Tag: Jon Jones

UFC 145 Results: Jon Jones Will Dominate UFC After Win vs. Rashad Evans

After defeating Rashad Evans by unanimous decision to retain his light heavyweight championship at UFC 145, Jon “Bones” Jones is ready to dominate the UFC for many years, and become the sport’s biggest superstar ever.Saturday night’s victory over Evans…

After defeating Rashad Evans by unanimous decision to retain his light heavyweight championship at UFC 145, Jon “Bones” Jones is ready to dominate the UFC for many years, and become the sport’s biggest superstar ever.

Saturday night’s victory over Evans was one of several convincing wins for Jones against some really talented opponents, and he’s now proved that he can fight any style and defeat any type of challenger.

Even though Jones was a heavy favorite, he was unable to end the fight early with a few devastating punches because Evans was ready for the challenge.

Evans made Jones work, but the title-holder never let the advantage sway to the side of his opponent. Jones did what he had to in order to win, and his great stamina and strength allowed him to be successful.

One of the fighters who Jones could square off against next is Dan Henderson, who is a legend in his own right, but Jones will come into that fight with a ton of confidence after a string of huge victories.

Jones is ready to dominate the UFC for years, and there’s no one capable of stopping his run of dominance.

If Jones can continue his success, he can become the face of the UFC and help the sport grow with possible marketing opportunities.

While the UFC is massively popular, it needs a huge star to bring in more casual fans who still haven’t hopped on the MMA train yet.

Jones has the potential to be a LeBron James-like figure in the UFC and lead the immediate future of the sport, and bring MMA to new heights.

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UFC 145 Results: Jon Jones Will Meet Dan Henderson in His Next UFC Title Defense

At just 24 years of age, Jon Jones has accomplished a great deal as a professional MMA fighter.He joined the UFC in 2008 after fighting six times that year with smaller promotions. Jones then went on a seven-fight run that saw him lose only once, a dis…

At just 24 years of age, Jon Jones has accomplished a great deal as a professional MMA fighter.

He joined the UFC in 2008 after fighting six times that year with smaller promotions. Jones then went on a seven-fight run that saw him lose only once, a disqualification loss for throwing illegal elbows.

That run earned him a shot at UFC light heavyweight champion Mauricio “Shogun” Rua. Jones ran through Rua with no problem, leaving him battered, bloodied and without a title.

His next fight saw him become the first fighter ever to finish Quinton “Rampage” Jackson in the UFC, forcing the former UFC champion to tap out in the fourth round. 

From there it was on to another former champion, Lyoto Machida, and again it was another stoppage victory for Jones as he choked Machida out with a standing guillotine in the second round.

That takes us to Saturday night. 

Facing his third straight former UFC light heavyweight champion, Jones walked away from his five-round battle with Rashad Evans with the title still strapped around his waist. 

Jones wasn’t given much time to bask in the glory of his victory, as Dana White announced during the post-fight press conference he was going to face Dan Henderson: “We told Dan Henderson that he would fight the winner of this fight.”

Henderson, a former Pride and Strikeforce champion, is in his second stint with the UFC. Since rejoining the UFC in late 2011 he has fought once, defeating Mauricio Rua in a five-round bout that many considered to be the best fight of 2011 and one of the top fights in the history of the UFC.

Since that win Henderson has been sitting on the sidelines, waiting for a shot at UFC gold.

When asked about the fight, Jones had the following to say at the UFC 145 post-fight press conference:

I feel great that I already have a mission and I’m going to work extremely hard to better myself. I did things that I could have done better and Dan Henderson is an awesome opponent. He’s a winner, he has a huge fanbase, I’m sure the haters gonna come right away, which I’m ok with. It’s just gonna be a lot of things to conquer in this fight. He has extreme knockout power. I don’t know who hits harder between him and Rampage, but he has extreme knockout power and I’m excited to conquer it.

No date or location was mentioned for the Jones versus Henderson fight.

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UFC 145 Results: Did Jon Jones vs. Rashad Evans Live Up to the Hype?

Jon Jones vs. Rashad Evans wasn’t boring. Despite what some aggravated keyboard warriors might say, it lived up to the hype. Jon Jones was billed as an unstoppable killing machine—a sort of Alexander the Great, except instead of conquering t…

Jon Jones vs. Rashad Evans wasn’t boring. Despite what some aggravated keyboard warriors might say, it lived up to the hype. 

Jon Jones was billed as an unstoppable killing machine—a sort of Alexander the Great, except instead of conquering the known world, Jones has conquered the Octagon and the UFC light heavyweight division. 

He racked up impressive victories over Pride legends like Mauricio “Shogun” Rua and Quinton “Rampage” Jackson as well as a brutal submission win over former champ Lyoto Machida. 

But Jones’ accomplishments were only part of the hype. 

The other half of it was Rashad Evans—Jones’ former training partner, figurative big brother, and fighter with the best chance to beat Jones.

Rashad was marketed on the fact that he had a chip on his shoulder from being “betrayed” by Jones as well as the fact that he had some sort of magic, secret way to beat his former friend since he used to train with him. 

So did the ultimate grudge match live up to what was promised?

Yes. 

Fans who expected a bar-room brawl level of excitement were let down, but avid enthusiasts of pure mixed martial arts competition were not. 

We got to see Jon Jones in excellent form. His strikes were unorthodox as ever and he nearly knocked Evans out with powerful, ruthless elbows in the second round. 

However, we also got to see Jones tested more than he has ever been. Evans, through his athletic abilities and time with Jones, was able to land some excellent shots and Jones and survive attacks that would’ve finished a lesser fighter. 

Even though one fighter didn’t submit or knockout the other, it was still an intriguing, entertaining fight.

The fight was initially a back-and-forth affair, with Evans doing quite well, but then Jones showed his true fighting spirit and athleticism by pulling ahead of Evans for the remainder of the fight. 

Just because it wasn’t on the level of Dan Henderson vs. Mauricio “Shogun” Rua doesn’t mean it was a bad main event. Jon Jones vs. Rashad Evans was fine, and if you don’t think so, either learn to appreciate the finer points of MMA or find something better to complain about.

 

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UFC 145 Results: Jon Jones Invents New Ways to Clobber Rashad Evans

If there was any question about who the best fighter in the world is, Jon Jones answered it definitively at UFC 145. Against his former teammate Rashad Evans, Jones looked out of this world. After a close first round, Jones faked a punch and landed a s…

If there was any question about who the best fighter in the world is, Jon Jones answered it definitively at UFC 145. Against his former teammate Rashad Evans, Jones looked out of this world. After a close first round, Jones faked a punch and landed a sneaky elbow behind it in Round 2, and Evans was never the same.

Jon Jones is Mike Tyson. Not Mike Tyson the boxer—Mike Tyson the final boss in Nintendo’s Punch-Out!!. He’s Bowser, Doctor Wily and Akuma rolled into one, only the game is set on expert and there is no hope of success.

Jon Jones can be compared to a video-game character or a comic book villain because he does things that are so ridiculous they seem fictional. Muay Thai is the art of eight limbs. But for Jones, the knees, elbows, feet and hands weren’t enough. To satiate his desire to do bodily harm to opponents, Jones invented a lunging shoulder strike from close quarters.

Every fight sees something similar happen. Jones is without peer when it comes to conceiving new ways to straight up merck someone. Spinning elbows, Superman elbows, and the shoulder shrug are now part of the MMA lexicon. In this fight, he even tried to lift the Stephen “Wonderboy” Thompson headkick.

Worse still for anyone stepping across the cage from him? He’s mean. Snake mean. Jones continued to throw kicks to the kneecap, even innovating a jumping kick right to the knee. It’s all fair game, but he makes no bones about his intentions—and they are bad.

It’s hard to imagine someone challenging him at this point. Evans is a great fighter and Jones overwhelmed him, looking like a hungry pterodactyl swooping in to do dirt.

Anderson Silva? As amazing as he is, Jones would toss him to the mat and Hammill his head off. Dan Henderson? If Evans couldn’t overcome Jones’ reach with his quickness and jab, what hope does Hendo have of finding the champion’s jaw with his powerful right hand?

I think it’s time to settle in for the ride. This is Jon Jones’ world. We need to attach ourselves to his skyrocketing hype train and ride it as far as he can take us. To the mainstream and beyond!

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UFC 145 Results: Dana White Confirms Jon Jones vs. Dan Henderson Is Next

At the post-fight press conference in Atlanta, GA, after Jon Jones’ dominant decision victory over Rashad Evans at UFC 145, UFC president Dana White confirmed our suspicions that Dan Henderson will be the next man to challenge champion Jones for the UF…

At the post-fight press conference in Atlanta, GA, after Jon Jones’ dominant decision victory over Rashad Evans at UFC 145, UFC president Dana White confirmed our suspicions that Dan Henderson will be the next man to challenge champion Jones for the UFC light heavyweight championship.

No timeline for the contest was given, but we should expect it to be sometime between July and September.

Dan Henderson is current riding a four-fight win streak that includes a knockout over legendary heavyweight Fedor Emelianenko, and a decision win over Mauricio “Shogun” Rua that Dana White has called one of the top three fights in MMA history.

Henderson was a dual-division champion in PRIDE and the most recent Strikeforce light heavyweight champ.

The 24-year-old Jones, meanwhile, defeated Shogun Rua at UFC 128 to win the belt last March, and has now successfully defended his championship three times against Quinton Jackson, Lyoto Machida and Rashad Evans.

If Jones can get past Henderson, he will have cleaned out the stacked light heavyweight division, minus rising contender Alexander Gustafasson (though conversations regarding Gustafsson being thrust into the title picture seem premature at the moment).

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UFC 145 Results: Winners, Losers, and Other Thoughts

UFC 145 is in the books and with it another crop of winners and losers. In the main event Jon Jones defended his title against former-teammate Rashad Evans in a fantastic performance over five rounds. In the co-main event, Rory MacDonald to showed why …

UFC 145 is in the books and with it another crop of winners and losers. In the main event Jon Jones defended his title against former-teammate Rashad Evans in a fantastic performance over five rounds. In the co-main event, Rory MacDonald to showed why he’s considered one of the hottest prospects at welterweight and the future of the division. 

The night was also filled with upsets as Michael McDonald knocked Miguel Torres out cold. While McDonald showed he’s a prospect with few holes, Stephen Thompson showed that he may have been hyped up a little too soon as he dropped his fight with Matt Brown. It was an entertaining night of fights from the UFC and one that will go down in the history books. 

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