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Conor McGregor’s Coach Omits Jon Jones From His MMA Mount Rushmore

Conor McGregor’s coach, John Kavanagh, recently shared his picks for an MMA Mount Rushmore. Intriguingly, Jon Jones was conspicuously absent from his list. The reigning UFC heavyweight champion’s name is a natural inclusion in any conversation about the greatest MMA fighter of all time (GOAT), and his achievements would appear to certainly validate that status. […]

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Conor McGregor’s coach, John Kavanagh, recently shared his picks for an MMA Mount Rushmore. Intriguingly, Jon Jones was conspicuously absent from his list.

The reigning UFC heavyweight champion’s name is a natural inclusion in any conversation about the greatest MMA fighter of all time (GOAT), and his achievements would appear to certainly validate that status. “Bones” boasts a career marked by extraordinary accomplishments and historic milestones.

At just 23, Jones made history by defeating then-light heavyweight champion Mauricio Rua in the third round at UFC 128 in March 2011, securing his place as the youngest UFC champion ever. From that moment, he never looked back, embarking on a remarkable journey that culminated in an unprecedented 13 successful title defenses.

In recent times, no one has been more vocally supportive of Jones’ status as the GOAT and the top pound-for-pound fighter than UFC CEO Dana White. White has been notably immersed in extensive discussions, staunchly defending the 37-year-old New Yorker’s legacy.

However, Kavanagh’s all-time MMA elite list boasts an array of unexpected names, and it overlooks Jones despite his legendary career…

Kavanagh Reveals Five Picks for MMA Mount Rushmore With No Jones

During a recent discussion with Lucky Block, Kavanagh was prompted to name the greatest MMA fighters of all time. The renowned coach listed five names, deviating from the traditional four-person Mount Rushmore.

Naturally, Kavanagh included “The Notorious” as his first pick, highlighting the remarkable achievements of his student and the profound impact he’s had on the sport.

“Unsurprisingly, I’m going to name Conor first because he became the first simultaneous two-weight world champion. That’s no small feat, but also what he did for the game in general, his general introduction of MMA to a whole world who would have never seen it, really. He’s the first and maybe the only one to truly cross over into, let’s say, normal life, and obviously, now he’s in movies as well. A lot of people to be thankful that if you’re involved in the MMA industry, you probably had a few guys walk into your gym because of Conor’s influence.”

Kavanagh then listed Russian MMA icon Fedor Emelianenko among his favorites, followed by UFC Hall of Famer BJ Penn, recognizing his McGregor-esque achievements.

For his fourth pick, he named another legend, former longtime UFC middleweight champion Anderson Silva.

“Number two, I’ll say Fedor Emelianenko. He’s one of my favorite fighters of all time. Incredible Russian fighter. I’m going to say, BJ Penn, another two-weight world champion. Incredible skill set. At four, I have to go for Anderson Silva. I think some record number of title defenses and just so skillful, you watch him back in the day when he was fighting someone who’s a kind of a friend of mine, Forrest Griffin. Forrest is so tough, so durable, so good, and Anderson made the poor guy look like he’d never trained. He has amazing skills.”

The SBG Ireland founder placed the first women’s UFC bantamweight champion, Ronda Rousey, as his fifth pick, celebrating her as a trailblazer who revolutionized women’s MMA.

“At five I will say Ronda Rousey and not just for her amazing victories in the UFC, but the fact that she really introduced women’s MMA to the world. Dana was pretty headstrong all those years, saying he would never have women in MMA. And I think he took one look at her and said, let’s get women in MMA. So, there we go. That’s my five.”

Kavanagh’s omission of “Bones” from his MMA Mount Rushmore is indeed surprising, but he’s not alone in leaving out the former light heavyweight champion.

Recently, UFC middleweight veteran Sam Alvey has also excluded Jones from his list of top fighters, further stirring curiosity about Jones’ place in the pantheon of MMA greatness.

Read More: Jon Jones Reacts To Inclusion On Dana White’s MMA Mount Rushmore

Continue Reading Conor McGregor’s Coach Omits Jon Jones From His MMA Mount Rushmore at MMA News.

Anthony Taylor Destroys Anderson Silva’s Son with Brutal TKO, Challenges Darren Till and Floyd Mayweather

Anthony Taylor Gabriel Silva Anderson Sivla Misfits Boxing 17 Anderson Silva’s son Gabriel got a brutal beatdown by Anthony Taylor at Misfits Boxing 17 in a shocking turn…

Anderson Silva’s son Gabriel got a brutal beatdown by Anthony Taylor at Misfits Boxing 17 in a shocking turn of events. After securing the big win, Taylor wasted no time before making some big callouts.

The fight between Gabriel Silva and Anthony Taylor came to fruition because YouTube personality turned boxer KSI withdrew from a two-vs.-one boxing match that was set to feature Taylor. So, the son of MMA legend Anderson Silva was added to the mix, and suddenly, the Misfits Boxing 17 card was saved.

The fight between Taylor and Silva was an interesting one. On the one hand, you had Taylor, who floundered about the MMA scene, from fighting for brands like Bellator to becoming a largely exhibitionist boxer under organizations like Misfits Boxing. On the other hand, there is Gabriel Silva. Largely untested but still the son of one of the greatest champions and mixed martial artists ever to grace this planet.

Anthony Taylor runs through Gabriel Silva at Misfits Boxing 17

Sadly, the challenge proved too great for Anderson Silva’s boy, and Taylor walked away as the victor after only three rounds. It was an impressive showing from the MMA journeyman, and it will likely help pave the way for fights in the future against bigger and better names.

The damage was largely done in the third round, as Taylor dropped Silva three times to end the battle. On the second to last knockdown, a picturesque right hand found a home and sent Gabriel Silva into a different realm momentarily.

Anthony Taylor just KO’d Anderson Silva’s son then called out Darren Till and Mayweatherpic.twitter.com/lxTZG1Jxls

— Happy Punch (@HappyPunch) August 31, 2024

Although Silva managed to answer the count, it wasn’t meant to be. He would go on to get dropped again, and the fight was officially over. Taylor was undoubtedly thrilled to have scored such a big victory for his resume, and he made the most of his mic time to make some potentially unreasonable but nonetheless exciting callouts.

Darren Till, I know you watching!” Exclaimed Anthony Taylor after the bout. “Hey, If you see this message, bring it! Floyd Mayweather, I’ll knock you little skinny a** out too. Bring it, ’cause best believe I ain’t going nowhere!”

What do you think the odds are that Anthony Taylor could actually land himself a fight with Darren Till, or Floyd Mayweather?

Gerald Meerschaert comments on breaking Anderson Silva’s record: “I’ve got a lot more fights to go”

With his second-round submission victory against Edmen Shahbazyan at UFC Vegas 96 on Saturday, Gerald Meerschaert now has the…

With his second-round submission victory against Edmen Shahbazyan at UFC Vegas 96 on Saturday, Gerald Meerschaert now has the most finishes in middleweight history, overtaking the record once held by the great Anderson Silva.

‘GM3’ had to dig deep after finding himself in big trouble during the second stanza. Shahbazyan delivered an onslaught of strikes on the ground, targeting Meerschaerts head with fists and elbows. Continuing to move and protect himself, referee Mark Smith allowed the action to continue. Before long, the barrage of blows came to a halt as Shahbazyan appeared to gas himself out going for the finish.

Eventually, Shahbazyan allowed Meerschaert back to his feet which gave ‘GM3’ the opportunity to secure an easy takedown. Once he was on top, it was just a matter of time.

The Racine, Wisconsin native moved into 3/4 mount and locked in an arm triangle that forced Shahbazyan to tap out.

In addition to breaking Silva’s longstanding record, Meerschaert also kept his 100% finish rate intact under the UFC banner.

Gerald Meerschaert has a lot more fights ahead after record-breaking performance

Asked about his accomplishment during the post-fight press conference, ‘GM3’ admitted that being mentioned in the same sentence as someone like ‘The Spider’ is pretty cool, but he still has a lot more work to do inside the Octagon.

”It’s cool to say, I don’t think about it too much right now,” Meerschaert said. “It’s just kind of one fight at a time, and I wish I could give you more than that because it is a cool thing. Truthfully, if I sit here and stop and give myself a little pat on the back, like, that’s awesome — just to have my name in the same conversation or sentence as somebody like Anderson Silva or Demian Maia and guys like that, that’s great — but I got a lot of fight left in me, I’ve got a lot more fights to go” (h/t Sportskeeda).

Meerschaert has submitted 29 of his opponents in 37 career victories with another six wins coming by way of knockout making him one of the most prolific finishers in all of MMA.

On This Day: UFC 117 Anderson Silva vs. Chael Sonnen — A Title Fight for the Ages – August 7, 2010

On this day in MMA, Chael Sonnen and Anderson Silva had one of the most exciting title matches in…

On this day in MMA, Chael Sonnen and Anderson Silva had one of the most exciting title matches in UFC history. In the main event of UFC 117. August 7, 2010, live from Oakland, California, a future UFC Hall of Fame fight would go down in the history books.

UFC 117 – August 7, 2010

Chael Sonnen was not quite yet known as a smooth-talking trash-talker at this time. This title fight, the leadup, is what put him on the map as someone that fans need to listen to. The US-born Sonnen was a standout wrestler and a good WEC middleweight champion. After a small win streak in the UFC’s middleweight division, he earned a crack at ‘The Spider.’

Making a case for being an all-time great MMA fighter ‘The Spider’ Anderson Silva was looking untouchable at this time. With an incredible Round 1 KO in 2006, he earned the UFC middleweight title, smashing the nose of then-champion Rich Franklin. The Brazil-born Silva would defend his title in six bouts, winning a total of ten UFC fights leading up to UFC 117, eight by way of knockout.

Anderson Silva was among the greats at the top of the pound-for-pound list, competing with names such as Georges St-Pierre, Fedor Emelianenko, Mauricio ‘Shogun’ Rua, BJ Penn, and Jose Aldo.

West Linn Oregon’s Sonnen knew it was going to be a long and painful night for him at UFC 117. Speaking ahead of time to the media, he said:

“He’s very sharp in that, he’s so skinny and long. His elbows are sharp. His knees are sharp. His fists are sharp. And he’s going to hurt – he’s going to hurt me really bad on August 7th. But I’m confident that I can deal with the pain, walk through it, go to the hospital that night and leave with the championship belt anyway.”

The trash talk from Sonnen would become iconic. He delivered unforgettable lines such as:

“He’s got a black belt under the Nogueiras. I think a black belt under the Nogueiras is saying, like, ‘I got a free toy in my Happy Meal.’ I don’t really understand what the big deal is. One of ’em’s a punching bag, and the other one I just ignore; he’s really irrelevant.”

This was the first meeting of what would become an incredible rivalry that would escalate and define both men’s MMA careers.

Anderson Silva set to fight Chael Sonnen in boxing match trilogy in Brazil this July

Anderson Silva vs. Chael Sonnen

Anderson Silva had no issue dispatching wrestlers before. He stopped two-division PRIDE FC champion Dan Henderson and made it look easy. World champion Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu grapplers such as Thales Leites, Travis Lutter, and Demian Maia, could scarcely touch ‘The Spider.’ So why would UFC 117 be any different? This was the question leading into the middleweight title fight.

Then, shockingly, Chael Sonnen took Anderson Silva down and kept him down. From there, he attacked with punches. Next, Sonnen did it again, and again. Something that no one had been able to do before against the untouchable Brazilian champion. Sonnen had earned nearly 20 minutes of control time in total.

It wasn’t just the wrestling; Sonnen was out-striking Anderson Silva on the feet as well. With an overhand he made the champion stumble – the first time it happened in the UFC. With a flip, Sonnen easily dodged the same knockout counter Silva had stopped James Irvin in a higher weight class with. Sonnen didn’t fall for any of Silva’s tricks and made him pay for it every single time.

Leading into the fifth and final round it was a simple fight to judge. Sonnen had dominated in all four rounds, even capturing some of them 10-8. Again, in the fifth round, Sonnen took him down and landed punches. Overall, the US-born challenger was out-landing the champion 3-1 thus far in the fight. This was the worst beating of Anderson Silva’s career.

UFC 117 Anderson Silva vs. Chael Sonnen scorecard

But Anderson Silva had the grit that befits a champion. Despite losing all the prior rounds and getting our-struck, ‘The Spider’ was determined to win. With a triangle choke, Silva forced the tap from Sonnen and retained his UFC middleweight title with a come-from-behind shocking victory. One of the greatest comebacks in the history of the sport.

On the submission, Sonnen would reflect years later:

“I did lose track of the rounds. I didn’t really know where I was and he hadn’t hit me that many times, but every time [Anderson Silva] hit me, it affected me. So between all of the chaos that goes on, (I) lost track of the rounds and it was a choke – it wasn’t an armbar – that made me tap. I didn’t really know where I was. … It’s one of these things that, when you start to go out, even if it’s for half a second, it could be five minutes.”

But at the time, Sonnen made headlines with his classic line:

“That was a misunderstanding of the rules and the way I thought it worked was that if you tapped, you lost that round. So I thought what they would do is they would go to a judges’ decision and they go 4 rounds to 1 and we go home and I be the new champion. And if anyone had explained to me that it stopped the bout in its entirety, I wouldn’t have tapped.”

UFC 117

Anderson Silva and Chael Sonnen would rematch years later in a blockbuster title fight, with Silva defending his title by TKO. They two also met in an exhibition boxing match.

Also featured on UFC 117 was a top-ranked welterweight matchup with Jon Fitch defeating Thiago Alves. Popular fighter Clay Guida earned a TKO win over future champion Rafael dos Anjos. UFC legend Matt Hughes would earn his final career victory by defeating Ricardo Almeida via submission. And a surging Junior dos Santos would continue his attack on the UFC heavyweight division by defeating TUF winner and IFL Champion Roy Nelson. UFC 117 was certainly one to remember.

Anderson Silva reveals knockouts weren’t allowed in exhibition fight with Chael Sonnen

Anderson Silva and Chael Sonnen are facing backlash following their lackluster five-round clash in Sao Paulo. More than a…

Anderson Silva and Chael Sonnen are facing backlash following their lackluster five-round clash in Sao Paulo.

More than a dozen years removed from their final encounter inside the Octagon, Sonnen and ‘The Spider’ stepped inside the squared circle for a long-awaited trilogy bout under the Spaten Fight Night banner in Silva’s native Brazil. Unfortunately, the fight failed to live up to the hype, even though there was very little of it to begin with.

Speaking with the media shortly after the fight, Silva was asked about the online criticism.

“It was an exhibition match, and as an exhibition match, it wasn’t allowed knockouts, it was a match with no [winner],” Silva said. “It was an exhibition and I believe we put on a good show” (h/t MMA Fighting).

Silva’s son, Kalyl Silva, also competed on the card, earning a unanimous decision victory over Paulo Roberto. He is now 3-0 as a professional after going 2-1 in the amateur ranks.

“It was incredible, it was much more than I expected,” Silva said. “It was great to be able to put on this show for the people and my fans, to share this spot with my son [Kalyl Silva], who was a baby and already followed me, so I’m very happy,”

Anderson Silva plotting a return to the ring in Dubai

Anderson Silva is now 2-1-2 since making his sweet science debut in 2021. He’s earned notable victories over boxing legend Julio César Chávez Jr. and another former UFC champion, Tito Ortiz. However, he came up short in his big-money match with ‘The Problem Child’ Jake Paul, coming up short on all three scorecards.

Silva plans to continue boxing, revealing that he already has a match lined up, but was unable to provide any details outside of the location.

“I have a [boxing] match in Dubai that isn’t an exhibition,” Silva said. “There’s no date yet. We’re negotiating, and I can’t say who the opponent is yet or [my manager] will kill me because the contract is in secrecy. It’s another big challenge in my life. A big challenge, indeed.”