Tag: Jon Jones

UFC 135 Fight Card: Should Rampage Jackson Be Overlooked Against Jon Jones?

The sport of MMA pulls out a lot of upsets and is about as unpredictable as sports come. The underdog pulls out a victory over a bigger name and shocks the world and then becomes the next big thing in MMA until that fighter himself—or herself&mda…

The sport of MMA pulls out a lot of upsets and is about as unpredictable as sports come. The underdog pulls out a victory over a bigger name and shocks the world and then becomes the next big thing in MMA until that fighter himself—or herself—is overthrown.

Quinton “Rampage” Jackson faces Jon Jones in a fight where Rampage is definitely the underdog.

It seems most of the MMA world is on the Jon Jones bandwagon with some people—not a lot but some—claiming Jones is a top three pound-for-pound fighter in the world. Some even have him above Georges St-Pierre which to me is ridiculous.

Some even have Jones overlooking this fight with Rampage to a possible fight with Anderson Silva. Facts are facts here, yes Jones has beaten everyone he has faced in a pretty bad manner. Yes he won the title over a very good fighter and is technically unbeaten in his career.

Has he defended his belt though? No.

Rampage can pull out a win here if Jones simply does what everyone else is doing—overlooking Rampage.

If Rampage can close the enormous distance in this fight and keep that hook cocked back and finally unleash it for a devastating knockout, Rampage will pull out the W.

The chances aren’t good though as the distance between Rampage and Jones is a staggering 11 inches.

I’m not going to make a bold claim here and say there is no way Rampage loses. I’m not going to even say I’m picking Rampage. But Rampage does have a shot here and as a former UFC light heavyweight champion he shouldn’t be overlooked.

Rampage may not have been Rampage in his last few fights, but that isn’t to say he can’t find himself against Jones. Rampage has that deadly one-punch knockout power that can—and might—send Jones down for his first legitimate loss of his career.

 

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UFC 134 Results: Anderson Silva Crushes Okami, Jon Jones Next?

So people…let’s confess now, who was as naive and clueless as Chael Sonnen? Who really ever doubted Anderson Silva would lose to Yushin Okami? Me neither.I don’t want to spend this article ranting (like some articles I have written in the…

So people…let’s confess now, who was as naive and clueless as Chael Sonnen? Who really ever doubted Anderson Silva would lose to Yushin Okami? Me neither.

I don’t want to spend this article ranting (like some articles I have written in the past), but let me just get something off of my chest…honestly, this is like a therapy for me. If Chael Sonnen really believed that Yushin Okami stood any chance against Anderson Silva, he is living in a dream world. So what if Okami trained with him? And so what if Sonnen is the only person to push Silva to his absolute limit? At the end of the day, he didn’t beat him. So I lost what little respect I had for Sonnen last night. End of rant.

The way Anderson Silva disposed of Okami on Saturday Night was scary. It sent shock-waves across the entire Mixed Martial Arts world. His 14th consecutive win and 12th UFC Middleweight Championship Title defense is enough to give him the Pound for Pound King Crown.

His elusive head movement and unbelievable footwork completely overwhelmed Okami. His speed and accuracy broke Okami. And his power? That destroyed Okami. Once Anderson steps it up a gear, his movements become sincere, his head becomes loose, his hands drop and then his opponents follow. He is simply out-of-this-worldly good.

With this in mind then, and a flurry of punches still ringing fresh in Okami’s ears, it’s beginning to look impossible to find a worthy opponent for The Spider now. He has avenged his controversial loss to Okami as well as cleared out his entire division. And, after recent performances on Georges St.Pierre’s behalf, it is highly unlikely we will ever see that superfight happening in the future. So who can the most dangerous man on the planet fight next?

The second most dangerous man, of course.

At the moment, Jon Jones is still yet to hit his prime. But he is a supremely talented young fighter that is more than capable of taking a fight to Silva, more so than Okami managed anyway. The only question that remains is whether Silva would be prepared to move up to light-heavyweight again to do so. He performed well at light-heavy last time, out-classing James Irvin and Forrest Griffin.

An area in which Silva would be significantly weak against Jones is his reach—something that is usually his biggest advantage. Jon Jones has the longest reach in UFC history at 84.5 inches, compared to Silva’s 77.6. But a fighter like Anderson Silva seems to always find a way to overcome a problem like this.

Aside from the reach, I see this fight being extremely close in every department—although Silva is 12 years the elder.

Superfight Prediction:

My prediction then for the possible clash between Anderson Silva and Jon Jones.

I think this clash is dependent on time, really. If the fight happened tomorrow, I would go with Anderson Silva. But if the fight happens a year or two down the line, Silva will be nudging 38 years of age, whilst Jones would be entering his prime. If this was the case, I would have to go with Jones. But, for the sake of the prediction, if the fight happened within the next year—as Dana White hopes—I would give it to Anderson.

It would be a very close encounter, possible even a split decision, but as both fighters are explosive, I see the likely end being a KO or TKO. Chael was able to rock Anderson, so Jones would have no trouble doing the same. Likewise, Anderson was able to KO Forrest Griffin—amongst other huge names—so he is probably able to do the same to Jones.

It’s a close call, really. But I’m not sitting on the fence by any means—Anderson Silva would win via third round TKO.

Disagree?

Leave your thoughts in a comment below.

 

Thanks for reading!

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UFC 134 Results: Anderson Silva vs. Jon Jones—Who Would Win Right Now?

Ever since Jon ‘Bones’ Jones won the UFC light heavyweight title from ‘Shogun’ Rua, at UFC 128, fans have wondered who would win in a superfight—Jon Jones or UFC Middleweight Champion, Anderson ‘The Spider’ Silva?Each fighter has their own streng…

Ever since Jon ‘Bones’ Jones won the UFC light heavyweight title from ‘Shogun’ Rua, at UFC 128, fans have wondered who would win in a superfight—Jon Jones or UFC Middleweight Champion, Anderson ‘The Spider’ Silva?

Each fighter has their own strengths that they would bring to the table for this fight.

Jon Jones has an outstanding wrestling background, fantastic ground-and-pound, a huge size advantage, and some of the most unorthodox strikes in MMA.

Anderson Silva would likely have the edge in striking, jiu-jitsu, and overall speed.

On paper, this would appear to be a pretty even match-up.

Unfortunately for Silva, there’s one area where he lacks skill, and Jones excels.

Anderson Silva has had one fight in the UFC where he was clearly in danger of losing for the first time in his UFC career, and that was when he faced off against Chael Sonnen at UFC 117.

Sonnen laid the groundwork, and showed the world how to beat Anderson Silva—you take him down and you beat him up.

Jon Jones just so happens to be a master of that craft.

Jones has won two fights by using ground-and-pound, with another two coming indirectly from ground-and-pound.

In the fights against Brandon Vera and Vladimir Matyushenko, Jones was able to take down the fighters and TKO them with elbows and punches, in 3:19 and 1:52 respectively.

In the fights against Ryan Bader and Mauricio Rua, he beat them up on the ground and was able to finish them via other methods.

Many would agree that Jones has better ground-and-pound than Chael Sonnen, who generally goes to a decision. So does Jones have the ability to beat Anderson Silva?

Yes, Jones has every tool available, and all the right skills to beat Anderson Silva.

He has one thing that’s working against him though, and that is his relative inexperience in the sport.

Anderson Silva has been around for years, and it is well known amongst hardcore fans that Silva takes the first few minutes of a fight to get the timing of his opponent, and figure out when to strike.

If Jones makes any mistakes or shows any weaknesses, Silva could easily exploit them, and capitalize.

Jones has the skills to beat Anderson, but Anderson has the experience to beat Jones.

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UFC: The 50 Most Important Fighters in UFC History

With the recent news of the UFC signing a 7 year deal with Fox, it is safe to say this 18 year old sport is on its way to becoming “officially mainstream.”But in order to appreciate the now, we must look back, back to the multitude of fighters that got…

With the recent news of the UFC signing a 7 year deal with Fox, it is safe to say this 18 year old sport is on its way to becoming “officially mainstream.”

But in order to appreciate the now, we must look back, back to the multitude of fighters that got this sport through the dark ages of near extinction and helped to build the UFC into a new kind of sports organization.

Power ranking the 50 most important fighters in UFC history is not a job for mere mortals, at least not this one – so please forgive me for simply putting them in chronological order.

Let the debate begin.

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Anderson Silva vs. Jon Jones: 8 Reasons This Superfight Will Happen

Will a monumental superfight between Anderson Silva and Jon Jones ever happen? With the amount of mixed martial arts and UFC events being offered up to fans lately, it is only natural for one’s mind to wander and dream about the fights we may never hav…

Will a monumental superfight between Anderson Silva and Jon Jones ever happen?

With the amount of mixed martial arts and UFC events being offered up to fans lately, it is only natural for one’s mind to wander and dream about the fights we may never have. Fans have been spoiled to the fact that if two fighters are in the same division and want to see them rumble the UFC will do everything to make it happen.

If all the divisional fights seem to become reality, we are left to look to crossover fights and superfights to dream and speculate on matches we would love to see but may never happen.

Middleweight champion Anderson Silva moving up to 205 pounds and challenging champion Jon Jones is a superfight in waiting, and here are eight reasons why I think that fight will eventually happen.

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UFC 135 Fight Card: 7 Questions Heading into Jon Jones’ First Title Defense

Since capturing the UFC light heavyweight title from Mauricio “Shogun” Rua at UFC 128 via a dominating performance, there has been much talk about Jon Jones and his future in the UFC.While many are looking long term for “Bones,” it probably makes sense…

Since capturing the UFC light heavyweight title from Mauricio “Shogun” Rua at UFC 128 via a dominating performance, there has been much talk about Jon Jones and his future in the UFC.

While many are looking long term for “Bones,” it probably makes sense to look at his first title defense before looking far down the road for the UFC’s youngest champion ever.

With that in mind, what follows are some of the questions facing Jones as he prepares to defend his light heavyweight title against former UFC champion Quinton “Rampage” Jackson.

The two will meet in the main event at UFC 135, which is scheduled to take place at the Pepsi Center in Denver, CO on September 24.

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