The UFC dry spell is finally coming to a close. Only a mere two weeks away, I can already taste the sweet flavors of a well-crafted UFC knockout. After a long March where we found ourselves flipping between the Ultimate Fighter Live and a stellar seaso…
The UFC dry spell is finally coming to a close. Only a mere two weeks away, I can already taste the sweet flavors of a well-crafted UFC knockout. After a long March where we found ourselves flipping between the Ultimate Fighter Live and a stellar season of Bellator, April is here, and we’ve got a lot to look forward to.
There are no Strikeforce, Titan Fighting Championships, DREAM, M-1 or ProElite bouts this month, but an independent fight did manage to work its way onto our list, alongside some highly anticipated UFC and Bellator contests that are sure to deliver both big-name stars and high-quality MMA action.
This is a list of the top 20 fights that MMA fans should look forward to seeing this month.
The main event could easily take up this entire article, but this card is stacked and that means there are a lot of questions to ponder coming in. It will be interesting to hear the jawing that comes from Jon Jones and Rashad Evans on the UFC Primetime…
The main event could easily take up this entire article, but this card is stacked and that means there are a lot of questions to ponder coming in. It will be interesting to hear the jawing that comes from Jon Jones and Rashad Evans on the UFC Primetime special before the event, and that is definitely something that I am looking forward to for sure. But, I could talk about Jones and Evans all day, and there are 11 other bouts on this card.
Some of the bouts that I am looking forward to are the bouts between Chad Griggs and Travis Browne, Mac Danzig and Efrain Escudero, John Makdessi and Anthony Njokuani and the return of Mark Hominick just to name a few. This is one of the most stacked cards in a long time, and the great part for the fans is that UFC 146 is an even more impressive card.
In the next few slides, I will reveal the seven questions I’m burning on leading into fight night in Atlanta.
The fact that the bantamweight bout between Miguel Torres and Michael McDonald was ever included on the preliminary card at UFC 145 is ridiculous.Yes, I understand the reasoning behind it. The UFC wants strong fights on their FX telecast. They want bou…
The fact that the bantamweight bout between Miguel Torres and Michael McDonald was ever included on the preliminary card at UFC 145 is ridiculous.
Yes, I understand the reasoning behind it. The UFC wants strong fights on their FX telecast. They want bouts that will entice the fans to order the pay-per-view event, and so they have historically loaded up that show with great fights. It’s a good business deal.
But Torres vs. McDonald is an exception, not the rule. It’s a fight with real title implications. The winner of this fight is either going to get an immediate title shot (if it’s Torres) or find himself very close to it (if it’s McDonald).
On top of that, it’s a fight featuring the crafty veteran against the kid who many believe could be the future of his division.
Basically, it’s a hell of a fight, and I obviously support the UFC’s decision to move Torres vs. McDonald to the UFC 145 pay-per-view, which will now feature six fights instead of the usual five.
“Fighting on Pay-Per-View is special to me,” said Torres. “I would watch the big boxing cards with my father as a kid, and my father would well up with pride and emotion when guys like Julio Cesar Chavez fought. I’d never seen my father show so much emotion and I am proud to become an extension of that great Mexican fighting legacy in the UFC.”
Moving this card to the pay per view was the right call. It should’ve been one of the featured attractions from the very beginning, but I’ll take what I can get.
Jon Jones vs. Rashad Evans is beginning to sound scripted. In fact, if the back-story to UFC 145’s headliner was a movie, we’d be inclined to criticize the plot—a tale of betrayal between two brothers, two former champions, the master a…
Jon Jones vs. Rashad Evans is beginning to sound scripted. In fact, if the back-story to UFC 145’s headliner was a movie, we’d be inclined to criticize the plot—a tale of betrayal between two brothers, two former champions, the master and the student, the young lion and the seasoned veteran, one divided family and a long-standing grudge. It’s all just too much.
By some trick of the stars, however, “Bones” and “Suga” have brought Hollywood and reality together, producing a treasure-trove story line for the UFC’s PR team. The papers are signed, the date is set and the hype-train is gathering speed; all eyes are on April 21st.
Naturally, then, the Internet is brimming with tentative articles discussing the fight’s outcome: will Rashad prove to be Jones’s kryptonite, or will the young upstart nonchalantly brush his former teammate to the side, continuing his meteoric rise towards pound-for-pound stardom? Who, cry the commentators, can confidently call such an intriguing match-up?
We can, ladies and gentlemen. We, the writers at Bleacher Report, have little time for journalists with mealy mouths and weak constitution, preferring to walk the fine line and place our cards firmly on the table. Jon Jones may be a phenom and Rashad Evans a resurgent and skilled veteran; nothing is going to change between now and fight-night, however, and it’s time to make some noise.
Without further ado, strap yourselves in and enjoy 10 bold, brassy predictions for Jones vs. Evans.
Jon “Bones” Jones burst on to the MMA scene in April of 2008, and henceforth has wrecked shop on the light heavyweight division. At 23, he became the youngest ever UFC champion when he destroyed Mauricio “Shogun” Rua at UFC 128,…
Jon “Bones” Jones burst on to the MMA scene in April of 2008, and henceforth has wrecked shop on the light heavyweight division. At 23, he became the youngest ever UFC champion when he destroyed Mauricio “Shogun” Rua at UFC 128, and he hasn’t looked back since.
He presently has the prestige of No. 3 ranked fighter in the MMA stratosphere, and is fast closing in on long-time reigning pound-for-pound kings Anderson “The Spider” Silva and welterweight titlist Georges “Rush” St-Pierre.
That said, with age and time (to hone his skill set) on his side, he now has the opportunity to surpass the aforementioned combatants and go down in MMA folklore as the greatest of all-time.
However, there are a number of things he has to accomplish before he can reach that lofty height.
While the UFC’s youngest titleholder Jon “Bones” Jones has conquered everything thrown his way, he still has more to prove in order to establish his place as the best fighter of all-time.The good news for Jones is that he’s on his way…
While the UFC’s youngest titleholder Jon “Bones” Jones has conquered everything thrown his way, he still has more to prove in order to establish his place as the best fighter of all-time.The good news for Jones is that he’s on his way to achieving just that.
His upcoming fight against Rashad Evans at UFC 145 on April 21 will be a proving ground for this, as many consider Evans—Jones’ ex-training partner—to be one of the most formidable opponents he will meet in the ring.
In Jones’ short career, however, proving his dominance hasn’t been a problem. In fact, it has revealed a unique career that can easily place him as the best the sport has seen.
When Jones first began his MMA career, his unique fighting style was a trademark that seemed doomed to fail. He was a junior college national champion wrestler and a standout Greco-Roman All-American in high school, but in the MMA arena this decorated wrestler displayed a striking style that appeared unorthodox, arcane and completely natural. As unpredictable as the product was, it worked.
Since his UFC debut in 2008, Jones has been tested against whatever strength the organization can offer. He met Stephan Bonnar, a notorious striker himself, and Jones controlled the fight with his wrestling without sacrificing the effectiveness of his strikes, even as he noticeably tired by the final round.
In the end, this composite style won Jones the fight by unanimous decision. He went on to defeat Vladimir Matyushenko, a Soviet national wrestling champion, by TKO after wrestling Matyushenko to the ground and pummeling him with elbows.
Jones had made it clear that he was adaptable, and he continues proving that he can meld his own strengths and those of his opponents to maintain a singular fighting style. Not only has he been able to understand his opponents’ tactics, but he appears to learn them best during a fight. The result is a fighter who evolves with every passing instant of a bout.
His next fights proved this again and again as he defeated some of the UFC’s top names, including Ryan Bader, Mauricio Rua and Quinton Jackson. That random style began to seem more calculated with each fight.
Jones demonstrated increased physical and stylistic comfort in the ring, which was unavoidably reminiscent of Anderson Silva. In all of these fights, Jones wrestled well, struck well, and exercised a high degree of creativity.
Jones’ latest victory over Lyoto Machida at UFC 140 evinced something more. Machida understood early on that a fighter who could get inside Jones’ reach and pursue him during a retreat will take the advantage. What’s more is that Machida’s method worked, and in the first round, Jones took a hit—likely the most powerful he’d taken in his last few fights.
After that, it took only one round for Jones to decipher the mechanics of the fight. Midway through Round 2, Jones got inside, wrestled Machida to the ground and struck with his elbow. By the end of the round, he caught Machida with a left hook as he moved in and finished the fight with a guillotine.
Afterward, Jones admitted the aggregate challenge of the fight: “He’s just smart, man. He kicked really hard. He knew his range. He has great tactics, and he was definitely a very tough puzzle.”
The fight against Machida cemented an assumption of many: Jones’ aptitude for fighting will allow him to be as great as he desires.
While he has proven his fighting is effective, Jones continues to deal with the greater psychological element of being a revered fighter. He has successfully defended his championship twice against veteran light heavyweights. His upcoming fight with Evans is no different.
As Ryan McGee points out, the UFC has been producing some dramatic fights by allowing competition between fighters who openly display indignation based on their past relationships. This tension isn’t new in sport and, it can be argued, adds a certain seductive element for both the close and fringe communities of each sport.
But the fighter like Jones who transcends this all-too-human component, who understands and reacts only to the most fundamental architecture of the sport itself, will be the athlete who can become the best. Arguably, this is where Jones shines.
In numerous interviews, tweets and blogs, including some of the latest from Jones and Evans, there is a sense that the anxiety is unequal. While Evans is looking to get back at Jones or teach him a lesson, Jones is looking to conquer the sport.
On the other side of that talk is the praise he receives. Recently, Anderson Silva said that no Brazilian could beat Jones. Silva, Jones’ fellow in debates about the best current pound-for-pound fighter, has also expressed persistent disinterest in fighting the light heavyweight champion.
But Jones knows, like all fighters, that he’s not unbeatable. There are also a number of fighters in the division to challenge him, largely because he’s not been in the game long and any of them will welcome a rematch.
Jones lost the charm of an underdog long ago; now we simply wait to see how far he can take it and when he’ll fall. The community set against him is simply further evidence that he is becoming the best.
His introduction to the UFC community and its lasting impression means his record won’t immediately affect his presence in the ring. Therefore, the complete game plan since the beginning hasn’t changed and doesn’t have to. He only needs to remain adaptable, adroit and true to his goal to achieve the highest eminence as a fighter.
The end of his career will reveal this constant evolution that is well-founded on his early dominance and continuously manifests itself with each fight. When that day comes, Jones is likely to be the best fighter we’ve seen.
While the UFC’s youngest titleholder Jon “Bones” Jones has conquered everything thrown his way, he still has more to prove in order to establish his place as the best fighter of all-time.The good news for Jones is that he’s on his way to achieving just that.