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.

UFC on FOX 2 Results (Courtesy of MMAMania.com)

United Center – Chicago, Illinois

January 28, 2012

Rashad Evans defeats Phil Davis via unanimous decision

Chael Sonnen defeats Michael Bisping via Unanimous Decision

Chris Weidman defeats Demian Maia via Split Decision

Evan Dunham def. Nik Lentz via TKO (doctor’s stoppage) at 5:00 of round two

Mike Russow def. Jon Olav Einemo via unanimous decision

Cub Swanson def. George Roop via TKO (punches) at 2:22 of round two

Charles Oliveira def. Eric Wisely via submission (kneebar) at 1:43 of round one

Michael Johnson def. Shane Roller via unanimous decision

Lavar Johnson def. Joey Beltran via KO at 4:24 of round one

Chris Camozzi def. Dustin Jacoby via submission (guillotine) at 1:08 of round three

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.

UFC 140 Results

Air Canada Center – Toronto

Jon Jones defeats Lyoto Machida via Submission (Guillotine Choke) at 4:26 of Round 2

Frank Mir defeats Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira via Submission (Kimura) at 3:38 of Round 1

Antonio Rogerio Nogueira defeats Tito Ortiz via TKO (Strikes) at 3:15 of Round 1

Brian Ebersole defeats Claude Patrick via Split Decision

Chan Sung Jung defeats Mark Hominick via TKO (Strikes) at 0:07 of Round 1

Igor Pokrajac def Krzysztof Soszynski via KO (punches) at 0:35 of round one

Constantinos Philippou def Jared Hamman via TKO (strikes) at 3:11 of round one

Dennis Hallman def John Makdessi via submission (rear-naked choke) at 2:58 of round one

Yves Jabouin def Walel Watson via split decision

Mark Bocek def Nik Lentz via unanimous decision

Jake Hecht def Rich Attonito via TKO (strikes) at 1:10 of round two

John Cholish def Mitch Clarke via TKO (strikes) at 4:36 of round two

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.

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.

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 main event of UFC 115 next weekend would have been one of the biggest fights ever five years ago. Former champions Rich Franklin and Chuck Liddell will meet in a fight where in all reality, the loser should retire. The winner won’t have much of anywhere to move up the ladder and the loser will really only deserve to be on a PPV undercard.

It is amazing how quickly things have changed in MMA and looking back just five years ago to see who the UFC champions were and where they are now. On June 4, 2005, the UFC held UFC 53: Heavy Hitters where Franklin won the middleweight title over Evan Tanner. As of that show, here is a look at who the UFC champions were and how their careers have quickly headed south.

Heavyweight Champion – Andrei Arlovski: At UFC 53, Arlovski defended his title for the first time defeating the late Justin Eilers by TKO in the first round after Eilers blew his knee out. It was Arlovski’s fifth-straight win at the time, all of which were by stoppage. Arlovski followed that win with a one-punch KO of Paul Buentello at UFC 55 and was largely considered the most dominant champion in the organization. However, a bizarre loss to Tim Sylvia at UFC 59, in which Arlovski has Sylvia beat but then was caught with as straight jab that led to a TKO loss, started the downfall of his career. Another loss to Syliva led to a five-fight winning streak, but the fighter was never quite the same. He lost his aggression and confidence and has since lost three-straight fights and is almost an afterthought in MMA. His most recent fight was a decision loss to Antonio Silva, which was a sad performance where he never showed the aggression that made him the dominant champion of five years ago.

Light-Heavyweight Champion – Chuck Liddell: At UFC 53, Liddell was prepping for his first title defense after winning the title for the first time at UFC 52 by beating Randy Couture. Liddell would successfully defend his title four times, winning by KO in all four fights and emerging as a dominant champion. Many thought Liddell was unbeatable because he couldn’t be taken down and his punching power was greater than anyone’s. But, as striking evolved, Liddell did not. His career began its amazing downfall at UFC 71 when Quinton Jackson knocked him out in less than two minutes. That was followed by a loss to Keith Jardine where he came up short on the striking game. A decision win over Wanderlei Silva gave him some hope to return to title contention, but back-to-back KO losses to Rashad Evans and Mauricio Rua have shown that Liddell can’t keep up with the prime fighters of today. Once considered the most explosive finisher in all of the UFC, Liddell hasn’t had a KO win since Dec. 30, 2006.

Middleweight Champion – Rich Franklin: Franklin was young and a rising star when he won the title at UFC 53 over Tanner by TKO. He followed up the title win with two dominant title defenses before running into Anderson Silva at UFC 64, where he was dismantled in a shocking display. Franklin sprinkled in wins over mediocre fighters like Jason MacDonald, Yushin Okami, Travis Lutter, and Matt Hamill, but was again dominated by Silva in a title rematch and also lost a close decision to Dan Henderson. Franklin defeated Wanderlei Silva last June, but was KO’d in the first round by Vitor Belfort back at UFC 103. Clearly out of the title picture in any weight class, Franklin has proven he is good enough to defeat the mid-level fighters, but doesn’t have what it takes to beat the elite, leaving him floating around in shark-infested waters.

Welterweight Champion – Matt Hughes: Just recently inducted into the UFC Hall of Fame, Hughes has long been called the most dominant welterweight champion in UFC history. As of UFC 53, Hughes had just defended his title against Frank Trigg at UFC 52 and would go on to win his next three fights before running into the younger and more-talented Georges St. Pierre at UFC 65. Hughes was one of the best wrestlers in MMA during his reign, but his boxing ability was sub-par to say the least. As fighters became well-rounded, Hughes became a sitting duck. St. Pierre destroyed him on their feet to take his belt and a rematch a year later went even worse as GSP out-wrestled the wrestler and made him scream “I Quit” to an armbar. That was followed up with another KO loss, this time to Thiago Alves. Since, Hughes has tried to avoid younger opponents, knowing he can’t hang with them anymore. He has since won two fights over elder fighters like Matt Serra and Renzo Gracie, but it is clear that Hughes will never contend for the title he held for so long, again.

Lightweight Champion – Vacant – Next Champion – Sean Sherk at UFC 64: A lightweight champion wasn’t crowned in the UFC until UFC 64 when Sherk defeated Kenny Florida in a wrestling display. Sherk had one title defense before testing positive for steroids and being stripped of the title. Since then, Sherk has lost two of his last three fights. Like Hughes, Sherk is a dominant wrestler, but his striking game could use work and caused him to lose to quicker-handed B.J. Penn and Frankie Edgar. With his prime behind him, Sherk’s career is at a standstill.

The big trend to all of these fighters is that many of them were very one dimensional where today’s fighters are skilled in all major areas. It will be interesting to see in five years where today’s champions careers are headed.

Photo from fOTOGLIF
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