Tag: Jon Jones

UFC News: Jon Jones Declines Surgery; Bout with Rashad Evans Still Possible

While currently nursing a torn ligament in his right hand that kept him off of UFC 133, MMAJunkie reveals that Jon Jones will not require surgery.
Jones suffered the injury as a result of wear and tear from his previous collegiate wrestling years, and …

While currently nursing a torn ligament in his right hand that kept him off of UFC 133, MMAJunkie reveals that Jon Jones will not require surgery.

Jones suffered the injury as a result of wear and tear from his previous collegiate wrestling years, and the injury amounted more pain through each mixed martial arts bout. 

According to MMAJunkie, Jones was originally scheduled to go in for surgery yesterday, but after specialist Dr. James Vahey inspected the injury, he determined that the surgery was optional more than anything. 

“The actual thumb itself, the actual ligaments that attach to the knuckles, are torn,”Jones’ manager, Malki Kawa said of the injury.

“Initially, Jon didn’t want to have surgery,” Kawa continued. 

“But as we kept getting additional opinions from doctors we all trusted, they all recommended having surgery based on the initial report from the UFC’s orthopedic surgeon, Dr. Steven Sanders.” 

For the time being, Jones will attempt to avoid the procedure and fight through the injury. Kawa said Jones has been fitted for a hard cast and has been asked not to train until June 11. 

The news of the injury couldn’t have come at a better time as both Frankie Edgar and Gray Maynard were forced off the UFC 130 card, as well as former UFC heavyweight champion Brock Lesnar, who had to pull out of the main event of UFC 131 after contracting diverticulitis again. 

Kawa said that Jones does not want to delay anything further and will only go under the knife when it is absolutely necessary.

“When the pain is unbearable and/or he has an issue with the function of his thumb, that’s when Jon will have to have surgery,” he said.

Kawa added that Jones is hoping to return to defend his title as soon as he can, citing Rashad Evans as a possible opponent, should he get past light heavyweight prospect, Phil Davis, at UFC 133. 

“We met with Dana White and Lorenzo Fertitta and let them know we would like to set up a fight to get back in the cage as quickly as possible,” Kawa said.

“It could very likely still be Rashad if he gets by Phil Davis, but we could fight sooner, maybe September, October or November depending on what the UFC wants to do.”

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Jon Jones Elects to Not Have Surgery on Injured Hand

Filed under: UFC, NewsUFC light heavyweight champion Jon Jones will not be having surgery on his injured right hand after all.

Jones’ agent Malki Kawa confirmed the news via Twitter and to MMA Fighting Friday.

According to Kawa, Jones flew to Las Veg…

Filed under: ,

UFC light heavyweight champion Jon Jones will not be having surgery on his injured right hand after all.

Jones’ agent Malki Kawa confirmed the news via Twitter and to MMA Fighting Friday.

According to Kawa, Jones flew to Las Vegas earlier in the week to meet with hand specialist Dr. James Vahey. Jones’ surgery was scheduled for Thursday, but after meeting with Dr. Vahey on Wednesday, Jones was advised against surgery and told that it would have been too invasive.

Brock Lesnar: If He Can’t Return to Fighting, Who Will Be UFC’s Next Golden Boy?

There is no arguing that Brock Lesnar is the pound-for-pound king when it comes to selling pay-per-views. In the three events he has headlined, not a single one has raked in less than one million buys.On an open media call on Thursday, Brock reassured …

There is no arguing that Brock Lesnar is the pound-for-pound king when it comes to selling pay-per-views. In the three events he has headlined, not a single one has raked in less than one million buys.

On an open media call on Thursday, Brock reassured the members of the media that he will be back once this second battle with diverticulitis is over with.

There are only two guarantees in life—death and taxes.

Although Lesnar has every intention of coming back and once again being a force in the Octagon, nobody can say with 100 percent certainty that he will ever fight again.

If you look at the worst-case scenario, Brock would never step foot in the Octagon again. If that were to be the case, who could step in and become the new golden goose of the UFC? Here are a few options.

 

Jon Jones

He looked like an absolute beast when he took the light heavyweight title away from Shogun Rua at UFC 128, but his drawing power is still up in the air. UFC 128 only brought in around 450,000 buys.

Should a fight between “Bones” and Rashad Evans ever come to fruition, that would undoubtedly draw huge numbers considering all the trash talk between the two. But after that, it would seem like it would take a little time for Jones to become a superstar in the sport.

 

Anderson Silva

His front kick knockout of Vitor Belfort will forever live in infamy. But if you look at past trends, Silva’s biggest draw was at UFC 126, an event that drew an estimated 725,000 buys.

If Silva can look impressive against Yushin Okami at UFC Rio, there is a probability that he could become a huge draw.

 

Now with those two out of the way, the most likely fighter to become the biggest draw in the UFC would be Georges St-Pierre.

St-Pierre has been a solid second behind Lesnar when it comes to pay-per-view buys. Early estimates put UFC 129 drawing a little over one million buys.

When you take that and combine it with holding the record for the largest gate in UFC history, St-Pierre should be a no-brainer to take over the No. 1 slot.

But as everyone knows, MMA fans are fickle. Given St-Pierre’s last four performances, he may not be the drawing force he once was.

Fans across the globe may have been so impressed with Jones that he may be propelled to that spot.

If Silva makes the move to light heavyweight, that may be intriguing enough to bring more eyes to the events he headlines.

Only time will tell.

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By the Way, Jon Jones Won’t Be Having That Surgery on His Hand After All


(“What has two relatively healthy thumbs and just screwed with Rashad Evans’s career? This guy!” Photo courtesy of Francis Specker.)

Well, this isn’t going to help the credibility of that swagger-jackin’ Jon Jones. Bones’s manager Malki Kawa took to twitter today with a revelation that will only give more ammunition to the haters who found it a little suspicious that the UFC light-heavyweight champion postponed a fight against Rashad Evans to fix a thumb injury that “doesn’t affect [his] punching or grappling“:

I guess its time to put out the truth. @Jonnybones suffered a tear in his thumb in 2 different spots… Every dr he saw said to have surgery. We went to meet with the surgeon on wed and after he looked at @Jonnybones he thought that surgery was a bit [invasive] and bones didn’t have To have if he didn’t want to. @Jonnybones decided against surgery, and we immediately met with dana and lorenzo the next day to get his next fight scheduled.


(“What has two relatively healthy thumbs and just screwed with Rashad Evans’s career? This guy!” Photo courtesy of Francis Specker.)

Well, this isn’t going to help the credibility of that swagger-jackin’ Jon Jones. Bones’s manager Malki Kawa took to twitter today with a revelation that will only give more ammunition to the haters who found it a little suspicious that the UFC light-heavyweight champion postponed a fight against Rashad Evans to fix a thumb injury that “doesn’t affect [his] punching or grappling“:

I guess its time to put out the truth. @Jonnybones suffered a tear in his thumb in 2 different spots… Every dr he saw said to have surgery. We went to meet with the surgeon on wed and after he looked at @Jonnybones he thought that surgery was a bit [invasive] and bones didn’t have To have if he didn’t want to. @Jonnybones decided against surgery, and we immediately met with dana and lorenzo the next day to get his next fight scheduled.

For the record, every doctor @Jonnybones saw was a @ufc referred doctor. The very last one on the day before surgery thought against it…And to be quite frank, @Johnnybones never wanted to have surgery, the doctors advice all along was to have the procedure done. No @Jonnybones is not fighting rashad. Rashad is fighting phil davis. I’ll let you know who or when jon will fight real soon.

Do we think Jones ducked Rashad because he’s afraid of his former training partner? Of course not. Judging from the flawless beatings Jones has inflicted on guys like Mauricio Rua and Ryan Bader, that’s a ludicrous suggestion. Unfortunately, perception is reality, and Rashad can now hijack the narrative with the talking point that Jones pulled out of their fight with a fake injury, just to avoid fighting him. (Look, he’s already doing it!) At this point, turning public sentiment against Jones is probably as important to Evans as beating him in a fight. Get ready for a whole lot of mud to be slung…

UFC 133: Rashad Evans Talks Phil Davis, Feud with Jon Jones

While Rashad Evans prepares for his bout against Phil Davis, the former UFC light heavyweight champion took time out of his busy schedule to sit down with ESPN.com.It’s certain to say, he had a lot on his mind.Evans, who appeared at the UFC Summit in L…

While Rashad Evans prepares for his bout against Phil Davis, the former UFC light heavyweight champion took time out of his busy schedule to sit down with ESPN.com.

It’s certain to say, he had a lot on his mind.

Evans, who appeared at the UFC Summit in Las Vegas, spoke of his ongoing feud with Jones and it seems as though his animosity has grown towards the 23-year-old in the past few months via Twitter. 

“Yeah I was gettin’ into it. I like to talk, and I was gettin’ real excited about it. There were a lot of things that made me mad about the whole situation so…I definitely wanted to address a few things,” Evans said. 

The former training partners have suddenly grown apart within the past few months, and their feud escalated further when it was learned that Evans would be facing Jones for the light heavyweight title. It is something Evans has been quite vocal of and as a result, he decided to cut off ties between himself and Greg Jackson’s MMA.

Since departing from his former camp, Evans has traveled elsewhere to train.

“I’ma do a little bit in Florida, I’ma do some in Arizona, and I’ma try to get up to New York City and do some training.”

In the meantime, Evans will have to turn his attention to Phil Davis, who has replaced Jones after a hand injury forced him to withdraw from UFC 133. Evans looked at the contrast between Davis and Jones and said Davis still has some maturing to do as a fighter.

“Jon is more confident. Jon will throw something, and just believe it’s going to hit 100%. Phil is still at the point where he’s unsure,” he said. 

UFC 133 is scheduled for August 6 live from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. 

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UFC Rio: Mauricio Rua’s Coach Says Rua Will Improve His Skills at New Camp

Mauricio “Shogun” Rua is one of the best fighters at 205 lbs, but his coach Rafael Cordeiro hopes he can recapture his dominance that made him a champion. But since the former UFC light heavyweight champion has reunited with his longtime coach, Co…

Mauricio “Shogun” Rua is one of the best fighters at 205 lbs, but his coach Rafael Cordeiro hopes he can recapture his dominance that made him a champion. 

But since the former UFC light heavyweight champion has reunited with his longtime coach, Cordeiro said he plans to fix some of his weaknesses that were present in his loss to Jon Jones at UFC 128. 

“The training here will make him stronger, but we’re not a miracle house,” Cordeiro told Sherdog.com. 

“This is a place where he’ll work hard, a place where he’ll make sure he’ll never again fight like he did against Jones.”

The talks of Rua joining Kings MMA came at the request of Cordeiro, who will help the Brazilian prepare for his upcoming bout against Forrest Griffin at UFC Rio. Rua and Griffin last met in 2007, in a bout that saw Griffin upset his opponent in unpredictable fashion, in which Griffin earned the victory via rear naked choke. 

At the time, Rua was making his debut for the UFC and was highly touted as the best light heavyweight in the world. 

Cordeiro added that bringing Rua into Kings MMA was discussed prior to his title bout against Jones.

“We talked before the Jon Jones fight, but some family issues prevented him from coming to the U.S.,” Cordeiro said.

“It was easy to convince him because of our friendship and affection.”  

And it is because of their friendship that has Cordeiro convinced Rua will evolve and perform better at UFC Rio. 

“I was his coach from the time he was a white belt until he was a black belt. No one knows him as I do, and I can say there is a lot we can add here to improve on his game.” 

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