Tag: Jon Jones (Page 3 of 5)

UFC 128 Picks and Predictions

UFC 128 takes place Saturday night from the Prudential Center in Newark, New Jersey and the main event is a battle for the UFC Light Heavyweight Championship with Mauricio “Shogun” Rua taking on Jon Jones. The card is filled with exciting fights and interesting storylines, so here is a look at who I like to prevail in the five main-card bouts.

UFC Light Heavyweight Championship: Mauricio “Shogun” Rua (19-4) vs. Jon Jones (12-1) – This fight is tough to call. Jones seems like he is an unstoppable force coming in, and is actually favored by oddsmakers. However, this is the biggest fight of his life on the biggest stage and that could affect him mentally. Shogun has looked good in his wins over Lyoto Machida, but he has been off for 10 months because of a knee injury and his last time fighting off an injury, he looked less than impressive. Shogun will show Jones something he hasn’t seen yet, but I think Jones will return the favor. I think the key to this bout is Jones’ wrestling and I see him controlling Shogun in the early rounds before finishing with ground and pound in the third round.

UFC Bantamweight Bout: Urijah Faber (24-4) vs. Eddie Wineland (18-6-1) – Both fighters were former WEC champions and are now making their UFC debuts. Faber likely earns a title fight with a win and coming in he is clearly the better fighter in terms of all-around skills. I see Faber using his quickness and hand speed to set the tone early and then moving to his grappling and submission fighting late in round two to seal the deal. I like Faber by choke in the second.

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Jon Jones is done talking about Rashad, wants to focus on Shogun

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.

MMA Pound for Pound Rankings: March 2011

Did Jon Fitch’s performance at UFC 127 drop him in HeavyMMA.com’s latest pound for pound rankings?

1. Anderson Silva
Silva’s playing the waiting game at the moment and won’t have any idea what his future holds until after UFC 129 at the end of April. It might be a few months after that before Silva’s next opponent is even decided, because Georges St. Pierre certainly doesn’t sound too sure about moving up to middleweight any more. Either way, a win by St. Pierre will determine what is next for the reigning middleweight champion.

2. Georges St. Pierre
The Canadian is in the midst of his training camp for UFC 129, putting all of his focus on training for his title defense against Jake Shields. He’ll walk into the cage on that night as a national hero in front of the biggest live crowd in North American mixed martial arts history, but there’s a good chance he loses that fight. Shields is no joke.

3. Jose Aldo
Aldo finally makes the first defense of his UFC featherweight title at UFC 129 against Mark Hominick. Few give Hominick a chance – and for good reason – but the Canadian can probably match Aldo in the striking department. Everything else will probably give him some trouble.

Check out the full rankings.

Chuck Liddell hosts UFC 128 Q&A session

MMA Hall of Famer Chuck Liddell will host the UFC 128 UFC Fight Club Q&A session on March 18 according to HeavyMMA.com.

The weigh-ins for “UFC 128: Shogun vs. Jones” takes place on Friday, March 18 at the Prudential Center in Newark, New Jersey.

Prior to the official weigh-ins, former UFC light heavyweight titleholder Chuck Liddell will host a special Q&A for UFC Fight Club members.

UFC champions Frankie Edgar and Dominick Cruz will be signing autographs along with TUF 1 finalist Stephan Bonnar.

The Q&A begins at 2 p.m. ET. The doors will open to UFC Fight Club members at 1 p.m. ET. The weigh-ins will begin at 4 p.m. ET with the door opening for the general public at 3 p.m. ET.

You can watch the live UFC 128 weigh-in video stream here at Heavy.com.

UFC 128 is headlined by the UFC light heavyweight title bout between champion Mauricio “Shogun” Rua and Jon Jones.

Read more MMA headlines.

Pound-for-Pound MMA Rankings for February 2011

Anderson Silva is back on top of HeavyMMA.com’s pound-for-pound rankings for February 2011.

1. Anderson Silva
Jeremy Botter: Can there be any doubt? Silva’s lightning-quick destruction of Vitor Belfort cements his place as the greatest fighter walking the planet today, and perhaps the greatest fighter of all time. A proposed dream match with Georges St. Pierre is nearly a reality, with only Jake Shields standing in the way.

Jeff Cain: With his UFC 126 knockout of Vitor Belfort, Anderson ends the debate over who is the pound for pound best in the world. He’s on a 14 fight win streak, undefeated in the UFC and has cleared out the middleweight division. We are witnessing the greatest fighter of all time in Silva.

Matt Brown: I’ll be the first to admit, I was on the Aldo bandwagon. Take nothing away from the fast-rising prospect, but Anderson Silva is in a class by himself. In my opinion, he’s three or four more wins away from going down as the greatest fighter that has ever lived – in any combat sport.

Check out the rest of the list.

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