According to UFC President Dana White, the chances of witnessing a super-fight between respective champions Jon Jones and Anderson Silva are very slim. The out-cry for the matchup escalated further following Jones’ recent title defense against Qui…
According to UFC President Dana White, the chances of witnessing a super-fight between respective champions Jon Jones and Anderson Silva are very slim.
The out-cry for the matchup escalated further following Jones’ recent title defense against Quinton “Rampage” Jackson this past weekend at UFC 135, and some fans even favoring it over a potential bout between Silva and UFC welterweight champion, Georges St-Pierre.
But White believes Jones still has a lot to accomplish at light heavyweight before there is any talk of a super-fight.
Jones carries a lot of similarities to the Brazilian, which has left fans convinced that the light heavyweight champion would actually be able to compete against Silva, who has remained undefeated since his UFC debut in 2006.
Jones’ recent victories over top competitors like Jackson, Mauricio “Shogun” Rua and Ryan Bader have led most fans to believe he will continue his dominance over the 205-pound division for awhile, and in turn, enjoy a lengthy title reign.
While fans might not get their wish to see the 24-year-old challenge “The Spider,” there has been talk of Jones moving up to the heavyweight division in the near future.
Jones will make his next title defense against Rashad Evans sometime next year.
The hype surrounding Jon Jones is certainly justified.And Quinton “Rampage” Jackson, who witnessed it first-hand, is now a firm believer.Following Jones’ victory over Jackson at UFC 135, the former PRIDE star had nothing but respect and praise for the …
The hype surrounding Jon Jones is certainly justified.
And Quinton “Rampage” Jackson, who witnessed it first-hand, is now a firm believer.
Following Jones’ victory over Jackson at UFC 135, the former PRIDE star had nothing but respect and praise for the 24-year-old, who made his first successful title defense. Jackson had trouble finding his range throughout the duration of the bout and struggled against the champion, amounting little to no offense.
“I wasn’t sticking to my game plan like I trained to do. It was frustrating me…Jon’s presence, his reach and stuff, was really hard to deal with,” Jackson said following the bout. “I had guys taller than Jon doing the same thing, sparring with them, but I guess it’s different when you’re sparring and in an actual real fight.”
Although he utilized his range and distance to pick apart his opponent, Jones only managed to take Jackson down on two separate occasions but eventually passed his guard, took his back and applied a rear naked choke to submit the former champion in the fourth round. The loss marked the first time Jackson had been finished during his UFC tenure and his record now stands at 6-3 inside the Octagon and 32-9-0 overall.
Jones’ next title defense will be against rival, Rashad Evans, who Jackson believes is and the only challenger capable of dethroning the young champion.
“I think Rashad is the only person, basically, who has a chance to beat him since Rashad trained with him before,” said Jackson. “So other than Rashad, I don’t see anybody beating this kid, straight up.”
And while the future might look undetermined for Jackson momentarily, Rampage did request for a rematch with Mauricio “Shogun” Rua during his post-fight interview. Rua defeated Jackson at PRIDE Total Elimination 2005.
Saturday night at UFC 135, Jon Jones once again showed his dominance when he defeated Quinton “Rampage” Jackson. Jones picked Jackson apart the entire fight until finally submitting him by rear-naked choke in the fourth round. At age 24, Jo…
Saturday night at UFC 135, Jon Jones once again showed his dominance when he defeated Quinton “Rampage” Jackson.
Jones picked Jackson apart the entire fight until finally submitting him by rear-naked choke in the fourth round.
At age 24, Jones has dominated every fighter he has faced in the UFC, become the youngest UFC champion in history and overall lived up to the hype.
Anyone can lose in MMA. But when a fighter comes along like Jones has, it almost looks impossible, as his only loss was due to a disqualification vs. Matt Hamill for illegal downward elbows.
Can Jones really be stopped? Here are some things a fighter must possess in order to defeat him.
In the UFC 135 pre-fight press conference UFC president Dana White said he could tell the Jones-Jackson main event was a “breakthrough fight” because of all the celebrities who were willing to fly to Denver — Denver, of all places! — just to see it.
I’m not saying that’s not true, but I am saying that maybe you don’t want to spit out the name of the host city like you can’t believe any famous people would be willing to go there. Denver’s actually a pretty great city — one with pro sports teams and all that jazz. Maybe the nightclubs don’t stay open as long as the David Spade types would like, but the fact that they might be willing to make the flight anyway is maybe not as important to John Q. Fight Fan as it is to White. Like any main event, it’s a big deal because it’s a good fight, not the other way around.
But now that another UFC event is in the books and the dust has settled on the tiny, godforsaken hamlet of Denver, it’s time again to sort through the biggest winners, losers, and everything in between.
Biggest Winner: Jon Jones
No surprise here. The champ defended his belt in dominant fashion, showing that he could do just about anything he felt like to ‘Rampage’ Jackson. Crawling around on all fours? Sure. Tossing Jackson over his back after the end of a round? Why not. Jackson could hardly lay a glove on Jones until he went to pat him on the shoulder and give him his respect after it was all over. The scary thing is he’s only 24 years old. If I were a light heavyweight in the UFC, I’d either want to fight him right away, before he has a chance to get any better, or else much further in the future, after stardom may have taken its toll on him. If you get him somewhere in the middle, as Rashad Evans probably will, it could be big trouble. Now that the mere mention of Evans’ name seems to upset Jones, psychological warfare could be “Suga’s” best hope against the champ.
Biggest Loser: Takanori Gomi
Not only did he lose his second straight fight and his third in four UFC attempts, but he got absolutely throttled by Nate Diaz. In a lot of ways it was reminiscent of his loss to Nick Diaz, only without the brief period of effective offense in the beginning (or, hopefully, the eye-popping drug test results later). It’s hard not to wonder where this leaves the 33-year-old Gomi. His UFC run has been a disappointment and it’s starting to look like his Pride glory days were as good as it’s ever going to get for him. The UFC may or may not keep him around just long enough to fight in the Tokyo event, but he doesn’t seem to have much of a long-term future in the UFC. It’s a shame, but it’s not terribly surprising. The game has changed a lot since 2005, and very few fighters have managed to successfully change with it all the way into the present.
Most Improved: Mark Hunt
I’m not sure when Hunt learned to wrestle, but it must have been very, very recently. He didn’t just escape the mount and stuff a couple of Ben Rothwell’s takedowns, he even got a couple double-legs of his own. Who saw that coming? I’ve heard some people grumbling about his cardio down the stretch, but after hitting Rothwell with everything but a paternity suit, I don’t blame him for being tired. I’m a little amazed that Rothwell took so many bombs from the heavy-handed Hunt, but I’m even more amazed at Hunt’s overall improvement as a fighter in the last year. You factor in the feel-good story about him turning down a UFC payoff for a chance to earn a spot on the roster, and you’ve got a heavyweight who’s very quietly earned the admiration and respect of his peers.
Best Worst Use of Ambiguous Phrasing: Matt Hughes
He’s not retiring. No way. He just wants to be put on the shelf, whatever that means for a nearly 38-year-old ex-champion. Dana White’s known Hughes for a long time, so I’m inclined to go with his translation: Hughes just can’t bring himself to say the word ‘retirement,’ even after his second straight first-round knockout loss. You don’t ask to be put on the shelf if you’re dying to fight soon. And if you’re not trying to squeeze a couple more fights in before Father Time does even more of a number on you, doesn’t that mean you’re basically easing into retirement like a senior citizen into a water aerobics class? Probably, yeah. And that’s okay. If Hughes doesn’t want to say the words, he doesn’t have to. Not right now, anyway. But six months from now when he dozes off in a recliner while watching a fishing show in the middle of the day, that’s when it’s going to hit him: my God, this is what retired people do. Maybe by then it won’t seem so bad.
Most Impressive in Defeat: Quinton “Rampage” Jackson
It might have been hard to tell while he was standing in the cage with Jones, but Jackson hasn’t looked that good for a couple years. We’ve seen many different versions of ‘Rampage’ over the course of his career, from the hungry, driven one to the plodding, barely interested variety. This time he moved well, was in excellent shape, and stayed in attack mode even when Jones was sticking him at will. It’s just a shame that it took a huge title fight to bring out that level of interest in him, and that it did him little good against an opponent as talented as Jones. But look on the bright side: maybe this will show Jackson how good he can be when he puts forth the effort. He says he wants ‘Shogun’ Rua in Japan, even though Rua already has a date with Dan Henderson coming up. But the mere fact that he’s asking for specific names and locations for his next fight at least tells us that he’s interested in MMA again. Let’s hope that lasts.
Least Impressive in Victory: Travis Browne
By the third round of his heavyweight tilt with Rob Broughton, Browne was content to get the top position and move only as much as was absolutely necessary in order to stay there. He already had the decision locked up, plus he was pretty tuckered out, so there was some logic to it all. That’s cool — and, hey, it’s better to win a fight like that than lose it — but it doesn’t exactly propel you up the heavyweight ranks. Browne’s knockout wins over Stefan Struve and James McSweeney have established his bona fides as an action fighter, so what gives? Maybe he ran out of gas or simply felt like he had to play it safe against Broughton, but either way this wasn’t exactly one for the highlight reel.
Most Surprising: Takeya Mizugaki
Judging by pre and post-fight appearances alone, I don’t know if anyone at UFC 135 enjoyed themselves as much as Mizugaki. I guess it helps when you win your fight, especially via dominating second-round TKO. Oddsmakers gave Mizugaki the slight edge coming into the fight, but he had Escovedo’s number early and managed to strike a perfect balance between recklessness and strategic aggression. Good thing too, since Mizugaki needed that win. It was the first time he’s finished a fight since 2008 and his most impressive performance yet in the UFC. Plus he just seemed to be having so much fun, and who doesn’t like to see that?
Biggest Matchmaking Headache: Josh Koscheck
Koscheck may very well be the second-best welterweight in the UFC, but there is absolutely zero interest in seeing him fight Georges St-Pierre a third time, so what now? He’s open to a temporary move to middleweight for the sake of a just-for-the-hell-of-it fight with Chris Leben, and maybe that’s the best thing the UFC can do with him. But once that’s over you still have a guy who’s probably too small to make a run at middleweight, but will only knock off potential contenders if you leave him at welterweight. The good news is that, with his abrasive personality and willingness to alienate people, Koscheck can always talk himself into new rivalries. And who knows, maybe he can tread water that way until GSP eventually moves up to middleweight and it’s open season in the UFC’s 170-pound class again. You know he can’t be the only fighter waiting for that day to come.
In the UFC 135 pre-fight press conference UFC president Dana White said he could tell the Jones-Jackson main event was a “breakthrough fight” because of all the celebrities who were willing to fly to Denver — Denver, of all places! — just to see it.
I’m not saying that’s not true, but I am saying that maybe you don’t want to spit out the name of the host city like you can’t believe any famous people would be willing to go there. Denver’s actually a pretty great city — one with pro sports teams and all that jazz. Maybe the nightclubs don’t stay open as long as the David Spade types would like, but the fact that they might be willing to make the flight anyway is maybe not as important to John Q. Fight Fan as it is to White. Like any main event, it’s a big deal because it’s a good fight, not the other way around.
But now that another UFC event is in the books and the dust has settled on the tiny, godforsaken hamlet of Denver, it’s time again to sort through the biggest winners, losers, and everything in between.
Biggest Winner: Jon Jones
No surprise here. The champ defended his belt in dominant fashion, showing that he could do just about anything he felt like to ‘Rampage’ Jackson. Crawling around on all fours? Sure. Tossing Jackson over his back after the end of a round? Why not. Jackson could hardly lay a glove on Jones until he went to pat him on the shoulder and give him his respect after it was all over. The scary thing is he’s only 24 years old. If I were a light heavyweight in the UFC, I’d either want to fight him right away, before he has a chance to get any better, or else much further in the future, after stardom may have taken its toll on him. If you get him somewhere in the middle, as Rashad Evans probably will, it could be big trouble. Now that the mere mention of Evans’ name seems to upset Jones, psychological warfare could be “Suga’s” best hope against the champ.
Biggest Loser: Takanori Gomi
Not only did he lose his second straight fight and his third in four UFC attempts, but he got absolutely throttled by Nate Diaz. In a lot of ways it was reminiscent of his loss to Nick Diaz, only without the brief period of effective offense in the beginning (or, hopefully, the eye-popping drug test results later). It’s hard not to wonder where this leaves the 33-year-old Gomi. His UFC run has been a disappointment and it’s starting to look like his Pride glory days were as good as it’s ever going to get for him. The UFC may or may not keep him around just long enough to fight in the Tokyo event, but he doesn’t seem to have much of a long-term future in the UFC. It’s a shame, but it’s not terribly surprising. The game has changed a lot since 2005, and very few fighters have managed to successfully change with it all the way into the present.
Most Improved: Mark Hunt
I’m not sure when Hunt learned to wrestle, but it must have been very, very recently. He didn’t just escape the mount and stuff a couple of Ben Rothwell’s takedowns, he even got a couple double-legs of his own. Who saw that coming? I’ve heard some people grumbling about his cardio down the stretch, but after hitting Rothwell with everything but a paternity suit, I don’t blame him for being tired. I’m a little amazed that Rothwell took so many bombs from the heavy-handed Hunt, but I’m even more amazed at Hunt’s overall improvement as a fighter in the last year. You factor in the feel-good story about him turning down a UFC payoff for a chance to earn a spot on the roster, and you’ve got a heavyweight who’s very quietly earned the admiration and respect of his peers.
Best Worst Use of Ambiguous Phrasing: Matt Hughes
He’s not retiring. No way. He just wants to be put on the shelf, whatever that means for a nearly 38-year-old ex-champion. Dana White’s known Hughes for a long time, so I’m inclined to go with his translation: Hughes just can’t bring himself to say the word ‘retirement,’ even after his second straight first-round knockout loss. You don’t ask to be put on the shelf if you’re dying to fight soon. And if you’re not trying to squeeze a couple more fights in before Father Time does even more of a number on you, doesn’t that mean you’re basically easing into retirement like a senior citizen into a water aerobics class? Probably, yeah. And that’s okay. If Hughes doesn’t want to say the words, he doesn’t have to. Not right now, anyway. But six months from now when he dozes off in a recliner while watching a fishing show in the middle of the day, that’s when it’s going to hit him: my God, this is what retired people do. Maybe by then it won’t seem so bad.
Most Impressive in Defeat: Quinton “Rampage” Jackson
It might have been hard to tell while he was standing in the cage with Jones, but Jackson hasn’t looked that good for a couple years. We’ve seen many different versions of ‘Rampage’ over the course of his career, from the hungry, driven one to the plodding, barely interested variety. This time he moved well, was in excellent shape, and stayed in attack mode even when Jones was sticking him at will. It’s just a shame that it took a huge title fight to bring out that level of interest in him, and that it did him little good against an opponent as talented as Jones. But look on the bright side: maybe this will show Jackson how good he can be when he puts forth the effort. He says he wants ‘Shogun’ Rua in Japan, even though Rua already has a date with Dan Henderson coming up. But the mere fact that he’s asking for specific names and locations for his next fight at least tells us that he’s interested in MMA again. Let’s hope that lasts.
Least Impressive in Victory: Travis Browne
By the third round of his heavyweight tilt with Rob Broughton, Browne was content to get the top position and move only as much as was absolutely necessary in order to stay there. He already had the decision locked up, plus he was pretty tuckered out, so there was some logic to it all. That’s cool — and, hey, it’s better to win a fight like that than lose it — but it doesn’t exactly propel you up the heavyweight ranks. Browne’s knockout wins over Stefan Struve and James McSweeney have established his bona fides as an action fighter, so what gives? Maybe he ran out of gas or simply felt like he had to play it safe against Broughton, but either way this wasn’t exactly one for the highlight reel.
Most Surprising: Takeya Mizugaki
Judging by pre and post-fight appearances alone, I don’t know if anyone at UFC 135 enjoyed themselves as much as Mizugaki. I guess it helps when you win your fight, especially via dominating second-round TKO. Oddsmakers gave Mizugaki the slight edge coming into the fight, but he had Escovedo’s number early and managed to strike a perfect balance between recklessness and strategic aggression. Good thing too, since Mizugaki needed that win. It was the first time he’s finished a fight since 2008 and his most impressive performance yet in the UFC. Plus he just seemed to be having so much fun, and who doesn’t like to see that?
Biggest Matchmaking Headache: Josh Koscheck
Koscheck may very well be the second-best welterweight in the UFC, but there is absolutely zero interest in seeing him fight Georges St-Pierre a third time, so what now? He’s open to a temporary move to middleweight for the sake of a just-for-the-hell-of-it fight with Chris Leben, and maybe that’s the best thing the UFC can do with him. But once that’s over you still have a guy who’s probably too small to make a run at middleweight, but will only knock off potential contenders if you leave him at welterweight. The good news is that, with his abrasive personality and willingness to alienate people, Koscheck can always talk himself into new rivalries. And who knows, maybe he can tread water that way until GSP eventually moves up to middleweight and it’s open season in the UFC’s 170-pound class again. You know he can’t be the only fighter waiting for that day to come.
Nate Diaz may have executed the greatest victory of his career on Saturday at UFC 135 when he stunned everybody by submitting Takanori Gomi at the 4:27 mark of the first round.Gomi—known for his powerful, swinging haymakers—looked like he w…
Nate Diaz may have executed the greatest victory of his career on Saturday at UFC 135 when he stunned everybody by submitting Takanori Gomi at the 4:27 mark of the first round.
Gomi—known for his powerful, swinging haymakers—looked like he was in slow motion against Diaz, and it only took Diaz a couple minutes to begin wailing on the Japanese star.
The fight ended with Diaz locking Gomi up in an armbar and Gomi tapping out.
And while the victory was unexpected, it only confirmed that Diaz had no business being in the welterweight division in the first place. It was no coincidence that Diaz’s decision to return to the lightweight division began with an impressive victory.
In the welterweight division, Diaz was 2-2, including losses against Dong Hyun Kim and Rory MacDonald. The truth is, the 26-year-old has always been born to fight at 155 pounds, and whatever prompted him to move up a weight class should never surface again.
Diaz has talent, he has the lineage to be a great fighter (his brother Nick also defeated Gomi) and he showed on Saturday that he definitely has a knack for seizing the opportunity.
He’s also young, and if he continues fighting the way he did against Gomi, it won’t be long before he begins making some waves in the lightweight division.
Diaz may have lost his way in the early goings, but he appears to be back on track in his quest to follow in his brother’s footsteps. He still has a lot of work to do, but that victory against Gomi on Saturday had to feel good.
One thing’s for sure: I don’t think Diaz will ever return to the welterweight division.
After a dominant victory by UFC light heavyweight champion Jon Jones in Denver at UFC 135, the MMA Wrap-Up returns to look at whether we’ve learned anything from the rise and fall of his would-be superstar predecessors. And yeah, we also pause to wonder how Steven Seagal keeps getting backstage to make smug remarks about fighters who wisely refuse him entry to their locker rooms. Just good clean fun, really.
After a dominant victory by UFC light heavyweight champion Jon Jones in Denver at UFC 135, the MMA Wrap-Up returns to look at whether we’ve learned anything from the rise and fall of his would-be superstar predecessors. And yeah, we also pause to wonder how Steven Seagal keeps getting backstage to make smug remarks about fighters who wisely refuse him entry to their locker rooms. Just good clean fun, really.
According to UFC President Dana White, the chances of witnessing a super-fight between respective champions Jon Jones and Anderson Silva are very slim. 
In the 