Fifth-ranked T.J. Grant took care of business at UFC 160 by defeating No. 3 Gray Maynard in the first round.The win earns him a crack at UFC Lightweight Champion Benson Henderson later this year.The lightweight division is full of well-rounded athletes…
Fifth-ranked T.J. Grant took care of business at UFC 160 by defeating No. 3 Gray Maynard in the first round.
The win earns him a crack at UFC Lightweight Champion Benson Henderson later this year.
The lightweight division is full of well-rounded athletes who have trouble getting on winning streaks due to the quality of competition. They beat up on one another. The lightweights have had a great start to 2013, and that looks to continue with the rise of other talented prospects.
These are the top 10 lightweights under the UFC banner.
UFC 160 has passed us by, and it gave us a good look at a number of fighters.The 12-fight card delivered several fantastic battles and performances. Two fighters you won’t see on this list are top heavyweights Cain Velasquez and Junior dos Santos. Thei…
UFC 160 has passed us by, and it gave us a good look at a number of fighters.
The 12-fight card delivered several fantastic battles and performances. Two fighters you won’t see on this list are top heavyweights Cain Velasquez and Junior dos Santos. Their stock has stayed the same. Nothing changed at UFC 160.
As for others on the card, there was definitely some movement on their stocks.
Take a gander at the post-UFC 160 stock report to see who has risen, and who is seeing their stock plummet after Saturday’s action.
UFC 160 will come to you live on Saturday night from the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas. The main event will feature Cain Velasquez defending the UFC Heavyweight Championship against Antonio “Bigfoot” Silva in a rematch of their 2012 fig…
UFC 160 will come to you live on Saturday night from the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas. The main event will feature Cain Velasquez defending the UFC Heavyweight Championship against Antonio “Bigfoot” Silva in a rematch of their 2012 fight.
The co-main event could determine the next top contender in the heavyweight division when No. 1-ranked Junior dos Santos takes on No. 8-ranked Mark Hunt.
Twelve fights in total line the card and are ready to get underway Saturday evening. Stay right here for live reactions for each and every fight at UFC 160.
Weigh-In Results:
Cain Velasquez (240) vs. Antonio Silva (263) Junior dos Santos (239) vs. Mark Hunt (264) Glover Teixeira (205) vs. James Te Huna (206) Gray Maynard (156) vs. T.J. Grant (155) Donald Cerrone (155) vs. K.J. Noons (156) Mike Pyle (170) vs. Rick Story (169) Dennis Bermudez (146) vs. Max Holloway (145) Colton Smith (170) vs. Robert Whittaker (171) Khabib Nurmagomedov (158.5) vs. Abel Trujillo (155)* Stephen Thompson (170) vs. Nah-Shon Burrell (172) Brian Bowles (135) vs. George Roop (135) Jeremy Stephens (146) vs. Estevan Payan (145)
* Nurmagomedov forfeits 20 percent of his purse for coming in over weight. Ten percent goes to the Nevada State Athletic Commission, and 10 percent goes to Abel Trujillo.
Junior dos Santos is set for the co-main event at UFC 160 this Saturday. He will take on feared striker Mark Hunt with a potential title shot hanging in the balance.The former UFC heavyweight champion will try to come back from the loss that cost him t…
Junior dos Santos is set for the co-main event at UFC 160 this Saturday. He will take on feared striker Mark Hunt with a potential title shot hanging in the balance.
The former UFC heavyweight champion will try to come back from the loss that cost him the crown. UFC 155 saw Cain Velasquez dominate JDS with a complete performance. The champion was battered, bruised and beaten down.
Hunt has had a career resurgence, and he hopes to keep the knockouts coming against JDS on Saturday. The highly anticipated battle between strikers is one of the key selling points to the PPV.
Here are four reasons JDS really needs to take it to Hunt and get his hand raised at UFC 160.
Jon Jones, UFC light heavyweight champion, has absolutely nothing left to prove in the division. None. Some of you are sitting behind your computer screens or smart phones saying that he still has challenges left. Well, I hate to be the one to break it…
Jon Jones, UFC light heavyweight champion, has absolutely nothing left to prove in the division. None.
Some of you are sitting behind your computer screens or smart phones saying that he still has challenges left. Well, I hate to be the one to break it to you, but he doesn’t. He is, and has been, the greatest light heavyweight of all time.
Lets begin by recapping his light heavyweight tenure.
Jones made his debut as a late replacement against a budding prospect in Andre Gusmao. Jones won, and the curiosity level around the sport piqued. From 2009-2010, he would go 4-1 with his lone loss being highly controversial vs. Matt Hamill. Many still view the champion as being undefeated.
After 2010, Jones was already seen as the future of the division, but next to no one expected his rise to be as meteoric. Next to no one expected the single greatest year in division history.
In the span of 11 months, Jones dispatched of rising contender Ryan Bader, won the championship on short notice against Mauricio “Shogun” Rua, dominated former champion Quinton “Rampage” Jackson, and left former champion LyotoMachida unconscious on the canvas.
He is 3-0 since that incredible calendar year, and there is nothing left for him in the division. Is it really necessary for him to defend the title once more to break Tito Ortiz’s record for fans to know he’s the greatest the division has ever seen? No.
Dan Henderson and Alexander Gustafsson seem to be the only challengers left that he has yet to face. Henderson is older, slow and plodding. He has one great strike, and his wrestling is vastly overrated in the MMA terms.
Gustafsson is a quality prospect, but one who has already shown holes in his game that Jones would have little problem with.
Don’t get me wrong, I would pay to watch those fights. I just would not be paying for competitive action. I would be paying to see Jones’ brilliance in the Octagon.
Then there is the inevitable superfight discussion against Anderson Silva. Does that really add to Jones’ legacy? Think about it.
Silva is 38 years old. And he is a middleweight. Jones is a freak athlete that is still growing and learning at the ripe age of 25. And he is a light heavyweight.
Jones is supposed to win that fight. Yes, Silva is the greatest we have seen but weight classes are in place for a reason. The physical gifts Jones has are his greatest asset, and he uses them better than the technical skills he is continuing to refine.
I hate to shatter your dreams, but Jones would defeat Silva and make it look relatively easy in the process.
The move to heavyweight is his only great challenge.
The only question Jones has to answer is if he wants to test himself. If he does, he will make the trek to heavyweight. However, that is not an easy decision. If could elevate him to being one of the greatest fighters of all time, or alter his current trajectory in a downward fashion. He won’t take that decision lightly.
But one thing is for certain…there is nothing left for him to prove at 205 pounds.
Junior dos Santos makes his return to the UFC’s Octagon for the first time since being beat down by Cain Velasquez in their heavyweight title tilt in December. He will battle Mark Hunt in the evening’s co-main event. This bout features two of the best …
Junior dos Santos makes his return to the UFC’s Octagon for the first time since being beat down by Cain Velasquez in their heavyweight title tilt in December. He will battle Mark Hunt in the evening’s co-main event.
This bout features two of the best strikers in the division and two of the hardest hitters. Dos Santos is a powerful boxer, and Hunt is a former K-1 champion. Fans are expecting fireworks.
However, three questions immediately come to mind when talking about this fight.
How did UFC 155 effect JDS’ confidence?
Dos Santos is one of the most confident people you will ever meet. He is a jovial character who believes in his abilities. That confidence played a big role in him capturing the UFC heavyweight championship.
At UFC 155, Velasquez broke his will. Velasquez dominated the fight in every facet.
JDS got touched up on the feet, repeatedly dragged to the canvas and pummeled in every which way. He was a defeated man after that fight. Velasquez broke him.
Sometimes after a fight like that fighters never return to the cage the same way. They lose their confidence. They lose that mental edge they used to have. Has that happened to JDS? We will find out at UFC 160 on Saturday.
A good bet is to say that he will have trained harder than ever, but we won’t truly know until we see him in action.
Will he stand and trade with Hunt?
This is what fans most want to see. They want these two elite strikers to stand toe-to-toe until someone drops.
That is typically what both of these men want to do, but I’m not sure we should expect that in this fight.
JDS needs a win. The smartest course of action against Hunt is to grapple with him. That is clearly not his strong suit, and it is the path of least resistance. However, when a fighter loves to strike they may decide to do that regardless of the individual matchup.
He may, in fact, have the skills to throw with Hunt. JDS’ boxing skills are second to none in MMA, but Hunt has an incredible chin and can wade through punches to deliver his own. Does JDS really want to risk allowing Hunt inside of his reach?
We haven’t seen dos Santos utilize his wrestling much, but we have seen it sparingly. At UFC 160 we will most likely find out very quickly if we’ll see it again in this fight.
How good are his submission skills?
This question may still have to be asked after the fight. Hunt isn’t exactly known for his submission defense.
Anyway, if JDS does take this fight to the mat we will finally get a glimpse in to his ground game.
It has been much talked about since his UFC debut. We know he idolizes Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira. We have seen the love he has for his hero, but at UFC 160 we may see a tiny bit of what he has learned over the years.
There is no question that he can submit Hunt. Any heavyweight that has a mediocre ground game can do that. It is simply not Hunt’s specialty. We have seen him tap to rudimentary submissions.
If JDS takes him down it will be interesting to see how quickly he sets up and completes a submission. He may chose to ground-and-pound, but if the fight hits the canvas I have a feeling most fans want to see where his submission acumen lies.
Those three questions pop up for JDS entering this fight. We are just a few days out from getting the answers.
