Former UFC light heavyweight champ Lyoto Machida has taken Chael Sonnen, and his recently announced title shot against Jon Jones, to task over Twitter, saying the following:
With all respect,but for me Chael does not deserve The title shot,…
Former UFC light heavyweight champ LyotoMachida has taken ChaelSonnen, and his recently announced title shot against Jon Jones, to task over Twitter, saying the following:
With all respect,but for me Chael does not deserve The title shot,I would like To know What He had done in LHW for deserve!!
The tweet comes amidst a deluge of barbed opinions ranging from the ecstatic to the execrable.
While Machida‘s opinion is based in fact (Sonnen hasn’t fought at light heavyweight since a submission loss to Renato “Babalu” Sobral in 2005), it’s hard not to smirk when reading the tweet because Machida himself was offered a title shot—albeit on short notice—against Jon Jones at UFC 152 but declined.
The fact that ChaelSonnen stepped up on short notice and offered to fight Jones at UFC 152 seemingly answers Machida‘s inquiry about what he’s done to deserve the title shot.
Twitter commenter Lance Fischel put it a little more bluntly:
. @lyotomachidafw well….he didn’t turn down the fight, so he has you there buddy.
Fortunately or unfortunately, that’s what it boils down to. When duty called, Sonnen was there and Machida chose not to be. That basic truth won’t change no matter how much he wants to complain.
The UFC shocked the world with their recent announcement that Chael Sonnen’s December fight against Forrest Griffin was off. In its place? A season of The Ultimate Fighter, with Sonnen coaching against, and then fighting, UFC light heavyweight champion…
The UFC shocked the world with their recent announcement that ChaelSonnen‘s December fight against Forrest Griffin was off. In its place? A season of The Ultimate Fighter, with Sonnen coaching against, and then fighting, UFC light heavyweight champion Jon Jones.
After we picked our jaws off the floor, Bleacher Report’s Caged In team got together to discuss the news that had shaken the UFC to its very core.
Jonathan Snowden: The UFC is still capable of throwing curveballs, even to purported insiders like us. What makes Jones versus Sonnen so compelling, besides all the obvious reasons, is just how off the wall the idea is. For all the talk of making MMA a mainstream sport, the UFC has always walked a fine line between boxing and pro wrestling, stealing elements of both when necessary and expedient.
This is the closest they’ve ever come to simply leaping head-first right into the pro wrestling paradigm. Sonnen hasn’t fought at light heavyweight in seven years. There is no conceivable justification for this fight from a sports perspective. This is pure stunt casting; no bones about it. The pressure to deliver ratings must be enormous.
Scott Harris: I get why they did this. I get it. I’m fully confident that ratings will go up next season and that I will enjoy every second of it. But there is a danger here. The UFC seems to have made a bit of a Faustian bargain. They’re going to drum up interest in the short-term, but potentially at the expense of the long-term.
Does this fix any of the fundamental and thoroughly dissected issues with The Ultimate Fighter? What do they do next season? Maybe they can get Shaquille O’Neal to coach against Hong Man Choi. Imagine the coaches’ challenge!
As for the Jones-Sonnen season, what about casual fans or total newcomers who fall in behind Sonnen‘s siren song, only to watch Jones kick his butt in April? Do you think they’ll tune in again? Is empty hype the best business model for a growing sport? Making this fight to save an event on short notice is one thing. This is another.
I like Sonnen, and more power to him for literally talking his way into this situation. I understand that he brings great sizzle. But eventually, someone is going to have to produce a steak.
Matt Roth: It’s very obvious that the folks at FX aren’t happy with the ratings of The Ultimate Fighter. Last week’s episode hit an all-time low and didn’t even break the top 100 shows. That’s absolutely insane.
I have two big issues with this decision. The first is that there is no universe where ChaelSonnen deserves a light heavyweight title shot. I’m sure we’ll hear something about how he would have gotten one at UFC 151 in the comment section and from Dana White. That’s true, but that was on super short notice. It’s not even close to the same as allowing Sonnen to skip in front of the more deserving (note: all) light heavyweights.
My other issue is that I’ve spent years, literally years, trying to convince my friends that MMA is in fact a sport and not the WWE. This spits in the face of all things sporting, and instead, the UFC has decided to go full spectacle.
Jonathan Snowden: The truth is pretty simple, though. The UFC has tons in common with WWE, and trying to hide from that isn’t helping anyone. From Ken Shamrock, to Tito Ortiz, to Brock Lesnar, pro wrestlers (and fighters inspired by the pro wrestling they loved as kids) have created record business for the UFC.
And the promotion’s other box office success stories were almost all feuds that would have felt plenty at home in even the most over-the-top pro wrestling promotion. Rashad Evans versus Rampage Jackson and ChaelSonnen versus Anderson Silva were missing interviews done by “Mean” Gene Okerland. His absence was the only thing missing from what was otherwise vintage WWE.
The best part? Fighters didn’t need a promoter to help them make magic. They, for the most part, figured it out for themselves.
Matthew Roth: Here’s what I want to know. Do the major media outlets that cover this sport such as the LA Times or USA Today or Fox actually care? Think about that for a moment. The NFL and MLB and NBA are all accountable for everything they do. If this situation arose in football, you literally would never hear the end of it on ESPN. Every commentator would postulate and talk about the sanctity of the game.
For better or for worse, MMA media are really just fanboys who get paid for something they’d likely be doing anyways on a forum. There’s no accountability for the UFC because at the end of the day, the spectacle is more important than the sport.
Scott Harris: I think the UFC’s accountability is to the public. Ticket buyers and TV viewers, not the media, will ultimately hold them accountable. For being such a young sport, and having the choppy history that it has, favorable public opinion is not something MMA is in a position to take for granted.
The NFL and those other leagues, for all sorts of reasons, have a longer leash. If good fights between worthy fighters are not at the heart of the UFC’s product, then what is? Feuds and things are great. But businesses sell something. If the mop company tells you to buy their mop because it’s the craziest mop ever and it’s the mop to end all other mops, so you buy it and then you take it out of the box and the stick is too short and the mop strings don’t absorb liquid, not only are you not going to buy from that company again, you’re going to feel some animosity toward them because you were sold a bill of goods.
If casual fight fans feel like they’re being sold something other than a good, competitive fight, that’s going to affect the sport’s integrity. And that’s not just some flowery abstract concept, especially when you’re talking about combat sports.
Jonathan Snowden: So, where do you guys stand? I like it, but then again, I liked headbutts on the ground and Japanese bantamweights taking on enormous sumo wrestlers. I’m an unabashed fan of spectacle. How about you, Scott? Matt?
Scott Harris: I’m excited that Uncle Chael is going to be in my life every weekend for a while. But honestly, I think the UFC is playing with fire here.
Matthew Roth: That’s why I’m so torn. I love staying up until 10 a.m. watching ridiculous Japanese MMA, but I still want to see MMA treated as a sport. I get that it’s a PPV business, but at some point, the UFC needs to start acting like a big-boy sport if they want to be treated as a big-boy sport.
Sonnen and Jones will be the coaches for the 17th season of The Ultimate Fighter next year, date, time and network to be determined. The two will then meet in the cage, a fight tentatively scheduled for April 27, 2013.
Bellator lightweight Eddie Alvarez isn’t going anywhere just yet. Discussing his future Wednesday on The MMA Hour broadcast with alpha journalist Ariel Helwani, the former champion indicated that it would be at least three months before he can eve…
Bellator lightweight Eddie Alvarez isn’t going anywhere just yet.
Discussing his future Wednesday on The MMA Hour broadcast with alpha journalist Ariel Helwani, the former champion indicated that it would be at least three months before he can even listen to offers from the UFC or other promotions. Alvarez hinted that Bellator’s impending move to Spike TV may have sweetened the promotion’s appeal.
“I want to sit down with the people at Viacom,” Alvarez said. “I’m very interested in what’s going on with this fight deal next year. Bellator has a lot of huge things going on. From there, I guess we field offers from everyone else. The UFC and everyone else.”
Alvarez (24-3), who won the last fight on his existing Bellator contract with a head-kick knockout of Patricky Freire on October 12, said he and his management team were in the midst of a three-month exclusive negotiation period with Bellator. After that period, Alvarez said he could accept other overtures.
“I’m not impatient. I’m taking my time with this,” Alvarez said. “I’m really going to let my management team and [Bellator Chairman/CEO] Bjorn [Rebney] and Bellator handle this. It’s really in their hands.”
If Alvarez was simply engaging in negotiation gamesmanship, he wasn’t tipping his hand. He added that Bellator will have a chance to match any contract offers.
“I could say I want to go here or go there, but if it’s matched [by Bellator] then I stay,” Alvarez said.
Alvarez said he was enjoying life as a free agent.
“I get to sit down with Viacom and Bjorn and the people there. I get to sit down and hear what they have to say. It’s a good time for me and a good time for Bellator.”
When the UFC announced that light heavyweight champion Jon Jones would square off against perennial loudmouth Chael Sonnen as the coaches for The Ultimate Fighter 17, the excitement in the MMA world was through the roof.This is the kind of announcement…
When the UFC announced that light heavyweight champion Jon Jones would square off against perennial loudmouth ChaelSonnen as the coaches for The Ultimate Fighter 17, the excitement in the MMA world was through the roof.
This is the kind of announcement that could change the perception of the stale show.
Jones and Sonnen are perfect for each other because their personalities are so contrasting. While the UFC champion has been embroiled in controversy as he becomes the face of the company, Sonnen has continued to raise hell with his words.
Together with their teams of fighters, these men will tear up the Ultimate Fighter house and then each other on a yet-to-be-determined live event.
The Ultimate Fighter 17 is going to be amazing.
The Personalities
As much as the premise of the show and the antics of the participants has grown stale and predictable, the interactions between the coaches and the un-signed fighters will be one of the most intriguing parts of The Ultimate Fighter 17.
Jones and Sonnen are great fighters, but they both have egos and working with this much unpolished talent may be too much for them to stand. It will be interesting to see if these men have any real patience.
It is always great to meet the next crop of young fighters, but there is no question that the focus of this season will be on Jones and Sonnen and how their personalities clash with their teams and with each other.
The Trash Talking
Every season of The Ultimate Fighter is filled with enough trash talk to satisfy even the biggest meathead, but this edition will be different. The trash talk will be relevant, real and cut to the bone.
Sonnen and Jones will not only use their own words to chop each other down, they will teach their teams the same; season 17 is going to be heated!
With a culminating match between the duo after the TV show is done airing, the war of words on The Ultimate Fighter this time will be the best in the history of the show.
As we saw in Sonnen’s pre-fight antics with Anderson Silva, the Oregon native brings the best out in people. Or the worst.
The Payoff
While the show itself will be fun to watch again, this is all just the appetizer to the actual fight between Jones and Sonnen. Whether the title is on the line or not, there is little doubt that the UFC champion will walk away victorious.
Jones is the better fighter, but Sonnen will jack up the hype for the PPV with all of his trash talking and publicity stunts. That’s exactly what a faltering UFC needs right now.
Not only will the television ratings for The Ultimate Fighter 17 be through the roof, the buys for a PPV featuring Sonnen vs. Jones after a whole season of trash talk will be on the same level as a Brock Lesnar fight.
While a million buys is a bit optimistic, if the show gets as wild as it has the potential to, this could be the shot in the arm the sport needs.
Former PRIDE and Strikeforce champion Dan Henderson is a longtime friend and training partner of new light heavyweight title challenger Chael Sonnen. That doesn’t mean that the former Olympic-level wrestler was happy to hear about “The American Ga…
Former PRIDE and Strikeforce champion Dan Henderson is a longtime friend and training partner of new light heavyweight title challenger ChaelSonnen.
That doesn’t mean that the former Olympic-level wrestler was happy to hear about “The American Gangster’s” scheduled title fight with UFC light heavyweight champion Jon Jones.
“Hendo” took to Twitter on Wednesday morning, letting UFC president Dana White know that he strongly disagreed with Sonnen getting a title fight despite not fighting at 205 pounds for nearly seven and a half years.
I guess I should just quit training to win fights and to be exciting for the fans and just go to shit talking school. @danawhite
Yesterday, it was announced that Sonnen would coach season 17 of The Ultimate Fighter opposite Jones, and they will fight for the title on April 27. The Los Angeles Times broke the story.
Sonnen is coming off of a second-round TKO loss to UFC middleweight champion Anderson Silva at UFC 148 and made the decision to move back up to light heavyweight a few months later.
The former two-time All-American collegiate wrestler was scheduled to return to the Octagon at UFC 155 against former UFC light heavyweight champion Forrest Griffin, but that bout has been scrapped in favor of a trilogy between Griffin and Stephan Bonnar.
Henderson was originally scheduled to face Jones at UFC 151 but had to pull out of the fight on just eight days notice due to a knee injury.
“Uncle Chael” was called upon as a last-minute replacement for the 25-year-old champion, but Jones turned down the fight, and the event was ultimately cancelled.
Neither White or Sonnen responded to Henderson’s tweet as of Wednesday afternoon.
Does Henderson have a right to be annoyed now that Sonnen has cut him in line for a title shot without winning a fight at 205 pounds?
In the wake of the UFC 153 showcase in Brazil, the constant question in the MMA world has been “Who’s next for Anderson Silva?”And, for the most part, that answer has been the light-heavyweight king Jon Jones.Ever since Jones’ fight with Stephan Bonnar…
In the wake of the UFC 153 showcase in Brazil, the constant question in the MMA world has been “Who’s next for Anderson Silva?”
And, for the most part, that answer has been the light-heavyweight king Jon Jones.
Ever since Jones’ fight with Stephan Bonnar (go figure), he has been regarded as a phenomenal talent and the future of the fight world for years to come. Given his physique, with his arms the length of Dwight Howard, and his unorthodox striking, the argument holds a lot of weight.
Realistically, anyone in his family could be a UFC contender. His brother Arthur is a defensive lineman for the Baltimore Ravens and his younger brother Chandler is a defensive end for the New England Patriots.
There have been many challenges to his throne, and I would have to say VitorBelfort got the closest, using Jones’ long arms against him in an attempt to armbar off his back, and pull off possibly one of the biggest upsets in the history of the UFC. He is still young and a huge light heavyweight, and there is no doubt he has the potential to have the dominance like Anderson has had on his division.
However, I think that some people are missing another factor. Before Jon Jones became the mystical phenom that he is now, we were talking about another fighter in that same regard: welterweight champion Georges St-Pierre.
Before GSP blew out his knee, he was running through the competition. Everyone knew he was going to out wrestle you, and there was nothing you could do. Examples that come to mind are Dan Hardy, ThiagoAlves, the Matt Serra rematch, even UFC Hall of Famer Matt Hughes.
Also, the amazing thing about GSP is that he did not wrestle in college or any other form of competition. He went from being known for his outstanding kickboxing to being capable of making the Canadian Olympic wrestling team if he felt like it. He is a freak athlete, and takes on new techniques like Neo learning kungfu in The Matrix.
Although people are still screaming for the Jon Jones vs. Anderson Silva matchup, I think we need to take a step back and reconsider. People have almost forgotten about GSP, because he has been on the shelf for so long. I feel like GSP would be a better fight for Anderson and is more appropriate now, and here’s why:
When making a matchup, you have to break down the possible way—if there is one—to beat Anderson Silva. You need a top-class wrestler with good-to-great Brazilian Jiu Jitsu skills to avoid submissions, and maybe even go for a few if there is an opening.
Now, before anyone stops reading the article and responds, “Dude, that’s Chris Weidman,” he is not a factor in this topic, because we are talking about the best fighters ever, and he is not there yet (or you’re probably from New York of New Jersey with a hometown pick).
Anyway, while both Jones and St. Pierre qualify under this facet of the game, considering Jones has submitted the likes of former champs LyotoMachida and VitorBelfort with flawless technique, and GSP submitted Matt Hughes, who is known as a phenomenal ground fighter in his own right (if I’m not mistaken, he’s not officially a black-belt, but he is easily qualified to be one).
These potential matchups aren’t just about beating “The Spider”; they’re about putting on the best exhibition of mixed martial arts the world may ever see. Jon Jones is a phenom, there’s no doubt about that. But it’s simply not his time yet.
Another factor is his size. Since Jones is a huge light heavyweight, there is a chance he would bully Silva around and make the fight not as fun and exciting to watch. The fans do not want to buy this pay- per-view or buy tickets to see a possible lay-and-pray game plan, always a possibility with Greg Jackson as the head trainer of a fighter.
In comparison to Anderson, GSP might be a tad smaller right now when it comes to size. St-Pierre is a massive welterweight. He made Matt Hughes look like an infant in their last encounter, and Hughes was always known for being bigger and stronger than his opponents.
The reason GSP would look small at middleweight is because he is constantly planning on cutting weight to make the 170-lb class he’s been fighting in his whole career. Whenever he has been asked about the possibility of fighting Anderson, he has always brought up that he would want to take a little bit of time off before the fight in order to gain weight the right way.
GSP is a very intelligent fighter. He knows that if he took the Silva fight without putting on some muscle, he would be in deep trouble. Also, being a freak athlete always helps, so it’s not like he would need an extensive amount of time to gain muscle mass, nor would he look like he has a gut at 185 lbs. So come fight time, I would bet that the weight differential between St-Pierre and Silva would be minimal and not a game-changing factor in the fight.
Do I think that Jon Jones vs. Anderson Silva would be a bad fight? Probably not. Whenever you have two of the best going at each other in any arena of competition, you’re not going to be let down. However, I just think that Jon Jones is still evolving.
Given his age, and that he’s still growing—if that’s humanly possible—no one really knows his ceiling. No one knows how good he can really be.
I personally think that we are not going to see any new tricks from Anderson or GSP anytime soon. Will you see amazing head movement from the 185-lb king that will have you swearing at the television about how talented he is? Most likely, but I doubt against GSP.
The point is, GSP and Anderson do not have any new surprises to bring to the table. They are both getting up there in age (Anderson more than GSP) and I feel like we know what we are going to see out of them, which is not a bad thing in the sense that we know how talented they both are. I’m not saying I know how the fight would go, I’m saying that we know how good they both are.
They have been the kings of their weight class for a long time (Carlos Condit does not count as a champion, considering he didn’t take it away from St-Pierre) and the only real thing left for them to do is fight each other.
Jon Jones still has some time to go before he holds the same dominance these fighters have in their respective weight class. And there is a chance he might not make it by ChaelSonnen, so needless to say, that would put a damper on his project.
Dana White thinks that what the people want is a fight with the Spider and Bones. However, what the people need is a fight with Georges St-Pierre and Anderson Silva.
Two of the most dominant fighters in their weight class that mixed martial arts has ever seen. It would be a travesty to not see these two men face off in the Octagon.
Let’s make this happen first, and then if Silva and Jones win, set up the second fight.
The UFC shocked the world with their recent announcement that