Tag: UFC 172

UFC 172 Odds Favor Jon Jones vs. Glover Teixeira, Davis Chalk vs. Johnson

UFC light heavyweight champion Jon Jones will be looking for his 11th straight victory when he enters the Octagon on Saturday at UFC 172 to take on top contender Glover Teixeira.
Jones, currently a minus-550 UFC 172 betting favorite on Odds Shark …

UFC light heavyweight champion Jon Jones will be looking for his 11th straight victory when he enters the Octagon on Saturday at UFC 172 to take on top contender Glover Teixeira.

Jones, currently a minus-550 UFC 172 betting favorite on Odds Shark to successfully defend his title for the seventh time, returns to action for the first time since his epic battle against Alexander Gustafsson at UFC 165. That fight was generally regarded as one of 2013’s best fights but failed to trigger a rematch.

Gustafsson, who went into last September’s fight as a plus-500 underdog, took Jones to the brink in a slugfest that solidified the Swede’s position as the No. 1 contender in the UFC light heavyweight division.

Jones will instead face Teixeira (22-2-0), who has earned a title shot by winning his last 20 fights including three first-round victories in five fights since joining the UFC.

Despite his recent success, Teixeira remains a plus-375 long shot to take the title from Jones, who has been the target of recent trash talk by Gustafsson and No. 4 contender Phil “Mr. Wonderful” Davis, who will face No. 14 Anthony Johnson at UFC 172.

Davis has a career record of 12-1-0 with one no-contest, including a first-round submission of Gustafsson. He is pegged as a minus-210 favorite over Johnson, who last appeared in the Octagon in January 2012 in a first-round loss to Vitor Belfort.

Johnson sports odds of plus-170, a remarkable number given his lengthy time away from the Octagon and checkered 16-4-0 record. His greatest advantage may be Davis’ apparent preoccupation with Jones, with whom he has verbally sparred in interviews and press conferences leading up to Saturday night.

Davis has made it clear he wants a shot at Jones, but he will only get his chance by first disposing of Johnson.

In other UFC 172 action, Luke Rockhold (11-2-0) is a heavy minus-800 favorite over Tim “The Barbarian” Boetsch (17-6-0) in a battle of 185-pounders. Boetsch, meanwhile, is pegged as a plus-500 underdog and could be in serious trouble against the powerful and more athletic Rockhold.

Joseph Benavidez, the No. 2 contender in the flyweight division, is pegged at minus-400 against No. 8 Tim Elliott, who sits at plus-300. Benavidez (19-4-0) is coming off a recent loss to Demetrious Johnson after suffering the first KO of his career at the hands of the UFC flyweight champion.

Elliott is also coming off a loss, as Ali Bagautinov defeated him by decision at UFC 167.

 

UFC 172 betting odds, courtesy of BestUFCOdds.com

Patrick Williams +110 
Chris Beal   -140  
Danny Castillo  -280   
Charlie Brenneman  +220
Beth Correia -120 
Jessamyn Duke -110  
Takanori Gomi    -225 
Isaac Vallie-Flagg  +175
Vagner Rocha  +230
Joe Ellenberger -300
Luke Rockhold -800
Tim Boetsch +500
Joseph Benavidez -400
Tim Elliott  +300
Max Holloway +130
Andre Fili -160
Jim Miller  -200
Yancy Medeiros  +160 
Anthony Johnson +170
Phil Davis
 		-210 
Jon Jones -550
Glover Teixeira +375

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Phil Davis Needs a Signature Win at UFC 172

Phil Davis will step inside the Octagon for the 11th time on Saturday at UFC 172, and it will be his most important fight as a professional fighter. He is in desperate need of a victory if he hopes to stay a credible challenger for…

Phil Davis will step inside the Octagon for the 11th time on Saturday at UFC 172, and it will be his most important fight as a professional fighter. He is in desperate need of a victory if he hopes to stay a credible challenger for the UFC’s light heavyweight strap.

The Penn State graduate began his professional career 4-0. That led to the UFC inking him to a contract. He would make his debut against former WEC light heavyweight champion Brian Stann at UFC 109. Davis burst onto the scene with a dominant decision win.

After his Octagon debut, he reeled off four more victories. His streak involved quality opposition such as Alexander Gustafsson, now the No. 1-ranked contender and Davis’ training partner, and Antonio Rogerio Nogueira.

Some might argue that those are signature wins, but if they are, why have the majority of fans forgotten about Davis?

When they fought, Gustafsson was an unknown prospect just like Davis. They were blooming prospects and are completely different fighters today. That cannot count as a signature win.

A Submission of the Night at UFC 123 against Tim Boetsch kept Davis rising through the ranks, but it wasn’t the prime-time performance that makes a star. And his win over Nogueira was so lackluster that it had fans reaching to turn off the television instead of calling others to turn it on to watch the next big thing.

The current No. 4-ranked light heavyweight has charisma. He is a jovial character that the UFC has pushed on its programming. He has been an analyst on weigh-in and pre-fight shows. The company has attempted to elevate him, but it still has not truly worked.

Signature wins get you noticed. Davis is still under the radar.

“Mr. Wonderful” had a chance to secure that signature win in January 2012 in a title eliminator against Rashad Evans. His wrestling pedigree should have solidified him as the better pure grappler in the matchup, but MMA grappling is a different ballgame. And Evans showed that to him.

Davis dropped a unanimous decision to the former UFC light heavyweight champion. Suddenly, he found himself against the likes of Wagner Prado and Vinny Magalhaes. After defeating those two, he got another shot against a top-tier competitor.

Last August was the last time we had the chance to see Davis. He battled Lyoto Machida to a decision. He got the nod, but it wasn’t the signature win he was hoping for. Instead, it was a contentious decision that left many shaking their heads.

At UFC 172, Davis gets the co-main event slot underneath the champion of the division. This is his chance to go into the cage and throw his name into the discussion of who deserves the next title shot.

His resume is just as impressive, if not more so, than any other contender’s.

He needs to put on a show in front of the Baltimore crowd. A wrestling-filled decision will not get it done. If he can outclass Anthony Johnson, Davis may earn the signature win he needs to get fan support for a title shot that others, Glover Teixeira included, have jumped over him to get.

It has a been a slow, methodical journey up the rankings for Davis: a hot start cooled by a future UFC Hall of Famer, big yet forgotten wins and a gradual return to a premier slot on a big fight card.

The UFC has put him in a position for fans to remember his name. Now, Davis has to step up and give them a reason to.

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UFC 172: Jon Jones Needs to Win and Then Get to Calling Someone out

Jon Jones is a pretty good troll. That’s not really a secret to anyone.
Shameful potential homophobia notwithstanding—the plausible deniability of which was the only thing to save him from a full-blown PR poopstorm—when he decides he’s goin…

Jon Jones is a pretty good troll. That’s not really a secret to anyone.

Shameful potential homophobia notwithstanding—the plausible deniability of which was the only thing to save him from a full-blown PR poopstorm—when he decides he’s going to engage people, he gets plenty of attention for it.

He’s not smooth or suave, but he sure is grating. People hate the way he carries himself, to the point that he’d probably be booed for throwing money into the stands if he talked about it while he did it.

It’s that unique gift for burrowing deep under people’s skin that needs to be exploited a little more, though. A big gold belt for battering bad men like they’re petulant children is pretty cool, but measuring your pay by the dump truckload is even cooler.

If and when Jones beats Glover Teixeira on Saturday night at UFC 172, he can use one to make the other a reality.

People are dying to see the champion get his comeuppance, and another win over a top contender will only increase that feeling. With guys such as Alex Gustafsson and Daniel Cormier waiting in the wings, they’ll probably be explaining how those guys could beat Jones before Teixeira even wakes up in the cage himself.

So Jones, belt firmly planted around his waist and basking in the accolades Joe Rogan seems to save up just for him on a quarterly basis, grabs the mic and says, “No one at 205 can beat me. Gustafsson and Cormier are embarrassing. With Anderson gone and Georges gone, I’m the best in the world. Give me both right now, I don’t care.”

Rogan giddily ends the interview. The champ walks out of the cage, and Baltimore itself quakes from the boos emanating from the Baltimore Arena. The dump trucks fire up their engines and get ready for their trek to the Jones estate, where they’ll drop fat stacks on his lawn sometime in the fall after he fights to back up those words.

You see, that’s the way it goes in combat sports. Good athletes can make money. Good trash-talkers can make money. Someone who does both can make all of the money.

Jones is both, but intermittently and never together. His trash talk is unorthodox. It’s not clever or scathing. It’s the type of silliness you’d expect your little brother to throw at you after you took a bite of his sandwich or slapped him in the back of the head.

Only that little brother is the nastiest mixed martial artist in the world. His words are irrelevant because he can smash your face in with his elbows. Jones basically makes the world live with that reality and plays the little-brother-turned-professional-demolition-man role for anyone who’ll listen. It drives people crazy.

On Saturday night, he should just embrace it. Be the good athlete and the good, if unusual, trash-talker at the same time. Make people care not about what he just did to Glover Teixeira but about what he might do to—or what might be done to him by—the next man in line for a crack at his title.

If everyone’s going to hate the guy, he might as well get paid for it.

 

Follow me on Twitter @matthewjryder!

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UFC 172: Who’s on the Hot Seat?

At UFC 172, light heavyweight champion Jon Jones will attempt to defend his belt a seventh consecutive time in a bout with Glover Teixeira.
By beating the Brazilian, Jones would move within three wins of tying former middleweight champion Anderson Silv…

At UFC 172, light heavyweight champion Jon Jones will attempt to defend his belt a seventh consecutive time in a bout with Glover Teixeira.

By beating the Brazilian, Jones would move within three wins of tying former middleweight champion Anderson Silva for a UFC record of 10 straight title defenses. He’d also be two victories away from tying Georges St-Pierre for second in that category.

With a 5-0 record since joining the UFC roster, Teixeira is among the heaviest hitters to face Jones. The champion has beaten opponents with similar skills, but Teixeira only needs to land once to bring a shocking end to Jones’ reign over the 205-pound division.

While Jones and Teixeira will be fighting for the greatest prize in MMA, some other competitors could simply be battling for their UFC lives this weekend. Here are the fighters sitting on hot seats heading into UFC 172, which will be held in Baltimore on Saturday. 

 

Anthony Johnson

Rumble will make his return to the Octagon against Phil Davis.

With a win, Anthony Johnson could instantly become a contender in the light heavyweight division. On the other hand, Johnson will be on a short leash when it comes to weigh-in problems.

Failing to make weight on three occasions during his first UFC run, Rumble was released following a loss to Vitor Belfort in January 2012. Now competing at 205 pounds, the former welterweight will have no excuses should he find a way to miss the mark at Friday’s UFC 172 weigh-ins.

If Johnson runs into any issues with the scale, he’ll be in a must-win situation.  

 

Yancy Medeiros

Since he stepped up on short notice to replace Bobby Green and meet Jim Miller on the UFC 172 main card, Yancy Medeiros and his UFC roster spot are very likely safe regardless of his result on Saturday. 

Still, Medeiros does not have an official UFC win on his record. The Hawaiian rebounded from a loss in his UFC debut by stopping Yves Edwards with strikes. However, a failed drug test took that victory away from Medeiros.

During The MMA Hour on MMAFighting.com, Medeiros told Ariel Helwani he quit smoking marijuana. However, any more mishaps outside the Octagon could put him on thin ice with UFC brass.

As long as Medeiros plays by the rules, this should be a no-lose weekend for him. He just needs to go about his business and hope to shock the world inside the Octagon rather than making the headlines for non-competition actions.

 

Charlie Brenneman

Barring another fighter making a dumb mistake, Charlie Brenneman might be the only fighter in jeopardy based on actual MMA performances.

The Spaniard is 1-4 in his past five UFC bouts. He recently suffered a submission loss to Beneil Dariush in his Octagon return, landing only five strikes before being forced to tap.

Once on the verge of title contention with an upset win over Rick Story, Brenneman is now fighting to prove he belongs on the UFC roster. 

Since Danny Castillo is actually a step up in competition from Dariush, Brenneman would seemingly get a third chance to pick up a win during this UFC stint should he come up short on Saturday. That said, he’ll need to show something against Castillo. He can’t afford to get steamrolled again, or UFC matchmakers may not see the point in giving him another opportunity.

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Chuck Liddell Thinks Glover Teixeira Will Finish Jon Jones Early at UFC 172

As one of the greatest fighters in UFC history, former light heavyweight kingpin Chuck Liddell commands a certain amount of respect around these parts.
Liddell has always been a fan favorite, full of honest and strict opinions about the fight game. The…

As one of the greatest fighters in UFC history, former light heavyweight kingpin Chuck Liddell commands a certain amount of respect around these parts.

Liddell has always been a fan favorite, full of honest and strict opinions about the fight game. The fact that he’s still regarded as one of the best knockout artists of all time just fuels his public persona even more.

In any case, Liddell has been top light heavyweight contender Glover Teixeira’s biggest fan.

Under the tutelage of Liddell‘s former trainer John Hackleman, the bruising Brazilian has received generous comparisons to “The Iceman,” and rightfully so. He’s undefeated in his last 20 fights and has recorded 16 first-round finishes.

But as good as Teixeira has been on the open Brazilian market and during his short stint in the UFC’s top-heavy 205-pound division, he’s never faced a dynamic phenom like 26-year-old champion Jon Jones.

However, Liddell seems to think Teixeira will have no problem getting past the range and experience of a guy like “Bones.”

“I think [Glover] either hurts [Jones] with a punch and he shoots and submits him, or knocks him out,” said Liddell on Monday’s edition of The MMA Hour, originally reported by Dave Doyle of MMA Fighting. “I’m not sure which one, but it’s one of those things. Doesn’t get past [round] three.”

Now, it’s likely that Liddell is simply backing his guy up and feeding his momentum as this weekend approaches, but it’s still alarming to hear one of the greatest competitors of all time throw today’s pound-for-pound best under the bus.

“I thought style-wise it is a good matchup for him,” said Liddell regarding Teixeira’s punching power. “I think that’s going to have the biggest effect is the power that Glover has. He hits very hard.”

Nobody knows for sure, but Saturday should be one of the most talked about fights in recent light heavyweight memory. It will be Teixeira’s chance to prove his power, wrestling and ground game can stifle a fighter that was once considered unstoppable.

 

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Glover Teixeira at Ease with Drug Testing, Plans to ‘Slaughter’ Jones at UFC 172

Glover Teixeira’s experience is evident ahead of his UFC 172 showdown with Jon Jones.  
Speaking with Bleacher Report, Teixeira remained calm and jovial, accepting the challenge ahead with a confidence born through 12 years of professional action….

Glover Teixeira’s experience is evident ahead of his UFC 172 showdown with Jon Jones.  

Speaking with Bleacher Report, Teixeira remained calm and jovial, accepting the challenge ahead with a confidence born through 12 years of professional action. 

The Brazilian powerhouse has lost just twice in his 24-fight professional career, and he last tasted defeat nine years ago, in March of 2005. 

Since then, Teixeira has won 20 straight fights—18 via knockout or submission—in a remarkable streak that landed him a shot at the UFC Light Heavyweight Championship against the virtually undefeated superstar Jones.

“I’ve trained so hard for this fight—for 12 weeks I did this camp—and now I’m ready,” Teixeira told Bleacher Report. “I believe in my skills, and I’m going to get inside the Octagon with power and speed and slaughter this guy and beat him.” 

Besides representing the pinnacle of mixed martial arts achievement, winning the belt would give him the opportunity to shine pride upon his home country of Brazil. Teixeira is well-aware of this dynamic, but he also feels eager to take the belt somewhere else, somewhere stateside. 

“It’s a dream for me to get the belt, to be a champion of the UFC, and to bring it to Brazil,” Teixeira said. “But also, (15 years ago) I moved and lived in the United States, in Connecticut…I’m going to bring the belt to Brazil for sure, and I’m going to bring it to Connecticut as well. They all cheer for me, and there’s going to be a bunch of people from Connecticut in Baltimore watching this fight. So I’m bringing this belt to them as well.” 

Before any of this comes to fruition, though, he must win his battles inside and outside of the cage. 

Unlike before his previous bouts, Teixeira has undergone random drug testing ahead of his 205-pound title fight due to a request that came from his opponent, Jones. Although drug testing remains a hot-button issue within the sport of MMA, and some fighters are vocal about it, saying they’re not getting a “fair shake” due to steroid use, Teixeira joked and lightheartedly explained the situation from his point of view.

“I’m not taking anything, believe me…unless coffee is illegal,” Teixeira said. “I’ll tell you three things I take right now: I take fish oil, and I take multivitamins and a protein shake… They (the Maryland State Athletic Commission) have already come like five times for this fight. I have no problem with that.” 

With one obstacle out of the way, Teixeira’s next task is a 6’4″ MMA virtuoso who goes by the name of “Bones.” 

For Teixeira, the game plan to break this man is clear: hit him, and hit him hard. 

“I’m going to do my thing, what I love to do: I’m going to hit him hard, man,” Teixeira said. “I know Jon Jones is a great fighter, and I have great respect for him as a person, but as a fighter, I’m just going to go over there and beat him up.” 

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