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Coach: Jon Jones Developing One-Punch KO Power

Jon Jones’ coach claims he’s developing one-punch KO power.

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Striking coach Brandon Gibson claims he’s excited to see Jon Jones developing one-punch KO power.

“Bones” Jones is already regarded as one of the greatest fighters in combat sports history. At just 31 years old, Jones has defeated the likes of Daniel Cormier, Mauricio Rua, Quinton Jackson, Vitor Belfort, and Lyoto Machida.

Jones is currently dealing with his second USADA violation stemming from a failed drug test. The transgression that could sideline him for up to four years.

If USADA does see fit to lessen Jones’ punishment, the former two-time champ could be back to action as soon as next year.

Recently speaking with Luke Thomas on The MMA Hour, JacksonWink striking coach Brandon Gibson explained that he believes Jones striking potential is nearly limitless, and he has just scratched the surface when it comes to one-strike KO power.

“I think there’s still a lot of growth possible,” Gibson said. “Jon’s in his 30s now, I think he’s really starting to develop the one-strike knockout power, we saw that in the last fight. Before that, Jon was like a break ‘em down, break ‘em down, break ‘em down, finish. Where guys were never just out cold, unconscious. I think now Jon’s really developing a lot of power for 205 and he’s gonna really start putting guys to sleep.”

Jones has already finished legends of MMA which begs the question if his striking can really improve that much more.

Gibson thinks so, but he believes consistency is key.

“He’s had long periods of breaks. But I also think that this is a game where guys are paying too high of a price in training camps and sparring leading up to fights, so Jon’s layoff definitely has some benefits. But the lack of competition could also be a hindrance at times. So it’s gonna be a balance, but we never have a problem getting Jon Jones fired up.”

“He’s a special champion, he has a very special mindset, and he’ll get in there and I believe reclaim everything that he ever had and more. I told him the other day that I think greatness and his legacy continue to await us. We’re not there yet.”

A rematch with longtime rival Cormier would be ideal upon Jones return. However, it’s unclear if “DC” will have already retired from MMA at that junction.

Gibson suggested a possible cruiserweight division could be a  landing spot for Jones if it happens:

“I think the goal right now when he returns would be to claim back the light heavyweight crown. But Jon has a frame and definitely the technique and the size to compete at heavyweight.

“And who knows? Maybe they make a 225 cruiserweight some day, or 195. I think Jon would have a lot of interest in different weight categories, not just heavyweight.”

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Colby Covington Reveals Reason For Turning Down UFC 228 Title Fight

Colby Covington has another reason for not fighting Tyron Woodley.

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It’s apparently time Colby Covington reveals the real reason he’s not fighting at UFC 228.

‘Chaos’ won the interim title with a win over Rafael dos Anjos at June’s UFC 225. He was then thought to be moving onto a trash talk-filled rivalry with champion Tyron Woodley. But Covington claimed he was recovering from nasal surgery when the UFC wanted him to fight at September 8’s UFC 228.

‘The Chosen One’ had been out of action long enough due to his own surgery last summer, however. So Woodley vs. Darren Till was soon signed, therefore leaving Covington to be stripped when the fight begins.  Although Covington first claimed nasal surgery, he recently said via MMAjunkie he wanted the fight to have a long build-up as well:

“Why are they trying to rush a camp?” he said. “This fight needs a build-up, man. It needs a 12-week promotional build-up. Let me get out there and show that I can promote, and I can market fights and sell fights. Because nobody’s selling fights like me. I know how to do that now. These other guys, they don’t know how to do that. I wanted the fight, but I didn’t want the date. There was no way I was going to be ready.”

And maybe though it seems like Covington should be mad about the situation, he claims he is not. He’s more focused on the positives and will wait for the winner:

“It’s only been up for me. I don’t think about the negative in my life. I just think about the positives. They’re not stripping anything. I earned that belt. The only way you can take that belt is by beating me in the octagon, and there’s not a man alive that can beat me.

“Whether it’s ‘Tyquil’ Woodley or ‘Tillsbury Doughboy,’ I’ll be ready for that No. 1 contenders fight.”

While the still-interim champion claims he’s not focusing on losing out on the fight, his tenacity clearly still burns. Covington wondered why the UFC would rush Woodley vs. Till when his rivalry with the champ was a much better billing in his eyes.

Based on that, Covington issued a final warning to the champ:

“I want this fight more than anything,” Covington said. “I want this fight more than I want to breathe. Literally, that’s how badly I want this fight.

“It sucks. (The UFC is) looking at the short-term goals. Woodley-Till, that’s not going to do over 100,000 (pay-per-view) buys. I don’t know why they’re rushing to make that fight. Me and ‘Tyquil,’ that was going to be a big money fight. That was going to be a draw. That’s the fight I built. …

“It sucks, but it is what it is. Now, this time, I’m just hoping Tyron doesn’t (expletive) this up. That’s all I can say to him, is Tyron, don’t (expletive) this up. I built this. You didn’t build this.”

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Dustin Poirier Updates Status Of Nate Diaz Fight

According to Dustin Poirier, the Nate Diaz fight is still a go.

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Dustin Poirier says his Nate Diaz fight is still on.

The returning Diaz has been making headlines since the UFC officially announced his comeback at the 25th Anniversary Press conference last week.

But the 33-year-old Stockton fighter felt upstaged by UFC President Dana White. As the promotional video for Conor McGregor vs. Khabib Nurmagomedov started to play, Diaz snuck out a side door.

He wasn’t done talking just yet, however. Diaz walked outside and had a makeshift press conference of his own. There, he expressed his many frustrations with the UFC and White, even going so far as to say he wouldn’t fight on that show.

Making an appearance on this week’s episode of “The MMA Hour,” Poirier would explain how he isn’t concerned in the least bit as it comes to the Diaz fight.

“I mean, as far as I know. I think I’m the one fighting the guy. If something changed, I think they would have let me know. I haven’t heard anything. Nate says a lot of stuff, but when he signs a fight contract, I don’t really know of any times that he’s not shown up to fight or pulled out of a fight. He says a lot of stuff and does a lot of stuff in the media between fights, but when he signs a contract, the guy shows up and puts it all on the line every time.”

Only Diaz knows exactly why he fled the presser in the manner he did, but Poirier believes it was a case of poor timing.

“I think what it was is, he was upset that he came down to do the press conference and then they promoted Conor and Khabib, and those guys weren’t even there and he was there,” Poirier said. “I don’t know, I think that’s maybe more of what it was, like he wasted his time promoting these other guys while he’s there on stage and they didn’t talk about his fight, type of thing. But I’m not 100 percent [sure]. That’s just hearsay.”

After Poirier knocked out Eddie Alvarez at UFC on FOX 30, he said he would wait as long as he needed to for a title shot. Not even two weeks later the Lafayette, Louisiana, native had agreed to fight Diaz at UFC 230.

“Putting the title aside, Nate’s probably the second-biggest fight that I can get. It would be Conor, that would be the biggest fight obviously, and then it’s Nate Diaz. In the lightweight division, that’s the biggest fight I can get right now. And Nate’s a guy I’ve always watched fight. I’ve been a fan of his for a long time, I’ve always wanted to fight him. And Madison Square Garden is another part of it, I’ve always wanted to fight at Madison Square Garden. There’s so much history there. I’ve fought a lot of places, that’s one place I want to scratch off the list. So this fight just made sense.”

“If the UFC told me that, ‘Yeah, you’re going to fight for the belt in four months,’ I could’ve waited four or five months. But the way it looks, Conor and Khabib are going to fight towards the end of the year, then I don’t know what’s going to happen, when the belt’s going to be defended again, and you never know what’s going to happen, man, so I don’t want to wait 10 months. I want to stay busy and this fight made a lot of sense to me.”

Poirier will be looking to make it five straight against Diaz come UFC 230, a feat rarely achieved in the lightweight division. Moreover, a win over Diaz would, in theory, make Poirier the clear cut #1 contender to the winner of the Conor vs. Khabib title fight. A fact “The Diamond” is readily aware of, and one he believes is necessary for his own legacy.

“He’s just another guy who’s been around a long time, a legend of the sport,” Poirier said. “Beating him after I beat Eddie Alvarez, I’m going back-to-back on the guys who I think are some of the biggest names in lightweight history, so that’s just solidifying me as being amongst those guys. When it’s all said and done, when I get my title shot, when I get the belt, like I said before, this is just all part of the legacy. This is part of the reason why I fight.”

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UFC Rankings Update: TJ Dillashaw Soars On P4P List

TJ Dillashaw is up in rarified air after UFC 227.

The post UFC Rankings Update: TJ Dillashaw Soars On P4P List appeared first on LowKickMMA.com.

The latest UFC rankings update is out, and bantamweight champion TJ Dillashaw has taken one of the top spots in MMA.

“The Viper” soared to No. 3 on the pound-for-pound list following his second straight knockout win over Cody Garbrandt in the main event of last weekend’s (Sat., August 4, 2018) UFC 227 from the Staples Center in Los Angeles, California. Receiving his due as one of the top fighters in MMA, Dillashaw rose three spots on the latest UFC rankings update.

Also of note is Henry Cejudo’s debut on the pound-for-pound list following his close win over dominant former champ Demetrious Johnson. “The Messenger” debut at No. 12 on MMA’s most hallowed list. “Mighty Mouse” fell to No. 6 for the loss.

Rising featherweight Renato Moicano also made a splash on the rankings. The Brazilian rose up to No. 5 by defeating previous No. 5 Cub Swanson via submission.

Check out the full UFC rankings update via UFC.com right here:

POUND-FOR-POUND
1 Daniel Cormier
2 Conor McGregor +1
3 TJ Dillashaw +3
4 Max Holloway -1
5 Georges St-Pierre
6 Demetrious Johnson -4
7 Tyron Woodley
8 Khabib Nurmagomedov
9 Stipe Miocic
10 Robert Whittaker
11 Cris Cyborg
12 Henry Cejudo *NR
13 Tony Ferguson -1
14 Amanda Nunes -1
15 Rose Namajunas

FLYWEIGHT
Champion: Henry Cejudo
1 Demetrious Johnson -1
2 Sergio Pettis
3 Joseph Benavidez
4 Ray Borg
5 Jussier Formiga
6 John Moraga
7 Wilson Reis
8 Alexandre Pantoja
9 Dustin Ortiz
10 Brandon Moreno
11 Ben Nguyen
12 Matheus Nicolau
13 Tim Elliott
14 Deiveson Figueiredo
15 Ulka Sasaki

BANTAMWEIGHT
Champion: TJ Dillashaw
1 Cody Garbrandt
2 Dominick Cruz
3 Raphael Assuncao
4 Marlon Moraes
5 Jimmie Rivera
6 John Lineker
7 John Dodson
8 Aljamain Sterling
9 Pedro Munhoz
10 Cody Stamann
11 Rob Font
12 Alejandro Perez
13 Thomas Almeida
14 Douglas Silva de Andrade +1
15 Brett Johns -1

FEATHERWEIGHT
Champion: Max Holloway
1 Brian Ortega
2 Jose Aldo
3 Frankie Edgar
4 Renato Moicano +6
5 Chad Mendes +1
6 Jeremy Stephens -2
7 Cub Swanson -2
8 Josh Emmett -1
9 Mirsad Bektic -1
10 Chan Sung Jung -1
11 Alexander Volkanovski
12 Ricardo Lamas
13 Darren Elkins
14 Yair Rodriguez
15 Zabit Magomedsharipov

LIGHTWEIGHT
Champion: Khabib Nurmagomedov
1 Conor McGregor
2 Tony Ferguson
3 Dustin Poirier
4 Eddie Alvarez
5 Kevin Lee
6 Edson Barboza
7 Justin Gaethje
8 Anthony Pettis
9 Al Iaquinta
10 James Vick
11 Nate Diaz -1
12 Michael Chiesa
13 Alexander Hernandez
14 Dan Hooker
15 Francisco Trinaldo

WELTERWEIGHT
Champion: Tyron Woodley
1 Colby Covington (Interim Champion)
2 Darren Till
3 Rafael Dos Anjos
4 Stephen Thompson
5 Robbie Lawler
6 Kamaru Usman
7 Demian Maia
8 Neil Magny
9 Jorge Masvidal
10 Santiago Ponzinibbio
11 Leon Edwards
12 Donald Cerrone
13 Gunnar Nelson
14 Alex Oliveira
15 Dong Hyun Kim

MIDDLEWEIGHT
Champion: Robert Whittaker
1 Yoel Romero
2 Luke Rockhold
3 Chris Weidman
4 Kelvin Gastelum
5 Jacare Souza
6 Derek Brunson
7 David Branch
8 Paulo Costa
9 Israel Adesanya
10 Brad Tavares
11 Antonio Carlos Junior
12 Thiago Santos +1
13 Uriah Hall -1
14 Elias Theodorou
15 Krzysztof Jotko

LIGHT HEAVYWEIGHT
Champion: Daniel Cormier
1 Alexander Gustafsson
2 Volkan Oezdemir
3 Ilir Latifi
4 Jan Blachowicz
5 Jimi Manuwa
6 Corey Anderson
7 Ovince Saint Preux
8 Glover Teixeira
9 Anthony Smith
10 Misha Cirkunov
11 Mauricio Rua
12 Dominick Reyes
13 Patrick Cummins
14 Tyson Pedro
15 Sam Alvey

HEAVYWEIGHT
Champion: Daniel Cormier
1 Stipe Miocic
2 Derrick Lewis
3 Curtis Blaydes
4 Francis Ngannou
5 Alexander Volkov
6 Alistair Overeem
7 Junior Dos Santos
8 Mark Hunt
9 Marcin Tybura
10 Tai Tuivasa
11 Aleksei Oleinik
12 Andrei Arlovski
13 Stefan Struve
14 Shamil Abdurakhimov
15 Justin Willis

WOMEN’S STRAWWEIGHT
Champion: Rose Namajunas
1 Joanna Jedrzejczyk
2 Jessica Andrade
3 Claudia Gadelha
4 Karolina Kowalkiewicz
5 Tecia Torres
6 Carla Esparza
7 Michelle Waterson
8 Felice Herrig
9 Tatiana Suarez
10 Nina Ansaroff
11 Cortney Casey
12 Alexa Grasso
13 Randa Markos
14 Angela Hill
15 Joanne Calderwood

WOMEN’S FLYWEIGHT
Champion: Nicco Montano
1 Valentina Shevchenko
2 Sijara Eubanks
3 Katlyn Chookagian
4 Roxanne Modafferi
5 Alexis Davis +1
5 Liz Carmouche
7 Lauren Murphy
8 Jessica Eye
9 Barb Honchak
10 Jessica-Rose Clark
11 Ashlee Evans-Smith
12 Andrea Lee
13 Mara Romero Borella
14 Montana De La Rosa
15 Paige VanZant

WOMEN’S BANTAMWEIGHT
Champion: Amanda Nunes
1 Holly Holm
2 Ketlen Vieira
3 Julianna Pena
4 Raquel Pennington
5 Germaine de Randamie
6 Cat Zingano
7 Marion Reneau
8 Sara McMann
9 Aspen Ladd
10 Bethe Correia
11 Lina Lansberg
12 Irene Aldana
13 Lucie Pudilova
14 Sarah Moras
15 Gina Mazany

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Joe Rogan Describes Why Weight Cutting Is Worse Cheating Than Steroids

Joe Rogan thinks that extreme weight cutting is worse than using ********.

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The topic of extreme weight cutting continues to place a black eye on the sport of MMA. With high-profile fights affected by extreme cuts on a seemingly weekly basis, octagon commentator Joe Rogan has become one of the most prominent critics of the practice.

Rogan recently sounded off on weight cutting during his Joe Rogan Experience Podcast (via MMA Fighting), claiming that the draining cuts fighters are putting themselves through is cheating on a level above even that of ********:

“It is stupid,” Rogan said. “What it is is sanctioned cheating. It’s sanctioned cheating and it’s cheating at a much higher scale even than PEDs.

“If you get two people and they both weigh 135 [pounds] but they’re both totally hydrated and one of them has been doing ******** and one of them hasn’t been doing ********, the difference will be far less than if one person weighs in at 135 [pounds] but then balloons up to 160 [pounds] and then gets into that octagon at 160 [pounds] but there’s no PEDs involved. That’s a much greater advantage than someone whose doing some sort of testosterone thing or something. They’re compromised but the benefit of being so much larger might outweigh being compromised.

“Dude, if I was running s**t, I’d fix that first. That would be the first thing I would fix.”

The solution to such a sport-wide problem isn’t easy, but Rogan pointed to Asia’s ONE Championship, who experienced the death of flyweight Yang Jian Bing due to an extreme cut. Afterward, they implemented a system where fighters are weighed and tested for hydration levels every day leading up to a fight. It may be a stringent program, but fighters lives are on the line so Rogan believes every promotion should follow the path:

“People push it, they do push it,” Rogan said. “If you give them more time, they are gonna push it. If they know that they can rehydrate longer – which is the idea, that it’s safer because you can rehydrate from 8 a.m. until 4 p.m. instead of from 4 p.m. on. I just think give them all the time they need. ONE FC has laid out the ground work. Look at what they did with their hydration tests and implement that.”

The problem of extreme weight cuts has been instilling itself in the UFC at a level more than ever right now, and a solution does not appear imminent. Perhaps attempting a system similar to that of ONE would go far in terms of solving the dangerous health threat it provides to fighters, who seem to always be willing to put their short and long-term health on the line for any advantage in a fight.

That lead to the death of a fighter in ONE, who changed their weigh-in practices in a huge way as a result.

But the UFC has not. Will it take the death of one of their fighters for them to finally fix the biggest threat to their athletes’ health?

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Henry Cejudo Promises To Knock TJ Dillashaw Out

Henry Cejudo claims he’s going to knock TJ Dillashaw out.

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Newly-crowned UFC flyweight champion Henry Cejudo made history when he ended Demetrious Johnson’s record-setting streak of title defenses in the co-main event of last Saturday night’s (August 4, 2018) UFC 227 from the Staples Center in Los Angeles, California.

But only two days after the shocking changing of the guard, “The Messenger” already has his sights on making history of a different kind.

Cejudo took the opportunity in the moments after his victory over “Mighty Mouse” to call out the winner of UFC 227’s main event between TJ Dillashaw and Cody Garbrandt (which Dillashaw eventually won by first-round TKO), and he’s sticking to that bold path to improve his scope of attention.

Speaking about his fighting future on today’s edition of “Ariel Helwani’s MMA Show,” Cejudo went so far as to even predict he would knock out decorated 135-pound champion Dillashaw before saying it was simply time to get the fight signed:

“I want the challenge, I’ll go up. I will knock TJ Dillashaw out,” Cejudo said. “We can do it at 125 pounds, but I prefer it at 135 pounds because I want his belt. I know I’ll knock him out, that’s all there is to it.

“At 135, I feel really good for that weight class. I’ll fill in naturally to 135 pounds. My whole thing is making history. I would love to fight TJ. I hope he accepts my offer to fight at 125 or 135 pounds. Enough talk, let’s get to signing.”

Dana White did admit he liked when fighters were willing to step outside of their division and fight anyone at any time after Cejudo’s big win at UFC 227. Yet conventional wisdom still states that “Mighty Mouse,” who defended his flyweight title a record 11 times, is more deserving of an immediate rematch than any other former champion in UFC history, especially considering many have received that with a far, far less impressive record.

Cejudo believes Johnson definitely deserves an immediate rematch based on that logic, but based on where he believes the flyweight division is headed, perhaps “Mighty Mouse” should be out of the picture for the time being:

“I would agree when it comes to the statistics, but at the same time, I know what the UFC is trying to create,” Cejudo said. “It’s good for our weight class to start new storylines. I think just for the sake of our weight class, I think it would be good to see somebody else for now instead of Demetrious Johnson.”

Whether the division wants to see “Mighty Mouse” right now or not will depend on how significant his injuries from UFC 227 are, and at first glance they appear at least somewhat serious. That in and of itself could open a path for Cejudo to get the champion vs. champion superfight he wants against Dillashaw.

Is it the right call to make for both of the lower weight divisions?

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