) | |||||||
| Featherweight | Zabit Magomedsharipov | def. | Jeremy Stephens | Decision (unanimous) (29–28, 29–28, 29–28) | 3 | 5:00 | |
| Light Heavyweight | Johnny Walker | def. | Misha Cirkunov | TKO (flying knee and punches) | 1 | 0:36 | |
| Bantamweight | Cody Stamann | def. | Alejandro Pérez | Decision (unanimous) (29–28, 29–28, 30–27) | 3 | 5:00 | |
| Welterweight | Diego Sanchez | def. | Mickey Gall | TKO (punches) | 2 | 4:13 | |
| Early Preliminary Card (UFC Fight Pass) | |||||||
| Middleweight | Edmen Shahbazyan | def. | Charles Byrd | TKO (elbows and punches) | 1 | 0:38 | |
| Women's Bantamweight | Macy Chiasson | def. | Gina Mazany | TKO (punches) | 1 | 1:49 | |
| Women's Strawweight | Hannah Cifers | def. | Polyana Viana | Decision (split) (29–28, 28–29, 29–28) | 3 | 5:00 | |
The following fighters received $50,000 bonuses:[14]
The following is the reported payout to the fighters as reported to the Nevada State Athletic Commission. It does not include sponsor money and also does not include the UFC's traditional "fight night" bonuses. The total disclosed payroll for the event was $3,334,000.[15]
