Author: kmowatt

As any regular reader of MMA Fix has probably noted by now, Jon “Bones” Jones continues to rise up our ‘Who’s the Man’ index, and certainly Sunday’s win over Brandon Vera, only furthered this (and yes, we’re aware this admiration is now bordering dangerously close to ‘nauseating’). At any rate, by taking out another notable vet like Vera, we speculated yesterday that Jones might be one win away from a title shot…

Well, it would seem like once again, we’ve jumped the gun (see what happens when you start adding Red Bull to your coffee). In a report from MMA Junkie this AM, UFC honcho Dana White was quoted saying that although he’s impressed with Jones (and really, who wouldn’t be, unless being difficult is your favorite past time), the light-heavyweight is still a ways away from getting a shot at the title.

“He’s not ready for that,” White said. “I’d like to see him get another year under his belt, and in that year, before he got a shot at the title, he’d have to take out Rashad (Evans), ‘Rampage’ (Jackson), possibly ‘Shogun’ (Rua) or (Lyoto) Machida, then get the title shot.”

Fair enough. There are certainly several top ranked fighters out there within striking distance of Machida, but at the same time, if Jones were to fight one of those aforementioned dudes and beat them, wouldn’t a title shot be in order?

Scheduling also plays a factor here, as after the smoke clears from Rua vs. Machida II and Jackson vs. Evans, none of those guys will be fighting again until probably the fall.

Aside from Jon “Bones” Jones stoppage of Brandon Vera last night, the other big story to emerge from the UFC on Versus card, was Junior Dos Santos bombing out Gabriel Gonzaga. Just like Jones, if some people weren’t talking about Dos Santos before, they should be now. Dos Santos has won 5 straight in the UFC and has demonstrated consistently, that his opponent’s brains don’t seem to respond well to the Brazilian’s punching power.

So what’s next? Well, according to a report from MMA Junkie, when asked about the possibility of matching Cain Velasquez up against Dos Santos, Dana White was non-committal, stating that he wants to see how the Frank Mir / Shane Carwin fight plays out first (White has already said that if the winner can’t fight Brock Lesnar, Velasquez would likely get a crack at the champ). Dos Santos vs. Velasquez would be damn interesting as remember, the last guy that Velasquez pounded out was “Minotauro” Nogueira, the mentor and close buddy of Dos Santos (how do you say revenge in Portuguese?) Speaking to Tatame.com, Dos Santos had this to say, when asked if he’s looking to avenge Nog’s loss to the undefeated prospect.

“It’s not about revenge, I’m cool with that, so does Rodrigo (Nogueira). I’d fight Cain for who he is, an undefeated fighter, a great fighter inside the UFC. I’d like to face him because of that. This revenge thing, I think Rodrigo can get that”

Nothing wrong with that.

What would a UFC post-fight press conference be without a healthy dose of ‘constructive criticism’’ being laid out by Dana White at someone, something, or some organization? Less interesting that’s for sure.  At last night’s presser in Broomfield, Colorado, it sounds like Mr. White had one or two less than kind things to say about Strikeforce, and in particular, the promotion’s decision to match Jake Shields up against Dan Henderson on April 17^th.

According to comments in a report from MMA Junkie, White blasted the upcoming bout not only because it features a more traditional welterweight in Shields taking on the much bigger Henderson, but also because of the fight’s timing.

“Jake Shields is on the last fight of his contract, so they’re feeding him to Dan Henderson right now because they want to get rid of him because he’s going to go away, or they’re going to have to pay him some big money to stick around or whatever the deal is,” White said. “‘We’re paying more money to Dan Henderson than we can afford already, so let’s get Jake’s ass kicked by Dan Henderson and get rid of Jake Shields.’

White also conceded that the UFC “would love to take him (Shields) from there” and although White clarified he has nothing against Strikeforce CEO Scott Coker, other eyebrow raising comments included phrases and terms like “stick it right up their ass” and it’s “bush-league [expletive]” (White also particularly dislikes someone at Showtime evidently). Check it out.  At the end Dana offers a little  coyness on the Fedor Emelianenko situation.

If anyone ever tells you that ground fighting is for ‘pussies,’ or that ‘sh-t never happens’ on the mat (you know, the kind of dude that starts booing two seconds after a fight hits the floor), feel free to introduce them to footage of Jon “Bones” Jones’ savage elbow to Brandon Vera last night. We’re thinking that the sound of Jones’ elbow smashing Vera’s face alone, should be enough to shut them up for a while. And when we say ‘smash’ are we exaggerating? Maybe not, as unfortunately there are early reports stating that Vera’s face is broken…yeah, there wasn’t even any blood and it still was a cringe for 2 minutes afterwards strike (the replay added an additional 3 minutes for us).

Speaking to UFC.com, Jones was quick to credit MMA guru Greg Jackson, for teaching him how to best batter an opponent’s face with an elbow from the top position.

“That elbow, that’s all Greg Jackson, he has a very distint ground-and-pound system; I realized Georges St. Pierre does the same style of elbow. It’s a Greg Jackson thing. I found my home. Everything is working.”

So, as many in the MMA world are falling over themselves to say today, yes, Jones is clearly the real dealio. We’ve been singing the praises of Jones for sometime now, and certainly last night’s ground-and-break peformance, did nothing to diminish our predictions that the light-heavyweight is going to do big things in the sport.

Here’s hoping that Vera has a speedy recovery. As for Jones, really, he’s probably what, one win away from a title shot?

Nate Marquardt has revealed this weekend that he was offered a May 29^th bout with fellow middleweight contender Michael Bisping, but due to the fact he and his wife are expecting their new child to be born on May27th, the fight’s a no-go. In a report from Fighters Only Magazine, Marquadt was quoted saying:

“They offered me Bisping for May 29th but I have a baby due on May 27th so I turned it down. I don’t want to have any regrets in life, like ‘Man, I missed my kid’s birth.”

While our self-centered, MMA addicted, personalities are extremely disappointed with Marquardt’s supposed ‘priorities’, there is some semblance of humanity inside of us saying that makes total sense. Family should always come first. We’re also thinking that Bisping might be saying the same thing, one, because he’s a dad, and two, fighting Marquardt is no cup of tea (we’re assuming Brits say ’cup of tea’ instead of ‘picnic’…the rain in the U.K. and all…). Although to be fair, Bisping is a keener when it comes to fighting the best.

The report goes on to say that sources have told Fighters Only that a bout between Bisping and Dan Miller has been verbally agreed to. That will also be a good fight; but no offense to Miller, he’s a tough dude with a damn fine ground game, he’s not as big a threat as Marquardt though. Still, you never know…

Here’s hoping that Bisping and Marquardt throw down at a later date. That would be a damntastic.

As any regular reader here nows, we’re pretty damn excited about tonight’s UFC on Versus main event tilt between Jon “Bones” Jones and Brandon “The Truth” Vera; both guys are reedonkously skilled and judging by yesterday’s weigh-ins, things have got a wee bit personal between the two lads (check out the vid here– props to Cage Potato for the heads up). Plus, it’s on Versus, so no one’s shelling out the grocery money to see this fight (although if you count beer as a food staple then…).

Anyone in their right mind, that has seen Jones fight, has to be excited about getting to see the wonder kid fight again. To date, Jone’s bouts have featured highlight reel slams, throws, spinning strikes, and yes, against Matt Hamill, about two dozen ‘ummm that’s not legal is it?’ elbows. In other words, it makes sense that people are talking, and talking a lot about Bones.

Of course tonight he’ll face another huge test in Vera (likely his toughest), and speaking to MMA Weekly, Jones sounded pretty, pretty, pretty confident about how his tilt with Vera will unfold.

“I have no doubt in my mind that I can beat Brandon Vera,” states Jones.

“At the end of the day, I just don’t get this crazy fear or anything. I respect his game. I know he has tons more experience than me and he’s been in the Octagon so many times, (there’s) no doubt in my mind.”

Should be interesting to see if Vera can derail the Jones machine. To bet on tonight’s bout, or any other on the card, head here.