Jon Jones wins the ultimate redemption fight with TKO of Daniel Cormier

Anaheim, California: Jon Jones took many steps on his road to redemption, and the most important one set up his Saturday night reunion with the UFC light-heavyweight belt.

Jones saw an opening on a movement by his bitter rival, Daniel Cormier, and stepped forward to deliver a kick to the head that rocked Cormier and set up a string of creative and destructive blows that led to Jones’ third-round technical-knockout victory at Honda Center.

“I made it back, man,” Jones, 30, said in the octagon after a 30-month absence from a title fight caused by self-induced damage that included a car crash and performance-enhancing drug use. “I let my family, my parents, my co-workers down... as long as you don’t quit, it’s never over.”

Jones (23-1) was tested deeply by his replacement champion Cormier (19-2), who took over after Jones was stripped of his belt following the April 2015 car crash.

But after absorbing some heavy punches to the head by the 38-year-old fighter from San Jose — who had continually berated Jones for his personal slips — Jones answered by leaning on the universal skills that made him the youngest-ever UFC champion at age 23, who had successfully defended his belt for an eighth time by defeating Cormier by unanimous decision in January 2015.

“If you don’t win, it’s no rivalry,” an upset Cormier said.

Jones’ head kick was followed by a left kick to the gut that backed Cormier to the cage. Cormier fell down on a leg kick, and Jones pounced, hammering Cormier with 18 left-handed blows to Cormier’s head on the canvas, mostly punches. Referee John McCarthy stopped the fight 3 minutes, 1 second into the third.

“It feels unbelievable. It’s a surreal moment,” Jones said, thanking fans for their loyalty and saluting “the haters... you motivated me to prove you all wrong.”

The most vocal of those was Cormier, but Jones had warm words for the fallen champion, thanking him for “being my biggest rival and motivator. He has been a model champion, teammate, and he’s an amazing human being — a true champion for the rest of his life.”

But Jones seemed set to move on from Cormier, setting the stage for a massive possible pay-per-view in 2018 against former heavyweight champion and WWE performer Brock Lesnar.

“If you want to know what it feels like to get your [rear] kicked by a guy 40 pounds less than you, meet me in the octagon,” Jones said.

In the second of three title fights on the card, welterweight champion Tyron Woodley relied on his few power punches and elusiveness to quell the plans of Brazilian submission specialist Demian Maia.

Judges awarded Woodley victory by scores of 50-45, 49-46, 49-46, and Woodley said he expects to fight former longtime champion Georges St-Pierre next on November 4 at Madison Square Garden.

“I’m the best in the world, man,” Woodley said despite drawing heavy booing from fans upset at a bout that offered the fewest strikes ever thrown in a five-round UFC title fight, according to UFC analyst Joe Rogan.

Woodley landed a hard punch early in the first round that caused serious swelling under Maia’s left eye, and while the crowd jeered the inactive moments after Woodley dodged Maia’s takedown attempts, the St. Louis fighter was content to wisely cruise to victory in his third title defence.

The champion decked Maia with a second-round punch and another left Maia reduced to a desperate look of frustration on his knees during the round.

He couldn’t catch Woodley — through three rounds, Maia was 0 for 13 on takedown attempts — and getting close meant being popped. In a defining sequence, Woodley hopped out of a Maia squeeze try around the knees in the fourth, then hammered Maia to the belly with his right fist.