The Ultimate Writer 12.05.11: UFC 140 Jones vs. Machida Preview, The Ultimate Fighter 14 Finale Results, Latest UFC News, More
Posted by Dustin James on 12.05.2011
News and thoughts on Michael Bisping's win and other results from TUF 14 Finale, a preview of Jon Jones vs. Lyoto Machida and the rest of UFC 140, resultsthe latest on the main event for UFC on FOX 2 and much more!
Welcome back to "THE ULTIMATE WRITER"! As you should be accustomed to by now, I'm your host Dustin James aka "The Ultimate Writer" and I would like to apologize in advance for the column being a little shorter than usual. I had a family Christmas thing to attend to on Sunday which cut into my writing time and let's face it, family is more important than MMA, especially during Christmas time because they give you presents and stuff. My family is especially funny because during the "white elephant" gift exchange, I wrapped up something called "Butt-Aid" and called it good. Unfortunately one of my uncles one-upped me by buying a Justin Timberlake DVD for one of the guys and the guy who ended up getting it, was actually pretty pissed. It was comedy gold and you really can't ask for much more during the holidays.
Anyway, as you know, I always start off "TUW" with some football talk and this weekend isn't any different. Last Friday night, the Oregon Ducks made some history by becoming only the third team in Pacific Conference history to win at least three conference titles in a row when they beat UCLA in the PAC-12 championship game. The Ducks will now face Wisconsin in the Rose Bowl next month and the Ducks need this win in the worst way. While they have easily been one of the top programs in college football since Chip Kelly took over 3 years ago, they are 0-2 in BCS bowls under him and they really don't want to go 0-3 and lose to a Wisconsin team that they are better than. I'm thinking this is the year the Ducks finally crack that code known as the "BCS bowl" and hopefully will end up winning their first Rose Bowl in FOREVER. LET'S GO DUCKS!!!!
Oh that's right, you are here are for some MMA talk though......
So................
Without any further adieu.........
Like every week.............
Top Stories:
UFC/Strikeforce
UFC 140 "Jones vs. Machida" Preview
Can Lyoto Machida crane-kick the UFC light heavyweight title out of Jon Jones' grasp?
Hey, look at that! It seems like it was just yesterday that Jon Jones was defending his title against Quinton "Rampage" Jackson, yet here we are a few months later and Jones is now defending his title against Lyoto Machida. Say what you want about "Bones" Jones, but the guy is definitely a trooper. This fight against Machida will be the fourth fight that Jones has fought in this year and the second time he's defended his title. You hear that GSP and Anderson Silva? Unlike you guys, it seems "Bones" is out to prove to people that he's the best in the world and the only way you can achieve that is to actually fight. This fight with Machida is incredibly interesting because Machida's the one guy that all the MMA experts have predicted could give "Bones" some fits. Can Machida do the unthinkable and become the first guy to ACTUALLY defeat "Bones" in the Octagon (if you count Matt Hamill's DQ victory over "Bones", then you should know that I hate you...)? What about the Nogueira brothers? Can they both open up their bag of tricks and come out victors when they square off with the likes of Tito Ortiz and Frank Mir? And if that wasn't already enough, we also have appearances from "The Korean Zombie", Mark Hominick, Brian Ebersole, and Krzysztof Soszynski on the card. Yep, I'm definitely sold on this one people. Now with that said, let's take a gander at what the UFC has in store for us on Saturday night.....
UFC 140 "Jones vs. Machida" Preview:
Featherweight Bout:
-Mark Hominick (20-9) vs. Chan Sung Jung (11-3)
This should be a damn good fight. Not only have I become one of the biggest fans of "The Korean Zombie" in the short period he's been in the UFC, but I'm also a huge fan of Mark Hominick, which of course means I'm uber-excited for this one. It's been far too long since we last saw Chan Sung Jung in the Octagon. As a matter of fact, the last time we saw him he was twisting all the fighting talent out of Leonard Garcia's body with one of the coolest submissions in UFC history. After suffering two consecutive losses under the Zuffa banner, "The Korean Zombie" needed to show everyone that he's not a guy you want to take likely. That's exactly what Garcia did when these two had a rematch of their classic bout from last year at Fight Night 24 in March. The "Zombie" is looking to continue his winning streak against a guy who is coming off one of the best featherweight fights we've ever seen. For those of you with a short term memory, I'm talking about the Jose Aldo vs. Hominick fight for the UFC featherweight title back at UFC 129. Hominick ended up losing via unanimous-decision to Aldo, but he was easily the toughest test of Aldo's career up to that point. Hominick is 4-1 under the Zuffa banner ever since he returned to the company back in 2010 and he's easily one of the top 5 featherweights in the UFC at this moment. As much as I like "The Korean Zombie" and would love to see him win, it's not going to happen. I don't really see anywhere that Chan Sung Jung has the advantage over Hominick and that's a huge problem. I personally think we are going to get a great first-round of action with a little back-and-forth between the two fighters. However, I think Hominick will take over in the second-round and earn the victory with a TKO. I still have memories of "The Korean Zombie" getting dropped by George Roop in my head, and unfortunately, I can see that happening again. Sorry "Zombie" fans....
My pick: Mark Hominick. TKO, Round 2
Welterweight Bout:
-Claude Patrick (14-1) vs. Brian Ebersole (48-14-1)
I seriously could care less about this fight. 411 doesn't pay me enough to care about either Claude Patrick or Brian Ebersole. Sorry to the hundreds of fans that both guys have.
My pick: Brian Ebersole, Decision
Light Heavyweight Bout:
-Tito Ortiz (16-9-1) vs. Antonio Rogerio Nogueira (19-5)
I can't wait for this fight. It's like the ultimate "UFC" vs. "PRIDE" fight featuring two legendary MMA veterans who have never fought. Just when we are all ready to stick a fork in Tito Ortiz's career last year, the guy shocked the world when he beat Ryan Bader at UFC 132 in less than two minutes. Everyone was ready to crown Tito Ortiz as officially "BACK" after that fight. Ortiz then shocked the world again when he accepted a fight against Rashad Evans just a little over a month after beating Bader. Unfortunately for Ortiz though, he came up on the short end of the stick as Evans showed the world why he's one of the top light heavyweights in the world when he defeated Ortiz via TKO in round 2. Ortiz is looking to get back on the winning side of things with a win over PRIDE legend, Antonio Rogerio Nogueira. "Lil Nog" has had a very under whelming UFC career thus far. He's 2-2 in the Octagon with wins over Jason Brilz and Luiz Cane, but he's dropped fights to Phil Davis and Ryan Bader because apparently....he doesn't fare well against wrestlers (even his victory over Brilz was via split-decision....). That doesn't bode well for "Lil Nog" this Saturday as I expect Ortiz to try and take the fight to the ground as he knows the best chance that Nogueira has of winning this fight is on his feet. I honestly don't like Nogueira's chances here and I'll admittedly be a little shocked to see him defeat Ortiz. I'm thinking Ortiz is going to come out, earn a unanimous-decision victory here and send "Lil Nog" right out of the UFC. Well, not really out of the UFC entirely, because he'll still be around to corner his brother and everything....
My pick: Tito Ortiz, Decision
Heavyweight Bout:
-Frank Mir (15-5) vs. Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira (33-6-1)
Why is this fight happening? You know, I don't mind rematches, but only when we HAVE to see them or if they are really needed. Is a Mir vs. "Big Nog" rematch really needed? When the two fought back in 2008 at UFC 92, Mir was the better fighter. Here we are three years later and I still think Mir is the better fighter. People like to bring up that Nogueira had a staph infection and so he wasn't at 100% for the fight against Mir and so a rematch is needed to show that Mir's first win over "Big Nog" wasn't a fluke. However, some people claim that Nogueira's age and the years of damage he had taken over the years may have finally caught up with him. He fortunately put those rumors to bed when he came out and beat Randy Couture at UFC 102 and his recent KO victory over Brendan Schaub at UFC 134 perhaps reminded everyone that Nogueria does still have a little bit left in his tank. On the other hand, Mir hasn't exactly looked that great since his win over "Big Nog". He had a very uninspiring performance in a victory over Mirko "Cro Cop" at UFC 119 and bored everyone to death when he fought Roy Nelson to a decision at UFC 130 earlier this year. This is actually a pretty big fight for Mir because if he can somehow pick up another victory over "Big Nog" it would be his third-straight win in the UFC and that would move him up the rankings a little more. A loss here would be devastating for his career and if I know Mir, he's going to do everything in his power to avoid that from happening. As far as how this fight plays out? Just go back and watch the first one and I'm sure it will be awfully similar to that one.....
My pick: Frank Mir, Decision
UFC Light Heavyweight Title:
-Jon "Bones" Jones (14-1) vs. Lyoto Machida (17-2)
Look, I'm going to come right out and say it. Why in the hell is Lyoto Machida getting a title shot against Jon "Bones" Jones here? I don't mean to piss off the Machida faithful, but c'mon now. Machida is 1-2 in his last 3 UFC fights and his only victory came against a guy who is now retired (Randy Couture). Before his victory over Couture, Machida was on a two-fight losing streak and people were questioning whether or not the rest of the light heavyweight division had finally figured Machida's style out. Machida was knocked out by Mauricio "Shogun" Rua at UFC 113 and followed that up by looking very unimpressive in a close split-decision loss to "Rampage" Jackson (although you could argue that Machida won that fight....) back at UFC 123. Machida was able to defeat Couture at UFC 129 last April, but I don't think anyone was thinking "Ya, he deserves a shot at the title" after he crane-kicked Couture into retirement. Perhaps Machida's thanking his lucky stars that Rashad Evans got injured and so the UFC slipped him in to the fight with "Bones"? Something tells me that he won't be thanking his lucky stars once the fight actually starts though. Jon "Bones" Jones is in a unique group of fighters right now. He's in that group of fighters that you just can't intelligently pick against. Jones is easily the most talented fighter in the UFC's light heavyweight division right now and people are already thinking he's set to have an "Anderson Silva/GSP" type run with the UFC title. Perhaps the most interesting thing about this fight is the contrast of styles between the two fighters. Lyoto Machida has long been predicted as the guy who's fighting style is perfect for beating a guy like "Bones". At least, that's what all the MMA experts have been saying for the past few months. Machida's elusiveness could come into play here and cause "Bones" some serious fits. If Machida is able to avoid "Bones" takedowns and keep himself at bay for the majority of the fight, he could sneak away with a very boring decision victory. Will that happen? I don't think so. I'm expecting a close fight that ends with Jones earning a TKO victory somehow someway. This will mark the fourth time that Jones has fought in the Octagon this year and if his previous fights are any inclination as to what could happen, it's going to be a long night for Machida. Sorry Machida, but "Jones vs. Rashad" has to happen in 2012 and I personally don't think you have what it takes to stop that from happening.....
My pick: Jon Jones, TKO, Round 3
And that's that. UFC 140 is kind of a weird event to me as it seems like it sort of snuck up out of nowhere, kind of like a sneaky silent fart. There's definitely a lot of exciting fights on the card and that has to get any self-respected MMA fan excited. "Bones vs. Machida" may not be "Bones vs. Evans", but it's a great second-place reward. Plus, when you throw in both Nogueira brothers taking on two UFC legends, you have yourself quite the sexy card. Hopefully everything works out the way we all want it to this weekend....
The Ultimate Fighter 14 Finale Results
And another season of "TUF" comes to an end.....
And just like that, another season of "The Ultimate Fighter" is in the books. I'll be the first one to admit that I actually liked this season. That's definitely a change of pace from how I felt about the past couple seasons (although I enjoyed TUF 10...). Maybe it had to do with my dislike for Michael Bisping? Maybe it had to do with the fact that Jason "Mayhem" Miller is one of the most entertaining MMA personalities alive today? Maybe it was because this season was the first time bantamweight and featherweight fighters appeared on the show? I don't know. All I know is, the UFC should give themselves a huge pat on the back for this season of "TUF". There are still a couple unanswered questions though. Like, was the finale as good as the rest of the season? Would Diego Brandao be able to channel his inner-psycho one more time in an effort to wrestle the featherweight "TUF" crown from Dennis Bermudez? Would John Dodson be able to overcome size difference once again in an effort to win the first ever bantamweight "TUF" crown? And would "Mayhem" Miller make everyone in the world smile by wiping that stupid grin off of Bisping's face? Let's find out....
The Ultimate Fighter 14 Finale Prelim Card Results:
-Bryan Caraway (16-5) def. Dustin Neace (23-18-1) via submission (rear-naked choke) in Round 2
-Steven Siler (19-9) def. Josh Clopton (6-1-1) via unanimous-decision
-Roland Delorme (7-1) def. Josh Ferguson (8-4) via submission (rear-naked choke) in Round 3
-John Albert (7-1) def. Dustin Pague (10-5) via TKO in Round 1
-Marcus Brimage (4-1) def. Stephen Bass (10-1) via unanimous-decision
The Ultimate Fighter 14 Main Card Results:
Bantamweight Bout:
-Johnny Bedford (18-9-1) def. Louis Gaudinot (5-2) via TKO in Round 3
My pick: Didn't pick
Well, this one wasn't even close. This one was all-Johnny Bedford, all-day. Bedford came out and proceeded to bully the much-smaller Gaudinot for about twelve minutes before he finally finished him in the third-round. Bedford showed tonight that he's actually a pretty talented fighter and he could have a nice little run in the UFC. He's a taller bantamweight and he used that to his advantage tonight by just pushing Gaudinot wherever he wanted him to go in the Octagon. Gaudinot had no answer for anything that Bedford was throwing his way and I was feeling double sorry for him (I already felt sorry for the guy because his hair looks like a gangster troll doll) and was just waiting by patiently for the ref to stop this fight at any moment. It now appears as though Bedford will live to fight another day in the UFC while Gaudinot will be fighting at a tavern somewhere in North Dakota in three months. Life just isn't fair sometimes....
While Bedford vs. Gaudinot was more of a grappler's paradise, Ferguson vs. Edwards was the complete opposite. These two guys decided to stand and trade blows for the better part of fifteen minutes and from what I saw, it was awesome. I say that because I was easily distracted by the Big 10 championship football game that was going on at the exact same time and I honestly didn't see too much of this fight. I do remember that I was a little bit shocked that Ferguson took the fight via unanimous-decision because I remember looking back a few times and seeing him in trouble and thinking that Edwards was winning the fight. In the end, it all worked out for "Fergie" and his crew as he managed to stay undefeated in the UFC. I say it's high time the UFC threw "Fergie" in with someone like Kenny Florian (that'd be a nice welcome back to the UFC's lightweight division for Ken-Flo) so we can see just how good this kid is. No offense to Yves Edwards, but the guy's never really been a top contender in his career and Ferguson beating him didn't really shock anyone. It's time for "Fergie" to take another step up in competition to see just how high his proverbial "UFC" ceiling may be.....
TUF 14 Bantamweight Tournament Finals:
-John Dodson (12-5) def. T.J. Dillashaw (4-1) via TKO in Round 1
My pick: T.J. Dillashaw, Decision
I hate when fights end like this. Now, I don't want to take away from John Dodson's victory or anything, but the stoppage here was highly debatable, that's for sure. Yes, Dodson connected with Dillashaw and it hurt him, but the question is....how bad did it hurt him? It seemed to me like Dillashaw may have been knocked a little bit silly, but I'm not 100% sure the guy ever lost his bearings. Either way, that's how the cookie crumbles sometimes and now Dodson is holding his "TUF" crown up high (well, as high as he can get it....) while Dillashaw has to go back to "Team Alpha Male" and start all over from the beginning. Dodson personally reminds me a lot of Demetrious Johnson and if he's anything like "Mighty Mouse", the rest of the UFC's bantamweight division had better watch out for this kid. I can't wait to see what's in store for Dodson's future and I'm sure we will see him in the Octagon again before we know it, unless the guy breaks his neck by doing crazy ass gymnastic moves in Greg Jackson's gym. Wouldn't that be ironic?
TUF 14 Featherweight Tournament Finals:
-Diego Brandao (14-7) def. Dennis Bermudez (7-3) via submission (armbar) in Round 1
My pick: Diego Brandao, TKO, Round 1
WOW! That's all I can say about this fight. I absolutely loved this fight from start to finish. The two featherweight finalists came out with some mean intentions, and man....did they ever deliver. I have to admit, I was a more impressed than I thought I was going to be with Dennis Bermudez tonight. He came out and stood toe-to-toe with Diego on the feet and even got some solid shots in on Brandao that took the Brazilian off his feet at certain points.The ending of the fight was just crazy insane. Bermudez connected with Brandao's chin and put Diego on his ass. Bermudez then quickly jumped on Diego to capitalize on his injured opponent, and that's when things went downhill for him. Diego quickly channeled his inner-BJJ skills and slipped on one of the slickest and most dangerous armbars I've ever seen to become the first featherweight in history to win "The Ultimate Fighter". Like I said earlier, I just loved this fight from start to finish. Both fighters brought their "A" games tonight and it showed. I really don't know what kind of career to expect from Diego Brandao in the UFC's featherweight division, but I do know that it's going to be fun as shit to watch it all go down.....
Middleweight Bout:
-Michael Bisping (22-3) def. Jason "Mayhem" Miller (23-8) via TKO in Round 3
My pick: Jason "Mayhem" Miller, Decision
Well, that's that. Is there anything in MMA that can suck the wind right out of my sail quicker than a Michael Bisping victory? Nope. I just don't know what was going on with Jason Miller tonight. The guy's cardio was absolutely atrocious and it looked like he hadn't fought in about fourteen months. Oh, what's that? That's because he HASN'T fought in over fourteen months! Fighters can train their cardio all they want in the gym, but there's nothing as physically exhausting as being in an actual fight and "Mayhem" Miller found that out tonight. He looked pretty good in the first-round as he was able to secure a takedown on Bisping and proceeded to control him on the ground for the majority of the round. Unfortunately that's about the only good news that "Mayhem" would receive tonight. Round 2 is where Bisping started turning up the fire as he was pretty much hitting Miller with countless jabs that started to make Miller's face look almost as bad as 411's Mark Radulich. Miller was still attempting takedowns, but he was just too physically exhausted to do anything. By the time Round 3 had started, I was asking myself how long it would actually be until Mazzagatti called this fight and gave the win to Bisping via TKO due to exhaustion? The good news is, we didn't have time to get there as the fight was called midway through the third-round as Bisping was hovering over "Mayhem" and nailing him with shots while Miller was doing his best impression of a caterpillar who had just been picked up by a predator (they roll up in a ball for all of you uninformed high school dropouts who didn't know...). The bad news is, people are now talking about a potential Bisping vs. Anderson Silva fight that I (and 75% of the MMA community) have no interest in watching.
If you rewind the fight between Bisping and Miller and go back to the start and put Anderson Silva in Miller's place, this fight wouldn't have lasted longer than 60 seconds. Are you telling me that there's people out there (who aren't from England....) that really want to see Bisping fight for a UFC title? REALLY? REALLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLY???? May God have mercy on all of our souls if that happens. I say Bisping has to beat a credible challenger to Silva's title before he even sniffs a title shot (and judging by his post-fight interview, Bisping isn't ready to take on Anderson yet anyway in his mind). Yes, Bisping is on a four-fight win streak, but he hasn't really beaten anyone who's a top contender in the UFC. His last loss came against Wanderlei Silva at UFC 110 and a loss against a guy like Wanderlei is not something a "top contender" has on their record these days. I'm sorry, but Bisping does not deserve a title shot yet and if you think he does, you're a fool. There's about 5 other guys more talented than Bisping in the UFC middleweight division and they would all have a problem with Bisping earning a title shot before them. Let's just stop the "Bisping vs. Silva" talk....OK?
And there we are. Much like this season of "TUF", the finale itself was pretty damn entertaining and I felt satisfied once it was over. Yes, I was disappointed in the performance of Jason Miller and it's usually NEVER a good day when Michael Bisping wins a fight (especially in the main event), but maybe I'm just in a good mood or something? I'm also pretty excited to see what Diego and Dodson can do in the UFC and I'm betting both fighters are eager to jump back into the Octagon and continue to rise up the ranks of their respective weight divisions. Good job UFC and oh yeah, before we go....I'd like to give a special thank you to SPIKE TV. Yes, the UFC is leaving you guys in the past while they take their talents over to the FOX networks, but you guys have done a lot for MMA over these past few years and us MMA fans are grateful for it. We'll be seeing you guys again once Bellator starts airing on your network (well, maybe)......
All The Other Stuff:
Will UFC middleweight Chris Leben ever learn? Apparently not. For those of you who don't know, Leben was suspended from the UFC for an entire year after testing positive for prescription painkillers oxycodone and oxymorphone following his loss to Mark Munoz at UFC 138 earlier this month. This shouldn't come as a shocker to anyone considering the exact same thing happened to Leben back when he fought Michael Bisping in the main event of UFC 89 in 2008. UFC President Dana White spoke publicly about Leben earlier this week:
"I like Chris, and I want him to do well, but based on his actions, he's been suspended for one year. If he needs professional help, we are going to be there for him. We want to see him succeed not only in the octagon but in his personal life."
In other words, DON'T fail a drug test before a fight (you hear me Nate Marquardt?) because you will be unemployed. However, if you fail a drug test after a fight (apparently even multiple times...), the UFC will slap you with a one-year suspension. Man, sometimes you have to love the double standards that life gives us sometimes. Personally, I don't see how Leben still has a job in the UFC. He probably should have been fired after his first positive test, but the UFC brought him back anyway only to have him fail another drug test a few years later. If the UFC is really hell bent on keeping Leben on their roster, then just avoid scheduling him to compete in the main event shows in England. Apparently that and staying sober are his weakness. See ya in about a year's time "Crippler"....
Ladies and gentlemen, fill your glasses and let's get ready to party! The UFC has announced that a much-anticipated middleweight bout between Rafael Natal (13-3-1) and Michael Kuiper (11-0) has been added to the UFC 143 card. I don't know about you guys, but I've been looking forward to this bout for sometime now. Natal has been on a roll since signing with the UFC in 2010 and is coming off a huge win over Paul Bradley at UFC 133. His opponent just so happens to be making his debut in the UFC, but he's ready to show the world that he's on his way to becoming a top challenger in the UFC's middleweight division. Man, I can't wait for this one....
(PS: The above news post may or may not have been written with a little hint of sarcasm.)
Because the UFC loves to piss me off, they have announced that they will be holding their first live show on FUEL TV on February 15 with a main event between Diego Sanchez (23-4) and Jake Ellenberger (26-5) in Ellenberger's hometown of Omaha, Nebraska. Now, the reason this card pisses me off is because it just so happens to air on FUEL TV and oh, what do you know? I DON'T HAVE FUEL TV! Unfortunately, Comcast subscribers don't get to see this wonderful little invention known as "FUEL TV" because apparently it's sacred. I know what you're thinking, I could just drop Comcast like a bad habit and go to a carrier that has FUEL TV, but it's not that simple. My girlfriend just so happens to work at Comcast and if I even mentioned going to another cable company, she would probably have me castrated and I would have to go through the rest of my life without ever having sex again. Well, I guess then I would know what it's like to be former 411mania writer Jeremy Lambert. Either way, I'm sure this is going to be a great fight and I really hope the UFC airs the card on Facebook or something for us fans who don't get access to FUEL TV. Ellenberger vs. Sanchez has the potential to be a fantastic fight and I'd rather be able to watch it live than to have to follow some half-assed coverage on Twitter. Make it happen Dana!
Moving on to UFC cards that I can actually watch, the UFC announced last week that Jorge Rivera (19-9) and Eric Schafer (12-6-2) will meet in a middleweight bout on the UFC on FX 1 card set to be held on January 20 at the Bridgestone Arena in Nashville, Tennessee. There's no question that this is a "loser leaves UFC" fight as both fighters are right there on the cusp of fighting in next season's Bellator tournament. I'll personally take Rivera in this fight because there's only one redhead that I cheer for in the UFC, and we all know who that is....
Get your vomit buckets ready guys. The UFC announced last week that a heavyweight bout between Jon Olav Einemo (6-2) and Mike Russow (14-1) will go down on the UFC on FOX 2 card on January 28. Hopefully this fight will be shown on the prelim portion of the show because I'm sure there's nothing that will scare a prime time audience away quicker than a heavyweight fight featuring mid-level talent. No offense to Russow who is a pretty talented dude and is 3-0 since signing with the UFC in 2009. However, Einemo left a sour taste in the mouth's of UFC fans everywhere with his poor performance against Dave Herman at UFC 131 earlier this year and I really don't like his chances here against Russow to begin with. Ahhh hell, throw this fight on the main card. It may actually be more entertaining than anything we've seen on FOX since the old days of "Herman's Head"....
Speaking of the UFC on FOX 2 special. The show finally got a main event last week and if you didn't hear about it, it's actually a rather good one. The January 28 prime time show on FOX will feature a main event between Rashad Evans (16-1-1) and Phil Davis (9-0) in a much-anticipated light heavyweight bout. As most of you will remember, we were originally supposed to see Evans vs. Davis in the main event of UFC 133, but that all changed once Davis had to pull out of the fight with an injury. We now get to see the bout in a little over a month's time and once again, the fight will have huge title implications. The winner of the fight is expected to be named as the #1 contender and will face the winner of the Jon Jones/Lyoto Machida fight sometime in 2012. Everyone and their mother is hoping that we end up with Evans vs. Jones in the end, which likely means we will be seeing Phil Davis fight Lyoto Machida for the UFC light heavyweight title at UFC 146. You know, cookies and crumbling and all that good stuff. Anyway, this is a good move by the UFC as they once again are loading up the UFC on FOX shows with the top talent in the company. Speaking of which....
The UFC confirmed a few days ago that a middleweight bout between Chael Sonnen (26-11-1) and Mark Munoz (12-2) was also going down at the UFC on FOX 2 show. Some of you may be surprised to see that Sonnen isn't fighting Anderson Silva like we all previously thought, but have no worry. Silva is currently sidelined with an injury and will be out for a few months. Since Sonnen is a real man's man, he's not going to sit around and wait for "The Spider" to heal up. He's going to remain active and he's going to take on another top challenger in Munoz. Munoz is on a four-fight win streak in the UFC and a lot of people are already whispering his name as a possible challenger to Silva's middleweight title. To you people I say, BLEEEEHHHHH! Thankfully Sonnen is here to end the Munoz win streak and will hopefully shut up anyone who doesn't think the guy deserves another crack at Silva's UFC middleweight title. The best part about this fight is that it's airing on FOX. Chael Sonnen in front of a prime time audience just screams "must see TV", especially during his post-fight interview if he's victorious over Munoz. Sorry Christmas, but January can't get here quick enough.....
Tweet Tweet!
This feature looks at some of the best tweets posted on Twitter by MMA fighters or anyone else connected to the world of MMA.
Courtesy of @KennyFlorian - "Sometimes I feel like women only date me because I have a beautiful mind."
Courtesy of @Rampage4Real "@SugaRashadEvans yo when u gonna do another shake weight video? Real talk I herd that u love a good HARD==>~workout wit the boys! wink wink"
Courtesy of @Rampage4Real - "I see a lot of peps r butt hurt ova what I said about the fans,but sorry Japan never booed me after a KO,n they give respect n gifts beatdat."
Courtesy of @SugaRashadEvans - "your Anthony Anderson looking brother must of fed u that joke cuz r not that funny.. Lol"
Courtesy of @JohnDodsonMMA - "Thx every1 4 the support and believing that I would be the #TUF14 CHAMP"
Courtesy of @SonnenCH - "Bisping isn't worth the time. Hey @Mark_Munoz, what do you say we give em a show. For ole times sake...."
Courtesy of @UrijahFaber - "Just watched the replay congrats to Dodson but @TJDillashaw still had fight in him. Edgar/Maynard Congo/Barry."
Courtesy of @MiguelTorresMMA - "Kid asked me for some advice, I told him to trust no one. Kid said then why trust what you just said, I reply exactly."
Courtesy of @MiguelTorresMMA - "Personal heroes: Ultimate Warrior, Pai Mai, Gengis Khan, Yoda, Gary Busey & @KimKardashian's thong."
Courtesy of @JasonDayMMA - "Today is #FOF. Friends off Friday. I'm unfollowing a bunch of you boring fucks."
Courtesy of @MayhemMiller - "Damn. Got tired. Got beat. Thanks for watching. I'll be back stronger next time."
Courtesy of @MayhemMiller - "I have to say I really appreciate the positive outpouring that came out of this negative event. I will fix my mistakes and build back up."
Current Champions:
This feature is pretty self explanatory. I list the current champions in each relevant promotion, and you guys sit and read. Easy enough for ya?
Junior dos Santos - UFC Heavyweight Champion
Won the title from Cain Velasquez back on November 12, 2011 at UFC on FOX 1
Jon Jones - UFC Light Heavyweight Champion
Won the title from Mauricio "Shogun" Rua back on March 19, 2011 at UFC 128
Anderson Silva - UFC Middleweight Champion
Won the title from Rich Franklin back on October 14, 2006 at UFC 64
Georges St. Pierre - UFC Welterweight Champion
Won the title from Matt Serra back on April 14, 2008 at UFC 83
Frankie Edgar - UFC Lightweight Champion
Won the title from B.J. Penn back on April 10, 2010 at UFC 112
Jose Aldo - UFC Featherweight Champion
Won the title from Mike Brown back on November 18, 2009 at WEC 44
Dominick Cruz - UFC Bantamweight Champion
Won the title from Brian Bowles back on March 6, 2010 at WEC 47
Luke Rockhold - Strikeforce Middleweight World Champion
Won the title from Ronaldo "Jacare" Souza back on September 10, 2011 at Strikeforce: Barnett vs. Kharitonov
Won the title from Marloes Coenen back on July 30, 2011 at Strikeforce: Fedor vs. Henderson
Hiroyuki Takaya - DREAM Featherweight Champion
Won the title from Bibiano Fernandes back on December 31, 2010 at Dynamite!! 2010 New Year's Eve show.
Shinya Aoki - DREAM Lightweight Champion
Won the title from Joachim Hansen back on October 6, 2009 at DREAM.11
Marius Zaromskis - DREAM Welterweight Champion
Won the title from Jason High back on July 20, 2009 at DREAM.10
Gegard Mousasi - DREAM Light Heavyweight Champion
Won the title from Tatsuya Mizuno back on September 25, 2010 at DREAM.16
Cole Konrad - Bellator Heavyweight Champion
Won the title from Neil Grove back on October 14, 2010 at Bellator 29
Christian M'Pumbu - Bellator Light Heavyweight Champion
Won the title from Richard Hale back on May 21, 2011 at Bellator 45
Hector Lombard - Bellator Middleweight Champion
Won the title from Jared Hess back on June 19, 2009 at Bellator 12
Ben Askren - Bellator Welterweight Champion
Won the title from Lyman Good back on October 21, 2010 at Bellator 33
Michael Chandler - Bellator Lightweight Champion
Won the title from Eddie Alvarez back on November 19, 2011 at Bellator 58
Joe Warren - Bellator Featherweight Champion
Won the title from Joe Soto back on September 2, 2010 at Bellator 27
Zach Makovsky - Bellator Bantamweight Champion
Won the title from Ed West back on October 14, 2010 at Bellator 32
Zoila Gurgel - Bellator 115lb Women's Champion
Won the title from Megumi Fujii back on October 28, 2010 at Bellator 34
Upcoming Events:
Here are a few of the upcoming events in the wonderful world of MMA:
Strikeforce "Melendez vs. Masvidal" - December 17 at the Valley View Casino Center in San Diego, California
-Gilbert Melendez vs. Jorge Masvidal (for the Strikeforce lightweight title)
-Cristiane "Cyborg" Santos vs. Hiroko Yamanaka (for Strikeforce women's featherweight title)
-Gegard Mousasi vs. Ovince St. Preux
-K.J. Noons vs. Billy Evangelista
-Justin Wilcox vs. Caros Fodor
-Devin Cole vs. Gabriel Salinas-Jones
UFC 141 "Lesnar vs. Overeem" - December 30 at the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada
-Brock Lesnar vs. Alistair Overeem
-Donald Cerrone vs. Nate Diaz
-Jon Fitch vs. Johny Hendricks
-Alexander Gustafsson vs. Vladimir Matyushenko
-Diego Nunes vs. Manny Gamburyan
-Dong Hyun Kim vs. Sean Pierson
-Ross Pearson vs. Junior Assuncao
-Anthony Njokuani vs. Ramsey Nijem
-Matt Riddle vs. Luis Ramos
-T.J. Grant vs. Jacob Volkmann
-Nam Phan vs. Jim Hettes
DREAM New Year's Eve Dynamite!! 2011 Show - December 31 at the Saitama Super Arena in Saitama, Japan
-Shinya Aoki vs. Satoru Kitaoka
-Fedor Emelianenko vs. To Be Announced
-Hiroyuki Takaya vs. Takeshi "Lion" Inoue (for DREAM featherweight title)
-Tatsuya Kawajiri vs. Kazuyuki Miyata
-Ryo Chonan vs. Hayato Sakurai
-Antonio Banuelos vs. Masakazu Imanari (2011 DREAM bantamweight grand-prix semifinal)
-Bibiano Fernandes vs. Rodolfo Marques Diniz (2011 DREAM bantamweight grand-prix semifinal)
-Megumi Fujii vs. Karla Benitez
Strikeforce "Rockhold vs. Jardine" - January 7 at The Joint at the Hard Rock Hotel & Casino in Las Vegas, Nevada
-Luke Rockhold vs. Keith Jardine (for the Strikeforce middleweight title)
UFC 142 "Aldo vs. Mendes" - January 14 at the HSBC Arena in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
-Jose Aldo vs. Chad Mendes (for the UFC featherweight title)
-Vitor Belfort vs. Anthony Johnson
-Thiago Tavares vs. Sam Stout
-Terry Etim vs. Edson Barboza
-Paulo Thiago vs. Mike Pyle
-Siyar Bahadurzada vs. Erick Silva
-Rousimar Palhares vs. Mike Massenzio
-Stanislav Nedkov vs. Fabio Maldonado
-Antonio Carvalho vs. Felipe Arantes
-Ednaldo Oliveira vs. Rob Broughton
-Michihiro Omigawa vs. Yuri Alcantara
UFC on FX 1 - January 20 at the Bridgestone Arena in Nashville, Tennessee
-Melvin Guillard vs. Jim Miller
-Pat Barry vs. Christian Morecraft
-Jorge Rivera vs. Eric Schafer
-Mike Brown vs. Vagner Rocha
-Duane "Bang" Ludwig vs. Josh Neer
-Karlos Vemola vs. Ryan Jimmo
-Kamal Shalorus vs. Khabib Nurmagomedov
-Rafaello Oliveira vs. Reza Madadi
Video of the Week!
If I have to explain to you what "video of the week" is, than please grab a pencil and stick it in your neck for the benefit of society....
Can "Bones" Jones continue his run of domination in the UFC's light heavyweight division this weekend?......
My top 5 MMA Rankings:
These are my current top 5 MMA rankings! I know 411mania.com has their own rankings as a collective unit, but I figured I would list mine for you guys to tear apart each week....
1. Jon Jones
2. Rashad Evans
3. Lyoto Machida
4. Quinton "Rampage" Jackson
5. Mauricio "Shogun" Rua
Middleweight:
1. Anderson Silva
2. Chael Sonnen
3. Vitor Belfort
4. Yushin Okami
5. Mark Munoz
Welterweight:
1. Georges St. Pierre
2. Jon Fitch
3. Nick Diaz
4. Josh Koscheck
5. Carlos Condit
Lightweight:
1. Frankie Edgar
2. Gilbert Melendez
3. Gray Maynard
4. Ben Henderson
5. Shinya Aoki
Featherweight:
1. Jose Aldo
2. Chad Mendes
3. Hatsu Hioki
4. Kenny Florian
5. Diego Nunes
Bantamweight:
1. Dominick Cruz
2. Joseph Benavidez
3. Urijah Faber
4. Demetrious Johnson
5. Brian Bowles
And that's it for me this week. Make sure you follow me on Twitter for all sorts of good MMA, NBA, NFL, and other random crap talk. Trust me, I won't let you down.
All of 411's zones are also on Twitter, so make sure you check it out.....
Not only will I have sex again, maybe tomorrow if I can find the number of my hooker Amber, who gives me a discounted rate because I always take her out for coffee afterwards, but I'm also happy knowing that I'm not being held hostage by a cable company.
Let me ask you something Dustin, did you at least get the premium package when Comcast raped you?
Posted By: Jeremy "Non-Castrated" Lambert (Guest) on December 04, 2011 at 11:31 PM
I like the fact that they are keeping Jones as active as possible while he is healthy. To many guys are fighting too infrequently. I'd much rather fighters stayed active, its getting as bad as in boxing plus Lyoto has only fought once this year and he's stylistically the most challenging fight that Jones could have at this stage of his career. Did anyone moan when Cotoure got an underserved shot against Sylvia or when Penn got a shot against Hughes the first time round?
P.S You are a moron for picking Tito to get the win in his fight and I will gladly take back my words and eat them if he is victorious.
Posted By: tab (Guest) on December 04, 2011 at 11:31 PM
People need to start flooding Dana's Twitter to get Comcast to add Fuel TV. I don't care whether he himself can actually do anything about it or not. JUST DO IT!
Posted By: Alan (Guest) on December 04, 2011 at 11:56 PM
5 Middleweights that can beat Bisping ..
A. Silva
W. Silva, though I'd take the Count in a rematch
Sonnen and I'm stuck ..
I think he's a little too quick to let Vitor get in a rhythm.
Maia wouldn't be able to take him down to sub him and even with his improved striking it wouldn't matter.
Okami wouldn't be able to him down long enough for two rounds to win a decision.
Munoz is too one-dimensional
ditto for Brian Stann
Posted By: K.Bett (Guest) on December 05, 2011 at 01:30 AM
Bisping made Mayhem look like a rank amateur. It was an embarrassing mismatch. Bisping said in the run up to the fight that he had the better stand up, better wrestling, better cardio and could compete with Mayhem in Jits. Bisping was right.
It is the fashion to diminish the achievements of Bisping while disproportionately building the achievements of certain other fighters. Chael Sonnen for example. If Mark Munoz knows what a triangle is then Sonnen will soon be forgotten.
The Sonnen hype is not realistic, he calls himself the champion. But he lost. And even if he had won, he would not have been champion, because he tested positive for PEDs afterwards. The current attitude towards drug use within the sport threatens to damage the integrity of MMA.
Anderson is a level above all the rest of the division, but he is also past his athletic prime. I don't think any of the crop currently have a chance against him. Give it two years though and he won't be quite as sharp, quite a resilient. If he hasn't retired by then, then someone will be stood across from him when that happens.
Until then can we try and be a bit more objective when we are looking at the skill sets that fighters have. And can we perhaps ask why there are a group of fighters who have testicles that have ceased to work and what might have been the mechanism for that actually happening.
Posted By: Bisping's basoon (Guest) on December 05, 2011 at 03:42 AM
DAMN!!! Will Rashad ever get his title shot? Seems like every time it's time for their fight. One of them is faking an injury and getting well after the other one has another fight setup
Posted By: Guest#8655 (Guest) on December 05, 2011 at 05:31 AM
"I seriously could care less about this fight. 411 doesn't pay me enough to care about either Claude Patrick or Brian Ebersole. Sorry to the hundreds of fans that both guys have."
I think it would be closer to the truth if you said "sorry to the hundred fans those guys have. combined. including their friends and families."
Posted By: Guest#4796 (Guest) on December 05, 2011 at 09:39 AM
How in any way is Jones vs Evans an interesting fight? Evans wouldn't stand a chance.
Posted By: Guest#9555 (Guest) on December 05, 2011 at 10:27 AM
Looks like Hendo is missing from either your middlewieght or light heavyweight rankings. I mean he is a top 5 fighter in some division right now isn't he?
Posted By: Guest#0205 (Guest) on December 05, 2011 at 01:42 PM
I'm not a Bisping fan, but he brought it Saturday night. That was a complete display of technical prowess. He was sharper, faster, and better than Miller in every aspect of the fight. While he may not threaten Silva's title, very few can. Do we want to see Chael fight Silva a dozen times straight until he gets the title, or would it be better to let a few other contenders have a shot?
Posted By: Another Scott (Guest) on December 05, 2011 at 02:07 PM
I think Mir/Nogueira is happening again because Nogueira has wanted this rematch for a long time and there was always that stigma after the fight with Nogueira's "staph infection" injury. Though I agree, I still think Mir will win this one again.
Posted By: Jeffrey (Registered) on December 05, 2011 at 09:16 PM
I do not want to see Bisping fight for a UFC title. I do want to see Anderson Silva perform plastic surgery on his face with his knees.
Perhaps you see my dilemma here.
Posted By: Robert Winfree (Registered) on December 05, 2011 at 10:48 PM
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