Lone’er Kavanagh was celebrating the biggest win of his career when he received an unexpected call from former two-division UFC champion Jon Jones.
Following a stunning five-round win over Brandon Moreno in the UFC Mexico main event, the 26-year-old British flyweight was backstage when he answered a Facetime call from Jones. Kavanagh was struck almost speechless in reaction after Jones offered his congratulations on a job well done.
“Hey, congratulations,” Jones said to Kavanagh. “Your Muay Thai is
beautiful. Your kicks don’t show at all, they have no telegraph. So nice. Good job guys, congratulations.”
Kavanagh, who was surrounded by his coaches including former UFC bantamweight contender Brad Pickett, was almost at a loss for words while speaking to Jones.
“I’m a big fan,” Kavanagh said. “It means the world to me. I don’t even know what to say. I’m starstruck right now! Jon Jones likes my kicks!”
It was a performance worthy of that kind of praise after Kavanagh accepted the fight on short notice after he was originally scheduled to compete on an upcoming UFC Fight Night card on March 14 but instead replaced Asu Almabayev after he was knocked out of the main event with an injury.
Despite a remarkably tough challenge ahead of him, Kavanagh showed poise under pressure, which included his nasty calf-kicks that repeatedly hurt Moreno throughout the fight. Kavanagh also scored a near finish in the second round after he stunned Moreno with a combination of punches.
In the end, Kavanagh secured a unanimous decision victory with the judges scoring the fight 49-46, 48-47 and 48-47 in his favor. The win moved Kavanagh to 3-1 in his UFC career after he joined the promotion by way of Dana White’s Contender Series.
