Jon Jones Talks UFC 128 Strategy, Beating Shogun Rua in the Clinch

Filed under: UFC, NewsJon Jones is continuing to make the media rounds and get treated as the Next Big Thing in the UFC — even though it remains to be seen whether he’s the UFC’s next light heavyweight champion. The latest media event for Jones was a …

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Jon Jones is continuing to make the media rounds and get treated as the Next Big Thing in the UFC — even though it remains to be seen whether he’s the UFC’s next light heavyweight champion. The latest media event for Jones was a Thursday morning interview on SportsCenter, where he offered a surprisingly detailed account of his strategy for his UFC 128 bout with Shogun Rua.

Speaking with ESPN’s Josh Elliott, Jones said he believes he’s significantly better than Rua in the clinch, to the point where he thinks that when the two of them come together standing up, Rua won’t be able to deal with him.

“I was a Greco-Roman All-American, and the clinch is such a huge part of combat sport,” Jones said. “If you look at muay Thai matches, if you look at your traditional boxing, the clinch is huge. It’s a natural instinct for people to clinch when they’re in a bad situation. And that’s one of my main strengths. My takedowns from the clinch are very powerful, my knees from the clinch are very powerful, and I think that can be a huge mismatch that I can exploit in this fight.”

Jon Jones Talks Strategy, Fighting “Shogun” From the Clinch

Anyone in their right mind should have been stoked to see Mauricio “Shogun” Rua vs. Rashad Evans, but it seems like ever since Jon Jones came into the equation, the hype’s gone up another level. It makes sense of course, as just like thousands of others, we too quickly jumped on the “Bones” bandwagon after seeing […]

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Anyone in their right mind should have been stoked to see Mauricio “Shogun” Rua vs. Rashad Evans, but it seems like ever since Jon Jones came into the equation, the hype’s gone up another level. It makes sense of course, as just like thousands of others, we too quickly jumped on the “Bones” bandwagon after seeing what kind of glorious violence he’s capable of.

Despite the fact that this Saturday’s bout marks the first time the 23 year-old phenomenon will fight for the title, Jones has been taking it in stride, while remaining extremely confident about his chances. So, just how is the rising light-heavy planning on dismantling the champ? Speaking to ESPN, (thanks to MMA Fighting for the quote) Jones stated:

“I was a Greco-Roman All-American, and the clinch is such a huge part of combat sport,” Jones said. “If you look at Muay Thai matches, if you look at your traditional boxing, the clinch is huge. It’s a natural instinct for people to clinch when they’re in a bad situation. And that’s one of my main strengths. My takedowns from the clinch are very powerful, my knees from the clinch are very powerful, and I think that can be a huge mismatch that I can exploit in this fight.”

Yes, right about now you might recall Jones tossing opponents through the air like they were unsuspecting beach balls, and there’s little question he could do some serious damage from that position. That said, we are talking about Shogun, a man who reduced “Rampage” Jackson to a pile of broken human with some serious, serious knees. Guess we’ll see huh?

To put some money down on the fight head here.

UFC 128 Predictions

Filed under: UFCThe light heavyweight title is on the line in what looks like it will be one of the best top-to-bottom fight cards of the year in mixed martial arts at UFC 128 on Saturday night. My pay-per-view predictions are right here.

What: UFC 12…

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Shogun Rua will battle Jon Jones in the main event of UFC 128 on Saturday night.The light heavyweight title is on the line in what looks like it will be one of the best top-to-bottom fight cards of the year in mixed martial arts at UFC 128 on Saturday night. My pay-per-view predictions are right here.

What: UFC 128: Shogun vs. Jones

Where: Prudential Center, Newark

When: Saturday, with a Facebook stream starting at 8 p.m. ET, the Spike TV undercard fights at 9 and the pay-per-view at 10.

Predictions on the five pay-per-view fights below.

Dana White Talks UFC 128, Desire to Book Wanderlei Silva vs. Vitor Belfort

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NEW YORK — MMA Fighting spoke to Dana White at Wednesday’s UFC 128 pre-fight press conference at Radio City Music Hall about Jon Jones being a betting favorite heading into his fight against Shogun Rua, what’s at stake for Mirko Cro Cop on Saturday night versus Brendan Schaub, how his life has changed since the Strikeforce acquisition and his desire to see Wanderlei Silva vs. Vitor Belfort II in the future.

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NEW YORK — MMA Fighting spoke to Dana White at Wednesday’s UFC 128 pre-fight press conference at Radio City Music Hall about Jon Jones being a betting favorite heading into his fight against Shogun Rua, what’s at stake for Mirko Cro Cop on Saturday night versus Brendan Schaub, how his life has changed since the Strikeforce acquisition and his desire to see Wanderlei Silva vs. Vitor Belfort II in the future.

UFC 128 Press Conference Video

Filed under: UFCShogun Rua, Jon Jones and UFC President Dana White will all meet the media for the UFC 128 press conference at Radio City Music Hall on Wednesday, and we’ll have the video right here at MMAFighting.com.

The New York press conference is…

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Dana White and a host of fighters will answer questions at the UFC 128 press conference.Shogun Rua, Jon Jones and UFC President Dana White will all meet the media for the UFC 128 press conference at Radio City Music Hall on Wednesday, and we’ll have the video right here at MMAFighting.com.

The New York press conference is a major opportunity for the UFC to reach the media in the one state where mixed martial arts is still illegal. (UFC 128 takes place 15 miles away in Newark.)

The press conference starts at 12:30 p.m. ET and the video is below.



MMA Top 10 Light Heavyweights: Jon Jones Moves to No. 2

Filed under: UFC, Strikeforce, Light HeavyweightsThe last time I ranked the Top 10 light heavyweights in mixed martial arts, I wrestled with the question of who’s the No. 2 fighter in the weight class: Lyoto Machida, Rampage Jackson or Rashad Evans?

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Jon JonesThe last time I ranked the Top 10 light heavyweights in mixed martial arts, I wrestled with the question of who’s the No. 2 fighter in the weight class: Lyoto Machida, Rampage Jackson or Rashad Evans?

Now I have the answer: None of the above.

Jon Jones put on his fourth consecutive spectacular performance in beating Ryan Bader at UFC 126, and I can no longer put Jones below anyone other than champion Shogun Rua. With just about any other fighter of Jones’ age and experience I’d say the UFC is rushing him into a title shot in this situation, but with Jones I can’t argue: He has proven that he deserves to be considered the second-best light heavyweight in the sport.

So I’ve got Shogun and Jones, who will meet in the main event at UFC 128, at 1-2 in our light heavyweight rankings. Find out where the rest of the division stacks up below.