Roy Nelson Sees Junior dos Santos Ahead of Brock Lesnar and Shane Carwin

While Chael Sonnen has been capturing headlines over the last few weeks for his ‘okay what now?’ trash talk, it’s easy to forget that there are plenty of other dudes in the UFC, who also possess a remarkable gift for controversial gab. Of course, if you’ve followed Roy Nelson since his arrival in the UFC […]

roy-nelson

While Chael Sonnen has been capturing headlines over the last few weeks for his ‘okay what now?’ trash talk, it’s easy to forget that there are plenty of other dudes in the UFC, who also possess a remarkable gift for controversial gab. Of course, if you’ve followed Roy Nelson since his arrival in the UFC (or before), you know that you don’t head for another web site when the heavyweight’s talking.

In addition to this Saturday’s tilt between Sonnen and middleweight champ Anderson Silva, the bout between Nelson and Junior dos Santos has a teee-onne riding on the outcome. Dana White has already stated that the winner will get a crack at whoever wins between Brock Lesnar and Cain Velasquez on Oct. 23rd. Well, while speaking to MMA Fighting’s Ben Fowlkes, Nelson made the argument that dos Santos is “probably the No.1 guy out there”, by breaking down Lesnar’s recent win over Shane Carwin.

“Carwin, he seems like he trains for five, one-minute rounds. That’s his championship fight, apparently,” said Nelson. “But no, you learn a lot. Like Carwin, he quits. He basically quit with Brock and he tapped out. That means you quit. It’s pretty self-explanatory. Then Brock, you learned that if you don’t give him an opportunity to come back on you, if you don’t give him that hole to come back, he won’t come back. Shane just gave him the chance to come back. He didn’t put him away.”

Don’t hold back on our account Roy. Nelson also cited Carwin’s recent episode of ‘lactic acidosis,’ as to why he prefers to be “fat”, rather than a muscular monstrosity like Shane. See; being fat does have its perks. To bet on UFC 117 head here.

Jon Jones Wants to Face Top 3 Fighter Next

So if you decided yesterday that the MMA pundits were morons for having Jon Jones as such a heavy favorite, and consequently, threw some dough down on Vladimir Matyushenko pulling off the upset last night in San Diego…look at this way, at least it’s Monday and you can get back to earning some cash right?
Yes, […]

jon-jones

So if you decided yesterday that the MMA pundits were morons for having Jon Jones as such a heavy favorite, and consequently, threw some dough down on Vladimir Matyushenko pulling off the upset last night in San Diego…look at this way, at least it’s Monday and you can get back to earning some cash right?

Yes, if you missed the fight last night on Versus you likely know by now, that Jones quickly took “The Janitor” to the mat and promptly began cleaning the floor with his head via a flurry of elbows. As most expected, Jones cruised to victory over the accomplished decade plus vet, and today the hype spotlight is more scalding bright than ever before. Case in point, everyone wants to know who Jones wants to fight next, and speaking after the bout he reportedly stated (thanks to MMA Weekly for the quote):

“There’s the champion. He’s the toughest guy right now. He’s very well-rounded and is a great striker. Just the top three contenders that I really want to push myself against,” said Jones. “I really feel that needs to happen.”

The report furthered that Jones was referring to Shogun Rua (obviously), Lyoto Machida and “Rampage” Jackson. What about Rashad Evans? Jones trains with “Sugar” so that’s apparently in the ‘don’t go there’ category. What did Dana White have to say? After the “dust settles” in the upcoming schedule, Jones will reportedly take on someone in the top eight. Cool beans. And oh yeah, Jon, the post-fight “stay classy San Diego” bit was gold…

Yushin Okami “Wasn’t Wild” About Split Decision Ruling

Yesterday we remarked about the fact that Yushin Okami ranks amongst the best in the ‘ain’t no picnic’ to fight factor, and after watching his decision win over Mark Munoz last night, it would seem that the Japanese fighter has only furthered this rep. Yes, the bout wasn’t riddled with highlight reel moments, but you […]

yushin okami

Yesterday we remarked about the fact that Yushin Okami ranks amongst the best in the ‘ain’t no picnic’ to fight factor, and after watching his decision win over Mark Munoz last night, it would seem that the Japanese fighter has only furthered this rep. Yes, the bout wasn’t riddled with highlight reel moments, but you can’t really fault Okami for that. Not only was Okami looking to keep the bout standing, but the takedown defense clinic he put on (and it was a masterpiece no?), nullified the vast majority of Munoz’s offense.

Now certainly it wasn’t like Okami punished Munoz mercilessly throughout the bout or anything, but aside from the second round where Okami got into a little trouble, it was relatively obvious that Okami was going to cruise to the UD win right? Well, cue Cecil Peoples. Yes, if you’ve followed the sport intently over the last few years, then you know that Judge Peoples doesn’t always see fights the same way that other people do, meaning the majority. He scored it 29-28 for Munoz while the other two scored it 29-28 for Okami. Speaking after the win Okami had this to say about the ruling (thanks to MMA Junkie):

“I’ll have to live with [the decision],” Okami said. “I wasn’t wild about it. I thought it looked a little better to me than a two-to-one split, although the [judges] know what they’re doing…”The second round wasn’t necessarily my best fighting ever. But I won, so I’ll live with it, though I can’t say I’m wild about the decision.”

Yes, we weren’t ‘wild’ about the scoring either dude.

Yushin Okami Eyeing Title Shot…Again

With all of the understandable hype surrounding Jon “Bones” Jones (no one can say that guy isn’t amongst the best in the ‘holy sh-t’ factor) as he heads into tonight’s bout with veteran Vladimir Matyushenko, it’s probably safe to say that the middleweight tilt between Yushin Okami and Mark Munoz has been overshadowed a little […]

okami linhares

With all of the understandable hype surrounding Jon “Bones” Jones (no one can say that guy isn’t amongst the best in the ‘holy sh-t’ factor) as he heads into tonight’s bout with veteran Vladimir Matyushenko, it’s probably safe to say that the middleweight tilt between Yushin Okami and Mark Munoz has been overshadowed a little bit. When you consider that you’ve got a dude in Okami with a UFC record of 8-2, taking on a rising star in Munoz, a lot is riding on the tilt.

Despite the fact that several of Okami’s wins haven’t exactly been those of the jump out of your seat variety, anyone who understands the game has to concede that fighting the massive judo beast can’t be fun. The guy’s been stopped just once and that was in 2003, and in the Octagon, he’s only lost to Rich Franklin and Chael Sonnen. Point being? Well, considering Okami’s record and his recent stoppage victories, a win over Munoz has to get the dude close to a title shot no? Speaking in the preview program for tonight’s card, Mr. Okami apparently agrees:

“I feel that this is a great test for my title shot. I need to clear this fight and I need to prove that I am very close to a title fight.”

Of course getting the win over Munoz isn’t going to be easy. Like Sonnen, who earned a controlling UD win over Okami, Munoz is also a wrestling machine. We’ll be watching. To bet on the tilt head here.

Yushin Okami Eyeing Title Shot…Again

With all of the understandable hype surrounding Jon “Bones” Jones (no one can say that guy isn’t amongst the best in the ‘holy sh-t’ factor) as he heads into tonight’s bout with veteran Vladimir Matyushenko, it’s probably safe to say that the middleweight tilt between Yushin Okami and Mark Munoz has been overshadowed a little […]

okami linhares

With all of the understandable hype surrounding Jon “Bones” Jones (no one can say that guy isn’t amongst the best in the ‘holy sh-t’ factor) as he heads into tonight’s bout with veteran Vladimir Matyushenko, it’s probably safe to say that the middleweight tilt between Yushin Okami and Mark Munoz has been overshadowed a little bit. When you consider that you’ve got a dude in Okami with a UFC record of 8-2, taking on a rising star in Munoz, a lot is riding on the tilt.

Despite the fact that several of Okami’s wins haven’t exactly been those of the jump out of your seat variety, anyone who understands the game has to concede that fighting the massive judo beast can’t be fun. The guy’s been stopped just once and that was in 2003, and in the Octagon, he’s only lost to Rich Franklin and Chael Sonnen. Point being? Well, considering Okami’s record and his recent stoppage victories, a win over Munoz has to get the dude close to a title shot no? Speaking in the preview program for tonight’s card, Mr. Okami apparently agrees:

“I feel that this is a great test for my title shot. I need to clear this fight and I need to prove that I am very close to a title fight.”

Of course getting the win over Munoz isn’t going to be easy. Like Sonnen, who earned a controlling UD win over Okami, Munoz is also a wrestling machine. We’ll be watching. To bet on the tilt head here.

Jon Jones Says Vladimir Matyushenko “Not Really Great at Anything”

Depending on your opinion, which as your elders always reminded you as a child–that’s all it is, Vladimir “The Janitor” Matyushenko is just hours away from becoming the latest victim of Jon “Bones” Jones. As we all know Jones is a huge favorite heading into tonight’s UFC on Versus card, despite the fact that by […]

JonesHamill

Depending on your opinion, which as your elders always reminded you as a child–that’s all it is, Vladimir “The Janitor” Matyushenko is just hours away from becoming the latest victim of Jon “Bones” Jones. As we all know Jones is a huge favorite heading into tonight’s UFC on Versus card, despite the fact that by the time the walking highlight reel made his pro debut in 2008, Matyushenko already had 20 bouts under his belt (one would think a tool belt could come in handy for a janitor no?).

If you’re someone who thinks Matyushenko will give Jones a run for his money, the argument could sound like this: the former IFL champ will look to use his extensive wrestling abilities, control Jones against the cage or on the mat, and grind out the win. Jones’ thoughts on this? Well in a recent interview with MMA Weekly he dismissed that line of thinking, stating that people said similar things about Jake O’Brien and Matt Hamill. True, neither dude made out that well (unless you think Hamill’s DQ win by eating illegal elbows is cause for celebration). Jones also offered this:

“What I’m most excited about with this fight is Vladimir’s not really great at anything,” said Jones. “He’s a good wrestler, he’s a powerful puncher, he’s decent at jiu-jitsu, but he’s not known for being great at anything. This is going to be a fight where I can display how well rounded I am right now.”

Not a bad breakdown really, although Vladimir would disagree, particularly about the wrestling part. But that’s just Jon’s opinion. To bet on the fight head here.