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Jon Jones: How He Would Fare Against the UFC’s Top 5 Heavyweights

If it seems like Jon Jones is getting a lot of attention as a potential UFC heavyweight contender, there’s a good reason for it. He’s got a big fight coming up next week at UFC 145, and make no mistake about it, Rashad Evans cannot be overlooked. He’s …

But that won’t stop fans from dreaming about the day when Jones steps in the cage to face off against the cream of the crop in the heavyweight division. It’s going to happen. Jones is cleaning out the light heavyweight division, and he’s going to continue to pack on muscle and size as he gets older.

So with that in mind, let’s take a look at how Jones would fare against the current top five ranked heavyweights in the UFC. Keep in mind that I’m assuming that Jones will put on weight and compete at 235 pounds or more. This isn’t the light heavyweight Jon Jones we’re talking about here, but rather, a hypothetical heavyweight version that has put on enough size to compete with some of the bigger heavyweights.

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Ed Soares Says Chael Sonnen Is an Idiot and Brazil Should Simply Boo Him

Ed Soares is one of the best managers in the game. It’s easy to see. Just look at the roster of fighters he currently manages: Anderson Silva, Lyoto Machida, the Nogueira Brothers. And take a look at the fighters he’s managed in the past before they moved on to allegedly greener pastures: Jose Aldo, Junior dos Santos and more. Most of those names are current or former UFC champions.

Despite his deft managerial skills, Soares has been the butt of plenty of jokes from Chael Sonnen. That’s nothing new. Sonnen has taken verbal shots at just about every Brazilian in the game. It’s part of Sonnen’s game, and I think Soares understands that.

Behind the scenes, the relationship between Sonnen and Soares is much more cordial than you’d think. But that hasn’t stopped Soares from firing back at Sonnen in a public setting:

Hopefully people will understand that they shouldn’t do anything against Chael, just boo him. Let Anderson settle this with him in the Octagon. It will be very bad for Brazil if something were to happen to him. The guy is an idiot, but he is promoting the fight and it will be the greatest MMA fight of all time.

I’d like to point out one of the more prescient things Soares said: “He is promoting the fight.” That’s an important aspect to consider here. Soares understands the fight game better than just about anyone else, and he knows that you’ve gotta do things outside the box if you want to hype a fight and create interest in pay-per-view main events.

Those of you have seen the excellent Anderson Silva documentary “Like Water” will remember the scene where Soares listens to Sonnen on a conference call, shaking his head at the ludicrous things the middleweight came up with during his hype job for the first fight with Silva. Soares laughed along with the rest of us.

But in the same movie, Soares shook his head at Silva’s terse one-word responses to media questions regarding the fight. Silva wasn’t playing the game, and that could have a major effect on the pay-per-view buyrate of the show. Affecting the buyrate meant that Silva’s final purse was also being affected, because he’s paid a percentage of revenue from each of those PPV purchases.

“I don’t know if he doesn’t get it, or he just doesn’t care,” Soares said.

Soares is right. Silva’s never played the game. He seems to have little to no interest in building up the rivalry for public consumption, and that hurts him as a drawing card. It’s the one thing he’s missing from his legendary resume; he’s the best fighter in the world, but his nonchalant attitude towards hyping fights means there’s ultimately less interest in seeing him fight, at least from the perspective of the mainstream audience.

I’m not saying Silva needs to go into pro-wrestler mode. Sonnen is handling that well enough on his own, and we probably don’t need two guys doing the same thing. But Silva needs to start acknowledging that Sonnen has gotten under his skin and he wants to make him pay. If that’s not the case, he can still pretend.

Silva won’t do it, though. For whatever reason, he’s decided he’s not going to play the game. Thank God he’s got Ed Soares in his corner to do it for him.

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Tito Ortiz Says If You Need Testosterone Replacement Therapy, Don’t Fight

Despite only winning one UFC fight in the last five years, Tito Ortiz has developed a pretty good career. He’s one of the biggest superstars in UFC history and one of the greatest light heavyweights of all time.Granted, he was in his prime during an er…

Granted, he was in his prime during an era that didn’t include Jon Jones or Lyoto Machida or Rashad Evans, but he’s still a lock for the UFC Hall of Fame as long as his relationship with Dana White is stable.

Ortiz has his wacky moments, to be sure, but when he speaks out about controversial topics like testosterone replacement therapy, I’m going to listen. Ortiz told John Joe O’Regan of Fighters Only Magazine:

And I have – for fifteen years I’ve competed and taken my drug tests, random drug tests, and passed everything because I am a true athlete. A lot of these guys are taking these supplements to make themselves more impressive or whatever, to become the fighters they want to be.

That’s their choice – my recommendation is don’t do it. If its against the law or against the sport, don’t do it and if you do have to do it, don’t fight anymore. That’s just my take on it… I will leave it there, I wont go into it any further.

I agree with Ortiz. As just about any legitimate medical doctor will tell you, there are no scenarios in which a man in his 20s or early 30s will need testosterone replacement therapy.

It’s just not medically necessary.

Someone like Todd Duffee, a hulking beast of a man who has yet to reach his 27th birthday, shouldn’t need his testosterone levels artificially boosted. Unless, of course, he’s damaged his body enough through using steroids that his levels are low to begin with.

But if you need a heavy cycle of TRT to bring your natural testosterone levels back to normal, you shouldn’t be fighting.

End of story.

I understand the need for older fighters to go on a TRT regimen, and you’ll never hear me begrudge someone like Dan Henderson the right to TRT usage. Henderson isn’t using testosterone to achieve an advantage in training; he’s simply using the drug to help him get back to normal levels. That’s a real explanation.

What I don’t understand—and never will understand—are fighters, still in the prime of their careers, who claim that they need testosterone to help them fight.

They don’t need it. They’re looking for an advantage. And if they truly need it, then their bodies are damaged past the point where they should be fighting.

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Ben Askren’s Fight Challenge to Ariel Helwani Proves He Doesn’t Get It

Earlier this week, I defended Ben Askren’s win over Douglas Lima on my Bellator 64 report card. Askren’s win wasn’t the most exciting title fight in history—that much is certainly true—but I tried to shift perspectives and point out that th…

Earlier this week, I defended Ben Askren‘s win over Douglas Lima on my Bellator 64 report card. Askren’s win wasn’t the most exciting title fight in history—that much is certainly true—but I tried to shift perspectives and point out that the responsibility for having an exciting fight falls on Askren’s opponent, because you already know what he’s going to do when you step in the cage with him.

If you can’t get out from underneath him, well, that’s just too bad. Askren doesn’t care about pleasing the fans.

My dude Ariel Helwani, on the most recent edition of the MMA Hour, pointed out that Askren’s win at Bellator 64 was fairly boring. Ariel was actually being nice. What he should’ve said, and didn’t, is that Askren’s win was one of the most boring fights in the history of the sport. Because it was.

Regardless, Askren didn’t respond to Helwani’s criticism very well:

Hey @arielhelwani I am still waiting on your expert advice. What strategy would have helped me finish the fight?

well I invite you to go in a cage with me. When you do that I will do your show. Otherwise kiss my ass.

Yes, Ben Askren challenged Ariel—a mixed martial arts journalist and a real reporter—to a fight.

I don’t know why the “well, you’ve never fought anyone so you can’t possibly have a valid opinion” response is so much more prevalent in MMA than in any other sport.

Is it because the MMA culture is filled with dudes who put on T-shirts with skulls, crosses and wings and instantly become tough guys? There’s a troubling subculture involved with this sport that isn’t just dangerous—it’s also ludicrous and a serious damper on the UFC’s attempts to be seen as a legitimate sport.

Guys like Askren don’t help, either.

It’s rare to see athletes from other sports claiming that journalists don’t know what they’re talking about because they’ve never thrown a touchdown in a Super Bowl or scored the game-winning shot in the NCAA tournament. Kevin Iole is a fantastic boxing journalist, and to the best of my knowledge, Kevin has never been heavyweight champion of the world, or even boxed in a professional fight.

Ariel is one of the best journalists in the sport, and he doesn’t just flippantly criticize fighters on their performances. He’s measured and thoughtful, so when he says publicly that you were in a boring fight, well, the chances are pretty good that you were actually in a boring fight.

Yeah, I’m tired of this argument. If you don’t want the fans or media calling you boring, don’t fight a boring style. I figured Askren was the one guy who truly didn’t care what the fans or media thought of his style, but I guess I was wrong.

I guess he’s just as sensitive as the rest of them.

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Thiago Silva Hasn’t Had the Easiest Year, but He’s Ready to Fight

We haven’t seen Thiago Silva in a UFC cage since UFC 125, way back on May of 2011. You probably remember the night. Silva abused Brandon Vera for a full 15 minutes, thrashing him around the cage with ease. He even played the bongos on Vera’s back,…

We haven’t seen Thiago Silva in a UFC cage since UFC 125, way back on May of 2011.

You probably remember the night. Silva abused Brandon Vera for a full 15 minutes, thrashing him around the cage with ease. He even played the bongos on Vera’s back, which really only served to humiliate Vera. The emphatic win sent Vera packing from the UFC, albeit only for a brief moment.

But it was Silva who was humiliated after the fight, when it was revealed that the urine sample Silva submitted to Nevada regulators contained a liquid not consistent with human urine. Yes, big bad Thiago Silva used a Whizzinator in an attempt to throw the NSAC for a loop.

The win over Vera was deemed a no-contest and Silva was suspended for one year.

Silva confessed his crime, did the time and now he’s returning on Saturday night against Alexander Gustafsson in the main event of UFC on FUEL 2. He spoke to MMAjunkie.com in Sweden about his return to the cage:

“It’s been a hard time, but I used the time off to take care of my body and take care of my injuries and recover,” he today told MMAjunkie.com. “I’m much better right now because I’m 100 percent healthy. And that’s the most important thing.”

I’ve always enjoyed Thiago Silva’s fights. Even when they’re boring as hell, he just has a menace about him that makes you think he could kill his opponent at any given moment. He faces a stern test in Gustafsson, but one thing’s for sure: It’s going to be one hell of a fight.

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Michael Schiavello Defends Alistair Overeem, Doesn’t Understand PED Testing

Your quote of the day comes from Michael Schiavello, and it’s a doozy.Schiavello, better known as “The Voice,” is an MMA announcer known for his over-the-top theatrics and his love for all things even remotely resembling professional wrestling. That’s …

Your quote of the day comes from Michael Schiavello, and it’s a doozy.

Schiavello, better known as “The Voice,” is an MMA announcer known for his over-the-top theatrics and his love for all things even remotely resembling professional wrestling. That’s all well and good. Schiavello isn’t my cup of tea, but I know a lot of people who really love his style.

I’ve had plenty of dealings with Schiavello over the years, but this latest quote is a bit silly. Schiavello appeared as a guest on this week’s edition of HDNet’s Inside MMA and said the following:

Everyone seems to be hanging Alistair out to dry. They’ve been nailing him to the cross and crucifying him, but it’s still two months away from his fight. You know, he hasn’t technically cheated. Because, unless he pisses hot on the fight night, how could he possibly have cheated? There’s still an opportunity he can get from the 14:1 down to the allowed 6:1 level by fight time. But we’re calling him out as a cheat, two months out from a fight?

Here’s the thing that Schiavello either doesn’t understand or is choosing to ignore: testing positive on a random test is the same thing as testing positive on fight night. There’s no difference between random drug tests and the ones they give you when you step out of the cage and head into the restroom to give a urine sample.

If your T/E levels are above 6:1 on fight night, you cheated. If they are above 6:1 on a random test, no matter when it took place, you still cheated. It’s the same thing.

This quote mostly made me laugh, simply because I know Schiavello is a smart man and he’s competent enough to understand how this works. If this is an epic trolling job by “The Voice,” then kudos, because people are falling for it hook, line and sinker.

That’s the only logical explanation for someone saying that testing positive during a random urine screening doesn’t actually count because it didn’t happen on fight night.

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