Author: Donald Wood

Dos Santos vs. Hunt: Breaking Down UFC 160’s Co-Main Event

In the co-main event of Saturday night’s UFC 160 pay-per-view (May 25), former heavyweight champion Junior Dos Santos will look to avenge his previous loss against Cain Velasquez by beating veteran journeyman Mark Hunt.This fight was originally s…

In the co-main event of Saturday night’s UFC 160 pay-per-view (May 25), former heavyweight champion Junior Dos Santos will look to avenge his previous loss against Cain Velasquez by beating veteran journeyman Mark Hunt.

This fight was originally scheduled to be Dos Santos vs. Alistair Overeem, but after Overeem suffered a quadriceps injury, UFC president Dana White added the red-hot Hunt to the co-main event instead of postponing the fight altogether.

While Dos Santos is coming off a loss, Hunt has won each of his last four fights, including two huge TKO victories over Stefan Struve and Cheick Kongo. There is little doubt that Dos Santos will be the favorite, but Hunt is as serious a threat now as he has ever been.

Saturday’s fight will be an absolute brawl, and this is how it all breaks down.

 

Junior Dos Santos’ Keys to Victory

After the most devastating loss of his MMA career to Velasquez—the former champion lost the heavyweight title at UFC 155 via decision—Junior Dos Santos is looking for redemption at the price of Mark Hunt.

Hunt is a talented striker with serious power, but Dos Santos is the best boxer in the heavyweight division and has very heavy hands of his own. The Brazilian star has a unique mixture of speed and power with his punches. With 11 of his 15 victories coming via TKO or KO, his strength is undeniable.

If anyone can match Hunt’s raw destructive ability in the Octagon, it’s Dos Santos.

Where Dos Santos’ biggest advantage comes from is his ability to submit his opponents using his black belt in Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu. Hunt has proven susceptible to submissions over the years—six of his seven losses have come via submission—and that should be Dos Santos’ focus throughout the fight.

Dos Santos’ power is so overwhelming that he hasn’t been able to use his submission skills, but to avoid the heavy hands of Hunt, the Brazilian’s game plan should be to take his opponent to the ground and strike until a submission opportunity opens up.

If the former champion wants his belt back, he must make quick work of Hunt and not underestimate the talented fighter.

 

Mark Hunt’s Keys to Victory

Mark Hunt is a veteran of fighting sports—a kickboxer as well as a mixed martial artist—but at 39 years old and holding a career 9-7 record in MMA, this could be the New Zealander’s last chance at mainstream glory.

After accepting the offer to fill in for Overeem, Hunt was almost forced to pull out of the event because of a work-visa issue in his home country, but Hunt shared on Twitter that he has been cleared to travel and will fight Dos Santos in the co-main event.

Hunt has fought some of the toughest men in the world—Fedor Emelianenko, Overeem and others—but he will need all of the lessons learned throughout his career to be able to handle the toughness of a fighter in his prime like Dos Santos.

While Dos Santos has the clear speed and stamina advantages, the power of Hunt is almost unparalleled by anyone in MMA today. This is a Samoan bruiser with one of the heaviest punches fight fans will ever see.

Hunt is the underdog, but if he can land consecutive punches on Dos Santos, there is little doubt that the challenger could knock the favorite out and beat him.

Velasquez beat Dos Santos and Hunt will believe that he can as well.

 

Prediction: Junior Dos Santos via Submission

 

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UFC 159 Results: The Good, Bad and Ugly of Saturday’s Marquee PPV

After one of the wilder nights in recent MMA memory, the results from the UFC 159 pay-per-view prove that Saturday night had its fair share of good, bad and ugly moments that highlighted the event.In an event that saw a championship defended, knockout …

After one of the wilder nights in recent MMA memory, the results from the UFC 159 pay-per-view prove that Saturday night had its fair share of good, bad and ugly moments that highlighted the event.

In an event that saw a championship defended, knockout victories, bones broken and injuries galore, the biggest winners of the night were the fans in attendance and watching at home that saw the madness unfold.

All of the following made up the good, bad and ugly of this unforgettable PPV.

 

The Good: Roy Nelson’s KO Victory

There are few fighters that carry the kind of aura that Roy “Big Country” Nelson carries into the Octagon, but the legend that surrounds the tough-chinned heavyweight only continues to grow after another dominant win, this time over heavyweight gatekeeper Cheick Kongo.

Nelson stole the show before the fight—the fan favorite arrived at the event in his ever-portly body with giant beard and signature rat-tail mullet—but it is his continued destruction of everyone he steps into the ring with that fans have truly come to love.

While he doesn’t have the build of the prototypical fighter, there is no questioning the three-fight winning streak (all by KO) or the fact that UFC president Dana White has already said another victory against top competition would likely result in a title shot.

Expect huge things from Big Country moving forward.

 

The Bad: Alan Belcher’s Loss

While Alan Belcher didn’t get knocked out or submitted Saturday night, there is no question that he was the biggest loser of the night. Not only did Michael Bisping thoroughly outclass him, Belcher suffered a gruesome eye injury in the loss.

Belcher has also suffered through two previous eye injuries in his career (h/t MMA Weekly), but the latest inadvertent eye poke from Bisping‘s left hand could be the worst he has faced to date.

This injury was devastating to witness for the fans, but Belcher’s work ethic will likely bring him back to the Octagon if he is physically able to compete.

As tough as he is, though, this could be the kind of injury that has the veteran fighter reconsidering his line of work.

 

The Ugly: Jon Jones’ Big Toe

While Jon Jones was talented enough to pull out a first-round TKO victory over Chael Sonnen in the duo’s title fight Saturday, the ugliest part of the night was the broken big toe on Jones’ left foot (h/t Fox Sports) that included plenty of blood and a bone protruding through the skin.

Despite the gruesome injury suffered during the fight—likely by getting his toe caught in the mat during one of his shoot attempts—Jones continued to battle through the pain and gained the upper hand on Sonnen by punishing him mercilessly.

For those squeamish, this is not the type of injury you want to see photographs of, but the allure this amount of toughness adds to Jones’ aura as one of the top MMA stars in the sport today is undeniable.

While the injury was awful, the victory was anything but ugly.

 

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Jon Jones Injury: Updates on UFC Star’s Toe Following Victory vs. Chael Sonnen

While Jon Jones was victorious Saturday night in his title defense against Chael Sonnen (first-round TKO), the UFC 159 main event was marred by a gruesome injury to the light heavyweight champion.According to FOX Sports and UFC president Dana White, Jo…

While Jon Jones was victorious Saturday night in his title defense against Chael Sonnen (first-round TKO), the UFC 159 main event was marred by a gruesome injury to the light heavyweight champion.

According to FOX Sports and UFC president Dana White, Jones reportedly suffered a compound fracture of the big toe on his left foot.

WARNING! Graphic photo of injury below.

White spoke more about Jones’ injury after the fight, “He wouldn’t have been able to go back out. They would have stopped the fight. A bone was sticking out of his toe.” 

Jones said in a post-fight interview that he may have broke the toe by getting it stuck in the mat during a takedown attempt, and it wasn’t until a closer look that he saw blood and realized his toe was facing the wrong direction.

That’s never good.

While Jones stole the show with a dominant victory over one of the biggest trash talkers in the sport and his rival coach on The Ultimate Fighter, the defending champion was by far the luckiest man in the entire building.

White is 100 percent correct; if the referee saw Jones’ foot, the fight would have been stopped.

An injury that severe would have forced to fight’s conclusion in between rounds, and when a fight is stopped in that manner, it would have been Sonnen that walked away with the UFC Light Heavyweight Championship.

With just 27 seconds left in the first round when the referee jumped in to stop the fight, it was clear that Jones was the most dominant fighter in the division and one of the greatest champions the UFC has ever had on its roster.

While the better fighter typically prevails in MMA, sometimes it’s the right combination of natural skill, hard work and a little bit of luck that leads to victory.

Jones had all three working at UFC 159.

 

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UFC 159 Results: Jon Jones Defeats Chael Sonnen

In the main event of Saturday night’s UFC 159, light heavyweight champion Jon Jones (18-1) defeated Chael Sonnen (27-13-1) to retain his title by TKO in the first round and further assert his dominance in MMA.As many expected, this one wasn’t eve…

In the main event of Saturday night’s UFC 159, light heavyweight champion Jon Jones (18-1) defeated Chael Sonnen (27-13-1) to retain his title by TKO in the first round and further assert his dominance in MMA.

As many expected, this one wasn’t even close.

To Sonnen‘s credit, he came out aggressively against the champion. The longtime middleweight contender went to the clinch soon after the opening bell and attempted to stay busy, but Jones’ strength was simply too much. After repeated takedowns led to some vicious ground-and-pound, the beginning of the end was set in motion.

Jones utilized the clinch to set up yet another takedown and rained down his signature elbows until the fight came to an end.

Jones is one of the most decorated fighters of the last several years. He has now successfully defended his championship for a fifth straight time and won his ninth straight fight since being disqualified on The Ultimate Fighter 10 finale in 2009, which is his only career loss.

Sonnen was not the best test for Jones after the challenger jumped up a weight class—many felt the jump to light heavyweight hurt his chances in the fight—but Sonnen’s wrestling skills and striking ability helped keep Jones from getting too comfortable during Saturday’s bout.

Jones grabbed the win on Saturday night, but Sonnen deserves credit for not only taking this fight but doing everything in his power to get the UFC the publicity it was looking for in this main event.

As great as this victory was for Jones, this is an even more devastating loss for Sonnen.

Most expected the brash fighter to lose on Saturday night, but the fact that the legitimate tough guy has become a sideshow for the UFC is a waste of talent.

Instead of putting him in fights that he is destined to lose, Dana White and company officials should be lining up contenders whom Sonnen matches up better against and love to talk trash.

The hope is that Sonnen realizes he should be fighting at middleweight exclusively now, and the lessons learned on Saturday should help the MMA star focus on contending for a No. 1 spot once again.

This victory was great for Jones, but UFC officials will be looking to line up another opponent almost immediately. There are several viable options in the light heavyweight division, but this may be the time to schedule a possible megafight.

While a bout between middleweight champion Anderson Silva and Jon Jones is still farfetched, the UFC will do its due diligence with the bout if Silva beats Chris Weidman at UFC 162 in July.

If there were ever a time for this dream fight to come to fruition, it would likely be this fall.

No matter whom Jones fights next, the victory at UFC 159 proves he’s one of the toughest pound-for-pound fighters in UFC and MMA history.

 

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UFC on Fox 7: Fighters That Must Win Saturday Night

When UFC on Fox 7 kicks off on Saturday night from HP Pavilion in San Jose, the nationally televised event will feature several big-name fighters that must walk away victorious.MMA stars like Daniel Cormier, Nate Diaz and Joseph Benavidez are looking t…

When UFC on Fox 7 kicks off on Saturday night from HP Pavilion in San Jose, the nationally televised event will feature several big-name fighters that must walk away victorious.

MMA stars like Daniel Cormier, Nate Diaz and Joseph Benavidez are looking to further their UFC careers with huge wins in front of a large television audience.

All of the following stars are not only looking to continue their success in MMA for themselves, but trying to push the sport forward. A win for each of these fighters would provide the UFC with the best outcome it could ask for.

 

Daniel Cormier

There is no fighter on Saturday’s card that needs a win more that former Strikeforce Heavyweight Grand Prix champion Daniel Cormier. In his first fight in the UFC, Cormier must beat Frank Mir and prove his worth to Dana White and the MMA world.

Mir is a former interim heavyweight champion and has been a gatekeeper for the division for years. If Cormier wants to prove the critics wrong that say he can’t hang with the big boys of the UFC, he must win in spectacular fashion.

Cormier was known as a wrestling specialist in Strikeforce—six straight gold medals at the United States Championships (2003-08)—but it should be his powerful strikes that set the tone for a knockout in this fight.

As talented as Mir is as a fighter, this is Cormier’s time to shine.

 

Nate Diaz

As one of the most popular fighters in the UFC, it is very important for Nate Diaz to bounce back from his loss to Benson Henderson for the lightweight championship in December and beat Josh Thomson in his return to the company.

Thomson became a staple of Strikeforce, and while the UFC merged with most of the elite talent from the now-defunct company, this will be one of the best battles MMA fans get from the merger.

For UFC officials and fans, it’s imperative that Diaz picks up this one.

The excitement that Diaz brings to every bout will undoubtedly make this a Fight of the Night candidate, and as long as he stays away from the power of Thomson, there is no doubt the UFC staple will walk away victorious.

 

Joseph Benavidez

While other fighters will get more love than Joseph Benavidez during the build to UFC on Fox 7—he has been relegated to the preliminary card on FX—it is important to the future of the company’s flyweight division that he beats Darren Uyenoyama on Saturday.

There is no questioning how much talent Uyenoyama possesses, but it was Benavidez that gave flyweight champion Demetrious Johnson the ultimate test in the tournament finals for the division’s first title.

The flyweights don’t get as much respect as they should, but a rematch between Benavidez and Johnson—the first fight was the inaugural flyweight bout in the UFC—would be a major pay-per-view draw for the company.

Everyone knows this will be a five-round war.

Even if Uyenoyama takes the loss, he still has a chance to be a star. However, for the betterment of the UFC and MMA in general, Benavidez needs to come out on fire and earn a shot at the UFC Flyweight Championship.

 

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Jon Jones vs. Chael Sonnen: Trash Talking Adds More Intrigue to UFC Title Fight

While the trash talking hasn’t been overwhelming during the build to Jon Jones and Chael Sonnen’s UFC Light Heavyweight Championship battle at UFC 159, the banter from the defending champion has added a sense of realism in this verbal war.T…

While the trash talking hasn’t been overwhelming during the build to Jon Jones and Chael Sonnen’s UFC Light Heavyweight Championship battle at UFC 159, the banter from the defending champion has added a sense of realism in this verbal war.

The way the two fighters interacted on The Ultimate Fighter 17 was not the way most MMA fans expected it to happen; even letting a very vocal minority down.

As much as trash talking adds intrigue to this title fight, Jones told Forbes.com how Sonnen‘s ever-increasing chatter does not bother him leading into their fight:

He’s a guy who has a good takedown ability with pretty good boxing. The one thing I know for sure is that he loves to promote a good fight. After being on the show together, I have a better understanding of Chael and it’s going to help me in this fight. With this fight, I learned ‘don’t get emotions involved.’ Chael likes to try to draw emotions out of his opponents.

Sonnen loves to cut pro-wrestling style promos on his opponent and has no problem dragging their name through the mud in order to get inside someone’s head. Not only does this technique typically frustrate his foes, it builds serious hype around his fights.

More hype equals more pay-per-view buys, and that’s what the UFC wants from its top fighters.

If Jones is the new face of the UFC, Sonnen was brought in to be the bad guy in this well-publicized battle, just as he was for his fight against Anderson Silva. Dana White knows what Sonnen can do in and out of the Octagon, and that’s make money.

While Jones will claim that he isn’t talking trash, the confidence that he carries and the way he speaks to the media oozes with self-assurance. The defending champion may not say he believes he will win at UFC 159, but his tone and mannerisms scream it for him.

That is the type of real chatter that makes trash talking so exciting. Sonnen is loud and aggressive with his words, but just like Teddy Roosevelt said, Jones speaks softly and carries a big stick.

Sonnen is in for a serious battle, but he already knows that; he learned from his loss to Silva and will do his best to avoid making the same mistakes in the Octagon this time around.

Jones has the size and skill advantage, but in the sport of MMA, no ending is too far-fetched.

 

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