Tag: Jon Jones

What a Jon Jones Loss at UFC 152 Would Mean to the UFC

The discussion on how Jon Jones handled himself over the last few months will hopefully at some point fade into actual talk about his fight against Vitor Belfort at UFC 152 on September 22.If you want to look at the positives surrounding Jones and his …

The discussion on how Jon Jones handled himself over the last few months will hopefully at some point fade into actual talk about his fight against Vitor Belfort at UFC 152 on September 22.

If you want to look at the positives surrounding Jones and his questionable decision-making as of late, then look no further than the main card that fans are going to be treated to:

  • Jon Jones vs. Vitor Belfort
  • Joseph Benavidez vs. Demetrious Johnson
  • Michael Bisping vs. Brian Stann
  • Matt Hammill vs. Vladimir Matyushenko
  • Cub Swanson vs. Charles Oliveira

On paper, I consider this to be a stacked card, so we can all thank Jones for rejecting Chael Sonnen and contributing to UFC 152—that’s if you focus on the bright side of things.

There aren’t very many people giving Belfort a chance to beat Jones. Jones is a huge Vegas favorite to win the fight and anybody who has watched these two guys fight over the last few years can see why. Belfort’s strength is still his quick and powerful punches. It is hard to envision him getting anywhere near Jones, especially with the nearly 11″ reach advantage “Bones” will have.

Let’s say for our purpose here that Jones unleashes a spinning back-fist that Belfort ducks under. In the same beautiful motion, Belfort returns a counter uppercut that lands flush on Jones’ chin and drops him. Belfort becomes the Light Heavyweight Champion and Jones exits the arena dejected and confused.

This may not be as bad for the UFC as many would initially think.

Belfort will continue to progress the popularity of the UFC through Brazil. “The Phenom” already has a huge fanbase in Brazil, but a win over Jones would do nothing but great things for the sport in his native country.

With a loss, the UFC may be able to rein in a little more of the control they appear to be losing in dealing with Jones. I don’t know Jones on a personal level, but if you compare his actions from two years ago to how he goes about things today, it becomes evident his ego needs a reality check.

Every great athlete or sports team needs to become grounded after long periods of success.

If Jones loses the fight and the championship, he may also lose the chip on the shoulder he appears to be carrying around with him nowadays. The loss may humble him a bit, at least in the eyes of the fans. 

The UFC and Jon Jones will both benefit from Jones losing the belt—temporarily. Perhaps they will regain the respect they had for each other and realize that they need each other to be successful for the years to come.

 

Joe Chacon is a Featured Columnist for Bleacher Report and a Staff Writer for Operation Sports. You can follow him on Twitter @JoeChacon.

Read more MMA news on BleacherReport.com

Labor Day Fight Video Party: Silva, Jones, Henderson & More


(Will it ever get old?)

Here at CagePotato we don’t mind doing things by the book if we can still have a good time doing it. So, we didn’t mind enjoying a few modern classics when the UFC made them available through youtube.

After the jump you can too. Full fight videos of Anderson Silva vs. Chael Sonnen II, Dan Henderson vs. Michael Bisping: Comeuppance, and Jon Jones vs. Quinton “Rampage” Jackson.

These are all good’uns so if you’re in America, enjoy part of your day off by watching some of the world’s best fighters get after it. And if you don’t have the day off, get back at your employer passive aggressively by wasting a couple hours watching these on the job.


(Will it ever get old?)

Here at CagePotato we don’t mind doing things by the book if we can still have a good time doing them. So, we didn’t mind enjoying a few modern classics when the UFC made them available through youtube.

After the jump you can too. Full fight videos of Anderson Silva vs. Chael Sonnen II, Dan Henderson vs. Michael Bisping: Comeuppance, and Jon Jones vs. Quinton “Rampage” Jackson.

These are all good’uns so if you’re in America, enjoy part of your day off by watching some of the world’s best fighters get after it. And if you don’t have the day off, get back at your employer passive aggressively by wasting a couple hours watching these on the job.

Jon Jones vs. Rampage Jackson:

Dan Henderson vs. Michael Bisping:

Anderson Silva vs. Chael Sonnen II:

– Elias Cepeda

Jon Jones vs. 5 of the UFC’s Best Heavyweights

It’s shocking how a fighter can go from being favored in both the books of the odds makers and in the hearts of fans to being considered a pariah who has more detractors than he has advocates. Such is the strange case of Jon Jones. Since he claim…

It’s shocking how a fighter can go from being favored in both the books of the odds makers and in the hearts of fans to being considered a pariah who has more detractors than he has advocates.

Such is the strange case of Jon Jones.

Since he claimed the belt by destroying Shogun Rua, and then proceeded to defend it easily against Rampage Jackson and Lyoto Machida, fans have begun to find things about Jones they simply cannot abide.

Outside of the cage, they don’t like his attitude for any number of reasons: he’s either too cocky or too fake in his humility or too whatever.

Inside the cage, they hate the fact that he enjoys what seems to be some seriously unfair advantages, mainly based upon his considerable wingspan and reach. Thus, as Jones continues to roll over the opposition at light heavyweight, those detractors continue to call Jones out to the land of heavyweights, where they are positive they would get to see Jones get his comeuppance.

I am not so sure about that. Read on and find out why.

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Old School Fighters and Their New School Equivalent

Being a fight fan at my age means having followed this sport from the very beginning and keeping it dialed in through the many evolutions that the UFC has gone through to today.Money, business model and hype machine aside, my eyes and interest always c…

Being a fight fan at my age means having followed this sport from the very beginning and keeping it dialed in through the many evolutions that the UFC has gone through to today.

Money, business model and hype machine aside, my eyes and interest always come back to the fighters and the fights. The game was built to succeed on the backs of the old school fighters like Royce Gracie, Ken Shamrock and Tank Abbott, on down to Matt Hughes, BJ Penn and Randy Couture.

It seems every generation of fighters is replaced seamlessly by the next with some exciting new tricks and some familiar styles. Many of our favorite, old school fighters have been replaced by a younger version of themselves, much to the delight of the fans.

It can be a similar style, attitude or career path that mirrors the old and the new.

Here are some old school Fighters and their new school Equivalents.

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Jon Jones: "I’m Not Here to Be Loved, I’m Here to Be Dominant"

Despite being the most hated man in MMA, Jon Jones is still able to walk with his head held high and an ear-to-ear grin.The UFC light heavyweight champion has taken the brunt of the blame for the cancellation of the UFC 151 fight card, which left 20 ot…

Despite being the most hated man in MMA, Jon Jones is still able to walk with his head held high and an ear-to-ear grin.

The UFC light heavyweight champion has taken the brunt of the blame for the cancellation of the UFC 151 fight card, which left 20 other fighters out of work.

After Dan Henderson pulled out of the main event with a knee injury, Chael Sonnen offered to step up as a late replacement, but Jones opted not to take a fight against a new opponent on short notice.

The decision subsequently led to the entire fight card being cancelled.

During a media conference call for the event, UFC president Dana White called it a “selfish” and “disgusting” decision.

However, despite the fact the MMA world is in uproar, Jones doesn’t appear rattled at all.

The general consensus in sports is that every athlete wants to be loved, but experienced athletes learn that fans change like the seasons.

People will place you on a pedestal one day, and tear you back down the next.

In a post on Twitter, Jones responded to a question asking whether or not he felt he was the most hated UFC champ in history.

“I’m not here to be loved, I’m here to dominate,” said the 25-year-old champ.

Some will take Jones’ words as confirmation of his selfish ambitions, others will respect his honesty.

The path of a villain is a lonely one in combat sports, and Jones may have reached a point of no return.

Read more MMA news on BleacherReport.com

Jon Jones and the 10 Most Unorthodox Strikers in MMA Today

You hear the term thrown around a lot: “Unorthodox” striking. That, though, has many meanings. The actual term “unorthodox” simply means a fighter is left-handed. To others, it means a fighter that does not stand in a boxing-sty…

You hear the term thrown around a lot: “Unorthodox” striking. That, though, has many meanings.

The actual term “unorthodox” simply means a fighter is left-handed. To others, it means a fighter that does not stand in a boxing-style three-quarters stance.

Still, MMA is a big place with thousands of professional fighters coming from all backgrounds imaginable. To define “unorthodox” striking as just one thing would be a disservice to the variety of ways fighters tackle their craft.

So, ladies and gentlemen, welcome to the Ten Most Unorthodox Strikers in MMA. Here, we discuss fighters that have their own unique style and what makes them special.

The list is in alphabetical order…so no need to complain about ranking.

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