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UFC 135: Jon Jones Says He Will Fight ‘Rampage’ Jackson

Following UFC 130, Dana White said Quinton “Rampage” Jackson would get the next shot at the UFC light-heavyweght title if he was healthy. According to a report by MMA Junkie, Jon Jones has said he will fight Rampage.”I’ll be fighting Quinton ‘Rampage’ …

“I’ll be fighting Quinton ‘Rampage’ Jackson next. I’m not allowed to discuss the date because I didn’t sign a contract, but yeah, it will be very soon.”

When asked when he’d like to return, Jones just had one thing to say, “September.”

With two events currently on the UFC schedule for September, one of them a UFC Fight Night, it would appear Jones will put his title on the line against Rampage at UFC 135. The fight will probably headline the Denver, Colo., event.

Both fighters have been battling hand injuries. Jones has an issue with one of his hand ligaments and was expected to have surgery until a doctor decided surgery was not necessary.

Jackson has an undisclosed hand injury that led to the Nevada State Athletic Commission suspending him until Nov. 25, but an orthopedic doctor can clear him early.

Jackson is 4-1 since losing the title to Forrest Griffin, and that loss was to Rashad Evans. The win gave Evans a shot at light-heavyweight title, but an injury forced him off the card, and Jones took his place and won.

Evans will now face Phil Davis at UFC 133. Evans’ original opponent was Jones, but his hand injury forced hm off the card.

Jackson has won two straight since the loss to Evans, defeating former light-heavyweight champ Lyoto Machida by split decision and Matt Hamill by unanimous decision.

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Nate Marquardt vs. Anthony Johnson: An Early Head To Toe Breakdown

In the Main Event of UFC on Versus 4 Nate Marquardt and Anthony Johnson will square off. This will be Marquardt’s debut at 170 pounds.He is also coming off of a win at 185 pounds against Dan Miller. Johnson is coming off of a win over Dan Hardy.N…

In the Main Event of UFC on Versus 4 Nate Marquardt and Anthony Johnson will square off. This will be Marquardt’s debut at 170 pounds.

He is also coming off of a win at 185 pounds against Dan Miller. Johnson is coming off of a win over Dan Hardy.

Now let’s break down this fight with punches, kicks, wrestling, submissions, quality of opponents and intangibles.

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The Ultimate Fighter 13 Finale: Should This Season Be Considered A Bust?

This Saturday another season of The Ultimate Fighter will come to a close. The show was started as a way for the UFC to market its product by showcasing what it is like for a fighter to train and to let people get to know fighters on a personal level.A…

This Saturday another season of The Ultimate Fighter will come to a close. The show was started as a way for the UFC to market its product by showcasing what it is like for a fighter to train and to let people get to know fighters on a personal level.

At the same time there was also a house with plenty of drama, the result of having 16 guys trapped in a house with no contact with the outside world and tons of free alcohol.

The first season was very memorable mainly because of an exciting finale and also how well the fighters fared in the UFC, but even without that it was an exciting season to watch.

Let’s look at the pros and cons of this season, starting with the cons.

First, there were no elimination fights. This led to fighters not having to earn their spot in the house, because it was expected that these fighters knew what was required of them. Keon Caldwell, however, was not prepared to spend that much time away from his family and chose to leave the show without even fighting.

Next, there were the injuries. Myles Jury, who came to the show sporting a 9-0 record, was considered one of the better prospects, but he injured his knee in evaluations and was forced to withdraw from the competition. Also, Justin Edwards put on an amazing first fight, but could not get a wild-card slot due to suffering a concussion resulting in a medical suspension.

The final con is all the build up the show is creating for a fight between the coaches, which is no longer happening. As with past seasons it makes the trash talk anti-climatic when there is no longer a fight at the end of the season to settle things.

Now onto the pros. The first has to be Brock Lesnar. For someone who is known for being extremely private, spending six weeks on the show with cameras on him had to be rough. Also, he admitted that he took an interest in his fighters and sometimes seemed very genuine when talking about his experiences fighting.

The second pro is that most of the fights have been above average. There have been a couple duds but many were exciting and kept viewers glued to the television.

One aspect that falls in the middle is the personalities of the fighters. Some do an excellent job of displaying the type of people most want identified with MMA. Others embody the street brawler image that many try to distance the sport from by talking about how castmates would be killed on the streets they are from.

Overall, the fights and Brock Lesnar make this season watchable television, but not must-see TV. The weaknesses create a series of what ifs and a feeling that this season is lacking compared to other seasons.

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UFC 130 Fight Card: Stann Not Fighting for Ultimate Fighter Slot

Dana White has denied reports that Brian Stann is fighting for a coaching spot on the next season of The Ultimate Fighter. Some reports indicated that if Stann were to defeat Jorge Santiago, Stann would face off against Micheal Bisping as a coach on th…

Dana White has denied reports that Brian Stann is fighting for a coaching spot on the next season of The Ultimate Fighter. Some reports indicated that if Stann were to defeat Jorge Santiago, Stann would face off against Micheal Bisping as a coach on the next season of The Ultimate Fighter, which is scheduled to begin filming in the next few weeks.

Stann is the former WEC light heavyweight champion and current middleweight contender in the UFC. Stann is currently riding a two-fight win streak following a drop to the middleweight division. He has finished both fights at middleweight, including a first-round knockout of the hard-hitting Chris Leben in his last outing.

Stann’s opponent Saturday is Jorge Santiago. Santiago is the former Sengoku middleweight champion. He is also on a two-fight win streak. Santiago has only gone the distance in five of his 31 fights.

Bisping had been slated to face Chael Sonnen as coaches on the upcoming season of The Ultimate Fighter, but that plan has been discarded following the California State Athletic Commision’s ruling to uphold the suspension of Sonnen’s license.

Bisping has previously appeared on the third and ninth season of the reality show. In Season 3, Bisping was on Tito Ortiz’s team and ended up winning the light heavyweight tournament. On Season 9, Bisping was the coach of the UK team that faced Dan Henderson’s United States team.

Bisping suffered a brutal knockout at UFC 100 in the coach’s fight for that season. Bisping rebounded to go 4-1 since the loss and is on a three-fight win streak.

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UFC Rio: Ben Rothwell’s Return and Rumored Opponent

According to a report on MMA Mania, Ben Rothwell will be returning to action this August at UFC: Rio. He is rumored to have two possible opponents as well, Brendan Schaub and Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira.If Rothwell fights at UFC: Rio, it would be hi…

If Rothwell fights at UFC: Rio, it would be his first fight in over a year. Rothwell will look to build on his last fight that saw him claim a unanimous decision victory over Gilbert Yvel.

The fight was considered lackluster by many fans, and even Rothwell said he was not pleased with his performance.

In his UFC debut, Rothwell faced Cain Velaquez. That bout saw Rothwell dominated by Velaquez, and the referee stopped the action in the second round giving Rothwell the TKO defeat.

Brendan Schaub is 8-1 with only one fight going the distance. He is currently on a four-fight win streak in the UFC, after being knocked out by Roy Nelson in the Ultimate Fighter 10 finale. That loss resulted in Nelson winning the season and Schaub finishing as the runner up.

Antonio Rodrigo Nogueria has not fought since suffering a first-round knockout at the hands of Cain Velasquez in February 2010. The reason for the long layoff is a string of surgeries.

First, was a knee surgery to reconstruct his ACL, followed by two hip surgeries. Nogueria has said that he hopes to begin training again in May and be ready to fight when UFC: Rio arrives in August. If he does fight on the card, it will be his first fight in his career in his homeland.

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UFC 129 Results: Cesar Gracie Surprised at Jake Shields’ Striking Skills vs. GSP

In the main event last Saturday, fans saw Georges St-Pierre defend his welterweight title against Jake Shields. The bout was mostly a striking battle that saw GSP take the decision.According to Fight Opinion, Cesar Gracie was surprised at how wel…

In the main event last Saturday, fans saw Georges St-Pierre defend his welterweight title against Jake Shields. The bout was mostly a striking battle that saw GSP take the decision.

According to Fight Opinion, Cesar Gracie was surprised at how well Shields fared when the fight was standing.

Gracie commented, “I thought Jake probably performed the best out of everybody because it looked to me like, you know, he…if that fight kept going, Jake wins, is what it looked like to me. He hurt St. Pierre, broke his nose, popped his eye, and I was really surprised how well he did standing with the guy.”

Gracie credits a change in coaches for the improvement. “I got him with a new boxing coach, this guy named Mario, and the guy really tuned up Jake’s game. He was throwing a great jab. He landed the right hand a couple of times really hard and I really think it caught GSP off-track to see how good Jake has come along in the stand-up department.”

The game plan for the fight however was to take the fight to the ground, “Actually, we did want that fight on the ground because I truly believe that Jake is superior on the ground than GSP and I think even GSP believes that, so that’s why you saw him not really wanting to engage.”

Unfortunately for Shields, his improved striking was not enough to earn him the victory. Shields now waits to see who his next opponent will be in his quest to gain another title shot.

GSP is also waiting to see who the next challenger to his title will be. Much of the hype points to Shields’ teammate and current Strikeforce welterweight champion, Nick Diaz.

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