Tag: Jon Jones

Despite Recent Injury, Rashad Evans Doesn’t Regret Waiting for Title Shot

Filed under: UFC, FanHouse ExclusiveIt would be easy for Rashad Evans to sit around and second-guess himself these days. It would be easy to dwell on the what-ifs, or to wallow in the bitterness of recent events.

He waited the better part of a year fo…

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It would be easy for Rashad Evans to sit around and second-guess himself these days. It would be easy to dwell on the what-ifs, or to wallow in the bitterness of recent events.

He waited the better part of a year for his title shot, forsaking other opportunities to fight and risking the ire of UFC president Dana White. With the fight less than two months away, a freak accident in training injured his knee and forced him out of the UFC 128 main event. Now the UFC has shuffled Jon Jones – Evans’ own teammate – into the title fight in his place, leaving Evans’ future as uncertain as ever.

“It’s hard,” said Evans. “Of course it’s hard. I can’t lie and say it’s not hard or that I don’t think sometimes, I wish it was me. I’d be lying if I said that. But I believe that everything happens for a reason.”

Healing from Broken Foot, Forrest Griffin Prepares for Title Climb

Filed under: UFC, FanHouse Exclusive, NewsStill self-deprecating despite a resume that boasts a UFC championship reign and New York Times bestseller status, Forrest Griffin readily admits that his recent win over Rich Franklin was no thing of beauty.

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Still self-deprecating despite a resume that boasts a UFC championship reign and New York Times bestseller status, Forrest Griffin readily admits that his recent win over Rich Franklin was no thing of beauty.

Griffin outpointed Franklin during the UFC 126 co-main event, using his size advantage to put Franklin on his back and work him over from the top position. For a guy who first gained his fame as a heart-on-his-sleeve brawler, it showed his continued maturity as a fighter, if not his willingness to risk losing for being a crowd-pleaser.

“It’s a win, and at that point I was thinking, ‘I’ll take anything I can get,'” Griffin told MMA Fighting in an exclusive interview.

The physical nature of MMA is such that despite a conservative game plan, Griffin did not emerge unscathed. The popular light-heavyweight broke his right foot during the bout, the second time he’s broken it in the last two years. He previously injured it in training for his Nov. 2009 bout with Tito Ortiz, but fought anyway and won.

MMA Top 10 Light Heavyweights: Jon Jones Moves to No. 2

Filed under: UFC, Strikeforce, Light HeavyweightsThe last time I ranked the Top 10 light heavyweights in mixed martial arts, I wrestled with the question of who’s the No. 2 fighter in the weight class: Lyoto Machida, Rampage Jackson or Rashad Evans?

N…

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Jon JonesThe last time I ranked the Top 10 light heavyweights in mixed martial arts, I wrestled with the question of who’s the No. 2 fighter in the weight class: Lyoto Machida, Rampage Jackson or Rashad Evans?

Now I have the answer: None of the above.

Jon Jones put on his fourth consecutive spectacular performance in beating Ryan Bader at UFC 126, and I can no longer put Jones below anyone other than champion Shogun Rua. With just about any other fighter of Jones’ age and experience I’d say the UFC is rushing him into a title shot in this situation, but with Jones I can’t argue: He has proven that he deserves to be considered the second-best light heavyweight in the sport.

So I’ve got Shogun and Jones, who will meet in the main event at UFC 128, at 1-2 in our light heavyweight rankings. Find out where the rest of the division stacks up below.

Ryan Jimmo’s ‘Big Deal Blog’ Number Seven: UFC 126 Thoughts and the Importance of Mental Training to Becoming a Champion

("Left leg, Brock Lesnar’s Canadian hospital.")
Undefeated in the past four years, at 13-1 Ryan Jimmo is one of Canada’s most promising MMA prospects.
The Big Deal is in the thick of training camp for a championship bout with fellow Canadian …


("Left leg, Brock Lesnar’s Canadian hospital.")

Undefeated in the past four years, at 13-1 Ryan Jimmo is one of Canada’s most promising MMA prospects.

The Big Deal is in the thick of training camp for a championship bout with fellow Canadian Dwayne Lewis at MFC 28 — a fight Sherdog.com has deservingly named one of this month’s 10 Tussles Worth Watching — on February 25 in Edmonton Alberta and has offered to write about his preparations for the biggest fight of his career via a weekly training blog published every week leading up to the fight here at CagePotato.com.

Check out Ryan’s latest entry after the jump.

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Wednesday Morning MMA Link Club

(UFC 129: The Battle to Not Screw Up the GSP/Silva Superfight.)
Some selected highlights from our friends around the MMA blogosphere. E-mail [email protected] for details on how your site can join the MMA Link Club…
– Fedor Emelianenko …

Georges St. Pierre Jake Shields UFC 129 poster MMA photos
(UFC 129: The Battle to Not Screw Up the GSP/Silva Superfight.)

Some selected highlights from our friends around the MMA blogosphere. E-mail [email protected] for details on how your site can join the MMA Link Club…

– Fedor Emelianenko Discusses Overeem, Respect, and Role Models (LowKick)

– The Shogun Rua vs. Jon Jones Pic That Will Send Chills Down Your Spine (MMA Convert)

– How MMA Helped Packers’ Clay Matthews Become a Super Bowl XLV Champion (5thRound)

– Forrest Griffin Possibly Sidelined For Six Months With Foot Injury (Five Ounces of Pain)

– Mike Brown on Recent UFC Losses: ‘My Heart Is Broken’ (MMA Fighting)

– Dan Henderson Nearly Accepted a Spot on the Strikeforce Heavyweight Grand Prix (MiddleEasy)

– Anthony Pettis ‘Mad’ He Has to Wait for Title Shot (Versus MMA Beat)

– Jon Jones vs. Anderson Silva: How Great Would That Be For UFC? (SBNation.com/MMA) 

– UFC Vet Ben Saunders Signs With Bellator (FightMagazine)

– Snapshot of the Day: In Case You Were Wondering, Gina Carano is Still Pretty and Stuff (MMA-Scraps)

MMA Top 10 Pound-for-Pound: Silva Back on Top, Jones Gets a Spot

Filed under: UFC, Rankings, Overall
Now that was the Anderson Silva we’ve been wanting to see.

After four straight lackluster defenses of his middleweight title, Silva knocked out Vitor Belfort with a front kick to the chin that has to go down as one …

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Now that was the Anderson Silva we’ve been wanting to see.

After four straight lackluster defenses of his middleweight title, Silva knocked out Vitor Belfort with a front kick to the chin that has to go down as one of the most incredible knockouts we’ve seen in the sport. But part of what makes Silva amazing is that it might not have even been the most incredible knockout of his career: I’m still partial to the stunning elbow he used to knock out Tony Fryklund in 2006.

When you know Silva is capable of such highlight-reel heroics, it’s easy to grow disappointed in him when he delivers sub-par performances, as he did against Patrick Cote, Thales Leites, Demian Maia and Chael Sonnen. But when Silva is on his game, he’s the best in the world, and he’s now back on top of my pound-for-pound rankings.