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UFC 140: Why Jon ‘Bones’ Jones Will Prove Karate Is Overrated

Lyoto Machida’s Karate is not the enigmatic, invincible style many once thought it was. UFC light heavyweight champion Jon Jones will prove this without a doubt.Machida’s abilities were once the stuff legends were made of; he even had his own “era” wit…

Lyoto Machida‘s Karate is not the enigmatic, invincible style many once thought it was. UFC light heavyweight champion Jon Jones will prove this without a doubt.

Machida’s abilities were once the stuff legends were made of; he even had his own “era” without having actually defended his title!

However, his era came crashing down along with the rest of his body when Mauricio “Shogun” Rua knocked out the Karate stylist at UFC 113 in less than four minutes.

One flashy kick later, people are anointing the coming years at light heavyweight the Machida Era 2.0 out of the belief that Machida’s famously elusive style will defeat current UFC light heavyweight champion Jon Jones.

Unfortunately for the Machida fans (and fans of Karate as a whole), Jones will show the MMA world just how overrated Machida’s Karate and Karate in general is.

First of all, Jones’ reach advantage over Machida is enormous. Jones’ reach is 84.5 inches, Machida’s is only 74 inches. That’s a 10.5 inch reach disadvantage that Machida will have to overcome (to put it into more familiar terms, Jones’ reach is nearly an entire ruler longer).

This massive difference in reach will allow Jones to strike and move out of the range of Machida’s effective counter strikes.

Another problem for Machida will be Jones’ wrestling and grappling. Jones has managed to bring nearly all of his opponents to the ground. Once there, he has dominated them with relative ease.

Can Machida’s feeble Karate really stop Jones’ wrestling, Muay Thai, and Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu?

No. Not by a long shot.

Karate is dying as a martial art because it’s techniques were watered down and taught in McDojos across the country, teaching ineffective things to children whose insecure parents thought they were making their kid the next Bruce Lee.

Machida did frustrate opponents initially with his Karate base, true enough, but he was only so popular because of the novelty of what he was doing; stifling people with a martial art many thought had been discredited.

But really, Karate was discredited by Rua and it will be discredited again by Jones. Machida was great until fighters realized that his karate base meant his hands were almost always at his waist and that when confronted with strikes he left his chin straight up in the air.

Jones will make short work of Machida and his vaunted, ‘elusive,’ esoteric Karate and finish the fight, be it standing up or on the ground.

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UFC 143: GSP Injured: Why Georges St. Pierre vs. Nick Diaz Will Never Happen

Georges St. Pierre vs. Nick Diaz is the greatest fight to never happen.But there’s still time, right?Wrong.All the buildup and hype behind a fight between the champion St. Pierre and challenger Nick Diaz was all for naught. Diaz and St. Pierre will nev…

Georges St. Pierre vs. Nick Diaz is the greatest fight to never happen.

But there’s still time, right?

Wrong.

All the buildup and hype behind a fight between the champion St. Pierre and challenger Nick Diaz was all for naught. Diaz and St. Pierre will never be in the Octagon together.

As unfortunate as this may be, it becomes painfully clear that this fight can’t happen when the facts are examined.

St. Pierre didn’t suffer a minor injury that’ll keep him out for a few weeks. He suffered a complete tear of his ACL—a serious injury that’ll keep him out of the sport for nearly a year.

The most immediate consequence of this is that he obviously can’t compete against Diaz at UFC 143. Carlos Condit has stepped in to face the Stockton brawler, but that’s not the fight that fans truly want to see.

Fans have missed St. Pierre and Diaz at UFC 137, when Diaz abdicated his media responsibilities, and was therefore ejected from the title fight by UFC president Dana White. And now fans have missed the much-anticipated bout for a second time.

The main question now becomes, will we ever see this fight happen?

Not in 2012, and not ever.

Let’s first examine St. Pierre’s recovery time. Assuming he’ll be back in 10 months as estimated, that makes him set to return around October 2012.

Condit vs. Diaz is taking place in February 2012.

So the winner of Condit-Diaz will either have to wait eight months to fight St. Pierre, or fight one of the many other deserving welterweight contenders in the meantime.

If the latter option is taken, there’s no guarantee that Diaz will ever meet St. Pierre, since Diaz’s wrestling has always been his Achilles’ heel, and strong welterweight wrestlers like Jake Ellenberger, Jon Fitch, and Josh Koscheck will tear Diaz apart before St. Pierre can get to him.

This is all assuming that Diaz even makes it past Condit, which isn’t a certainty either.

While Diaz’s chances against Condit are better than they were against St. Pierre, they still aren’t that great.

Condit’s striking is more dynamic and powerful than any fighter Diaz has faced so far, and Diaz’s patented “Stockton Slap” may not faze Condit.

Also, Condit’s heavy hands may present problems for Diaz, whose striking defense isn’t quite up to par (if you remember, he was rocked badly several times by Paul Daley).

St. Pierre-Diaz is a fight that the MMA world wants to see for one reason or another. Unfortunately, a lot of things can go badly over the 10 months St. Pierre will be out.

Tthe greatest welterweight fight of all time may be one that never exists.

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UFC 140: What Movies Would Lyoto Machida, Tito Ortiz and Other MMA Fighters Be?

MMA fighters and movies. Nothing in common? Think again.The sport of MMA has been host to many a personality as well as actions that define a career forever.If the fighters with these personality traits or involved in these (in)famous actions were to b…

MMA fighters and movies. Nothing in common? Think again.

The sport of MMA has been host to many a personality as well as actions that define a career forever.

If the fighters with these personality traits or involved in these (in)famous actions were to be paired with a well known movie, what movie would it be?

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UFC 140 Fight Card: 4 Reasons Jon Jones Is the Tim Tebow of MMA

Controversial Denver Broncos quarterback Tim Tebow and UFC light heavyweight champion Jon Jones are one and the same but play in different sports.How can an African-American wrestler from New York and a child born to Christian missionaries in the Phili…

Controversial Denver Broncos quarterback Tim Tebow and UFC light heavyweight champion Jon Jones are one and the same but play in different sports.

How can an African-American wrestler from New York and a child born to Christian missionaries in the Philippines be so similar?

There are several ways. Read and find out what those ways are.

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TUF 14 Finale Results: Questions Answered and Lessons Learned

The Ultimate Fighter Season 14 has concluded. Diego Brandao and John Dodson have proven that they are the 14h incarnations of the Ultimate Fighter, and Michael Bisping exposed Jason “Mayhem” Miller as overrated.There were other fights throughout the ni…

The Ultimate Fighter Season 14 has concluded. Diego Brandao and John Dodson have proven that they are the 14h incarnations of the Ultimate Fighter, and Michael Bisping exposed Jason “Mayhem” Miller as overrated.

There were other fights throughout the night that not only entertained but answered questions and taught the MMA world valuable lessons.

What were these fights and what was learned? Read and find out!

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UFC 144: Is the Downfall of Japanese MMA Great for the UFC?

Japanese MMA is dying, but is the UFC really set to make the ‘killing blow’ in February with UFC 144?After all, MMA in Japan is a fad, right?After enjoying a period of tremendous popularity with organizations like Pancrase and the now defunct-but-legen…

Japanese MMA is dying, but is the UFC really set to make the ‘killing blow’ in February with UFC 144?

After all, MMA in Japan is a fad, right?

After enjoying a period of tremendous popularity with organizations like Pancrase and the now defunct-but-legendary Pride Fighting Championships, Japanese MMA has hit a rough patch that keeps getting rougher—in part thanks to the unfortunate circumstances of the terrible natural disaster that struck the island nation.

But, even before that time, Japanese MMA was in decline. The shows held by Dream—the organization that attempted to carry the post-Pride banner of Japanese MMA—were a far cry from when over 90,000 fans were present at the first Pride Shockwave event in 2002.

Thus, as time went on, Japan—a nation that was once light years ahead of the world in terms of martial arts—has simply lost interest in MMA.

Can this be to the UFC’s benefit?

Maybe.

Yes, the UFC has no strong competition in Dream, Shooto, Pancrase or any of the other Japanese MMA promotions since the sport is losing popularity, but the decline of MMA will hurt the UFC’s efforts to establish a foothold on the island as well.

But the UFC is going into Japan with guns blazing.

The UFC is packing the fight card with many Japanese fighters (seven to be precise) as well as fighters who made their name back in Pride such as Quinton “Rampage” Jackson and Mark Hunt.

Also, UFC 144 is being held in the Saitama Super Arena, essentially the Japanese Madison Square Garden since it has held legendary MMA and professional wrestling events over the years. It will give the event a sense of historical legitimacy.

So if the UFC does great attendance numbers and puts on a great show, they would have “saved” Japanese MMA and would’ve continued to foster the growth of MMA across the world.

They can slowly begin to erase Pride’s legacy in Japan and force organizations like Dream into becoming local promotions akin to the King of the Cage or Shark Fights in the U.S.

However, if the UFC fails in its efforts and gets lackluster attendance, then no one will benefit.

MMA in Japan will have been proven to be a fad who’s decline is irreversible. The forge in which a significant part of MMA was kindled will die, and the significant contributions that Japan (in its fighters, techniques, and its organizations) made will eventually be lost to the ages, as is the fate of any fad.

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