Not all fans are psyched about the UFC 178 main event change, but personally, I’m kind of digging it. Even though Jones vs. Gustafsson 1 was an incredible fight, it’ll be great to see Bones get a brand-new challenge, against a contender with a ton of momentum. Is this the first time that Jon Jones will face an opponent whose wrestling ability is at least equal to his own?
By the way, UFC.com says that the Jones/Gustafsson rematch has been “postponed” — ah, that word again — which I guess means that Jones will still fight Gustafsson next if he loses to Cormier, although it kind of sounds like whoever wrote the article is just assuming that Jones will win. Speaking of which…
The too-good-to-be-true UFC 178 card took its first hit Wednesday evening, as light heavyweight title challenger Alexander Gustafsson was forced out of his main event against Jon Jones due to injury.
The news came via UFC.com’s Thomas Gerbasi, wh…
The too-good-to-be-true UFC 178 card took its first hit Wednesday evening, as light heavyweight title challenger Alexander Gustafsson was forced out of his main event against Jon Jones due to injury.
The news came via UFC.com’s Thomas Gerbasi, who also reported that Daniel Cormier (15-0, 4-0 UFC) will step up in Gustafsson’s place to face the champ.
Gerbasi writes:
The long-awaited rematch between UFC light heavyweight champion Jon Jones and Alexander Gustafsson, scheduled for UFC 178 in Las Vegas on September 27, has been postponed after the Swede suffered an injury in training this week. Although there are scores of hungry challengers waiting for a crack at Jones’ crown, few can rival Daniel Cormier’s burning desire to topple the champ at the MGM Grand Garden Arena.
For fans, this is a bittersweet announcement.
On one hand, the rematch between Jones and Gustafsson was one of the most anticipated bouts of the year. Fans eagerly awaited this fight since the moment their first bout at UFC 165 ended and Jones’ hand was raised. Gustafsson, fighting the best fight of his life that night, gave the champion all he could handle, and we saw Bones look human for the first time in his career.
Could the Swede do it again at UFC 178 on September 27? We were all set to find out, but an undisclosed injury now puts those plans on hold.
On the bright side, Cormier is most definitely a worthy challenger. A former Olympic wrestler, he brings a ridiculously powerful array of takedowns in the cage, and his striking and submission games are ever-improving.
He’s a menace, and nobody has put him in any sort of danger so far in his mixed martial arts career.
Jones, however, is a different beast.
At 20-1 (with his one loss being a disqualification in a fight he was clearly winning), Jones has enjoyed perfection throughout his professional fighting career, and he’s blended every facet of the MMA game with unparalleled skill and grace.
His lone slip-up came against Gustafsson, and even in that scrap he won enough rounds to take home the judges’ decision. Even when he wasn’t totally on his game, he was good enough to beat the No. 1 challenger in the world.
That’s special.
Now, Jones puts his title and his light heavyweight-record seven consecutive title defenses on the line against Cormier in a fight we all suspected would happen, just not this soon.
For their part, Jones and Cormier seem to be ready for battle, as Cormier recently tweeted a pointed exchange between the two (NSFW).
How do you feel about the switch? Do you like Jones vs. Cormier better, or were you frothing over Jones vs. Gustafsson II?
Renowned MMA nutritionist Mike Dolce believes that UFC light heavyweight contender Daniel Cormier can make some noise at 185 pounds without seeing a noticeable drop off in skill.
Dolce made the bold proclamation when he spoke on MMA Junkie Radio&…
Renowned MMA nutritionist Mike Dolce believes that UFC light heavyweight contender Daniel Cormier can make some noise at 185 pounds without seeing a noticeable drop off in skill.
Dolce made the bold proclamation when he spoke on MMA Junkie Radio recently:
I think if (Cormier) keeps living the lifestyle that he keeps now, takes more of my advice (and) a closer approach with me to help him modify that, if he wants to, he’ll be able to weigh in at 185 (pounds) to compete very close to what he competes at as a light heavyweight. … He would gain strength, he would gain speed, and he would gain durability. Look at the photos of him when he weighed in at 205 (pounds). Look at that body, and you can see he’s not nearly as ripped as he could be.
Cormier, a former Olympic-level wrestler, fought his first 13 professional mixed martial arts contests at heavyweight—taking out notable names such as Antonio Silva, Josh Barnett, Frank Mir and Roy Nelson.
After the victory over Nelson in October, “DC” decided he would finally test the waters at light heavyweight after teasing a move to 205 pounds for the better part of 2013.
Dolce aided Cormier, to some extent, to make 205 pounds for his UFC 170 encounter with Patrick Cummins, but the weight loss guru told MMA Junkie Radio that it was never a formal partnership.
Cormier, who suffered kidney damage due to a bad weight cut to make 211.5 at the 2008 Olympic Games, is 2-0 since heading to a lighter weight class.
His most recent victory was a masterful performance against former PRIDE/Strikeforce champ Dan Henderson at UFC 173 in May, choking him unconscious with a rear-naked choke in the third round.
The American Kickboxing Academy standout has stated that he will wait for a title shot against the winner of Jon Jones vs. Alexander Gustafsson II at UFC 178 in September, per MMA Fighting.
Therefore, assuming he remains unbooked for the immediate future, a drop to middleweight wouldn’t make much sense right now.
According to the UFC’s official rankings, Cormier is the No. 2 light heavyweight in the world, behind only Gustafsson.
In the event that Cormier comes up short against either Jones or Gustafsson early next year, would a cut down to 185 pounds be the next logical move in his career?
John Heinis is a featured columnist for Bleacher Report. He is also the MMA editor for eDraft.com.
Undefeated UFC light heavyweight contender Daniel Cormier has offered extremely high praise for UFC middleweight champion Chris Weidman heading into Weidman’s UFC 175 showdown with Lyoto Machida.
In a promo on Fox Sports for UFC 17…
Undefeated UFC light heavyweight contender Daniel Cormier has offered extremely high praise for UFC middleweight champion Chris Weidman heading into Weidman’s UFC 175 showdown with Lyoto Machida.
In a promo on Fox Sports for UFC 175, which airs live on pay-per-view from Las Vegas on Saturday, “DC” states outright that Weidman is the best middleweight around and could be considered the best at 205 pounds. Here’s the transcription, per MixedMartialArts.com:
To be the man, you have to beat the man. Weidman did it twice. I think Weidman’s the best, not only at 185, but could be at 205. But Lyoto Machida is the anti-wrestler. Machida has a really sneaky way to keep you from getting him down. This will be a very close fight.
Cormier, who is also undefeated as a professional mixed martial artist (15-0), is referring to “The All-American’s” back-to-back victories over Anderson Silva at UFC 162 and UFC 168, respectively.
While both fights ended in finishes, they ended in markedly different fashion.
At UFC 162 almost exactly one year ago, Weidman refused to play into the mind games of “The Spider,” who excessively taunted and showboated throughout the fight.
Early in the second round, Weidman caught the seemingly unstoppable champ with a combination that knocked him out cold, marking Silva’s first loss in 17 fights and ending his record run of 10 consecutive title defenses in the process.
Given the Brazilian legend’s stunning resume, a rematch was the only thing that made sense from a matchmaking standpoint.
At UFC 168 in December, Weidman again controlled the action early on, but Silva began to find some rhythm on his feet as the bout progressed.
In an unforeseen turn of events, early in the second round Silva shattered his left leg on Weidman’s knee when the champ checked a stiff leg kick.
As a result, the referee had no choice but to waive off the championship bout.
Weidman will be looking to defend his middleweight title for the second time when he faces Silva’s friend and Black House training partner Machida, who is known for his counterstriking and takedown defense.
Is Weidman truly one of the best around in the upper weight classes, or will Machida show that his American counterpart is just as beatable as anyone else?
John Heinis is a featured columnist for Bleacher Report. He is also the MMA editor for eDraft.com.
For many MMA fighters, fighting is all they know. There is no life after hanging up the gloves for some guys.
The guys on this list don’t fall into that group of fighters.
That’s because whether it’s stepping into an announcer’s booth, sitting down beh…
For many MMA fighters, fighting is all they know. There is no life after hanging up the gloves for some guys.
The guys on this list don’t fall into that group of fighters.
That’s because whether it’s stepping into an announcer’s booth, sitting down behind a news desk or running classes in a gym, the fighters on this list will have successful post-fight careers. If anyone has been around enough fighters, you’ll know that some are made to be coaches or have the gift of gab and some simply don’t.
These guys have those qualities and then some. For them, fighting is fun, but they don’t have to ever worry about getting to the point of fighting for a paycheck because they know (or should know) that there will be a steady stream of money following their active careers.
The too-good-to-be-true 