Jon Jones was proven to be human, if even for just a minute.
But perhaps even more frustrating for the UFC light heavyweight contenders, Jones didn’t cower in the face of adversity as many though he may.
After taking his first significant damage in a UFC fight in the result of a collection of straight punches from Lyoto Machida in the main event of UFC 140 on Saturday, Jones rallied and finished off another opponent in the second round to retain his UFC Light Heavyweight Championship.
Jones looked a little unsure of himself in the first round against Machida, as the challenger landed some nice counter punches that staggered the champion. Machida looked confident and won the first round in my book.
However, in the second round, Jones closed the distance between the two and used his wrestling to take Machida to the ground. From there, he landed a devastating elbow that opened up a big gash on Machida. Moments later, the two simultaneously threw left hooks, but Jones’ landed first. Machida crashed to the ground and Jones got a hold of his neck and finished him with a modified standing guillotine that choked him out cold.
Jones looks to be the real deal, as he overcame a slow start to still put on a dominant finish. Rashad Evans has to be the only man in the division to possibly stand a threat to Jones’ title, and even that seems doubtful.
In the co-main event, Frank Mir earned something even more rare than a UFC title, he submitted Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira.
After being the first man to finish him by TKO back at UFC 92, this time Mir broke the arm of the legendary jiu-jitsu master. Big Nog seemed to be on the verge of knocking out Mir as he landed a series of big punches, but Mir managed to keep his senses and eventually locked in a kimura. Nogueira tried to roll out of it, but Mir held on. When Big Nog refused to tap, Mir had to break the arm and force the stoppage from the ref.
For the full results for UFC 140, check out the jump.
Did you eat to much turkey and stuffing on Thanksgiving? This is the time of year where most people lose any progress they’ve made all year. Athletic builds suddenly add a spare tire around the belly.
It’s the perfect time to start an intense workout regiment, and emulating the MMA guys is not a bad idea.
MMA World Welterweight Champion Georges St-Pierre is now a legend in the MMA community, and now he’s sharing his workout program and training secrets with a new series of MMA workout DVDs.
We love MMA, but now it’s more than just a sport or a form of entertainment. It has spawned a new lifestyle approach, and central to that is the sculpted look you see with the best MMA fighters. Women love that look and guys are inspired by it.
It’s only attainable, however, if you’re willing and able to undergo an intense workout program. You have to be committed, and you have to be the type of person that sets the bar high. You might not be able to fight like St-Pierre, but you can achieve that same look through persistent hard work.
In the UFC’s anticipated debut on FOX, it didn’t take long for the inaugural fight to end.
Junior dos Santos won the UFC Heavyweight Championship in a little over a minute as he knocked out the champion, Cain Velasquez from the Honda Center in Anaheim.
Dos Santos came into the fight as the betting underdog, but a devastating right hand early in the first round caught the champion in the ear and sent him crashing.
With Velasquez’ equilibrium admittedly thrown off, dos Santos was able to finish the fight with a series of ground-and-pound strikes that left Velasquez face down in the octagon.
The Brazilian exploded with joy as he becomes the third Brazilian to hold a UFC title, joining middleweight champ Anderson Silva and featherweight kingpin Jose Aldo.
In the night’s co-main event, Ben Henderson earned a lightweight title shot against Frankie Edgar with his unanimous decision win over Clay Guida.
The contest was very competitive and neither man seemed to have an obvious superiority over the other, but Henderson was able to gain more dominant positions than Guida and he also exhibited more control during the fight.
For complete UFC on FOX 1 results, check out the jump.
In advance of Saturday’s UFC 132, HeavyMMA.com is streaming videos featuring fighter interviews, news and other cool exclusives. Check out the OnDemand player below and then come back Saturday, July 2nd at 6:00PM ET/3:00PM PST for UFC 132 LiveStream to check out videos, chat with other MMA fans and watch HeavyMMA’s live show!
UFC featherweight champion Jose Aldo has suffered an injury and has been forced to withdraw from a planned late-summer bout with Chad Mendes.
Multiple sources close to the fight confirmed the news with HeavyMMA.com on Monday afternoon.
Aldo’s injury is believed to be a minor setback and the featherweight champion will be able to fight by mid-September. Mendes plans on taking a fight instead of waiting for the September title shot.
Aldo last appeared at UFC 129, winning a decision victory over the gutsy Mark Hominick. The undefeated Mendes earned his title shot with a win over Michihiro Omigawa at UFC 126.
Hector Lombard extended his winning streak to 23 on Saturday night, prompting Spencer Kyte of HeavyMMA.com to wonder where the Bellator champ should fall among middleweight rankings.
How good is Hector Lombard?
Before you blurt out an answer, think through both sides of things. If you do, you’ll see that arriving at a decision that cannot be debated is a difficult task. Such is the life of the Bellator middleweight champion, and a number of potentially elite fighters competing outside of the Zuffa family.
There is a case for the Cuban judoka being one of the top middleweights in the sport, a 10-15 guy in the rankings, even maybe making it as high as 8-9 on some lists.
Lombard hasn’t lost since November 2006, a unanimous decision defeat to a then-unknown 21-year-old named Gegard Mousasi. Since then, the American Top Team product has won 22 of 23 fights, and 18-in-a-row with is victory Saturday night over Falaniko Vitale at Bellator 44. Of those 22 wins, Lombard has finished 17 of them, many in very impressive fashion.
In a sport where the best in the world lose from time-to-time, Lombard’s string of victories and four-plus-year unbeaten streak stands as evidence that the former Olympic competitor has a case for being considered one of the best 185-pound competitors in the sport.
A relapse of diverticulitis has forced former UFC heavyweight champion Brock Lesnar to pull out of his scheduled UFC 131 fight with Junior dos Santos.
UFC President Dana White confirmed the news today.
Lesnar was scheduled to face fellow Ultimate Fighter 13 coach Dos Santos in the main event of UFC 131 in Vancouver. The winner would receive a title shot. Shane Carwin will face dos Santos instead.
Lesnar indicated on the conference call that his career isn’t over and he is not retiring, but that he has to figure out a way to beat the illness so that he can train to the best of his capabilities. “I’ve just got to find the right solution to fix this problem,” Lesnar said.
Anderson Silva of Brazil and compatriot Demian Maia fight during their bout in the Ultimate Fighting Championship tournament in Abu Dhabi April 10, 2010. REUTERS/Mohammed Salem (UNITED ARAB EMIRATES – Tags: SPORT)
We’ve long hoped to see a fight between Anderson Silva and Georges St. Pierre. We thought it would be the ultimate super-fight, a way to truly see who the best fighter in the world is while watching both men etch their superb careers even further into the annals of history.
After UFC 129, we’re not really interested in seeing that fight any more. It doesn’t hold the same kind of intrigue, not after you’ve seen St. Pierre struggle with Jake Shields and realize that the much-larger Silva would almost certainly have his way with the current welterweight champion.
Let’s take a look at our pound-for-pound rankings after UFC 129:
1. Anderson Silva
It’s becoming obvious that we’re not going to see Silva face Georges St. Pierre, and that’s fine. We’ve gotten to the point where we’re not sure how well St. Pierre would do in a fight against the much-bigger Silva, anyway. Instead, the pound for pound king will focus his attention on Yushin Okami, who he’ll face in the main event of UFC 134 in August. Okami was the last man to beat him. Sure, it was by disqualification, but you don’t have to put that in the marketing materials.
UFC Hall of Famer Matt Hughes is at the center of a police investigation filed in Illinois.
TMZ reported this morning that Hughes was involved in an altercation inside of a bar on April 23 in Taylor Springs, Il. The report says that Hughes became involved in an argument with another bar patron and pushed a man into a woman, breaking her nose in the process.
Hughes is expected to face Diego Sanchez at UFC 135.
HeavyMMA.com will have more on the story as it develops.
According to HeavyMMA.com, all 24 fighters who competed at UFC 129 last weekend have received medical suspensions, including welterweight champion Georges St. Pierre.
Out of the 24 suspensions given out, UFC welterweight champion Georges St. Pierre and six others earned the lengthiest with 60 day suspensions. The other six include Mark Hominick, who fought featherweight champion Jose Aldo in the evening’s co-main event, Randy Couture, Jason Brilz, Kyle Watson, Charlie Valencia, and Sean Pierson. Hominick and St. Pierre were the only ones out of the seven to avoid being knocked out.
From the evening’s preliminary card, Nate Diaz was given a suspension of 45 days following his loss to Rory MacDonald, while Jake Ellenberger will be out the same amount of time following his knockout victory over Sean Pierson.
UFC 129 took place at the Rogers Centre in Toronto and featured St. Pierre’s welterweight title defense against Jake Shields. In the co-main event of the evening, featherweight title-holder Aldo managed to outpoint Hominick on the judges’ scorecards.
Jon Jones was proven to be human, if even for just a minute.
