The last time we had a UFC pay-per-view was August 11 when Benson Henderson defended his lightweight crown against Frankie Edgar. Well rest easy fight fans, UFC 152 is coming on September 22 live from the Air Canada Centre in Toronto. UFC 152 was origi…
The last time we had a UFC pay-per-view was August 11 when Benson Henderson defended his lightweight crown against Frankie Edgar. Well rest easy fight fans, UFC 152 is coming on September 22 live from the Air Canada Centre in Toronto.
UFC 152 was originally set to be headlined by Joseph Benavidez and Demetrious Johnson facing off to decide who would be the UFC’s first flyweight champion, or as Benavidezput it, the “George Washington” of the 125-pound weight division. Alas, that fight has been bumped to co-main event status.
Instead of Benavidez versus Johnson, the main event will see Jon Jones defend his UFC light heavyweight title against VitorBelfort in a fight that was booked after Dan Henderson pulled up lame in the days leading up to UFC 151.
A lot of virtual ink has been spilled on UFC 151 and its subsequent cancellation—and rightly so, since it was the first time the promotion cancelled a fight card. However, if there’s a positive to come out of that cancellation it’s the fact that fans will get to see two title fights at UFC 152.
In addition to those two title scraps, fans will also get a chance to see Michael Bisping compete against Brian Stann in a fight that, if one is to believe Bisping, could have potential title shot ramifications in the middleweight division.
In all UFC 152 will feature 12 fights. Three preliminary fights will stream on the UFC’s Facebook page, four preliminary card fights will be broadcast on FX, while the five main card bouts will be on pay-per-view.
Vitor Belfort has battled every kind of fighter imaginable. He’s been in the cage with strikers like Alistair Overeem, wrestlers like Randy Couture and submission specialists like Kazushi Sakuraba. But Vitor Belfort, for all his experience, has never f…
VitorBelfort has battled every kind of fighter imaginable. He’s been in the cage with strikers like Alistair Overeem, wrestlers like Randy Couture and submission specialists like KazushiSakuraba. But VitorBelfort, for all his experience, has never fought anyone like Jon Jones.
The conventional wisdom is that Belfort will be able to control the striking phase of the fight. For all the talk of VitorBelfort‘s boxing prowess, however, his boxing technique is pretty much nonexistent.
His entire striking game is built around charging forward and throwing his super-fast hands. When he wins, it’s because of speed and strength, not any kind of boxing skill. If he can bully you into fleeing, especially if you back straight up, Belfort is capable of flattening anyone in the sport.
It’s not a game that is likely to work well against Jon Jones. The champion possesses two skills that are kryptonite to Belfort—kicks from a distance and ability in the clinch.
Belfort has been beaten over and over again, even by wrestlers like Sakuraba, because of his complete inability to defend kicks, especially spinning back kicks and kicks to the body. Unfortunately for Belfort fans, those are both techniques Jones is pretty good at.
Belfort is also bad in the clinch. Against Randy Couture, whenever Belfort charged forward, Couture simply let him come. Then he’d grab him in the clinch, smack him around and dump him on the mat. If anything, Jones is even more dangerous with a similar strategy than Couture was.
There’s always the famed puncher’s chance. And Belfort, make no mistake, punches hard. But I don’t see him getting the opportunity to hurt Jones. This fight isn’t going long. I see Jones, stoppage, in the first round.
Disagree? What’s your pick then, smarty pants? Let me know in the comments.
So does that mean that Henderson keeps his spot at the front of the 205-pound contender-line when he heals up? Not exactly. According to a new report from Dave Meltzer on MMAFighting, UFC president Dana White now intends to have Hendo and Machida fight each other to determine the true #1 LHW contender. The planned booking seems to be motivated at least partly by anger. As Meltzer writes:
(Machida has a lot riding on this fight: A UFC title shot, the respect of Brazil’s fans, and a chance to one day sit on the Cool Guy Bench.)
So does that mean that Henderson keeps his spot at the front of the 205-pound contender-line when he heals up? Not exactly. According to a new report from Dave Meltzer on MMAFighting, UFC president Dana White now intends to have Hendo and Machida fight each other to determine the true #1 LHW contender. The planned booking seems to be motivated at least partly by anger. As Meltzer writes:
[Regarding] Machida turning down the originally announced shot at champion Jon Jones at UFC 152 on Sept. 22 in Toronto, White mentioned that he felt Machida made the wrong decision…White at the time was upset with both Henderson and Machida. He was mad at Henderson for keeping the knee injury secret for two weeks, which is against protocol as fighters are supposed to inform UFC of all injuries immediately, and had he not done so, White felt they may have been able to save [UFC 151].
Though the match hasn’t been tied to a specific event, Henderson has stated that he’d be healed up and ready to fight as early as December — which means that after he fights Vitor Belfort, Jon Jones could be on the shelf until well into Spring 2013, waiting for his next fight. That’ll teach him.
Here’s my concern: Machida could end up beating Hendo, and then we’ll have to sit through the Jones vs. Machida rematch that nobody asked for, and miss out on the Jones vs. Henderson fight that we were genuinely psyched about. What do you think? Is booking Henderson vs. Machida the right way to go? And who takes it?
UFC President Dana White was not thrilled when UFC light heavyweight champion Jon Jones said he “felt like a piece of meat” in the wake of UFC 151’s cancellation:The Jon Jones piece of meat (expletive) thing. When I see him in (expletive) Toronto, that…
UFC President Dana White was not thrilled when UFC light heavyweight champion Jon Jones said he “felt like a piece of meat” in the wake of UFC 151’s cancellation:
The Jon Jones piece of meat (expletive) thing. When I see him in (expletive) Toronto, that’s the first (expletive) thing we’re going to talk about. Piece of meat? Give me a (expletive) break.
White’s delivered the outburst to a small group of reporters gathered at the UFC headquarters (via MMA Fighting).
He was just getting started:
That sounds like something a male supermodel would say: ‘I feel like a piece of meat out here (mocking voice)’…That pisses me off worse than (expletive) canceling the event.
Additionally, White ripped Jones for not taking a fight with ChaelSonnen as a last-minute replacement for Dan Henderson. For not disclosing his knee injury sooner, “Hendo” also drew the ire of White
As far as White himself? He feels that he doesn’t deserve any blame for the event falling apart.
“If somebody can even try to give me an idea of how that’s my fault that 151 got canceled, I would love to hear it,” he said.
The UFC’s head honcho then went on a long-winded rant about Jones’ head trainer, Greg Jackson, saying he hates how Jackson portrays himself as a “nice guy,” and calling him a hypocrite.
The only reason we even know who Greg Jackson is ’cause of (expletive) Diego Sanchez…Diego Sanchez came out of his camp because of GSP. GSP wanted to come train at Jackson’s camp and Diego was like (expletive) that (expletive). ‘This is my house, man. I’m going to have to fight this guy one day.’ What did Greg Jackson do? (Expletive) GSP down there isn’t he. You know why because he believed GSP would (expletive) beat Diego Sanchez. He made a business decision. I will take him over him. What happened to (expletive) family?
White also cited the problems between Rashad Evans and Jones at Jackson’s MMA camp as another example of Jackson, who he also called a “(expletive) con-artist,” not being loyal to his “family.” (Evans eventually left the camp.)
White put Jones on notice that he would get a stern talking to once they crossed paths in Toronto, at UFC 152 on Sept. 22.
After Jones declined the fight with Sonnen, it seemed academic that “Bones” would rematch LyotoMachida at UFC 152. But “The Dragon” didn’t want the fight on short notice.
When the smoke finally settled, former UFC light heavyweight champion VitorBelfort was booked to fight Jones next Saturday. Belfort hasn’t fought at 205-pounds in five years and was clearly a last ditch effort to find an opponent for the UFC’s youngest champion.
Were White’s comments justified or is the UFC President beating a dead horse at this point?
At the core of things, 2012 has been a bit of a mixed bag for Jon Jones.It would be nearly impossible for Jones to replicate his stellar 2011 run. After all, Jones went 4-0 in that calendar year, beating almost all of the world’s top-ranked light heavy…
At the core of things, 2012 has been a bit of a mixed bag for Jon Jones.
It would be nearly impossible for Jones to replicate his stellar 2011 run. After all, Jones went 4-0 in that calendar year, beating almost all of the world’s top-ranked light heavyweights and capturing the UFC title in the process. He also made it look easy, leading many—and I’ll include myself in this group—to believe that Jones turned in the best year-long performance by any fighter in the history of mixed martial arts.
This year has been a bit different.
Jones has fought just once this year; by this time last year, Jones had already fought and won twice and was preparing to step in the cage with Quinton Jackson. In 2012, we’ve only seen Jones in the cage during his UFC 145 win over Rashad Evans. He’ll fight VitorBelfort at UFC 152, but I’d be shocked to see him appear again before the end of the year.
This is the natural progression of things. Fighters who are young and hungry are willing to fight as many times as they possibly can, scratching and clawing their way to the top. Once they hit the summit, however, they tend to relax. They’re making more money, and they’ve got the respect and the fame they once so desperately craved. They’re content to take less fights and to be more calculating in the fights they do take, as witnessed during the UFC 151 debacle that saw Jones decline to face ChaelSonnen on short notice.
It’s perfectly reasonable to assume that Jones will finish out this year undefeated; Belfort is a huge underdog at UFC 152 next week, and few expect him to present much of a challenge for Jones.
So what’s on the docket for Jones next year?
His first challenger will likely emerge from December’s UFC on FOX bout between Mauricio Rua and Alexander Gustafsson. Jones has beaten Rua before, and convincingly so, but “Shogun” is a marketable star and, barring a losing streak, will likely always stay near title contention.
Gustafsson is the light heavyweight division’s next great hope, the guy with the kind of skill, frame and athletic ability that many believe will enable him to give Jones a run for his money. His biggest career win came over Thiago Silva, but he’s won five in a row after losing to eventual teammate Phil Davis at UFC 112. A win over Rua would be the new biggest win of his career, to be sure, but it would also give him the kind of name-value boost he needs in order to be presented as a legitimate title challenger to the public.
Let’s imagine that Jones emerges victorious against Rua or Gustafsson. Who’s the next challenger?
I think that all depends on ChaelSonnen‘s performance against Forrest Griffin at UFC 155 in December. If Sonnen scores an emphatic win, I imagine it would be pretty tough for the UFC to decide against doing a very marketable Jones vs. Sonnen bout at the next International Fight Week, held each July in Las Vegas. That’s the UFC’s version of WrestleMania, and they want a big fight to headline the card each year.
Jones taking on Sonnen—especially given what happened with the cancellation of UFC 151—would undoubtedly be one of the UFC’s most potentially lucrative fights of 2012. It may not be the most perfect fight in terms of deserving contendership—in this scenario, Sonnen would have just one win at light heavyweight after losing to Anderson Silva—but in the prizefighting game, the objective is to make money with intriguing and marketable fights.
But again, let’s imagine that Jones beats Sonnen. What’s in store for Jones 12 months from now?
There’s always LyotoMachida, provided he accepts the opportunities the UFC puts in front of him. Oh, and that’s also assuming that he beats the next guy he has to face, because we now know that he won’t get that title shot he earned at UFC on FOX after turning down the chance to save UFC 151 (and then the chance to face Jones at UFC 152).
It’s tough to imagine another light heavyweight making a rock-solid case that he deserves a crack at Jones. Or, put it this way: It’s tough to envision a light heavyweight emerging that the public would be desperate to see in the cage against Jones. Because again, this is prizefighting.
Glover Teixeira could string together a few dominant wins and make a case for himself. That’s a perfectly plausible scenario. Teixeira has immense skills and puts on the kind of violent displays that the UFC and its fans crave.
Phil Davis might be able to win his way back to title contention. Or Cain Velasquez might win the UFC heavyweight title, forcing Daniel Cormier to drop down and challenge Jones in one hell of an intriguing fight.
But beyond that? The offerings at light heavyweight are sparse. Or rather, they would be if things go the way I’ve laid them out here.
If things get to that point, then Jones would have smashed the successful light heavyweight title defense record set by Tito Ortiz in 2001 and 2002. He’s made it clear that breaking Ortiz’s record is a major goal. Once he accomplishes that, I can’t see him expressing much interest in sticking around to face the same challengers he’s already dispatched once or twice before.
I think that will be the time that Jones starts casting an eye towards bigger fights. A mega-payday with Anderson Silva? Both fighters have stated that they’re not interested in making that happen because they want to establish their own legacies without ruining the other’s legacy. But should Jones get to the end of 2013 while still undefeated, you’d have to think he’ll start looking to establish himself as the greatest fighter in the history of the sport. A win over Silva would help him establish just that.
All is not lost if Jones and Silva stick to their guns, however. There’s another way Jones could establish himself as one of the greats, and that’s simply by making a long-rumored move up to the heavyweight division. He’d need time to put on 15 or so pounds of muscle, but I have no doubt Jones would be the same dominant force at heavyweight that he is in his current weight class.
As of today, there are plenty of big fights at heavyweight available for Jones. A year from now? There will be even more. Jones could jump up and challenge for the heavyweight title immediately, creating a whole new slew of huge fights. Hell, every fight Jones participated in at that point would be a gigantic fight.
Yeah, Jones has come pretty close to cleaning out the light heavyweight division. But there’s still plenty of places for him to go and plenty of room for him to grow.
And I’ll tell you one thing I know with absolute certainty: I can’t wait to watch it unfold.
There was a time not too long ago when Jon Jones was the perfect UFC star.Those days are, most definitely, over.Back then, Bones said all the right things, did all the right things, flashed a thousand-watt smile with ease, gave thoughtful, articulate a…
There was a time not too long ago when Jon Jones was the perfect UFC star.
Those days are, most definitely, over.
Back then, Bones said all the right things, did all the right things, flashed a thousand-watt smile with ease, gave thoughtful, articulate answers and basically did everything you would want the face of an organization to do. He even moonlighted as a crime-fighting superhero, complete with comic-book muscles, but lacking the cape.
He seemed a lead-pipe lock to be the antidote to an affliction that plagues most (if not all) other professional sports: the spoiled, petulant, arrogant superstar.
The baddest man in the sport yet someone for whom you could root without reservation.
This is a man who, at the age of 22 or 23, was asked how he stayed so grounded and responded: “My mom always said, ‘God doesn’t like ugly, Jonathan.'” When I watched him deliver that line after stopping Vladimir Matyushenko at UFC Live: Jones v. Matyushenko, I was a true believer.
Or maybe it was during the UFC Live: Jones v. Vera post-fight presser…
Whatever, the point is, when he said it, Bones’ greatest sin was being too good.
He breezed through opponent after opponent on his way to becoming the youngest champion in organizational history at UFC 128.
Of course, that was enough of a sin in an increasingly you-can-be-good-but-not-too-good sports world to plant the seeds for a banner crop of skeptics and detractors. Almost immediately, the lunatic fringe dubbed Jones arrogant and insincere before there was any objective evidence to support such claims.
Maybe that camp took its cue from Rashad Evans. Maybe it latched onto Bones’ obvious confidence and ran wild with it.
Whatever the case, a fair assessment of the situation revealed a lot of anti-Jones smoke, but no real fire.
Yes, the man was and continues to be confident, possibly even cocky. But in a world where every ignoramus with a gym membership and a spray-on tan thinks he’s God’s gift to mankind, I can accept a little arrogance from a man-child who can physically destroy 99.9 percent of the planet that walks around on two legs.
And it’s not like Jon was channeling his inner-Floyd Mayweather.
So when venom was spewed at the UFC Light Heavyweight champ, most reasonable observers just rolled their eyes and waited for the tempest in a teacup to pass.
Then, the No. 1 challenger at 205 pounds, Dan Henderson, had to withdraw from his main-event date with Bones at UFC 151.
As UFC president Dana White and company scrambled to salvage the card, ChaelSonnen offered to step in on short notice to fight the champ. The champ demurred and the rest is history.
Hard words flew left and right, but none carried more condemnation than White’s stinging criticism of Jones and his manager, Greg Jackson. Amongst other gems, DW called UFC 151 “the event that Jon Jones and Greg Jackson murdered” and pointed out how selfish the decision was in light of what it mean to other fighters, UFC personnel, etc.
Before we take a blowtorch to Jon Jones over the canceled card, it bears mentioning that the reality is not as neat and clean as one side to the dispute would have you believe.
There is nothing in Jones’ contract that says he must fight whomever and whenever the organization says. Nothing that says his to-fight-or-not-to-fight calculus must take the best interests of his fellow fighters into account. Nothing that says he must strive to be well-liked by the masses.
At the end of the day, Bones and his camp didn’t think the potential costs were worth the potential benefits when viewed in the harsh light of a business decision.
From that perspective and that perspective alone, it was the right call and (frankly) a no-brainer.
Sonnen is a hell of a talker, but a mediocre prospect if we’re talking about viable championship contenders.
He’s bumping up to 205 pounds from 185 after two failed cracks at UFC Middleweight Champion Anderson Silva, both resulting in stoppages for the Spider. Most people feel Jones is a younger, bigger, faster Spider except with a wrestling pedigree, which means the one hole that Sonnen almost exploited in the pair of Silva bouts would be theoretically closed.
On paper, the self-styled American Gangsta was (and remains) hopelessly outgunned.
Toss in the lack of profile at 205 pounds and the proposal was the definition of lose-lose for Bones’ fight career—win and everyone yawns, lose and all hell breaks loose.
It also bears mentioning that Dana White probably went on the uber-offensive because of that old adage: The best defense is a good offense.
Before heaping the aborted card in Jones’ lap, the most obvious target for fan scorn was DW and the organization itself.
After all, a card so weak that it can’t survive if it loses its main event is a clear recipe for disaster and no year evidences this fact as conclusively as 2012.
Think of all the tantalizing matchups that have fallen prey to the injury bug (or some other last-minute wrench in the works)—UFC Welterweight Champion Georges St-Pierre v. Nick Diaz, Mark Munoz v. Sonnen, UFC Heavyweight Champion Junior dos Santos v. Alistair Overeem, VitorBelfort v. Wanderlei Silva, UFC Bantamweight Champion Dominick Cruz v. Urijah Faber and the list keeps going.
Even if the tilt between Josh Koscheck and Jake Ellenberger hadn’t been lost to injury as well, UFC 151 was the ultimate house of cards built next to an open window.
Consequently, it’s a bit of a stretch to place the blame squarely and exclusively on Jon Jones’ broad shoulders.
BUT…
The light heavyweight kingpin does deserve some legitimate scorn for the first time in his career.
In this sprawling interview with MMA Fighting’s Ariel Helwani, Jones sounds like a man making stuff up as he goes. At various points, Sonnen is either such a chump, he doesn’t deserve to be in the cage with Jon or he is far too dangerous to fight on short notice. You can make either argument to different persuasive effect, but you cannot make both.
Additionally, there’s merit to the idea that a champion should never retreat from a bout, especially one he wins 99 times out of 100. Especially when that champion goes on The Abe Kanan Show and says he’d take the very fight now offered “in a heartbeat.”
And what of his fellow gladiators?
He didn’t have to take their plights into consideration, but he didn’t have to ignore them, either.
If you add the warm, fuzzy considerations that get ignored when the decision-makers put on their business suits, the issue gets much more complicated. It’s no longer an obvious lose-lose proposition; Jon had much to gain from taking (and winning) the bout with Chael Sonnen.
He could’ve saved UFC 151 while giving his colleagues and the fans exactly what they wanted. He could’ve been the knight in shining armor, riding to the rescue. Best of all, he could’ve throttled Sonnen, pushing the latter ever closer to MMA relevance.
Instead, the 205 champ and his team chose discretion as the better part of valor, and they are still dealing with the fallout from that choice.
Whether you agree or disagree with it, one thing is certain: Jon Jones’ has shown his critics the first legitimate chink in his armor.
And man, are they having a field day exploiting it.
At the core of things, 2012 has been a bit of a mixed bag for