With Jon Jones fighting Quinton Jackson at UFC 135, and the winner of that fight more than likely fighting Rashad Evans, the light-heavyweight title is not without challengers. Based on a report being passed along by MMAMania.com, the winner of Jones/Jackson vs. Evans may already have a challenger in line as well. Rumor has it that Lyoto Machida vs. Phil Davis is in the works for a future card.
As you may remember, when Phil Davis was forced to withdraw from his fight with Rashad Evans at UFC 133 due to a knee injury, Lyoto Machida was originally set to replace him. However, Machida felt he was worth that “Anderson Silva money” and declined the bout. So having the two potential Rashad Evans opponents fight each other for the right to potentially fight Rashad Evans sort of makes sense, I guess.
Can crushing: You’re both doing it wrong.
With Jon Jones fighting Quinton Jackson at UFC 135, and the winner of that fight more than likely fighting Rashad Evans, the light-heavyweight title is not without challengers. Based on a report being passed along by MMAMania.com, the winner of Jones/Jackson vs. Evans may already have a challenger in line as well. Rumor has it that Lyoto Machida vs. Phil Davis is in the works for a future card.
As you may remember, when Phil Davis was forced to withdraw from his fight with Rashad Evans at UFC 133 due to a knee injury, Lyoto Machida was originally set to replace him. However, Machida felt he was worth that “Anderson Silva money” and declined the bout. So having the two potential Rashad Evans opponents fight each other for the right to potentially fight Rashad Evans sort of makes sense, I guess.
Excluding Rashad’s decision to stand and trade with Machida and an aging Randy Couture, is Machida capable of stopping a wrestler like Davis? For that matter, is Davis ready for a striker like Machida? According to Lyoto’s management, yes to the latter. As translated by MMAMania, “He’d be a huge opponent for Lyoto, who’s one of the biggest idols of the sport in Brazil and needs to fight again soon.”
As for the former question, Lyoto handles that one: “It’d be a clash of styles. Davis is a wrestler, who keeps a strong rhythm on all the rounds until the end. I would need to adjust some aspects in my training to fight him, but this technical change always was one of my best characteristics. I won’t have any problems.”
Famous last words, or is Lyoto’s striking going to be too much for Phil Davis? Better question, will this fight actually get made? Your call, Potato Nation.
Filed under: UFC, Strikeforce, Rankings, Light HeavyweightsJon Jones is the undisputed champion of the light heavyweight division, but figuring out who deserves to be No. 2 at 205 pounds is tough.
Is it Rampage Jackson, who gets the next crack at Jone…
Jon Jones is the undisputed champion of the light heavyweight division, but figuring out who deserves to be No. 2 at 205 pounds is tough.
Is it Rampage Jackson, who gets the next crack at Jones’ title? Is it Shogun Rua, the previous champion? Is it Rashad Evans, who beat Jackson? Is it Lyoto Machida, who beat Evans? Is it Dan Henderson, who ran through the Strikeforce light heavyweight division and then beat an opponent who outweighed him by 16 pounds in Fedor Emelianenko?
Good arguments can be made for any of them. So who do I have at No. 2? Find out below.
1. Jon Jones (1): Jones was in Denver on July 19, his 24th birthday, for a press conference promoting his upcoming fight with Rampage Jackson. Jones said several times that now that he’s 24 he doesn’t think anyone should call him young anymore, but the reality is that Jones is both the best fighter in the division and the youngest in the Top 10. His age is an important part of why people are so excited about what he can do: He could be a long-reigning champion in a division that has seen a great deal of turnover at the top.
2. Rashad Evans (4): Evans’ impressive victory over Tito Ortiz at UFC 133 moves him back up to No. 2 in my book. Evans looked as good as he’s ever looked, and it was especially noteworthy that he looked physically stronger than he ever had before. The way he picked Ortiz up and slammed him down with a minute left in the first round was particularly impressive. Whether Jones or Jackson is the light heavyweight champion after their UFC 135 fight, Evans will be a very worthy opponent.
3. Shogun Rua (2): We’ll learn a lot about Shogun when he takes on Forrest Griffin at UFC 134. If Rua can avenge the loss to Griffin from four years ago and come out of the fight healthy, he’ll be in the mix (as Dana White likes to say) for a shot at the light heavyweight title some time in 2012. But Rua’s knees have given him so many problems that it’s hard not to wonder, even though he’s only 29, if he’s on the down side of his career.
4. Lyoto Machida (3): Machida’s decision to turn down a fight with Evans was a surprise, because Machida thoroughly whipped Evans when they fought two years ago. If Machida had accepted that fight and won, he’d probably be next in line for a title shot. Now he may be sidelined for an extended period of time, as most of the other top light heavyweights already have fights lined up.
5. Rampage Jackson (5): Jackson looked sluggish in his UFC 130 victory over Matt Hamill, and at age 33 he doesn’t seem to have the punching power he once had: In the last four years, Rampage has fought 23 rounds inside the Octagon, and other than his knockout of Wanderlei Silva at UFC 92, he’s never been particularly close to finishing anybody. If we’re going to see an upset of Jon Jones at UFC 135, we’re going to have to see a much better Rampage than we’ve seen recently.
6. Dan Henderson (6): Henderson is the Strikeforce light heavyweight champion, but his impressive win over Fedor Emelianenko was probably his last fight in Strikeforce: His return to the Octagon is likely coming soon. Machida would be a good opponent for him in his UFC return.
7. Forrest Griffin (7): Griffin will have a great chance to move up in the rankings when he takes on Shogun Rua at UFC 134. A win over Rua, whom Griffin has already beaten once, would vault Griffin into the Top 5 and probably put him only another win away from another shot at the light heavyweight title.
8. Phil Davis (8): A knee injury forced the 9-0 Davis to pull out of his scheduled UFC 133 fight with Evans, and there’s no word yet on when he’ll return to the Octagon. With five UFC wins in less than 14 months from February of 2010 to March of 2011, Davis had been building up a lot of momentum that this injury slowed down. But he’ll be back and quite likely fighting for the light heavyweight title by the end of 2012.
9. Thiago Silva (9): Silva is currently serving a one-year suspension for using a banned substance and cheating on his UFC 125 drug test. Some will drop him from the rankings for that, but Silva’s record (14-2 with 11 wins by knockout, two wins by submission and losses only to Evans and Machida) is strong enough that I don’t think you can put together a list of the Top 10 light heavyweights without him.
10. Rafael Cavalcante (10): The former Strikeforce champion, Feijao will face a largely untested opponent, the 4-0 Olympic wrestling silver medalist Yoel Romero, in his return to the cage on September 10.
UFC 132 is in the books and here are the results:Dominick Cruz vs. Urijah Faber – 50-45, 49-46, 48-47 for CruzWanderlei Silva vs. Chris Leben – KO win at :29 for LebenTito Ortiz vs. Ryan Bader – Submission win for Ortiz at 1:56 of Round OneCarlos Condi…
Dominick Cruz vs. Urijah Faber – 50-45, 49-46, 48-47 for Cruz
Wanderlei Silva vs. Chris Leben – KO win at :29 for Leben
Tito Ortiz vs. Ryan Bader – Submission win for Ortiz at 1:56 of Round One
Carlos Condit vs. Dong Hyun Kim – TKO win at 2:58 of Round One for Condit
Dennis Siver vs. Matt Wiman – 29-28 on all three cards for Siver
Melvin Guillard vs. Shane Roller – KO win at 2:12 of Round One for Guillard
George Sotiropoulos vs.Rafael dos Anjos – KO win at :59 of Round One for Dos Anjos
Brian Bowles vs. Takeya Mizugaki – 29-28, 30-27, 30-27 for Bowles
Brad Tavares vs. Aaron Simpson -30-27 on all three cards for Simpson
Anthony Njokuani vs.Andre Winner – 30-27, 30-26, 30-26 to Njokuani.
Jeff Hougland vs. Donny Walker – 29-28, 29-28, 30-27 to Hougland
Now that 132 is wrapped up, we take a look forward to UFC 133 which will take place on August 6 from Philadelphia, PA and will be headlined by a bout between Rashad Evans and Phil Davis.
UFC 132 is in the books and here are the results:Dominick Cruz vs. Urijah Faber – 50-45, 49-46, 48-47 for CruzWanderlei Silva vs. Chris Leben – KO win at :29 for LebenTito Ortiz vs. Ryan Bader – Submission win for Ortiz at 1:56 of Round OneCarlos Condi…
Dominick Cruz vs. Urijah Faber – 50-45, 49-46, 48-47 for Cruz
Wanderlei Silva vs. Chris Leben – KO win at :29 for Leben
Tito Ortiz vs. Ryan Bader – Submission win for Ortiz at 1:56 of Round One
Carlos Condit vs. Dong Hyun Kim – TKO win at 2:58 of Round One for Condit
Dennis Siver vs. Matt Wiman – 29-28 on all three cards for Siver
Melvin Guillard vs. Shane Roller – KO win at 2:12 of Round One for Guillard
George Sotiropoulos vs.Rafael dos Anjos – KO win at :59 of Round One for Dos Anjos
Brian Bowles vs. Takeya Mizugaki – 29-28, 30-27, 30-27 for Bowles
Brad Tavares vs. Aaron Simpson -30-27 on all three cards for Simpson
Anthony Njokuani vs.Andre Winner – 30-27, 30-26, 30-26 to Njokuani.
Jeff Hougland vs. Donny Walker – 29-28, 29-28, 30-27 to Hougland
Now that 132 is wrapped up, we take a look forward to UFC 133 which will take place on August 6 from Philadelphia, PA and will be headlined by a bout between Rashad Evans and Phil Davis.
Phil “Mr. Wonderful” Davis has lived up to his nickname so far in his MMA career. Davis is 9-0, (5-0 in the UFC), and holds wins over middleweight stand out Brian Stann and Antonio Rogerio Nogueira. Because of his mixture of good wrestling …
Davis is 9-0, (5-0 in the UFC), and holds wins over middleweight stand out Brian Stann and Antonio Rogerio Nogueira.
Because of his mixture of good wrestling and slick submissions, Davis has become one of the UFC’s fastest rising stars.
Often young fighters will call out tougher competition with the hope of moving up the divisional rankings.
Davis on the other hand has had opportunities come to him.
After originally being booked to Matt Hamill, then Jason Brillz, Davis replaced Tito Ortiz to face Nogueira at UFC Fight Night 24.
Davis got past his biggest test to date, but showed us that he still has some improvements to make.
He will get an even bigger test in competition as he takes on Rashad Evans at UFC 133.
Evans is a former UFC light heavyweight champion who was well on his way to another title fight. Unfortunately for him, his former teammate and UFC champion Jon Jones had to pull out of their fight due to a hand injury.
Instead of waiting for his title shot like he had done for almost a year, Evans decided to take the fight against Davis.
Like Evans, Davis is a good wrestler. But wrestling aside, will Davis have enough tools to be competitive with Evans?
Evans will have much better striking coming into this fight. He will also have experience and knows how to handle pressure in a big fight.
Not only will Davis feel the pressure of being in such a big fight, he will also feel the pressure to perform well in his home state.
Davis is one of the division’s bright young stars. But I believe this will be the fight that he loses and learns from.
Poor, Rashad.Since losing the light heavyweight championship to Lyoto Machida back in 2009, Rashad Evans has defeated top contenders Thiago Silva and Quinton Jackson.Evans was supposed to face Mauricio Rua in March for the UFC’s light heavyweight belt,…
Poor, Rashad.
Since losing the light heavyweight championship to Lyoto Machida back in 2009, Rashad Evans has defeated top contenders Thiago Silva and Quinton Jackson.
Evans was supposed to face Mauricio Rua in March for the UFC’s light heavyweight belt, but an injury forced him to withdraw from the bout.
Then, he was supposed to face Jon Jones for the championship at UFC 133, but Jones was forced to drop out of the fight.
Now, Rashad has lost his shot for the title and instead will face Phil Davis.
This is a high risk fight for Rashad. A win will likely earn him the next title shot in the light heavyweight division. However, a loss for Evans would be devastating. Davis looked relatively unimpressive in his last fight with Antonio Rogerio Nogueira, so if Rashad loses people will seriously begin to question his place in the division.
For Phil, this is a very low risk fight. He is a replacement fighter, so the UFC will be happy with him for helping them out of a tight spot, regardless of whether he wins or loses.
If Davis does lose, it doesn’t hurt him too much because most people don’t think he is ready for Rashad anyways. If he wins, it’ll catapult him into title contention.
Jon Jones