Rashad Evans and Chael Sonnen were expected to win their fights at UFC on FOX 2 Saturday night, and they did just that.

Evans defeated Phil Davis by unanimous decision to become the No. 1 contender for the light heavyweight title while Sonnen defeated Michael Bisping by unanimous decision to earn a future shot at the middleweight championship.

In the main event, Evans simply out-classed Davis with his superior wrestling and striking. Davis, who was in the biggest fight in his career, seemed overwhelmed by the environment and his opponent while Evans remained calm and implemented his game plan.

Evans didn’t look overly impressive but he did enough to win and now will face Jon Jones at UFC 145 in a fight that everyone has been waiting for.

Sonnen had a much more difficult time with Bisping than what was expected. Bisping showed the ability to stay off his back, but he didn’t quite do enough in the eyes of the judges to win the striking contest.

All three rounds were razor thin and there was some debate as to who won, but ultimately the judges all scored the fight in favor of Sonnen. He will now face Anderson Silva for the second time later this year. Sonnen clearly had the best performance against Silva than anyone in the UFC, as he was an arm triangle away from pulling out a decision win over the champion.

For full results from UFC on FOX 2, check out the jump.

Read the rest of this entry »

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.

Read the rest of this entry »

UFC light heavyweight champion Jon Jones has been forced out of his UFC 133 bout against Rashad Evans, and Phil Davis has stepped in for the August bout writes Nate Lawson of HeavyMMA.com.

Light heavyweight champion Jon Jones will not meet Rashad Evans later this year.

Neil Davidson of the Canadian Press broke the news today that the champion was forced out of the contest and that the fast-rising Phil Davis will step in against Evans at UFC 133 this August.

According to MMAjunkie.com, Jones has been sidelined due to a torn right hand ligament, and the recovery will apparently be a lengthy one. A timetable has not been set, though.

Jones defeated former champion Mauricio “Shogun” Rua at UFC 128 last month to earn the light heavyweight strap. Immediately following the fight, former champion Evans entered the cage, and the pair agreed to fight for the championship later this year.

Read the full article.

HeavyMMA.com released their latest rankings. Here are their rankings for the top light heavyweights in the sport.

Jon Jones’ destruction of Shogun Rua at UFC 128 signaled the end of the PRIDE years and heralded the rise of a new fighter who could dominate the division for years to come. Instead of speaking about potential challengers for the title, fans and journalists have been left trying to figure out who in the world could possibly present a stiff challenge for Jones. It’s hard not to get caught up in the hype train, but so long as Jones maintains the maturity he’s displayed thus far, he’ll be fine.
Will he be the first true mainstream superstar to come from the world of MMA? That remains to be seen. For now, he’s content with simply evolving. Oh, and ruling the light heavyweight division with an iron fist.

1. Jon Jones
Jones utterly dominated former champion Shogun Rua at UFC 128 in Newark which lands him atop this poll without any debate. Now comes a fight with Rashad Evans. What? He’s fighting Rashad Evans? It’s true. The former teammates had a falling out and will now square off for the light heavyweight strap sometime this fall.

2. Rashad Evans
Evans, a long time Greg Jackson student, has left the Albuquerque, NM camp and set up shop in Florida to prepare for newly crowned champ Jon Jones. Thought to be heading down to middleweight should Jones win the belt, Evans had a change of heart when “Bones” announced he’d fight his then teammate on national television.

Check out the full rankings.

Jon Jones is tired of being asked about training partner Rashad Evans and instead wants to concentrate on his upcoming light heavyweight title bout with Mauricio “Shogun” Rua at UFC 128.

From HeavyMMA.com:

Jon Jones is fed up with answering questions about Rashad Evans.

Heading into the biggest fight of his life against Mauricio “Shogun” Rua in the UFC 128 main event, Jon Jones is done answering questions about training partner Rashad Evans.

Evans was originally scheduled to face Rua on the March 19 event in Newark, N.J., but was forced out of the light heavyweight title bout due to a knee injury. Jones replaced him as Rua’s opponent.

Jones has been asked countless times about Evans and if they’d fight each other leading up to next weekend’s match up, and he’s done discussing it.

“I want to make it clear to other reporters that I absolutely hate when people mention Rashad Evans, especially throughout this training camp,” Jones said on Wednesday.

“He’s a friend of mine, but I’m fighting Mauricio ‘Shogun,’ one of the best fighters that’s been around for a long time. For people to even be mentioning Rashad Evans right now I think is ludicrous.

“Rashad is not in my mind. He’s not in my being. He has absolutely zero to do with my heart and who I am right now,” added Jones.

Read the full article.

From HeavyMMA.com:

A long-awaited light heavyweight title fight between Mauricio “Shogun” Rua and Rashad Evans will now headline a UFC event on March 19 in Newark, New Jersey.

Currently titled UFC 129, the event could eventually become UFC 128 due to the cancellation of a planned event in Abu Dhabi on March 12. Officials were not able to secure a venue for the planned Middle East event.

A featherweight bout between Chad Mendes and Michihiro Omigawa is also planned for the event. Sources close to the UFC confirmed both bouts with Heavy.com on Wednesday. Sportsnet.ca first reported the rescheduling on Tuesday.

The co-main event will feature light heavyweight veteran Tito Ortiz taking on Antonio Rogerio Nogueira. In addition, Kurt Pellegrino also announced via Twitter on Wednesday that he’ll be taking on Gleison Tibau during the event.

Check out more MMA headlines.

The long-awaited fight between Quinton “Rampage” Jackson and Rashad Evans finally takes place tonight, as the main event of UFC 114 from the MGM Grand in Las Vegas. Here are my picks for that bout and the other four fights on tonight’s PPV card.

UFC Light Heavyweight Bout – Quinton Jackson (30-7) vs. Rashad Evans (19-1-1) – This fight should be exciting as both clearly dislike each other. I think the key to victory will be for Jackson to use his size on Evans and for Evans to use his quickness and wrestling on Jackson. In the end, I like Evans to utilize his hand speed and mix in more wrestling to keep Jackson off guard. Look for Evans to also utilize leg kicks, which Jackson has shown he can’t defend. I am going with Evans to win by decision in a tough fight.

UFC Middleweight Bout – Michael Bisping (19-3) vs. Dan Miller (11-3) – Bisping is hungry for a strong showing after his tough decision loss to Wanderlei Silva. Miller is a game fighter that will keep Bisping on his toes, but Bisping has too much talent and big-fight experience for Miller. Look for the Brit to win by TKO in the second or third round.
UFC Heavyweight Bout – Todd Duffee (6-0) vs. Mike Russow (12-1) – Duffee has been an explosive monster in his MMA career, as he is 6-0 with six KO’s. Russow has the experience edge and will be the better grappler, but the fight always starts on the feet, where Duffee has a clear edge. Look for Russow to push Duffee a little bit before Duffee lands the big punch and scores a TKO late in round one.

Read the rest of this entry »

With the much-anticipated fight between Rampage Jackson and Rashad Evans taking place next Saturday, I decided to look back and think of other fights that had this much animosity between the two competitors. Here is my list of top five rivalries in the UFC since the Zuffa inception:

1. Tito Ortiz and Ken Shamrock – While the fights were pretty lopsided, you could always feel the heat and rage between these two. Tito was a showboat and Ken was mister intensity. They never really had a chance to be friends. The first fight really did a lot to help the UFC land a network television deal and bring more attention to the sport. Then, the two added to their rivalry with their coaching appearance on The Ultimate Fighter Season 3. Too bad for Ken he lost all three fights to Ortiz, but the rivalry was still classic.

2. Matt Hughes and Matt Serra – This rivalry is about two guys that want to be the Alpha Male. Serra is always playing the disrespect card and Hughes is an honest jerk. Hughes dominated the UFC Welterweight division for years and had no problems talking about how inferior his opponents were while Serra shocked the world a few years ago and Hughes called his title reign a “fluke”. These two also coached opposite one another in The Ultimate Fighter Season Six, which led to a fight at UFC 98 that Hughes narrowly pulled out. Still to this day, Serra has preached for a rematch and still proclaims his dislike for the future Hall of Famer.

Read the rest of this entry »