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The Ultimate Fighter: Constructing the Perfect MMA Figther to Defeat Jon Jones

UFC 139 is just a day away and after the fight between former champions Shogun Rua and Dan Henderson, a new challenger to the light heavyweight belt owned by Jon Jones will be determined.As much as I want to believe that either Henderson or Rua has the…

UFC 139 is just a day away and after the fight between former champions Shogun Rua and Dan Henderson, a new challenger to the light heavyweight belt owned by Jon Jones will be determined.

As much as I want to believe that either Henderson or Rua has the chance to defeat the champion, the reality is there is none in the division who can match the skills of Jones—not even Loyoto Machida whom he will be fighting at UFC 140.

So, the only way I think “Bones” will be defeated is to construct an imaginary fighter that would be able to match his skills. If I can only combine the skills of the four light heavyweight fighter I picked and put them into an imaginary fighter, I think we can have someone to match Jones or even defeat him.

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Lyoto Machida Adds 22 Pounds of Muscle To Prepare for Jon Jones

Lyoto Machida appears to be taking his upcoming title bout with Jon Jones very seriously. The former light heavyweight champion has implemented a different strategy to prepare for the 24-year-old champion, who will make his second title defense th…

Lyoto Machida appears to be taking his upcoming title bout with Jon Jones very seriously.

The former light heavyweight champion has implemented a different strategy to prepare for the 24-year-old champion, who will make his second title defense this year at UFC 140.

Brazilian website, Univision.com, caught up with Machida training in Brazil and took an in-depth look inside of his training camp.

Machida has hired a team of physiologists and physiotherapists to help him mentally prepare for the bout, along with installing three cameras to analyze and correct any mistakes the Brazilian comes across during his training sessions

“The Dragon” also looks to have added some muscle to his frame, as the website reports he put on 22 pounds of muscle mass. He is also training in a smaller Octagon, which is 7.5 meters in diameter, as opposed to a regular-sized Octagon that is nine meters. The concept of training in a smaller Octagon is to help improve Machida’s speed and movement in a smaller space, forcing him to be even more elusive.

Machida is coming off a knockout victory over Randy Couture at UFC 129 that saw him snap a two-fight losing streak and re-position himself back into the light heavyweight title picture.

Based on his new training regimen, Machida looks to possess all the tools, while acquiring some new ones, which could see him walk away with the title around his waist come December 10.

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Dan Henderson: Jon Jones Has "a Lot to Improve On," Talks Shogun and UFC 139

Strikeforce light heavyweight champion Dan Henderson will be the most recent in a string of former Strikeforce champions who are making their move to the UFC this weekend when he fights former UFC light heavyweight champion Mauricio “Shogun&rdquo…

A former multidivisional champion in Pride, “Hendo” has long been regarded as one of the top light heavyweight and middleweight competitors in the world. His unbelievable record speaks for itself, and although he has never held a title in the UFC, at 41 years old, he is as ready as ever to check that feat off his bucket list.

In fact, according to MMAWeekly’s Damon Martin, who interviewed the superstar 205-pounder on MMAWeekly Radio earlier this week, when Henderson signed his new contract with the UFC, he also asked to fight UFC champion Jon Jones immediately.

“I actually would have rather been in a fight for the title,” Henderson told MMAWeekly Radio. “Had Rashad said he was injured two or three weeks earlier, I probably would have had that fight instead of (Lyoto) Machida,” Henderson revealed.

Lyoto Machida will get his shot at Jones at UFC 140 in December, while Henderson is set to fight Shogun this Saturday night at UFC 139.

“This fight excites me too. Shogun’s a tough guy, and it’s gonna be a big challenge,” he said.

Despite being a bit disappointed that he’s not fighting for the UFC title, Henderson is not taking his UFC 139 opponent lightly. A former UFC light heavyweight champion, Shogun has fought some of the best in the world and come out on top.

“I think he’s always been a little bit hot and cold, but when he’s on, he’s a little dangerous and tough,” Henderson explained. “When he’s off, he’s still tough, just not quite as tough as he normally would be. Everybody has those days, but it seems like the last couple of years he’s been hot and cold.”

If Henderson defeats Shogun at UFC 139, it is expected that either he or Rashad Evans will be the No. 1 contender for the UFC light heavyweight title. Henderson is well aware of the current champion in the division and his meteoric rise up the rankings.

“I’m not one to buy into things too quickly. I’ve been doing this for a long time and seen a lot of guys beat a lot of tough guys really quick and then die out,” said Henderson of current UFC light heavyweight champion Jon Jones.

“I think he’s going to be around a long time. He’s just going to get better. But at this point he’s still got a lot to improve on, and he’s athletic and talented, and he does learn. He’s got a huge future, but I think he’s got a little ways to go.”

In order to prove that theory right, though, Henderson will first have to make it through Shogun this weekend. If he does that, then we may really see the next champion vs. champion angle come to fruition in the UFC.

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Zuffa, Fighters Versus the State of New York

Exercising their constitutional rights, Zuffa filed a lawsuit along with several MMA fans and fighters including Jon Jones, Frankie Edgar, Gina Carano and Matt Hamill on Tuesday U.S. District Court in the Southern District of.

Exercising their constitutional rights, Zuffa filed a lawsuit along with several MMA fans and fighters including Jon Jones, Frankie Edgar, Gina Carano and Matt Hamill on Tuesday U.S. District Court in the Southern District of New York against state attorney general Eric Schneiderman and Manhattan district attorney Cyrus Vance Jr.

Zuffa attorney, Barry Friedman explained to Yahoo! Sports that the reasons given for banning MMA events in New York are a violation of the First and Fourteenth Amendmants. Friedman stated:

“They banned it because they thought MMA conveyed a message of violence. We don’t think that is the message that MMA conveys. I just spent the last few days with a lot of fighters and I spent a lot of time with them over the last few months. They will, as you can see in the complaint, talk about a lot of other values that are present [in MMA] like discipline, courage and respect for an opponent…. But even if violence was the message, New York still can’t ban MMA because it doesn’t like that message.”

“On safety, what they’re saying is, ‘You can’t do this because it’s not safe. Any time the government says you can’t do something that involves your liberty, that is a 14th Amendment claim because it is denying people of their life or liberty without due process. And it’s also a discrimination claim… Why ban mixed martial arts as unsafe when the data shows it’s at least as safe, or safer than a lot of other sports, like boxing, football, ice hockey, Alpine skiing, equestrian sports? It turns out the most dangerous thing you can do is be a flyer in cheerleading. So you ask, what parts of the Constitution cover that, and it’s the equal protection clause.”

The man has a point.

Lyoto Machida Has One Hell of a Training Camp for Jon Jones

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It appears former UFC light heavyweight champion Lyoto “The Dragon” Machida has pulled out all the stops to prepare for his upcoming championship bout at UFC 140 with Jon Jones. Check out the above video, which gives us an inside peek at Lyoto’s daily regimen, with the exception of one truly disgusting aspect that could easily pop up on this season of Fear Factor.

The show, which I am going to ignorantly label “Random Univision Program #113,” states that Lyoto has packed on an incredible 22 pounds of muscle, and man does it show. Along with bringing in a team of physiologists and physiotherapists, Lyoto has even shrank the size of the octagon in which he trains, from 9 meters in diameter to just 7.5, forcing him to be even more elusive than previously thought possible. No word yet on how exactly he plans on making his precision more…precise.

-Danga

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-Danga

MMA in New York: UFC Files Lawsuit to Legalize MMA on Constitutional Grounds

Zuffa LLC, the parent company of the UFC, has filed a lawsuit against New York State Attorney General Eric Shneiderman and Manhattan District Attorney Cyrus Vance with the ultimate purpose of legalizing MMA in New York, according to the Wall Street Jou…

What’s the crux of Zuffa’s argument?

That the banning of MMA in New York tramples over the right to freedom of speech given by the first amendment, although the amendment is interpreted to include more than just speech.

One such case that Zuffa bases its argument on is Brown v. Entertainment Merchants Association, a case in which it was determined that banning the sale of violent video games was an infringement on first amendment rights.

Zuffa has brought on a veritable who’s who of plaintiffs, including Jon Jones, Gina Carano, Frankie Edgar, Brian Stann and Matt Hamill.

The man representing Zuffa and the other plaintiffs—New York University School of Law professor Barry Friedman—is making full use of the fact that the sport is called mixed martial arts in his case against New York State.

“It’s martial artistry,” said Friedman. “The nature of martial arts is a lot like dancing…As is true of ballet, music, or theater, for an audience, attending a live MMA event is an experience that cannot be replicated on a screen.”

So will attacking the law that bans MMA succeed with this new strategy?

Jonathan Snowden, MMA writer and lawyer, is pessimistic.

He tweeted: “UFC’s fifth cause of action is that the law is ‘Unconstitutionally Irrational.’ More than 100 pages in and only two cases cited. Hmm…”

He then tweeted that despite his long time away from law school, he though that Zuffa “doesn’t have much of a case at all.”

The UFC has tried to lift the ban on MMA in New York on multiple occasions and was met with failure each time, despite donating over $70,000 to the campaign of New York State Governor Andrew Cuomo.

Only time will tell if the UFC can be successful this time around.

The legal documentation regarding the case can be read here.

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