Author: Cody Guinn

Jon Jones: How Much Better Can He Get?

The sport of mixed martial arts evolves more and more every day. So does each fighter, regardless of whether they are just turning pro in an independent scene or are somewhere near the top of the UFC. The same can be said about each champion in the UFC…

The sport of mixed martial arts evolves more and more every day. So does each fighter, regardless of whether they are just turning pro in an independent scene or are somewhere near the top of the UFC. The same can be said about each champion in the UFC, but the focus right now is the Light Heavyweight Champion—Jon Jones.

It’s quite crazy to think how much he has improved and evolved since his debut in August of 2008. You hear the cliche that, “fighter X improves every fight,” but no fighter personifies that saying more than Jones who honestly has looked better every time he has stepped inside the Octagon.

Jon Jones has a record of 17-1, but no matter your opinion on the loss to Matt Hamill, Jon Jones has never really been defeated. He’s never been truly tested either in a full fight. The closest we’ve seen is Vitor Belfort’s armbar attempt a few weeks back at UFC 152.

Following that brief moment when the entire MMA world held their breath, Jones survived and dominated Belfort on his way to a fourth-round submission win.

Jon Jones has six submission victories in his MMA career with two coming in his last three fights against Brazilian jiu-jitsu black belts. We often see black belts get submitted in the UFC, but usually by fellow BJJ black belts. Certainly not by a guy who has only been a pro for about four years and is said to be just a gi white belt in BJJ.

How much better can Jon Jones really get? Many of the top up-and-coming light heavyweights are hoping that the answer is “not much better” or at least that he’ll improve mostly following his jump to heavyweight, but that’s simply not the case.

Jones will continue to get stronger as he is still growing into his body. Jones will also continue to learn as he spends more time in the gym working on his BJJ and also, from spending time inside the Octagon as Jones is one of the more active fighters at 205.

With that said, it’s clear that Jon Jones will continue to get better. If his primary focus is on MMA, in as short as three years, we will likely be talking about Jones being the greatest mixed martial artist who ever lived, and he’ll still only be 28 years old.

 

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UFC on Fuel TV 5 Results: Power Ranking the Fighters Who Made Their UFC Debuts

UFC on Fuel 5 was a great all-around card and brought us a ton of great fights, but it also provided us with five new faces.All five men fought on the preliminary card and looked to pick up the most important wins of their respective MMA careers.Three …

UFC on Fuel 5 was a great all-around card and brought us a ton of great fights, but it also provided us with five new faces.

All five men fought on the preliminary card and looked to pick up the most important wins of their respective MMA careers.

Three of the five were successful, and the other two will return to the drawling board to see what they can do differently in their next attempts to win fights inside the Octagon.

Let’s take a look back at the five debuts at Saturday’s UFC on Fuel 5 card.

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UFC on Fuel TV 5 Results: What We Learned from Brad Pickett vs. Yves Jabouin

When you’re talking about MMA rankings, the bantamweight bout between Brad Pickett and Yves Jabouin is one of the top fights to watch on the card. It also doesn’t hurt the fight had Fight of the Night written all over it and it certainly didn’t di…

When you’re talking about MMA rankings, the bantamweight bout between Brad Pickett and Yves Jabouin is one of the top fights to watch on the card. It also doesn’t hurt the fight had Fight of the Night written all over it and it certainly didn’t disappoint.

Brad Pickett goes by the nickname, “One Punch” and if you don’t understand, watch his first round finish of Yves Jabouin on the main card of UFC on Fuel TV 5.

Here is what we learned from this fight.

 

What We’ll Remember From This Fight:

When you are fighting in front of your home country, you want to put on a show. By show, I mean nasty knockout, which Pickett recorded tonight by way of one perfectly placed uppercut that sent Jabouin crashing to the mat.

 

What We Learned About Pickett:

With his power, Pickett is definitely a guy to watch at 135. He’s got good speed and uses his range very well. If you’re looking for a guy to keep an eye on in in the bantamweight division, look no further than Pickett.

 

What We Learned About Jabouin:

Jabouin has great speed and very good striking, but will need to improve his defense on his feet to contend in the division.

 

What’s Next for Pickett:

Next for Pickett could fight against Bryan Caraway which would be a great test for both men and would show which is definite threat at 135.

 

What’s Next for Jabouin:

Jabouin could find himself matched with Edwin Figueroa or Chico Camus.

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UFC on Fuel: What We Learned from Paul Sass vs. Matt Wiman

The master of the so-called “Sassangle” looked to remain unbeaten in England as Paul Sass fought Matt Wiman on the main card at UFC on Fuel TV 5.The submission expert was defeated by, you guessed it, submission by Matt Wiman at 3:48 in the first round …

The master of the so-called “Sassangle” looked to remain unbeaten in England as Paul Sass fought Matt Wiman on the main card at UFC on Fuel TV 5.

The submission expert was defeated by, you guessed it, submission by Matt Wiman at 3:48 in the first round with an armbar.

Here is what we learned from this lightweight fight.

 

What We’ll Remember From This Fight:

Matt Wiman‘s armbar against a man who is supremely dangerous on the ground. You would think Wiman would be in a hurry to get back on his feet, but instead he showed off his jiu-jitsu and handed Sass his first career loss.

 

What We Learned About Sass:

Sass is a dangerous guy on the ground, but it was proven today that his submission defense isn’t quite on the same level as his submission offense.

 

What We Learned About Wiman:

Wiman is one of those dangerous all-around guys who is good at everything, but doesn’t specialize in anything. At UFC on Fuel 5, Wiman showed he wasn’t afraid to go to the ground with the submission specialist Sass and also showed confidence in his jiu-jitsu when he attempted that successful armbar.

 

What’s Next for Sass:

Next for Paul Sass could be the winner of next month’s clash between Carlo Prater and Marcus Levesseur.

 

What’s Next for Wiman:

I like the idea of matching Wiman with another undefeated fighter, Khabib Nurmagomedov.

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UFC on Fuel 5: What We Learned from John Hathaway vs. John Maguire

On the main card in Saturday’s UFC on Fuel 5, a battle of Johns took place in the UK, as welterweight John Hathaway and John Maguire faced off.The fight wasn’t the best, but it did result in a decision victory for John…Hathaway.Here is what we learne…

On the main card in Saturday’s UFC on Fuel 5, a battle of Johns took place in the UK, as welterweight John Hathaway and John Maguire faced off.

The fight wasn’t the best, but it did result in a decision victory for John…Hathaway.

Here is what we learned from the fight.

 

What We’ll Remember From This Fight

I already forgot most of it, but I’ll remember that Hathaway has a long reach that he can utilize very well on his feet.

 

What We Learned About Hathaway

Once again, his reach is a long one for the division, and he utilizes it very well. Also, Hathaway displayed a nice top game in the second round against the jiu-jitsu fighter Maguire.

 

What We Learned About Maguire

The master of Gypsy Jiu-Jitsu does indeed have an impressive ground game, but Maguire will need to work on his stand-up if he wants to contend in the welterweight division.

 

What’s Next for Hathaway

There are a lot of potential matchups for Hathaway, including the loser of Ellenberger vs. Hieron, Amir Sadollah win or lose or even a matchup with Matthew Riddle.

 

What’s Next for Maguire

Good jiu-jitsu matchup between Maguire and T.J. Waldburger works for me.

 

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UFC on Fuel 5: What We Learned from Che Mills vs. Duane Ludwig

The first fight on the Fuel TV main card had all the potential to be a Fight of the Night candidate, but the fight result came early due to an unfortunate injury.In the opening main card bout, England native Che Mills defeated Duane Ludwig by TKO due t…

The first fight on the Fuel TV main card had all the potential to be a Fight of the Night candidate, but the fight result came early due to an unfortunate injury.

In the opening main card bout, England native Che Mills defeated Duane Ludwig by TKO due to a knee injury at 2:28 in the first round.

Here is what we learned from this bout.

 

What We’ll Remember From This Fight:

Unfortunately, we’ll remember Duane Ludwig dropping down and pointing to his knee in pain. This fight could have provided some crazy fireworks.

 

What We Learned about Mills:

He has good control in the Octagon, which he displayed early on. It’s always good to get that important bounce back win.

 

What We Leaned about Ludwig:

Hard to take anything away from a fight where you are defeated due to an injury. 

 

What’s Next for Mills:

I’m definitely digging the idea of Che Mills taking on Kyle Noke. Possibly at the TUF: Smashes Finale?

 

What’s Next for Ludwig: 

Hopefully Ludwig’s injury isn’t too serious so he can return soon. A matchup with Charlie Brenneman or Seth Baczynski if he can return with a reasonable timetable.

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