LAS VEGAS -- The UFC's first 2020 Hall of Fame selection is one of the greatest fights in the promotion's history.
On Saturday night, the UFC announced that the 2013 fight between Jon Jones and Alexander Gustafsson will be inducted into the promotion's Hall of Fame in July. Jones vs. Gustafsson 1 headlined UFC 165 on Sept. 21, 2013, at Air Canada Centre in Toronto.
The announcement was made during the UFC 248 pay-per-view broadcast. The 2020 UFC Hall of Fame induction ceremony will take place July 9 at the Palms Casino Resort in Las Vegas.
Jones vs. Gustafsson 1 was ESPN's MMA Fight of the Year for 2013 and widely acknowledged as the greatest light heavyweight title fight of all time. It is on the short list of the best UFC title fights ever, period. The bout will be inducted as part of the "Fight Wing" of the Hall of Fame.
Coming into the bout, Gustafsson was not accepted as a worthy contender to Jones, the dominant UFC light heavyweight champion. The Swedish slugger ended up giving Jones the toughest fight of his career up until that point. Jones had to dig deep in the fourth and fifth rounds to pull out a unanimous decision (48-47, 48-47, 49-46).
"This fight showed what a true champion Jon Jones was, as this was the first time he was taken into deep waters and truly tested," UFC president Dana White said in a statement. "This fight also put Gustafsson on the map and showed his true potential."
Jones, who holds the UFC light heavyweight title now during a second reign, went into the bout on a nine-fight winning streak having beaten former champions such as Mauricio Rua, Lyoto Machida, Rashad Evans, Quinton Jackson and Vitor Belfort. Jones was 18-1, with the only loss on his record coming from a 2009 disqualification against Matt Hamill.
With the win against Gustafsson at UFC 165, Jones set the record for most successful light heavyweight title defenses (6), surpassing UFC Hall of Famer Tito Ortiz.
Gustafsson, meanwhile, had won six in a row coming in, including a unanimous decision victory over "Shogun" Rua. He was sporting a 15-1 record. Gustafsson became the first fighter to take Jones down in a UFC fight at UFC 165.
During the bout, both fighters combined to land 244 significant strikes, which set a UFC light heavyweight record at the time. Gustafsson was able to stop 10 of 11 Jones takedowns and land 110 significant strikes -- at the time, the second-most by a fighter in a UFC light heavyweight title fight. It was the first time Jones was cut and damaged on his face in the UFC, as well.