UFC light heavyweight champion Jon Jones already has one loss and nearly suffered another Saturday, but no one has even come close to defeating him in the cage.

Despite his dominance of Chael Sonnen on Saturday at UFC 159 at the Prudential Center in Newark, N.J., Jones was only 27 seconds away from losing his belt. He suffered a broken toe while taking Sonnen down in the first round. Had referee Keith Peterson not stopped the bout at 4:33 as Jones was pounding on Sonnen, it is highly unlikely that the New Jersey commission would have allowed Jones to come out for the second round because of the gruesome injury.

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As a result, Jones would have lost the bout by knockout, even though a novice could see he was the far superior fighter.

Jones' one defeat came in a non-title bout in 2009 as a result of a highly controversial disqualification during a match with Matt "The Hammer" Hamill. Jones was disqualified for throwing an illegal elbow that caused Hamill to be injured. After reviewing a replay, referee Steve Mazzagatti ordered the disqualification.

Mazzagatti's call has been hotly disputed in the three-plus years since, but what that defeat points to is the fine line between winning and losing in mixed martial arts and the difficulty of compiling a lengthy winning streak against top opposition. There are so many ways to win and lose a bout that it's virtually impossible to remain unbeaten for long. Women's bantamweight champion Ronda Rousey is the only one of the eight UFC titleholders without a defeat.

[Also: Don't buy into MMA star Chael Sonnen's retirement talk]

It's also evidence of the remarkable nature of Anderson Silva's almost eight-year winning streak in the UFC.

Silva joined the UFC in 2006 amid much acclaim. And while his signing was a significant one for the company at the time, it's not like he was held then in the same regard he's held in now, in which he's widely considered the best fighter in the world.

Silva was 17-4 prior to joining the UFC, but his record since his debut against Chris Leben on June 28, 2006, in Las Vegas is nothing short of staggering.

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Silva has gone 16-0 in the UFC, including 11-0 in title bouts.

Given his remarkable two-year reign as champion, Jones is the flavor of the month. But even he admitted following his win over Sonnen on Saturday that Silva's streak deserves to keep him atop the rankings.

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