Jon Jones is without question one of the fastest-rising stars in the UFC.His meteoric rise to the top of the sport—many pundits, myself included, rank him as the second-best pound-for-pound fighter in the world—has been breathtaking. Two ye…
Jon Jones is without question one of the fastest-rising stars in the UFC.
His meteoric rise to the top of the sport—many pundits, myself included, rank him as the second-best pound-for-pound fighter in the world—has been breathtaking. Two years ago, Jones was still a virtual unknown.
Now? He’s one of the most famous fighters in the world and is well on his way to becoming one of the greatest—if not the absolute greatest—fighters in the short history of mixed martial arts.
Comparisons to legendary boxer Muhammad Ali were inevitable. Both made their debuts at a young age. Ali remained undefeated for the first 11 years of his professional career before finally losing to Joe Frazier in the historic “Fight of the Century.” Jones has a loss on his record to Matt Hamill, but we all know that “Bones” is undefeated for all intents and purposes.
UFC Magazine acknowledges those links between Ali and Jones with the cover of their latest issue. It features Jones in a fighting pose underwater in a direct reference to Ali’s legendary Time Magazine photo from 1960.
Schulke was assigned a story to photograph a young promising boxer who had just won gold at the Olympic games. His first photographs of Cassius Clay in his gym captured the confidence and charisma of this young man who would become Muhammad Ali, one of the most recognised faces in the world. Clay was desperate to be featured in LIFE magazine and after viewing some of Schulke’s underwater photography concocted the story that he trained underwater, fooling both Schulke and the editors at LIFE magazine. Schulke’s unforgettable images of Ali “training” underwater were run by LIFE magazine who would not have run the story without these iconic and inventive pictures.
In the above video, the UFC takes you behind the scenes for Jones’ version of the photo. It’s one of the best covers that UFC Magazine has featured to date.
Is Jon Jones the “Greatest of All Time”? The latest issue of UFC Magazine might be trying to drop a subtle hint in that direction, with their Bones-in-a-pool cover taking inspiration from a classic photo of boxing legend Muhammad Ali. As Cagewriter explains:
Though it may seem early in Jones’ MMA career to make comparisons to Ali, it’s not too early for this picture. Flip Schulke took this iconic picture of Ali in 1961. It was just a year after Ali, still called Cassius Clay, won Olympic gold in Rome. He was a young man who was astonishing the boxing world with his power, speed and footwork. At the time, he was like no other boxer. In the early 60s, he won 19 straight bouts and seemed invincible. Does that remind you of anyone?
An apt comparison, or more fuel for the haters?
(in b4 shitstorm)
Is Jon Jones the “Greatest of All Time”? The latest issue of UFC Magazine might be trying to drop a subtle hint in that direction, with their Bones-in-a-pool cover taking inspiration from a classic photo of boxing legend Muhammad Ali. As Cagewriter explains:
Though it may seem early in Jones’ MMA career to make comparisons to Ali, it’s not too early for this picture. Flip Schulke took this iconic picture of Ali in 1961. It was just a year after Ali, still called Cassius Clay, won Olympic gold in Rome. He was a young man who was astonishing the boxing world with his power, speed and footwork. At the time, he was like no other boxer. In the early 60s, he won 19 straight bouts and seemed invincible. Does that remind you of anyone?
Someone sent me the video above that chronicles Eddie Bravo’s career defining 2003 win over Royler Gracie at the Abu Dhabi Combat Club tournament. I watched the well done mini-doc a few times before heading over to the Roots of Fight site to learn a bit more about the company, as I haven’t really heard much about them.
Besides the Bravo signature shirt that immortalizes the 10th Planet Jiu-Jitsu founder’s upset over Gracie, what stood out were the Gracie Jiu-Jitsu Academy, Cassius Clay/Muhammad Ali and Bruce LeeJun Fan Gung Fu Institute shirts.
(Video courtesy of YouTube/RootsofFight)
Someone sent me the video above that chronicles Eddie Bravo’s career defining 2003 win over Royler Gracie at the Abu Dhabi Combat Club tournament. I watched the well done mini-doc a few times before heading over to the Roots of Fight site to learn a bit more about the company, as I haven’t really heard much about them.
I was pleasantly surprised to find that ROF’s products were pretty much all things that I’d wear, which is saying a lot since the back of my closet is full of embellished chain, pitbull and dragon-covered shirts and hoodies (with tags still intact) that I’ve received as presents from loved ones over the years and didn’t have the heart to re-gift or return.
Besides the Bravo signature shirt that immortalizes the 10th Planet Jiu-Jitsu founder’s upset over Gracie, what stood out were the Gracie Jiu-Jitsu Academy, Cassius Clay/Muhammad Ali and Bruce LeeJun Fan Gung Fu Institute shirts.
As I type this and look up at the walls of my office, looking back at me are a 70′s Ring Magazine cover featuring Ali and Frazier, a framed first edition copy of Lee’s “Fighting Method” and a print depicting Helio Gracie’s war with Kimura, so naturally these shirts piqued my interest.
I wonder if they take gold leaf-adorned bedazzled skull shirts as payment.
If you get a minute check out the slick vid they did with Mark Munoz, Bas Rutten, George Chuvalo and Snoop Dogg in honor of Ali’s 70th birthday.
(Video courtesy of YouTube/RootsofFight)
Hopefully shirts like these become the norm so we can finally move away from the widely accepted douchebag uniforms sported by the glut of fight fans at events and sports bars on fight night.
By CagePotato Boxing Correspondent Steve Silverman
Angelo Dundee understood the game of boxing perhaps more than any trainer the sport has ever known.
He trained Muhammad Ali and “Sugar” Ray Leonard, and his influence on their careers was significant. Dundee died Thursday night after complications from blood clots at the age of 90.
There is no doubt that Ali was among the most talented fighters in the history of boxing. But Ali was different than most great heavyweights. He had lightning speed and quickness and he used his ability to motor around the ring as if he were a lightweight or a welterweight.
Dundee began training Ali, who was then still known as Cassius Clay, shortly after he won the Olympic gold medal in the 1960 Rome Olympics. A trainer who did not have Angelo’s foresight would have immediately tried to change Ali’s style and take the movement out of the equation. Instead, Dundee embraced Ali’s athleticism and his ability to move around the ring.
“Why would I have ever changed that,” Dundee asked during a 1989 interview. “There were a lot of old timers who would say that’s not how a heavyweight is supposed to fight and that he only moved around so much because he wasn’t a real puncher. They didn’t have a clue about my guy. He was great from the time he started and all they wanted to do was criticize him.”
Dundee almost always referred to Ali as ‘my guy.’”
The sentiment was mutual.
By CagePotato Boxing Correspondent Steve Silverman
Angelo Dundee understood the game of boxing perhaps more than any trainer the sport has ever known.
He trained Muhammad Ali and “Sugar” Ray Leonard, and his influence on their careers was significant. Dundee died Thursday night after complications from blood clots at the age of 90.
There is no doubt that Ali was among the most talented fighters in the history of boxing, but he was different than most great heavyweights. He had lightning speed and quickness and he used his ability to motor around the ring as if he were a lightweight or a welterweight.
Dundee began training Ali, who was then still known as Cassius Clay, shortly after he won the Olympic gold medal in the 1960 Rome Olympics. A trainer who did not have Angelo’s foresight would have immediately tried to change Ali’s style and take the movement out of the equation. Instead, Dundee embraced Ali’s athleticism and his ability to move around the ring.
“Why would I have ever changed that,” Dundee asked during a 1989 interview. “There were a lot of old timers who would say that’s not how a heavyweight is supposed to fight and that he only moved around so much because he wasn’t a real puncher. They didn’t have a clue about my guy. He was great from the time he started and all they wanted to do was criticize him.”
Dundee almost always referred to Ali as ‘my guy.’”
The sentiment was mutual.
Ali had great respect for Dundee’s uncanny ability to help thoroughly prepare him for his most important fights and he also enjoyed working with the respected trainer throughout the training process. Ali said that whenever he was in the middle of a fight and he would come back to the corner at the end of a round, he knew Dundee would give him effective and concise advice.
“You come back to the corner and he’ll say, ‘The guy’s open for a hook.’ If he tells you something during a fight, you can believe it,” Ali told the New York Times back in 1981. “As a cornerman, Angelo is the best in the world.”
(Video courtesy of SportsandTorts)
Although Dundee, who was born Angelo Mirena, is best known for guiding the careers of Ali and Leonard, he first came to prominence in the 1950s when he trained welterweight and middleweight champion Carmen Basilio. He also trained champions Willie Pastrano (light heavyweight), Jimmy Ellis (heavyweight) and Luis Rodriguez (welterweight).
He also advised George Foreman when he mounted a comeback in 1987 following a 10-year ring absence and he helped the former heavyweight champ re-invent both his boxing style and his personality. Prior to his resurgence, Foreman had been among the most intimidating athletes of all-time with his baleful stare and threatening language. When he came back, Foreman was seemingly America’s favorite uncle. Much of that was due to Dundee’s influence.
Dundee understood that much of boxing’s appeal came from a fighter’s ability to reach the ticket-buying and television-watching public.
“That’s what this game is all about,” Dundee explained. “If you have ability and nobody’s watching, who cares? You have to find your people and you have to reach out to them.”
Ali and Leonard clearly knew how to do this and Foreman got the message in his second incarnation. Dundee helped drive this lesson home to all of his fighters every time he had the chance.
In addition to doling out the proper in-fight strategy to his fighters, Dundee had a gift for finding the proper inspirational language throughout a fight. When “Sugar” Ray fought Thomas Hearns in a highly anticipated showdown for the welterweight championship in 1981, Leonard had used his speed, quickness and outstanding left jab to build up a lead in the early and middle rounds of the fight. However, the formidable Hearns reversed the flow of the fight and had started to take over as the fight approached the later rounds.
Dundee knew that Leonard was starting to give the fight away and he was not about to blow smoke up Leonard’s butt by telling him he was doing fine. Instead, Dundee leaned in and put his hand on Leonard’s shoulder before telling him that he was about to lose the fight. “You’re blowing it, son, you’re blowing it,” Dundee said.
That bit of clarity got Leonard back into the attack mode. Despite having a badly swollen left eye, Leonard let loose with a two-fisted attack in the 13th round and knocked Hearns down. The following round, Leonard continued his attack and Hearns was not able to defend himself. The fight was stopped and Leonard won on a technical knockout.
Dundee had everything a great trainer needed and it earned him a spot in the boxing Hall of Fame. He generally loved his business and relating to his fighters. He got along with them and those associated with the sport. He taught his fighters and he inspired them. He brought more to the sport than nearly any other trainer.
Even more importantly, in a sport often associated with louts who take advantage of their vulnerable clients, Dundee had no such black mark on his resume. He was a man of honor in a sport that too often has very little.
Most of us know that Jason Miller, who now calls Mark Munoz’s Reign Training Center home, was once a member of Team Quest, but some may be surprised to learn that from 1999 to around 2006, “Mayhem” spent most of his time in the gym training alongside the likes of Ricco Rodriguez, Tiki Ghosen, Quinton “Rampage” Jackson and Tito Ortiz as part of Team Punishment.
(And then there was one…)
According to Ortiz, it was during those formative years in Miller’s early career that he gave him some advice that he took and ran with.
(Video courtesy of YouTube/CagedInsider)
Most of us know that Jason Miller, who now calls Mark Munoz’s Reign Training Center home, was once a member of Team Quest, but some may be surprised to learn that from 1999 to around 2006, “Mayhem” spent most of his time in the gym training alongside the likes of Ricco Rodriguez, Tiki Ghosen, Quinton “Rampage” Jackson and Tito Ortiz as part of Team Punishment.
(And then there was one…)
According to Ortiz, it was during those formative years in Miller’s early career that he gave him some advice that he took and ran with.
“Miller came to me when he was [a] nobody from Atlanta, when he was 18 years old. He moved out here and I got him an apartment . He was part of Team Punishment when I first begun it,” Ortiz recalled in a recent interview with Caged Insider. “I told him, ‘Listen, you can fight all you want, but at the end of the day, people go home after a fight and they talk about you, you’ve done your job as an entertainer and as a fighter.’ He kept doing it and then he had his Monkey Mayhem followers.”
Tito recalls telling Mayhem that sometimes the entertainment value of a fighter can often overshadow the skill set said fighter possesses, pointing to a boxer many feel was the greatest of all time as an example.
“At the end of the day, we’re all great fighters, but when people forget about after they fought, you didn’t do the right things as an entertainer. If you just want to be a fighter like that, then you will be forgotten, but if you want to be an entertainer then you’ll always be remembered like Muhammad Ali,” he says. “I’m not taking no credit for anything [Jason has] done, but I will take credit that I gave him the attitude to make that difference.”
Dana White has recently given Chael Sonnen an incredible compliment and placed him in a laudable category. White, the polarizing genius president of the UFC, claims: “I have never seen anyone who can talk like this guy since Muhammad Ali” (1…
Dana White has recently given Chael Sonnen an incredible compliment and placed him in a laudable category. White, the polarizing genius president of the UFC, claims: “I have never seen anyone who can talk like this guy since Muhammad Ali” (1).
In order to be the considered a great talker and spoken of in the same breath as the iconic Ali, there are prerequisites that need to be met. A great talker needs to speak the truth, possess upstanding character, back up their talking and behave ethically. Granted, Chael is amusing, but let us examine this claim further to see if this bold comparison carries any validity.
Accomplishments:
Anyone can talk. Some compete. Very few become champions. However, the internet can now separate truth from fiction. In appreciating one’s accolades it is important to know the facts behind one’s boasting. If they are lies, then the talks value is obviously cheapened.
Chael claims to have won a silver medal at the 2001 World Championships. Chael prior to his fight with Anderson Silva: “I’ve got two national championship plaques on my wall that [say] I can take him down. I’ve got a silver medal from the world championships in 2001 that says he can’t stop me from taking him down. If he’s got an answer to it, God bless him” (2).
Compare this to Ali. Ali won a gold medal in boxing at the Rome Summer Olympics in 1960. He was a three time champion of the world, attempting 19 title defenses. Now while Sonnen’s achievement is impressive, it is also fictitious. The silver medalist at the 2001 World Championships was Chael’s teammate, Matt Lindland (3).
Finishing second at the World University games in a relatively obscure sport seems to not be worthy of comparison to Ali, who in addition to being a Hall of Famer and an all-time pound-for-pound great, was also the undisputed heavyweight king for nearly two decades. Not only are Chael’s claims of achievements inferior to what Ali accomplished, Sonnen’s boasts are lies. The axiom: “I hear what you do and not what you say” appears to be appropriate for comparing the two and examining their accomplishments. The Oregon native did in fact win a silver medal at the 2000 World University Games, which is a much less prestigious award.
Character:
When one speaks, often people respect their words based on their character more than the wisdom being expounded. A fat trainer garners less respect than one with a shredded stomach. When both of these men talk, their pasts follow them. Ali and Sonnen were both convicted of felonies. Ali for draft evasion, Sonnen for money laundering and mortgage fraud (4).
The boxing legend did so on moral principles, because he had no interest in killing random strangers with whom he held no rancour. Ali lost three and a half years of his prime and potential earnings in the multi-millions. Sonnen swindled people of their money in order to profit his mother and himself. Ali, who could have accepted a noncombat position, refused to enter the army on any condition. Sonnen agreed to work with prosecutors to help convict others in order to reduce his own sentence. Ali eventually won his case on appeal and had his conviction overturned, while Chael is serving two years probation.
The Big Stage:
Talking the talk and walking the walk means to deliver on what you promise. Anyone can boast, but being able to accomplish what you predict is the real achievement. Ali’s biggest fights were his two against Liston, his three against Frazier and his epic “Rumble in the Jungle” against Foreman. He won six of the seven and five of the six were via KO. Chael Sonnen has lost both of his two major title fights. He lost to Paulo Filho for the WEC title and to Anderson Silva for the UFC belt.
It makes no sense to compare someone who has never won a major championship to one who is universally recognized as a top-10 great by virtually everybody. Sonnen is 4-2 in the UFC—submitting in both losses—and has only one win from a stoppage. In fact, Chael tapped out to a triangle/arm bar after equating getting a black belt in Jiu Jitsu from the Nogueira brothers to a toy found in a McDonald’s Happy Meal. This further defines Sonnen as one who exudes disrespect as opposed to deserving respect for his deeds.
Competition:
In order to be a true winner, one must legitimately prove themselves as the winner. This is done by following the agreed upon rules. One way of dishonouring oneself is through drug testing. Ali never failed a drug test. Sonnen has. Chael, while knowingly taking testosterone injections, lied on a pre-fight form by stating he had not taken any banned substances (5). His usage and lack of disclosure resulted in a fine and suspension from the California State Athletic Commission (CSAC).
Classiness:
Making humorous comments that display wit and cleverness are to be commended. However, it is a sport and it is another person’s reputation that suffers from these attempts to be comical. Both parties failed here at times. Ali crossed the line with comments made about Frazier. The MMA star recently said: “You tell Anderson Silva I’m coming over and I’m kicking down his backdoor and patting his little lady on the ass, and I’m telling her to make me a steak, medium-rare, just how I like it.” To me that crosses the line of humour and is clearly offensive.
The talented contender potentially sunk to even worse levels of putrid disrespect when he allegedly commented on Lance Armstrong (6). The voice, listed as Chael’s, states that Lance’s cheating gave him cancer and now he is playing victim and profiting from his steroid use. Chael has denied that it is his voice on the recording. The link is available below. On the Jim Rome show Sonnen stated that listeners would agree that it is not his voice. What do you think?
In conclusion, to compliment one for lying, losing and cheating seems nonsensical and unwarranted. Any comparisons to the one who literally “shook the world” and consistently proved they were “the greatest” is absolutely unfounded and should be discredited immediately. Yes, Chael Sonnen is an excellent fighter and a legitimate threat to beat one of the greatest fighters and athletes of all time in Anderson Silva, but it does not excuse him for being a documented swindler, liar and cheat.
