UFC: Guam’s Trevin Jones gets fairy-tale finish as wild betting underdog to shake up MMA world

No-one needs to tell Trevin “5 Star” Jones any fairy tales. The fighter from Guam has just lived out his own on debut with the UFC. “I’m here to stay,” Jones then declared to the world. The 30-year-old (13-6) had just two days to get ready for his UFC debut against Russian Timur “Lucky” Valiev (16-3), and he came into the bout as a wild +423 underdog with the Las Vegas bookmakers. He then got knocked flat on his butt by a kick to the guts, and thoroughly outfought throughout the first round. No matter. UPSET ALERT After surviving a brutal first round, Trevin Jones turned the tables and finished Timur Valiev #UFCVegas7 pic.twitter.com/BgxonUvZXS — ESPN MMA (@espnmma) August 22, 2020 Jones brushed himself off, and at around 1.50 of the second round he feigned left, and threw a perfect check hook to Valiev’s chin to send the Russian spiralling to the mat. Jones swooped to seal the deal and fans watching on from around the world were left wondering what, exactly, they’d just seen, with UFC president Dana White later awarding him a US$50,000 performance bonus. “I’m tough, I’m not going to quit,” said Jones in his post-fight interview. “The ref is going to have to make it a done deal, not me. I’ll stay in there as long as it takes. He got me with a good kick, I covered up my body well. He went all out after that because he noticed it was a good kick, but I hung in there.” Jones was down 10-8 on all the judges’ cards after the first-round and the 30-year-old Valiev was doing what was expected – dominating. He’d landed a direct kick that saw Jones crumble against the cage, and he’d piled on the punches. But Jones took the stool at the bell and thought “fresh start”. “He did not know I was that tough,” he said. “I caught him with a check hook; after that, I saw him, he hit the ground flat and I came down with the hard right hand, ground-and-pound, smashing, smashing and smashing. And I was looking to put him away right there. He got me with that good push kick in the first round and I wanted to make him pay for that.” Jones had only officially been declared for the bout on Friday, at catchweight, after Valiev’s original opponent – the Philippines’ Mark Striegl (18-2, one no contest) – had tested positive for Covid-19. But these pandemic times are throwing up all kinds of opportunities for fighters who find themselves in the right place at the right time. Jones was in town – and he got the call from the UFC. “It was a very hard week,” he said. “I got the call on Wednesday night, which means I only had a day and a half to make weight, six, seven doctors’ appointments in the same day, running through Las Vegas as hot as it is. View this post on Instagram ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ #5STAR #UFC #GUAM A post shared by Trevin Jones (@trev5starjones) on Aug 22, 2020 at 4:57pm PDT “Man, it was crazy. I didn’t expect it to be this tough, but I feel like I grew so much in three days just by going through all that. Coming out here getting a fight, getting a finish over a tough opponent – I’ve seen this guy fight, he fought in tough organisations, has tough, big wins.” Jones has been all over the Asia-Pacific over the past decade, the epitome of the journeyman fighter, plying his trade wherever – and against whomever – fate threw at him. “Trevin Jones is here now,” he said. After Jones’s dramatics the region’s other stake in UFC Fight Night: Munhoz vs Edgar card didn’t quite go according to script, either. Rising strawweight prospect Mizuki Inoue (12-6) was simply overpowered when it mattered by Brazilian Amanda Lemos (8-1-1), losing by unanimous decision (all 30-27s). The 26-year-old had copped a big right in the first round, and though she rallied with impressive numbers down the stretch, she never really had her 33-year-old opponent in trouble. There was – as there always is with Inoue – a wealth of work, but the result – inflicting damage – was never really there. It’ll be back to Ray Longo in New York City for the Japanese fighter, and more work on trying to add the weapons needed to be a contender in the UFC.