I’ve re-watched that rematch between UFC Lightweight Champion Frankie “The Answer” Edgar and No. 1 challenger Gray “The Bully” Maynard, and I still can’t figure out how it was a draw. The Answer showed incredible heart and chin recovering from the sava…
I’ve re-watched that rematch between UFC Lightweight Champion Frankie “The Answer” Edgar and No. 1 challenger Gray “The Bully” Maynard, and I still can’t figure out how it was a draw. The Answer showed incredible heart and chin recovering from the savage assault he endured in the first, but no way Maynard didn’t win that scrap.
No way, which means the trilogy-maker should be a burner of the first order.
Turns out the mini-Couture is, in fact, Justin Edwards and not Tony Ferguson. Oops.
Regardless, we haven’t seen much of either of these dudes so it’s tough to get a read on who has the advantage.
Team JDS seems a little bummed about the departure of Coach Lew Polley, but who knows if that’s just about resisting change or a genuine affection for Lew. Seems like the latter and, if that’s the case, it bears mentioning since so much of the fight game is mental.
Brock Lesnar is the most polarizing person in the UFC. Known for imposing size, dominant wrestling and brash attitude inside the cage, the former WWE star is also the UFC’s biggest draw. But Lesnar’s most recent fights have seen his c…
The Ultimate Fighter: Team Lesnar vs. Team dos Santos suffered a setback last week as far as momentum is concerned.After about two episodes of intrigue, Episode 5 fell a little flat and left the 13th season of the UFC’s flagship reality show in serious…
The Ultimate Fighter: Team Lesnar vs. Team dos Santos suffered a setback last week as far as momentum is concerned.
After about two episodes of intrigue, Episode 5 fell a little flat and left the 13th season of the UFC’s flagship reality show in serious need of resuscitation. This was supposed to be another watershed moment for TUF as MMA’s biggest name and most marketable star (for now), Brock Lesnar, brought his wattage to an already formidable attraction.
Even better, he was to share the stage with one of the sport’s brightest up-and-coming contenders, Junior “Cigano” dos Santos.
If all had gone according to script, each episode would’ve pitted the two massive heavyweights against each other in a figurative battle that would’ve added even more heat to an already sizzling matchup at UFC 131.
Of course, you know what they say about the best laid plans of mice and men.
Instead of that weekly adrenaline orgy, we’ve gotten a steady diet of vanilla fare.
But rumors around the virtual water cooler say that Episode 6 can’t be missed, that this is the week everything falls into place and then takes off.
And you know neither lies nor exaggeration is tolerated around the cooler.
So check back in at 9 PM ET/6 PM PT when the action starts in earnest.
Jon Jones may just be another kid from New York, but what defines him are his accomplishments and persona that have landed the 23-year-old a place amongst the best in the world in mixed martial arts. He is the current Light Heavyweight UFC Champion aft…
Jon Jones may just be another kid from New York, but what defines him are his accomplishments and persona that have landed the 23-year-old a place amongst the best in the world in mixed martial arts. He is the current Light Heavyweight UFC Champion after winning the belt from Mauricio “Shogun” Rua this past March and is currently the youngest champion in UFC history.
When defining a champion, one has to look at a few factors.
By sheer numbers, your opponents you fought play a role, as well as the means in which you came out victorious. Beyond the arena, fans and critics alike look at a fighter’s character and demeanor to determine if they act like a champion.
Lastly, after winning the title, many believe that in order to be considered a “true” champion, you must defend your title at least once. The UFC Light Heavyweight division is one that has proven to be very difficult to stay on top of. No champion in the division since 2007 has won the title and then successfully defended it against their next opponent (a different one in Lyoto Machida’s case).
In less than five years, the belt has gone to seven different people. Time will tell if he will be the one to break the trend and continue to hold the belt, but from what he has shown us so far, it is not as implausible as one might believe.
Number of People To Hold Title in Last 5 Years
Heavyweight: 4
Light Heavyweight: 7
Middleweight: 1
Welterweight: 3
Lightweight: 3
When you look at the defining features of a champion, it very much reflects the fighter that Jonny “Bones” Jones has become. From his unorthodox striking to his humble nature, he truly represents the sport well. His friendly nature, spirituality and athleticism are nothing short of inspiring for other fighters.
Jones says that watching other 23-years-olds become successful in this sport motivated him, and it helped him believe in himself. Inadvertently or not, he has become that role model himself.
The tattoo he dons on his chest says it all: “Philippians 4:13” which means, “I can do all things through Christ whom strengthens me.” Religious fans or not, he sets a great example for many. Because of his talents and overall demeanor, he becomes a great ambassador for the sport as well.
For an individual who has climbed the ladder so quickly, he remains full of energy and drive. His fighting is something to behold, after getting past the humble personality. Currently having the longest arm-reach in UFC history, his unorthodox striking mixed with his experience in wrestling creates a very well-rounded fighter after factoring in his continuing study of jiu-jitsu and Muay Thai.
His creativeness in the cage has proven to many to be an enigma on how to handle the 6’4’’ Jones. Currently with the record of 13 wins and one loss, he has skyrocketed himself onto the pound-for-pound top-10 lists and will surely climb the ranks as time goes on.
More bewildering than anything, Jones is nowhere close to his ability summit. Many people can build their legacy to a point, but Jones is a carpenter with a shopping spree to Home Depot.
Whether his next fight is taking on Rashad Evans, Lyoto Machida, Phil Davis or any other top contender, his legacy will once again continue to build toward one of the greatest mixed martial artists of all time.
Where people whose abilities are described as “the sky’s the limit, Jonny “Bones” Jones has the potential to break free of the atmosphere.
EPISODE ONE of “Defining a Champion” Series:Jon Jones
The fast-moving mixed martial arts world offers fighters, fans and media no shortage of talking points every month. Like every other major sport, there’s plenty for the optimists and cynics to take away. Here’s a look at the good, the bad a…
The fast-moving mixed martial arts world offers fighters, fans and media no shortage of talking points every month. Like every other major sport, there’s plenty for the optimists and cynics to take away. Here’s a look at the good, the bad and the ugly for April 2011.
The Good
Little Guy Gold
April 30 will be remembered for UFC 129, a landmark UFC from the Rogers Centre in Toronto, Canada. The record-breaking attendance (55,724) and live-gate ($12.075 million) coupled with all fights being broadcast for the first time ever is an important milestones considering the sport’s origins as a blacked-out product that was hemorrhaging money.
Setting a precedent for successful stadium shows will surely propel the UFC and MMA forward just like the UFC Primetime hype series quietly finding its way on to ESPN 2. But the real victory of UFC 129 was the inaugural 145-pound title clash between champion Jose Aldo and Mark Hominick.
The first sub-155-pound title bout in UFC history delivered a Fight of the Night performance that outshined the headlining welterweight title tilt between Georges St-Pierre and Jake Shields. Aldo and Hominick were a difficult act to follow with their highly competitive bout, proving 2011 has seen (and announced) significantly stronger cards thanks to the arrival of featherweight and bantamweight divisions from the UFC’s sister promotion, the WEC.
Twenty-five tireless minutes pushed the champion to the limits as Hominick lived up to “The Machine” moniker, battling through an unsightly hematoma and the judges score cards for a valiant fifth-round comeback that put Aldo in danger.
With the UFC’s first sub-155-pound main event slated for UFC 132 on July 2 between UFC Bantamweight Champion Dominick Cruz and Urijah Faber, Aldo and Hominick’s co-main event scrap on the biggest UFC card set a high standard for any division. As the Octagon permeates mainstream sporting culture, the full-throttle fighting of lighter weight competitors—and the international markets like Mexico, Japan and China that can bring—will only accelerate the UFC’s upward trajectory.
Cross Promotion Possibilities
On April 9, Strikeforce Lightweight Gilbert Melendez and Strikeforce Welterweight Champion Nick Diaz successfully defended their belts with emphatic first-round finishes. The performances took on a life of their own because talk surrounding Strikeforce-UFC title versus title bouts was at an all-time high since UFC President Dana White was cageside, scouting the new talent available to him through Zuffa’s acquisition of the San Jose-based promotion.
Diaz’s name polluted post-UFC 129 talk as the next opponent for Georges St-Pierre in a champion versus champion welterweight super-fight. Melendez will be compared to the winner of UFC Lightweight Champion Frankie Edgar and Gray Maynard’s third contest as the UFC’s top 155-pounder later this month.
Alistair Overeem versus Cain Velasquez at heavyweight and now, mutual interest expressed in the media between UFC 205-pound kingpin Jon Jones and his Strikeforce counterpart Dan Henderson are dream fights driving the conversation in the MMA world.
The UFC featured champion versus champion bouts when Dan Henderson, a two-division PRIDE titleholder, returned to the UFC in late 2007–early 2008, but PRIDE had two other high-demand champions—Fedor Emelianenko and Takanori Gomi—that never challenged the UFC’s divisional kingpins.
Champion versus champion bouts in MMA have failed to materialize more often than not despite constant clamoring for them over the last decade due to lack of cross promotion. Expect the performances of champions in either promotion to continue drumming up the war cry from fans to seize this rare opportunity as the UFC’s monopolization of the elite talent in MMA phases out the need for such demand.
The Bad
Judging
This category can find its way onto this list every month, but April was a particularly unkind calendar on the scorecards.
Bellator Featherweight Champion Joe Warren’s Greco-Roman takedowns found him reversed before his non-title clash with Andre Galvao hit the mat on April 16. On the ground, Galvao’s jiu-jitsu dragged Warren through disadvantageous positions that were disregarded by judge Chuck Wolf when he gave Warren the round. The intricacies of jiu-jitsu were not the only point missed by Wolf as Galvao damaged Warren with knees in the second frame while thwarting all but one takedown attempt—again, the round went to Warren.
Real judging criteria would account for more than forward motion and takedowns, but unfortunately, fighters and fans are burdened with 30-27 scores that miss more than one point of what criteria should determine the outcome of an MMA fight.
Gegard Mousasi’s undeserved draw with Keith Jardine kept the former Strikeforce Light Heavyweight Champion from another win the week prior to Warren’s disputed (albeit not undeserved) decision. Mousasi should have emerged victorious on April 9, yet he walked away wondering, like so many other fighters have, why judges exist if they can’t make sound judgments.
It may be just another fight for judges randomly assigned by state athletic commissions, but it’s more than that to the fighters—it’s their career, and livelihood, and should be treated with that respect by those shaping its decisions.
Full Tilt Poker Shut Down
Bottom line: Anytime a major sponsor is cut out of MMA, fighters lose a much-needed revenue source.
The Ugly
The best way to dismiss concerns related to accepting a short notice bout is to make it short. On 17 days notice, UFC welterweight Jake Ellenberger agreed to meet Sean Pierson at UFC 129. A short, thudding left hook-straight right combo left Pierson defeated on the canvas—the only Canadian on the card to be knocked out in front of his home countrymen.
Danny Acosta is the lead writer at FIGHT! Magazine. Follow him on twitter.com/acostaislegend
“It’s good to be king”—Tom PettyWhen you’re sporting a new sled like UFC middleweight champ Anderson Silva is, it sure is good to be the king.Silva has joined UFC hall of fame member Randy Couture by purchasing a new Camaro SS. But this isn’t j…
“It’s good to be king”—Tom Petty
When you’re sporting a new sled like UFC middleweight champ Anderson Silva is, it sure is good to be the king.
Silva has joined UFC hall of fame member Randy Couture by purchasing a new Camaro SS. But this isn’t just any normal Camaro—this baby is tricked out like none other.
All the customizations done to this car are far too many to list. Thankfully, someone from the Camaro5.com forums took the time to break down everything West Coast Customs did to make the Camaro a one-of-a-kind for the “Spider.”
“The customization of Silva’s Camaro is extensive and to our eyes includes: custom paint, black stripes running from hood to tail, widened rear quarter fenders/shoulders with functional open rear quarter fender openings, Silva Bee grill emblem, Silva Bee embroidered headrest, back seats, trunk lid liner, and floormats, custom black spoke / yellow lip wheels, custom functional Transformers 2 style bumper air inlets, custom cowl ram air hood, custom, custom rear diffuser with exhaust outlet, black painted rear light bezel, SILVA door sills, alcantara headliner and door paneling, custom dashboard including driver facing gauges, dual colored seats, steering wheel, shift knob, contrasting stitching, in-dash screen, custom trunk subwoofer system and pop-up screens on rear quarter shoulders.”
Just reading everything that was done to the car isn’t enough to do it any justice. You can check out a bounty of pictures of this incredible ride by clicking here.
After eyeballing a similar Camaro at a local dealership for months, and getting financing all lined up, second thoughts must be sitting in. After seeing that incredible car, having something less sitting in your garage would put a frown on your face.
