Make no mistake about it, the mixed martial arts scene is rolling as it enters the fall.
Last weekend’s UFC Fight Night 25 card set the wheels in motion for four straight weekends of UFC action.
This Saturday marks the second of those four cards, as Jon Jones and Quinton “Rampage” Jackson headline UFC 135.
Matt Hughes and Josh Koscheck clash in a welterweight co-main event, and familiar names like Nate Diaz, Takanori Gomi and Ben Rothwell decorate the undercard.
It’s a card littered with fighters both young and old, some vying to give us a glimpse of the future while others yearn for that one last run towards relevancy.
Which begs the question, just why should you give a damn about this weekend’s card?
How will Jon Jones handle the pressure?
Make no mistake about it, nobody is under more pressure at UFC 135 than your light heavyweight champion.
Since dethroning Mauricio “Shogun” Rua of the belt back in March at UFC 128, the hyperbole and expectations lauded upon Jon Jones by fans and media outlets alike have reached a level that I’m not sure there’s much precedence for.
Hardly a shocker, given the evolution of social media.
On one hand, you’ve got pundits proclaiming Jones as the most talented fighter in the history of MMA, and on the other hand, people clamoring for him to square off with Anderson Silva this instant.
All this for a 24-year-old without so much as four years of pro experience.
That’s not to say Jones hasn’t performed at a level that would warrant such hype. As such, the champion enters his first title defense looking to further justify the praise.
Make no mistake about it, the UFC feels like they’re sitting on a goldmine.
They’re marketing him as such, with Jones already making the rounds in Bud Light and K-Swiss commercials we’ve all seen.
They’ve got a young champion with a fan-friendly skill set and someone who, by all means, isn’t shy about being in front of the cameras.
With a renowned draw like Brock Lesnar’s shelf life in MMA being anything but a certainty these days, it feels like Jones is being positioned as Dana White’s hopeful poster child for American MMA.
That’s a lot of weight to drape over the shoulders of someone who’s still a baby to the fight game.
Anything prior to main event time is simply an hors d’oeuvres in anticipation to what Jones’ encore will be following his dismantling of “Shogun.”
There were still skeptics about Jones entering the Rua fight, but by the size of those betting lines, fans and oddsmakers are anticipating Jones to not just win, but to do so in decisive fashion.
All this against a former champion who’s lost two fights in the last six years and been a mainstay in the Top 5 of one of the UFC’s most talent-rich divisions; and for a belt that hasn’t successfully been defended since UFC 75.
Yeah, no pressure.
Can Quinton Jackson humanize the champion?
I don’t think Quinton Jackson beats Jon Jones on Saturday night.
But to listen to people size up this matchup, you’d think “Rampage” was Thales Leites to Jones’ Anderson Silva.
Make no mistake about it, Jackson has a very clear path to victory, because he’s right—Jones’ chin is still largely untested.
It’ll mean wading through the champ’s octopus-like reach, but one of the best subplots in the makeup of this bout is just how Jones will react if Jackson connects with a clean, heavy hook.
When someone attains a status that both Georges St-Pierre and Silva have, and one we all want Jones to achieve, his performances are scrutinized even more.
It’s all about humanizing the fighter, because while we all would love to believe that St-Pierre and Silva are invincible, we know they’re not.
And we want to see how they react when their weaknesses are exposed.
We haven’t seen that with Jones yet because, frankly, he’s yet to meet his Chael Sonnen.
He hasn’t endured a fight like that where he is put on the defensive, and eventually we’re going to find out.
Gone are the days of fighting the Matt Hamills and Brandon Veras of the world, because we’re assured Jones is getting an elite-level opponent each fight for as long as he holds that belt.
And as great as everything looks when Jones is in control, throwing opponents around the cage and working his dynamic standup, we all know the clichéd definition of a champion is how he responds to adversity.
I hope we get closer to finding out that answer on Saturday.
Is this the end of the road for Matt Hughes?
Saturday marks the last fight on the current contract of former welterweight champion Matt Hughes.
As such, much of the intrigue in Hughes’ co-main event tilt with Josh Koscheck will largely lie in the bout’s aftermath.
Is this the last time we’ll see Hughes in the octagon? What if the former champ is able to eke out one last run for relevancy at 170 pounds?
I think it all boils down to Hughes’ mindset, which may very well ride on just how he performs opposite Koscheck.
We’ve seen guys whose competitive fire hinders their ability to know when it’s best to step away (see Liddell, Chuck).
It leaves fans yearning for one more vintage showing from said fighter and a performance that may never come.
Hughes is far from Liddell’s situation though, as his loss to B.J. Penn was his first defeat since 2008’s upset to Thiago Alves.
It took five losses over a six-fight, three-year span for Liddell to hang it up with all but one of those losses coming by way of knockout.
At it stands, Penn’s the only fighter to recently turn the lights out on Hughes, but what if Koscheck replicates that outcome on Saturday?
Would that be enough for Hughes to ride off into the sunset, or will it not be until he’s been bested by the Paulo Thiagos of the world that he realizes it’s time to go?
A knockout loss on Saturday is very much a possibility too, as Hughes’ standup defense isn’t getting any better, and Koscheck is always one overhand right away from victory.
Couple that with the discrepancy in wrestling ability for both fighters at this stage of their careers—Koscheck’s ability to get back to his feet against Georges St-Pierre was the most impressive note in his performance against the champ, in my opinion, and the chance for Hughes to replicate his finish of Ricardo Almeida might be his only chance at an upset.
Either way, the end of the road for Hughes doesn’t appear to be too far off.
How he handles that part in his career, well, we’d love for him not to become a caricature of himself like some of his peers. In the end, it’s a career trajectory best left for him to decide.
Hopefully, if nothing else, his performance against Koscheck gives fans a clear picture of where Hughes stands at this point in his career.
Does Takanori Gomi have anything left in the tank?
Speaking of faded veterans, while a loss for Matt Hughes could signal him stepping away from the cage, a loss for Takanori Gomi might put the former PRIDE lightweight champ out of a job.
We all know Gomi’s best days are behind him, and those clamoring for a run through the UFC probably came about four years too late for a 32-year-old.
And at this rate, we’re just waiting for Gomi to show us anything in the way of competitiveness.
Flaky performances where he looked overmatched against Kenny Florian and Clay Guida bookended a quick knockout of Tyson Griffin—a bout that, while joyous for PRIDE loyalists, showed that if Gomi is to find the win column these days, it’s going to need to be in quick fashion before his opponent can settle in.
The lightweight division’s former kingpin is being given anything but an easy finish Saturday night in Nate Diaz, a fighter whose calling card throughout his UFC career has been resiliency.
For Gomi, he’d be apprised to keep the action standing where he’ll have to wade through Diaz’s heavy volume-striking attack with hopes of uncorking one of his trademark hooks.
Gomi does have the luxury in being the better wrestler of the bunch, so for as much of an edge as Diaz may have on the ground, I’m skeptical in his ability to lure the action there.
What differs, though, is his heart and ability to rally from the brink of defeat.
Able to keep his distance and pepper the Japanese figher with jabs, Florian made Gomi look fairly out of his element on the feet, forcing Gomi to uncork single, looping punches that missed way more often than not.
Diaz’s style is relentless and built to wear an opponent down over time.
If Gomi is put on the defensive early, that may be all Diaz needs to obtain the mental edge necessary to replicate the efforts mustered by his brother, Nick, a few years ago.
And if that were the case, it would just be the latest chapter in an otherwise disappointing UFC run for Gomi; a run that may only be extended if the UFC is hell-bent on getting him into action for the promotion’s return to Japan next year.
Otherwise, there really isn’t much else for Gomi to offer at 155 pounds.
Hopefully, he gives fans reason to believe otherwise on Saturday.
How will Tony Ferguson stack up among his predecessors?
For any readers who dug to the deepest trenches of B/R to find my recap of last weekend’s UFC Fight Night 25, you’ve read of my skepticism about the respective performances and careers of “The Ultimate Fighter” winners Jonathan Brookins and Court McGee.
In general, the arrow isn’t exactly pointing up on the past few seasons of TUF alums and whether it’s fair or not, Season 13 winner Tony Ferguson is guilty by association.
I admit, my exposure to Ferguson is a bit limited, as I was out of TUF 13 very early in the game (I stuck around only to see the show’s semifinals and finals).
So what I took away from Ferguson is that he’s got a very slick, relaxed boxing game that exploited his TUF compatriots with ease.
His finale performance against Ramsey Nijem showcased some power to boot.
He’s being eased into the crowded waters of 155 with a winnable bout Saturday, as fans will be reminded that, yes, Aaron Riley is still competing in the UFC.
We’ve seen Riley in this role before, as the sacrificial lamb to a TUF winner, as he was Ross Pearson’s first bout after besting Andre Winner.
Riley’s a veteran who’s very difficult to finish, and that kind of resiliency alone should make for a game test for Ferguson.
But Riley’s also an opponent who, if Ferguson is to be taken seriously as a lightweight, he should beat.
Under that pretense, I expect him to win. So, I’m more concerned with just how he performs.
Part of the allure of TUF is the perception that it can bring any upstart prospect to prominence as it did for fighters like Forrest Griffin and Rashad Evans.
Those days have long since passed as the last relevant series winner produced by that show was Ryan Bader, whose stock is anything but high right now.
As I said, whether it’s his fault or not, Ferguson’s going to be lumped in with the Efrain Escudero and the James Wilks’s of the world until he gives fans reason to believe otherwise.
Perhaps Saturday will be Ferguson’s first step towards debunking that reputation.
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