Tag: UFC 145

UFC 145: In-Depth Preview of Jones vs. Evans

The notion that teammates don’t fight each other will be broken when UFC light heavyweight champion Jon “Bones” Jones meets former champion Rashad Evans at UFC 145 in April. The long-awaited grudge match will give Evans a second chance at winning a tit…

The notion that teammates don’t fight each other will be broken when UFC light heavyweight champion Jon “Bones” Jones meets former champion Rashad Evans at UFC 145 in April.

The long-awaited grudge match will give Evans a second chance at winning a title, something that he has been waiting over two years for. When he defeated Quinton Jackson at UFC 114, the title shot was on the line, but he decided to sit out and wait for then-champion Mauricio “Shogun” Rua to heal from injuries.

When Evans and Rua were scheduled to face each other at UFC 128, Evans got injured and was replaced by Jones. Jones would dominate Rua to become the youngest champion in UFC history and set up the match between him and Evans.

After Jones suffered an injury that delayed the bout, Evans decided to fight anyway while waiting for Jones to heal up.

Evans has fought twice since the Jackson fight, defeating both Phil Davis and Tito Ortiz. His latest bout in January saw him win a dominant five-round decision against Davis.

Jones sealed off one of the most impressive years for any fighter when he took out former champions Jackson and Lyoto Machida after defeating Rua and Ryan Bader. He finished every one of them.

The pay-per-view event will go down April 21 at the Philips Arena in Atlanta, Georgia. Other PPV bouts include Rory MacDonald vs. Che Mills, Brendan Schaub vs. Ben Rothwell, Mark Hominick vs. Eddie Yagin and Mark Bocek vs. Matt Wiman.

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UFC News: Rashad Evans Tweets Alleged Photo of Jon Jones in Drag

The feud between UFC light heavyweight champion Jon Jones and former Greg Jackson MMA teammate Rashad Evans has seemingly reached epic proportions on Friday night. “Suga” took to Twitter to toss a very interesting insult Jones’ way: 
 

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The feud between UFC light heavyweight champion Jon Jones and former Greg Jackson MMA teammate Rashad Evans has seemingly reached epic proportions on Friday night. 

“Suga” took to Twitter to toss a very interesting insult Jones’ way: 

However, before anyone gets the wrong idea, Bloody Elbow has since reported that the photo is actually of a fan from a Chris Brown concert who just happens to have an awfully strong resemblance to the youngest champion in UFC history. 

In a UFC 145 pre-fight interview, Jones said that “jealousy fuels Rashad” and he “can’t wait to put him out of his misery.” 

The two former friends haven’t gotten along since Jones won the light heavyweight title from Mauricio “Shogun” Rua at UFC 128 and there is plenty of time for the bad blood to brew before they fight for 12 pounds of gold at UFC 145 on April 21st. 

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UFC 145: Mark Hominick Back to "The Machine" and Film "Fight Spirit Pride"

Mark Hominick will be looking to return to the original ways of “The Machine” when he faces veteran Eddie Yagin at UFC 145 in Atlanta. “The Machine” nickname has been well earned over the years as Mark is well known and re…

Mark Hominick will be looking to return to the original ways of “The Machine” when he faces veteran Eddie Yagin at UFC 145 in Atlanta. “The Machine” nickname has been well earned over the years as Mark is well known and respected for his almost robot-like dedication to discipline, focus and constant training and improvement.

2011 tested him in many ways inside and outside the cage and understandably, we saw a different Hominick in the cage than we were used to. It is hard for anyone in the world to dictate a fight against UFC Featherweight champion Jose Aldo and Hominick battled as hard as he could even though he lost a decision.

We didn’t see the real “Machine” in his next fight either, a shockingly quick loss to Chan Sung Jung at UFC 140 in Toronto. His back against the wall, Hominick is looking to get back to what got him to this point in his career with a win against Yagin.

“Exactly, that’s what I’m focused on. You know the last one, there were so many things in my head in play that I wanted to prove so much and I fought out of character and I payed the price for fighting out of character. So this one, I’m just focused on getting a win,” Hominick said this week, while he trained at his gym, The Adrenaline Training Center. 

“I’m not worried about where it puts me in the title hunt or anything like that. I’m just looking to go out there, I want to put on a great performance and a great win and that’s what I’m focused on.”

It’s clear that Hominick has a lot of respect for and knowledge about Eddie Yagin.

“He’s a veteran. He’s had almost fifteen years of fighting. I remember fighting in 2002 in Hawaii and he was one of the headline fights back then. He’s fought in basically every organization that’s around. He’s fought in the day when you know he’s 5’5 and fighting at 170 so, he’s just a scrapper. He comes to fight so it’s a great matchup for me and I’m looking forward to it.

Fight fans throughout Canada and the world are looking forward to seeing the return of “The Machine” on April 21st.

Please see the entire video interview attached as Mark talks about the new documentary film “Fight Spirit Pride” which follows his career between 2006 to the present, with an exclusive behind the scenes look at balancing his career in the UFC and being there for his ailing father.

He also talks about the valuable relationship that Adrenaline and Team Tompkins share with Team Curran in Chicago.

 

Dwight Wakabayashi is a Featured Columnist for Bleacher Report MMA, MMA Editor at CKSN.ca and guest blogger for Sportsnet.ca

Catch him on Facebook and Twitter at wakafightermma.

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‘Believe Your Eyes’ Video Featuring Jon Jones

UFC light heavyweight champion Jon Jones is one of the UFC’s rising stars and is a talent to watch perform in the Octagon.Having successfully defended the 205-pound crown twice, Jones looks to solidify his reign as an undisputed champion and one of the…

UFC light heavyweight champion Jon Jones is one of the UFC’s rising stars and is a talent to watch perform in the Octagon.

Having successfully defended the 205-pound crown twice, Jones looks to solidify his reign as an undisputed champion and one of the best fighters in the sport. 

The UFC has released a promo via YouTube featuring Jones in his most recent title defense against Lyoto Machida at UFC 140. It shows the champion dispatch of the former title holder, Machida, in emphatic fashion by submitting him with a standing guillotine in the second round.

Although it is brief, the trailer easily capitalizes on Jones’ dominance inside the Octagon and the UFC will continue to build his image as a young phenom ahead of his upcoming title bout against Rashad Evans at UFC 145. 

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Rashad Evans Says Experience with Jon Jones Gives Him Confidence to Win

Rashad Evans’ past with Jon Jones has the former UFC light heavyweight champion feeling very confident in his skills to dethrone the 24-year-old and recapture the title.The two former teammates spent a considerable amount of time training out of Greg J…

Rashad Evans‘ past with Jon Jones has the former UFC light heavyweight champion feeling very confident in his skills to dethrone the 24-year-old and recapture the title.

The two former teammates spent a considerable amount of time training out of Greg Jackson’s Mixed Martial Arts in New Mexico just a short time ago. Eventually both competitors would have to square off at some point, causing a rift between them, which forced Evans to switch camps.

But as Evans told UFC.com, he believes a new training camp has allowed him to evolve into a better fighter than Jones.

“I think I’ve improved more since the last time we trained together,” Evans said. “I’m in a new environment, I had to learn. He’s in the same environment, same coaches, learning the same thing.”

Evans also added that his experience training with Jones will give him an advantage in the bout and the opportunity to expose flaws in the champion’s arsenal, something that no one has come close to doing thus far.

“I know how to beat him. There are things about his game which he can’t change. The fact that we used to train together gives me a lot of confidence,” he said. “I see a lot of spaces in Jon’s game for a lot of different things.”

Evans has obviously become a much more complete fighter than he was during his tenure with his former camp in New Mexico.

However, Jones has too. 

It will be intriguing to see if Evans’ time away from Greg Jackson has benefited him, or if Jones is the superior fighter to “Suga.” 

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UFC 145: Why Counting Rashad Evans out Is a Dangerous Thing to Do

Rashad Evans can beat Jon Jones.  In the sport of MMA it’s easy to say “anybody can beat anybody,” but in this case, Evans has a very real and legitimate shot at dethroning the phenom Jones.  A powerful wrestler with devastating knockout powe…

Rashad Evans can beat Jon Jones.  

In the sport of MMA it’s easy to say “anybody can beat anybody,” but in this case, Evans has a very real and legitimate shot at dethroning the phenom Jones.  

A powerful wrestler with devastating knockout power, Evans is a tall order for anybody.

Unlike some fighters with ridiculous skill-sets that always seem to disappoint, Evans has proved time and time again that he can, and will, make full use of all of his weapons inside the Octagon.

The first time we saw an outmatched Rashad was on the Ultimate Fighter 2, when he competed against heavyweights 30-40 pounds larger than him.  

Evans is not even a large light-heavyweight, and he wrestled in college at 174 lbs., so the fact that he was willing to step into the Octagon with heavyweights is impressive. 

The fact that he beat them and captured the Ultimate Fighter crown, however, is remarkable.  

Even after this victory, though, we didn’t know what to make of Rashad.  

Yes, he’s a good wrestler, but can he compete at a higher level?  

Enter the Iceman.

Chuck Liddell was coming off a fight of the year performance against Wanderlei Silva at UFC 79, and many were wondering if the young Evans could hang with the legend inside the Octagon.  

Many were saying he couldn’t, and those that thought he could thought he could win only by utilizing his wrestling and pinning Liddell to the canvas for the match’s duration. 

Wrong.

Evans knocked Liddell silly, then proceeded to do the same to then-champ Forrest Griffin in his next outing.  

Finally, he was the favorite against Lyoto Machida in his first title defense.  “Suga” was on a tear, and the karate fighter couldn’t end that. 

Well, he did, and Evans suffered his first and only career loss.

Since then though, he has strung together four straight victories and looks to make it five at UFC 145 against the seemingly immortal Jonny “Bones” Jones.

And here we are, counting “Suga” out again.

If history tells us anything, it’s that Evans comes out firing when his back is against the wall.

And with the bombs Rashad can sling, that’s a scary thought. 

I really hope “Bones” isn’t diabetic, because his career, I’m afraid, is about to slip into a “Suga” coma.  

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