Don’t be misled by the recent news leading you in a dozen directions—during Saturday night’s UFC 172 main event, the spotlight will be focused on light heavyweight champion Jon Jones as he seeks to continue his historic title run.
Will he keep t…
Don’t be misled by the recent news leading you in a dozen directions—during Saturday night’s UFC 172 main event, the spotlight will be focused on light heavyweight champion Jon Jones as he seeks to continue his historic title run.
Will he keep the gold strap at 205? Will this seventh consecutive title defense against Glover Teixeira act as nothing more than a stepping stone on his path to securing the coveted title of greatest ever?
Or in a far more unpredictable twist—and certainly in spite of the odds stacked against him—can the Brazilian wade through Jones’ reach long enough to land a killing blow?
Regardless of the outcome, the championship fight at UFC 172 isn’t one you want to miss.
In the co-main event, Phil Davis will look to thwart Anthony Johnson, assuming he can somehow keep his mind off the champion.
“Rumble” has tremendous power on his feet, so if he’s to secure the victory, Davis will need to execute a full MMA clinic to prevent Johnson from building any momentum.
Let’s take a look at the entire fight card to really get a feel for what the evening has in store.
Fresh off his blitzkrieg knockout victory over CostasPhilippou, Luke Rockhold will be squaring off against Tim Boetsch. Rockhold has the athleticism necessary for a repeat performance, whereas Boetsch has the kind of thumping power that can drop any fighter in his division.
Earlier in the main card, perennial fan favorite Jim Miller will seek to overwhelm Yancy Medeiros, a talented fighter but possibly not of the caliber necessary to avoid Miller’s submission wizardry.
With Jones front and center at UFC 172, the prelims are rather sparse.
Nonetheless, with fighters such as Joseph Benavidez, TakanoriGomi and Danny Castillo sprinkled throughout the undercard, fans are all but certain to get their money’s worth from UFC 172.
Other than the championship fight, which bout are you anticipating most?
Be sure to check back with Bleacher Report for deep pre-fight and post-fight coverage come Saturday night.
Follow @ArtemMoshkovich ArtemMoshkovich is a Featured Columnist for Bleacher Report. Follow him on Twitter for MMA news and more.
Phil Davis channeled his inner Chael Sonnen on Thursday, April 24, at the UFC 172 media day, ripping UFC light heavyweight champion Jon Jones to shreds and downright dismissing his next opponent, Anthony Johnson, while fielding questions from journali…
Phil Davis channeled his inner ChaelSonnen on Thursday, April 24, at the UFC 172 media day, ripping UFC light heavyweight champion Jon Jones to shreds and downright dismissing his next opponent, Anthony Johnson, while fielding questions from journalists at Camden Yards in Baltimore.
Davis is obviously enjoying his new role as “trash talker extraordinaire,” as this recent outburst in Baltimore came just days after his thrashing of Jones on an official UFC 172 conference call on Monday, per Steven Marrocco of MMAJunkie.com.
When asked about how a potential bout against Jones would go down, Davis responded without hesitation:
“What I would do is I would charge right across the cage, punch Jon Jones in the face, take him down, beat him up and rip one of his arms off,” Davis said. “In fact, I would train with (UFC women’s bantamweight champion) Ronda (Rousey) to get her technique down. She has a good armbar. It’s pretty nasty.”
It didn‘t end there, though.
Not even close.
Davis was on a roll, rocking and shuffling in his chair, clearly enjoying his own pomp and bravado.
In Mr. Wonderful’s eyes, Jones needs to accept the fact that the future of the UFC’s 205-pound division is here in the form of a four-time Penn State Division-I All-American wrestler, and “Bones” needs to cough up the belt now to avoid humiliation later.
“He’s (Jones is) the champ, and he needs to learn that I soon will be the champ,” Davis said. “So he should probably just either just give it to me, which would be the easiest thing, or he could fight me and he could give it to me that way. Probably the easier way would be to just give it up, just walk over here and say, ‘You know what? Honestly, I’m scared. I’m just going to give you the belt.'”
To Davis, a future showdown with Jones is inevitable, and a shred of respect for the current kingpin showed for but a moment during his chat.
But—and there’s always a but—Davis quickly explained his praise and shot Jones’ excellence down before it took flight.
“Thus far, he’s been excellent inside the Octagon, but I will also say this,” Davis said. “He’s also fought two guys that weren’t even light heavyweights. Really, though. It’s laughable at best. The fights that he’s had against actual light heavyweights, he’s been so-so. He’s had some ups and he’s had some downs against light heavyweights.”
And if Jones doesn’t defeat Glover Teixeira at UFC 172 and retain his UFC light heavyweight strap? Davis sees only one explanation for such an occurrence.
“If Jones got beat, that’s just proof that he’s a chicken and he lost to Glover so he didn’t have to fight me next,” Davis said.
While Davis’ attention was placed firmly upon the top dog at 205, he fights somebody else Saturday evening at UFC 172, somebody named Anthony “Rumble” Johnson, somebody who will make a return to the UFC after knocking out four of his last six opponents.
Johnson is dangerous, but Davis’ attention rests elsewhere. When asked about his upcoming showdown with Rumble, Davis responded:
“Sir, how many times do I have to tell you?” Davis said. “Stop bringing up Anthony Johnson. How did we get back on this? We’re talking about Jon Jones right now.”
Davis eventually conceded that Johnson was a “cool guy,” though he couldn’t help but question Rumble’s merits as a legitimate top UFC light heavyweight combatant.
“He hasn’t fought the top names at light heavyweight, and I’m going to give him his first introduction to what a real light heavyweight does,” Davis said. “I honestly think Anthony Johnson has a game that is better suited for heavyweight, but maybe he needs to fight me to realize that.”
Whether or not Mr. Wonderful’s dismissal of his foe was candid or just for the cameras will prove irrelevant by Saturday evening when the two square off at UFC 172.
When the cage door closes, Davis’ words mean nothing, and his fists, knees, elbows and takedowns will spell his fortune.
*Note: All quotes were obtained on site unless otherwise noted.
In a UFC context, the wattage doesn’t get much higher than Jon Jones. So it doesn’t get much hotter than a Jon Jones fight, and that’s what happens Saturday at UFC 172 when he defends his light heavyweight title against Glover Teixeira.
But wait! …
In a UFC context, the wattage doesn’t get much higher than Jon Jones. So it doesn’t get much hotter than a Jon Jones fight, and that’s what happens Saturday at UFC 172 when he defends his light heavyweight title against Glover Teixeira.
But wait! There’s more. No, it’s true. There are actually 10 fights on the card. Weird, I know. But the full slate at UFC 172 is stacked. There are great veterans and some great up-and-comers, too. Here are three fighters in the latter category that you should keep your eye on this weekend.
Chris Beal
Though he didn’t make it through The Ultimate Fighter 18, Beal still hasn’t lost an official pro fight. He has a wrestling base, but his big weapon is power punching. He’s starting to throw more combinations and sprinkle in some knee strikes and whatnot as well. He can also land takedowns, at least when he’s not facing a top-caliber wrestler like Patrick Williams, the Arizona State product Beal will face at UFC 172.
It’s tough to say with certainty, but I think Bealhas an excellent chance at his first UFC victory if he can stay off his back and away from any crazy haymakers.
In her UFC debut, the Brazilian scored a minor upset in defeating a far more experienced Julie Kedzie. But what stood out was that the youngster handled herself with the resolve of a veteran, displaying poise to match her aggression.
Though Correia is 30, she’s still very new to the sport and still growing. That growth will be helped along by her training team, anchored by “The Pitbull Brothers,” Bellator stars Patricio and PatrickyFreire.
Saturday, she’ll try to go to 8-0 on her career when she faces Jessamyn Duke, the popular TUF 18 contestant who will hold a seven-inch reach advantage in the contest. Correia‘s game is more blunt instrument than fine scalpel—no spinning wheel kicks or slick submissions here—but she should be able to escape an entertaining scrap with another good young fighter and keep her own momentum rolling.
Andre Fili
Complain all you want about Joseph Benavidez and Tim Elliott being left off the main card. It’s not the decision I would’ve made, either. But all is not lost. Fili and Max Holloway are going to put on a show, methinks.
Both these guys like to strike, but unlike the younger Holloway, Fili‘s game is a little more rounded. Coming out of Team Alpha Male, as Fili does, your wrestling has to be good. You can’t just roll around with Chad Mendes and Urijah Faber all day and not acquire good wrestling. People may have caught his UFC debut against Jeremy Larsen and assumed those clinch knees and big overhands were his bread and butter. And, well, yeah, they are, but he knows how to work the mat, too. I wouldn’t be surprised to see Fili dirty this one up with takedowns, more clinch work and some ground-and-pound or a submission attempt. And I definitely wouldn’t be surprised to see him run his UFC record to a crisp 2-0.
The UFC has come to Baltimore for UFC 172. UFC light heavyweight champion Jon Jones defends his crown against Glover Teixeira in Saturday night’s main event.
The most decorated 205-pound fighter in UFC history, Jones is coming off his most grueling def…
The UFC has come to Baltimore for UFC 172. UFC light heavyweight champion Jon Jones defends his crown against Glover Teixeira in Saturday night’s main event.
The most decorated 205-pound fighter in UFC history, Jones is coming off his most grueling defense. Teixeira has not lost since 2005 and poses serious threats to his reign.
Light heavyweights Phil Davis and Anthony Johnson are set for the co-main event, as each man tries to throw his name into the mix for title contention.
Eight other bouts will occur when the card gets under way on Saturday, and all fighters successfully made weight on Friday afternoon
UFC 172 Weigh-In Results
UFC Light Heavyweight Championship: Jon Jones (205) vs. Glover Teixeira (205)
Phil Davis (205) vs. Anthony Johnson (205.5)
Luke Rockhold (185.5) vs. Tim Boetsch (185.5)
Jim Miller (155) vs. Yancy Medeiros (155.5)
Max Holloway (145) vs. Andre Fili (145)
Joseph Benavidez (125.5) vs. Tim Elliot (125.5)
Takanori Gomi (155.5) vs. Isaac Vallie-Flagg (155.5)
Jessamyn Duke (135.5) vs. Bethe Correia (135)
Danny Castillo (156) vs. Charlie Brenneman (155.5)
We’ve come to expect a certain amount of puffery in the fight game.
With pay-per-views to be sold and arenas to fill up, you can’t blame an enterprising MMA promoter for wanting to tell a good story—even if it isn’t totally grou…
We’ve come to expect a certain amount of puffery in the fight game.
With pay-per-views to be sold and arenas to fill up, you can’t blame an enterprising MMA promoter for wanting to tell a good story—even if it isn’t totally grounded in reality.
Such has been the case during the lead-up to Saturday’s UFC 172, as the industry’s best spin doctors have been out in force to prop up Glover Teixeira as light heavyweight champion Jon Jones’ most dangerous opponent yet.
Certainly, Teixeira is a capable, heavy-handed competitor who has rightfully earned his spot as No. 1 contender. He could absolutely defeat Jones if he can load up and catch the champion slipping with a big shot. Through five Octagon appearances against mostly middling talent, though, Teixeira just hasn’t shown the skills to justify the hyperbole currently being heaped at his feet.
For example, take the final round of commercials for this fight, which aired in heavy rotation during last weekend’s UFC on Fox 11.
“Jon Jones’ title may be in jeopardy!” crows the Joe Rogan voiceover as the camera pans menacingly across Teixeira’s face. “That might be the greatest title fight in the history of the light heavyweight division!” it hollers as Jones slow-motion runs through the Octagon’s gate, Teixeira bouncing on his toes in the opposite corner.
The 30-second spot is slickly crafted and effective in establishing Jones-Teixeira as an epic clash we won’t want to miss.
The problem is that most of Rogan’s quotes sound suspiciously like things he said during last September’s UFC 165, when he wasn’t talking about Teixeira at all, but rather Alexander Gustafsson.
While it’s not exactly a newsflash that fans should be wary of getting their information about a fight from the commercials, this seems like an especially weird and audacious editing decision. Trying to sell Teixeira as Jones’ biggest challenge by using quotes about Gustafsson? That sort of undermines the whole point, doesn’t it?
Even by today’s permissive standards, it casts the sales pitch for this fight about as far out of context as you can get.
UFC commentators haven’t been any less over the top when actually talking about Teixeira either.
“He has been nothing short of spectacular,” said Rogan during last weekend’s broadcast. “A lot of people think he may be the greatest challenge Jon Jones has ever faced.”
Spectacular? Maybe.
But Jon Jones’ greatest challenge? That’s a stretch.
We know Teixeira is good, having watched him dispatch most of the fighters he’s faced in the UFC in expeditious and effective fashion. But considering that during 2011-12, Jones defeated five consecutive former light heavyweight champions with the composure and ease of a man taking his dog for a walk, it’s safe to say he’s faced more imposing obstacles.
Lyoto Machida? Rashad Evans? Shogun Rua? Those were challenges. Hard to see how Teixeira stacks up to any of them.
For his part, the 34-year-old Brazilian has fought mostly also-rans since arriving in the UFC in 2012. He began his Octagon tenure by blitzing Kyle Kingsbury, Fabio Maldonado and James Te Huna as well as taking a unanimous decision win from Quinton Jackson during Rampage’s listless final appearance in the promotion.
His most competitive fight to date came against Ryan Bader in front of a partisan crowd in Belo Horizonte, Brazil, last September. In that fight Bader had him badly hurt before, in his haste to get the finish, he dropped his hands and allowed Teixeira to floor him with a counter.
In reality, bestfightodds.com lists Teixeira (as of this writing) as something approaching a 5-1 underdog against Jones, which puts him about on par danger-wise with previous opponents like Evans, Machida and Jackson. UFC President Dana White has scoffed at that number, but if anything it seems like a fairly reasonable adjustment after oddsmakers so badly misjudged Gustafsson last year.
Fightland’s Jack Slack this week authored a convincing piece on exactly how one-dimensional Teixeira has been during his UFC career. He’s powerful, sure, but he’s relied largely on the same single-leg takedown to initiate his grappling and a repetitive cross-counter right hand to spearhead his punching combinations.
Slack wrote, “The single strategy which Teixeira utilizes non-stop in the cage is the cross counter. … And it’s not even that Teixeira is a one-sided puncher—he can smoke guys’ boots with his left hook just as he can with his right—but he only ever throws his left after he has thrown that looping right.”
Throughout his three-minute fight against Bader, Slack wrote, Teixeira exclusively led with the cross counter, and the American nearly made him pay for his predictability. Against Jones—a much larger, rangier fighter with a well-documented obsession for scouting his opponents—this seems like a recipe for disaster.
None of it means Teixeira isn’t capable of surprising us, but it’s also hard to believe he’ll show up at UFC 172 a whole new man. He’ll still be dangerous, but if anything is a sure bet, it’s that Jones will be impeccably prepared to defend against his favorite tools.
With that in mind, it’s pretty hard to frame Teixeira as Jones’ most difficult test.
The real story of this fight is a different one. During the last four years, Jones systematically dismantled the old guard of the light heavyweight division. He did so with such effortlessness that we thought he might never be beaten. Then, against Gustafsson—his first clash with the 205-pound class’ new wave—he let down and nearly lost the title.
Now comes Teixeira, a fearsome contender who could put Jones to sleep if the champion makes the mistake of taking him as lightly as his camp now claims he took Gustafsson. He’s a guy Jones should beat, and now he absolutely must in order to rekindle our faith in him as the greatest fighter of his generation.
Why not just run with that? Why let the pre-fight hype stray so far from the facts? Why set expectations the product likely can’t reach?
Granted, it will be great if Jones vs. Teixeira turns into a fight for the ages.
If it doesn’t, the story we were told leading up will be immediately forgotten. Jones will be on to a late-summer rematch with Gustafsson, and then he’ll scrap with the winner of UFC 173’s title eliminator between Daniel Cormier and Dan Henderson.
After that? There’s no telling.
But whatever it is, it will no doubt be his biggest, most dangerous challenge yet.
UFC light heavyweight champion Jon Jones is squaring off with surging contender Glover Teixeira at UFC 172 on Saturday, but fans are still clamoring for the champ to rematch Alexander Gustafsson.
Jones, who heads into Saturday night on the streng…
UFC light heavyweight champion Jon Jones is squaring off with surging contender Glover Teixeira at UFC 172 on Saturday, but fans are still clamoring for the champ to rematch Alexander Gustafsson.
Jones, who heads into Saturday night on the strength of a 10-fight win streak (eight finishes), has walked through the best the UFC has to offer—with the exception of “The Mauler.”
“Bones” and Gustafsson fought a 25-minute war at UFC 165 in September, with both competitors bloodied and battered when it was all said and done. While some pundits disagreed, Jones was awarded a close decision over the game challenger.
On The Jim Rome Showon Wednesday, Jones admitted he got a little cocky during his training camp for Gustafsson and didn’t push himself as hard as he could have. Per FoxSports.com:
“I went 80-percent,” Jones said about the Gustafsson fight. “I’m not making any excuses, Gustafsson did a great job in the fight, but I know I had a lot more in me. I did some of the cardio tests that I normally do and my numbers weren’t the same.
Me knowing that, I still went into the fight thinking well since I can’t perform excellent, maybe I’ll still perform really, really high and still really, really good and maybe the fight will be a little bit closer if I just put half the effort in. I learned the lesson the hard way that you have to give full effort.”
Prior to the tight victory over Gustafsson, Jones dismantled ChaelSonnen at UFC 159 a year ago, taking him down at will and finishing him with ground-and-pound late in the first round.
At that point, he had also recorded finishes in eight of his past nine fights.
Meanwhile, Gustafsson was once again declared the No. 1 contender for Jones’ belt after knocking out the previously undefeated JimiManuwa at UFC Fight Night 37 last month.
Shortly afterward, White announced that Gustafsson would get the winner of Jones vs. Teixeira.
Should Jones get past Teixeira this weekend, will we see a much more dominant performance from him when he squares off against Gustafsson for a second time.
JohnHeinis is a Featured Columnist for Bleacher Report. He is also the MMA editor for eDraft.com.
