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 »

According to Spike TV officials, the main card of “UFC Fight Night: Ortiz vs. Nogueira,” which is official for Seattle, is set to broadcast live on March 26.

From HeavyMMA.com:

Now that all bouts have been made official for “UFC Fight Night: Ortiz vs. Nogueira,” Spike TV officials have announced which four fights will be broadcast live this March.

Though no fight order has been set for the three fights leading up to the main event of the show, a featherweight rematch between Nam Phan and Leonard Garcia will be featured on the main card, while Dan Hardy vs. Anthony Johnson and Duane Ludwig vs. Amir Sadollah will be as well. The headliner between light heavyweights Tito Ortiz and Antonio Rogerio Nogueira will cap off the evening’s action.

Read the full article.

HeavyMMA.com is reporting that three bouts, including Tito Ortiz vs. Antonio Rogerio Nogueira and Dan Hardy vs. Anthony Johnson, are official for UFC Fight Night 24 in Seattle on March 29.

The UFC recently announced that Seattle, Washington would play host to the upcoming “UFC Fight Night 24: Ortiz vs. Nogueira” and today the promotion announced three fights that will be featured on the card.

In the main event of the evening, former light heavyweight champion Tito Ortiz looks for a victory and job security against Antonio Rogerio Nogueira, while former welterweight top contender Dan Hardy seeks redemption against Anthony Johnson in the evening’s co-main event. In the third official bout of the evening, “Ultimate Fighter” winner Amir Sadollah is set to face off against Duane Ludwig in a match up that will likely make the main card on March 29.

With three fights announced, focus seems to remain on Ortiz, who has struggled in recent years. UFC President Dana White is one of the many who has noticed and says that Ortiz’s time in the Octagon could be over depending on the result of the March fight.

Read the full article.

Jeremy Botter of HeavyMMA.com writes that a light-heavyweight bout between Antonio Rogerio Nogueira and Tito Ortiz will go down at UFC Fight Night 24 now instead of UFC 128 like it was originally scheduled.

The event is expected to take place March 26 in Seattle. The news was first reported on Tuesday by MMA Junkie.

Fight Night 24 will air on Spike TV. It will be the UFC’s first trip to Washington, and will likely take place at the KeyArena.

Ortiz teased the possibility of the fight on Monday night via his official Twitter account. “Big news,” he said. “I’m not fighting in New Jersey. But I am still fighting ‘Lil Nog’ in March.”

Ortiz is winless in his past five fights and has not scored a win in more than four years. Nogueira, meanwhile, is coming off a tough loss to Ryan Bader at UFC 119 in September.

Read more MMA headlines.

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.

Despite losing five straight fights, Jeremy Botter of HeavyMMA.com writes that Tito Ortiz will get another shot at staying in the UFC.

UFC President Dana White confirmed today that Ortiz will face Antonio Rogerio Nogueira. White said he considered cutting Ortiz following his loss to Matt Hamill, but Ortiz convinced his boss to give him one more shot.

“I thought I was going to cut him,” White said. “I talked to Tito. He came up to me and we had a conversation. Tito said ‘I’m not done. I feel healthy and I feel good.’ And he asked for one last chance, so I’m going to do it.”

White did say that the Nogueira bout would be Ortiz’s last chance at remaining with the promotion.
“I’m not the evil bastard everyone thinks I am,” White said. “But it’s definitely his last chance. And he knows that, too.”

Ortiz has not won a fight since an October 2006 victory over Ken Shamrock. The Nogueira fight is expected to take place in March, likely in the promotion’s return to Abu Dhabi.

Check out more MMA headlines.

UFC 121: Lesnar vs. Velasquez takes place Saturday night from the Honda Center in Anaheim, Calif. featuring a monumental main event for the UFC Heavyweight Championship. Here is my take on the card and who will win the main card bouts.

UFC Heavyweight Championship – Brock Lesnar (5-1) vs. Cain Velasquez (8-0): This is the biggest heavyweight bout the UFC could put together right now and Velasquez has a great chance to win the belt. The key will be for him to be able to stop the takedown attempts and keep the fight standing, where he has better striking and faster hands. Lesnar showed that he can be hurt in his last fight against Shane Carwin, but I think Velasquez has the endurance to see the victory through.

UFC Welterweight Bout – Jake Shields (25-4-1) vs. Martin Kampmann (17-3): Shields is making his UFC debut and many are penciling him in as the next to challenge Georges St. Pierre for the welterweight title, but I actually like Kampmann in an upset here as he has an all-around and aggressive style that can give Shields problems. Kampmann has only lost to strikers in his career, and Shields is far from an elite striker. I like Kampmann to win by decision in this one.

UFC Welterweight Bout – Diego Sanchez (23-4) vs. Paulo Thiago (13-2): Thiago has beaten some solid contenders in the welterweight division, but he has struggled with superior grapplers, losing to Jon Fitch and Kampmann. Sanchez got dominated in his last two fights and is desperate for a win, and I think he will come out motivated and looking to control the fight from the start with his pacing and wrestling. I like Sanchez to squeak out a decision against Thiago.

UFC Light Heavyweight Bout – Tito Ortiz (16-7-1) vs. Matt Hamill (10-2): Ortiz hasn’t won a fight since 2006 and while Hamill is lacking in some key areas, I think he has a better all-around game than Ortiz, who is pretty one dimensional with wrestling as his strength. Look for Hamill to move around and work kicks before scoring some late takedowns to get a decision win over Ortiz.

UFC Heavyweight Bout – Brendan Schaub (7-1) vs. Gabriel Gonzaga (11-5): Schaub has a lot of promise and is an up-and-comer while Gonzaga is still holding on to a little bit of relevance, but has lost four of his last seven fights, with all of the losses coming by TKO. Schaub has won his last two fights by quick KO, so this fight should have plenty of fireworks. Look for Schaub to get the win as he has the quicker hands and is the better technical striker.

Jeremy Botter of HeavyMMA.com is reporting that UFC 121 has been finalized and the fight card will feature 11 fights.

UFC officials confirmed the complete lineup this morning. The event, headlined by a heavyweight title clash between Brock Lesnar and Cain Velasquez, takes place Oct. 23 at the Honda Center in Anaheim, Ca.The co-headlining feature will see Jake Shields make his UFC debut against Martin Kampmann.

In addition to the already-announced main card bouts, UFC officials finalized six preliminary card bouts, including two that will be televised on Spike TV.

In the headlining Spike TV bout, TUF 11 winner Court McGee will make his return to the Octagon to take on Ryan Jensen. McGee defeated Kris McCray in June to capture the TUF 11 championship. Jensen is coming off a 1-minute submission victory over Jesse Forbes at UFC 114.

Two more TUF veterans will meet when Patrick Cote and Tom Lawlor face off in the first Spike-televised bout. Both fighters will attempt to break two-fight losing streaks, and the loser of this fight is likely to be released from his UFC contract.

Four non-televised bouts were also announced for the preliminary card: Mike Guymon vs. Daniel Roberts, Sam Stout vs. Paul Taylor, Chris Camozzi vs. Dongi Yang and Jon Madsen vs. Gilbert Yvel.

Get more MMA news here.

The guys at Heavy.com are reporting that Tito Ortiz will battle Matt Hamill at UFC 121.

Tito Ortiz will face protege Matt Hamill at UFC 121 in Anaheim, Ca.

MMAFighting.com was the first to report the possibility of the bout on Thursday, and Heavy.com confirmed the bout with sources close to the event on Thursday afternoon.

Ortiz last entered the Octagon against Forrest Griffin last November, where he lost via decision. He has not won a fight since Oct. 2006. The former light heavyweight champion was scheduled to face Chuck Liddell at the end of the 11th season of The Ultimate Fighter, but a neck injury forced him to withdraw from the bout and undergo surgery.

Hamill faced Keith Jardine in June, earning a majority decision. Ortiz is something of a mentor to Hamill, having coached him on The Ultimate Fighter. The pair remained close after the show concluded.

UFC 121 is headlined by a heavyweight title clash between Brock Lesnar and Cain Velasquez.

For more MMA news, including future fight matchups and interviews with fighters, check out Heavy.com.