The Juggernaut MMA News Report 12.08.11: UFC 140 Preview
Posted by Jonathan Solomon on 12.08.2011
Jon Jones seeks to continue his dominance but will Lyoto Machida play spoiler and become two-time UFC champion? 411's Jonathan Solomon previews UFC 140! Plus news on GSP's injury, the UFC on Fox 2 triple header and more!
It's that time of the week again as we gear up for the penultimate UFC show of 2011 and it just so happens to feature light heavyweight champion Jon Jones. The Juggernaut News Report features a quick preview of the top three fights on this weekend's show. Is Lyoto Machida capable of ending the Bones train or is he just another name to join the likes of Shogun Rua and Rampage Jackson? Plus, can Frank Mir repeat history and become the only man to finish Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira twice? How many of you are hoping for another heartwarming moment thanks to Minotauro Nogueira, fighting off retirement like a pack of wild dogs chasing down their dinner?
As you will read on later, there is plenty of news to clue you in on. The UFC made a some big announcements this week including officially naming the two coaches for season 15 of The Ultimate Fighter along with rounding out the top of their second Fox show. The biggest one of all however is not so positive. Georges St. Pierre is injured and not fighting at UFC 143. This means he'll go over one year without fighting and ultimately when he returns, his knee will be a question mark.
UFC 140 Preview
UFC Light Heavyweight Championship Champion Jon Jones vs. Lyoto Machida
Jon Jones steps foot inside the octagon in over 48 hours to attempt to successfully defend his championship for the second time. He fought in September when he battered Quinton "Rampage" Jackson, eventually finishing him with a rear naked choke. However, he will fight a style of fighter unlike any he's faced before. Lyoto Machida is famous for not being the aggressor in the cage, instead, keeping space and distance while looking for counter strikes. Unlike Rampage who was looking solely to land one power punch as a counter, Machida will attempt to use speed and agility to avoid taking big shots while coming back with strikes of his own. Multiple strikes.
The problem I see for Machida is no secret. He will give up a sizable reach plus quickness to Jones who is almost like a cat who happens to be an MMA fighter. Against Rampage, Jones was able to land a series of kicks from afar, which against the stationery former champion, were effective. Lyoto has been working with King Mo Lawal in training camp on improving his takedown defense and overall wrestling. While that work should help, is there actually any feasible way that should Jones shoot on Machida, he won't succeed in getting the fight to the ground?
Machida last fought in April when he knocked out Randy Couture with a foot to the face. Randy famously strives to close the distance and work from the clinch, but he was hesitant in the early going long enough to give Lyoto his opening. With Jon Jones, the champion has no specific style to which you can game plan against. He has explosive takedowns, he is dangerous from the clinch with his elbows and knees and from a distance he can land punches and kicks. To date, there has not been a single weakness for him in a fight. The only criticisms of him as a fighter revolve around what has yet to happen. He has never faced adversity in the cage, never been rocked or put on his back. We have never seen him have to defend a chokehold or have one of his takedown attempts fail.
So, how does Jones lose this fight? It's not something I foresee happening but perhaps when the fight starts, Machida's style simply confuses him. Confuses him long enough for Machida to land strikes of his own and rattle the champion. Is it possible that Machida can knock out Jon Jones with a combination in the second round? Certainly. Unlike Rampage who telegraphed all of his slow attempts at landing a punch, Machida will look to move in and out, change angles and sneak some through Jones' defense. We have seen Machida's knockout power in the past against Thiago Silva, Rashad Evans (who Jones has criticized for not having a chin) and Couture.
That's all a big leap because skill for skill, attribute for attribute, Jon Jones should remain UFC light heavyweight champion Saturday night.
You can't hide from Bones.
Frank Mir vs. Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira 2
Minotauro Nogueira, can he have another feel good moment in 2011? We have seen him stave off retirement talk by upsetting Brendan Schaub with a knockout in Brazil in the summer. After witnessing his friend Junior dos Santos become heavyweight champion, it's now back to Nogueira as he looks to avenge a loss from three years ago which saw him finished for the first time.
Frank Mir is coming off wins over Cro Cop (in one of the worst fights of 2010) and Roy Nelson, in which he did not look like the Mir who blasted Nogueira in 2008 and the Mir who destroyed Cheick Kongo in 2009. Hesitant, slow, perhaps not as confident. In any event, he won his last two fights and appears motivated to finish Nogueira a second time, annoyed by all the talk of Big Nog's health woes going into their first fight.
We know both men are amazing Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu practitioners and being such, like in the first meeting, do not expect to see much of it in their fight. The biggest question is first, can Nogueira still take a big punch? Schaub landed a big uppercut before being knocked out and Nogueira did not appear to struggle off it. Big Nog has to be careful to avoid getting into a slugfest because the days of his wars with Fedor Emelianenko, Heath Herring and Josh Barnett are long, long gone.
Frank Mir will want to keep the fight close to be able to pick him apart. Perhaps even work from the clinch to use elbows and knees to weaken the Brazilian giant before throwing a combination with the intent at finishing the match.
The only men to finish Frank Mir in the last four years have been Brock Lesnar and Shane Carwin, both considered to be the physically biggest men in the UFC at those times. Mir simply could not match their power and paid the price for it. So, can Nogueira muster up that kind of strength to punish Mir on the feet? He will have to move around the cage, not standing still and make it a long fight. If he can tire Mir over the course of three rounds, there's no reason Nogueira cannot lay a whooping on him. The issue will be getting that far without eating big punches, first.
Tito Ortiz vs. Antonio Rogerio Nogueira
Both Ortiz and Nogueira are 1-2 since last year and while neither man may be fired with another loss, entering the new year with a win is important moving forward. Tito shocked the world in July by finishing Ryan Bader, then went against Rashad Evans and although he put up a good fight, fell short. Evans was too fast, too strong and landed a devastating knee in the second round which finished Ortiz.
Nogueira has been matched with strong wrestlers of late, losing decisions to Ryan Bader and Phil Davis. Both fights were not total failures, Nogueira was able to defend some takedowns and it was no domination. Still, Nogueira was not aggressive enough to take the bull by the horns, settling for being a counter fighter.
Minotoro has a good chin and good takedown defense which combined, spell trouble for Ortiz. Tito's problem at this stage in his career is the fact that he's not as explosive as he was five or nine years ago. His takedowns are no longer guaranteed and he has struggled with his cardio when pushed deep into fights against Evans and Matt Hamill. I do not see Tito being able to land a big punch, rocking Nogueira, like he did with Bader. Plus, Rogerio should be able to defend his attempts to go to the ground fairly regularly. Remember, too, that the Brazilian is dangerous off his back so it may not even be in Tito's best interest to become one dimensional in that regard.
On paper, the deck is once again stacked against Tito. Without being able to rely on his cardio or his wrestling, his boxing is not good enough to take down Nogueira.
Does Tito have one last hurrah in the UFC?
Full UFC 140 Card
Jon Jones vs. Lyoto Machida
Frank Mir vs. Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira
Tito Ortiz vs. Antonio Rogerio Nogueira
Brian Ebersole vs. Claude Patrick
Mark Hominick vs. Chan Sung Jung
John Makdessi vs. Dennis Hallman
Constantinos Philippou vs. Jared Hamman
Yves Jabouin vs. Walel Watson
Krzysztof Soszynski vs. Igor Pokrajac
Nik Lentz vs. Mark Bocek
Rich Attonito vs. Jake Hecht
John Cholish vs. Mitch Clarke
JUGGERNAUT NEWS BRIEFS
- Dana White broke the news yesterday that welterweight champion Georges St. Pierre suffered a torn ACL in training and will be out for 10 months. Now, Nick Diaz will fight Carlos Condit at UFC 143 in February for the interim championship.
- The UFC confirmed the long rumored names of the two coaches for season 15 of The Ultimate Fighter. Bantamweight champion Dominick Cruz and Urijah Faber will coach opposite each other. The new season will kick off Friday, March 9 on FX with a two-hour premiere episode. Over the course of the next 13 weeks, Cruz and Faber will train for their future title fight along with their teams of fighters who will fight live each week.
- Strikeforce expects the finals of their heavyweight grand prix to take place in March. Daniel Cormier only recently had a cast removed from his hand and will return to training as soon as doctors let him. He will fight Josh Barnett in a five-round fight to determine the tournament champion.
- TUF 8 champion Efrain Escudero will return to the UFC at UFC 141 replacing T.J. Grant (who sustained an injury) against Jacob Volkmann.
- Fights added to the UFC on Fox 2 card include Demetrius Johnson vs. Eddie Wineland and George Roop vs. Cub Swnason. According to Dana White, a third headliner is expected to be announced any day now. It will join the top two fights featuring Chael Sonnen vs. Mark Munoz and Rashad Evans vs. Phil Davis as the lead bouts.
- Well, that day was yesterday. Michael Bisping will fight Demian Maia on Fox. All six headliners were present yesterday in Chicago to kick off ticket sales for the show.
- Among the news from the press conference in Chicago, the Evans/Davis winner will challenge the Jones/Machida winner for the championship while the Sonnen/Munoz winner will fight Anderson Silva. Apparently, Dan Henderson gets no luck here. Meanwhile, the Bisping/Maia winner will be the man to challenge the middleweight champion whether it be Silva, Munoz or Sonnen. Additionally, the UFC will have an announcement on a future flyweight division before the end of the year.
- Spike TV will counter-program against the live UFC on Fox 2 special on January 28. Spike will run a "UFC Unleashed" marathon featuring fights from Phil Davis and Rashad Evans.
- Strikeforce women's 145-pound champion Cris Cyborg said she is considering dropping to 135-pounds so she can split time at both weights and having more opponents to fight.
- M-1 Global returns to Showtime tomorrow evening with M-1 Challenge 30. The card will feature a welterweight title fight between champion Shamil Zavurov and Yuseby Enomoto. Also on the card will be Artiom Damkovsky vs. Jose Figueroa; Tyson Jeffries vs. Eddie Arizmendi; and Bao Quach vs. Alessandro Ferriera.
JUGGERNAUT VIDEO OF THE WEEK
Before he challenges for his second UFC championship, check out some of Lyoto Machida's best highlights from his UFC career.
I like Nog, however, since this fight he's just full of excuses since the fight. Every headline I read from Nog about the fight, it's always an excuse about why he lost.
Posted By: Guest#9506 (Guest) on December 08, 2011 at 04:35 AM
I think Mir beats Nog yet again.
Posted By: Jeffrey (Registered) on December 08, 2011 at 09:50 PM
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