Two of the world's best MMA fighters did what they had to do to retain their championship belts at Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) 247 in Houston on Saturday night.

Jon "Bones" Jones (26-1, 1NC) successfully defended his light heavyweight title for the 14th time in a close fight against Dominick Reyes (12-1), with the judges awarding a unanimous decision of 48-47, 48-47, 49-46 for the champion.

From the very start, the former American football player and current IT tech support worker took the fight to the champion. Not only did he outstrike "Bones", he stopped the takedown with sprawls and kept it standing.

This same gameplan took place over the next two rounds. Jones, known for being dominant throughout, showed he can take a punch and absorbed a significant amount of damage. It's the weakest he's looked since the infamous fight against Alexander Gustafsson. It was only in the championship rounds that Jones had a clear advantage; simply put, he's been here many times - six of his last eight went to a decision -  before whereas it was Reyes' first time and it showed. He was starting to gas and get tired. Round 4 was fairly equal but 5 was all Jones.

When the decision was announced in favor of Jones, the crowd booed like crazy and many UFC fighters, watching at home or elsewhere, got on social media to agree. On Twitter, middleweight champion Israel Adesanya, Chris Weidman and Octagon veteran Diego Sanchez voiced their displeasure with varying degrees of professionalism and Max Holloway, trying to be a little more equivocal, asked "Is our sport the only major sport where you don't see score until game is over? What would harm be in judges showing their scores after each round? Honest question not a diss (sic)".

In the post-match interview with commentator Joe Rogan, Jones said, "Reyes earned my respect," but that might not be enough as many think he earned the belt. There is definitely a rematch in the future of these two men.

Valentina "Bullet" Shevchenko of Kyrgyzstan also won her third defense in the women's flyweight division by knocking out top contender Katlyn Chookagian in Round 3.

Chookagian went into this fight as an almost record setting underdog, and from the opening bell Valentina showed why. She started the fight as calm as if she was in a sparring contest and was willing to let Chookagian, visibly more energetic, engage as, every single time, she countered and did damage. At least a punch or kick landed every time. With just over a minute to go, Chookagian threw a kick, which was caught and immediately sent her onto her back, where "Bullet" did exactly as she did to Priscila Cachoeira in Brazil and sliced her open with an elbow.

Round 2 was an extension of the first: Chookagian proved she's tough and little else as she did little besides absorb blow after blow. With the lead leg bright red and immobilized by Shevchenko's inside and outside leg kicks, Chookagian was practically immobilized to the point of becoming a punching bag. A spectacular one-two of a spinning heel kick to the face and an axe kick visibly weakened the American and set her up for a takedown.

In round 3, Valentina simply ran out of patience. Chookagian, looking like the walking wounded, tried to pull guard from the standing position and had it instantly converted into a takedown for Shevchenko. She then clambered into crucifix position and punched her out for a TKO win at with 3:57 left in the round. Besides for blowing a kiss to ringside, "Bullet" didn't even seem to celebrate - she didn't even look like she'd done anything more strenuous than warm-up. Good luck to whoever she fights next; they'll need it.