Jon Jones added another former UFC champion to his list of victories on Saturday, as he defeated Rashad Evans by unanimous decision to retain his UFC light heavyweight championship at UFC 145.

Evans seemed to be the only man in the 205-pound division to pose a threat to Jones, as Evans was a former teammate of Jones, and Evans seemed to have the speed to present a problem for the champ.

However, Jones didn’t struggle much, as he used his kicks, knees, and elbows to control the spacing and pacing of the fight. Evans landed a few big strikes, but never seemed to be comfortable in the bout. Jones bruised up Evans’ face and earned all five rounds on one scorecard and four of the five rounds on the other two.

With another easy win for Jones, the question is, who is left in the division? Dan Henderson is expected to get the next shot, but he doesn’t seem to have the skills that would really be a problem for Jones.

A dream bout with Anderson Silva would seem very intriguing for the UFC, and also a possible move to heavyweight could be in the cards sometime soon. Jones is already walking around at 230 pounds, and UFC heavyweight champion, Junior dos Santos, isn’t much bigger.

Jones appears to possess the skills and composure to transcend divisions and become a true all-time great.

Speaking of all-time greats, welterweight Rory MacDonald appears to be in the early stages of that path. At 22, MacDonald has already picked up impressive wins and he added another on Saturday, beating Che Mills by TKO in the second round.

MacDonald unleashed a vicious array of ground-and-pound on Mills that left him a bloody mess. MacDonald may have the best ground striking in MMA and he continues to improve with each fight.

MacDonald trains with current champion, Georges St. Pierre, and has a similar build and style to the champ. MacDonald was just a few seconds away from earning a decision win over current interim champ, Carlos Condit. Condit earned a late TKO after MacDonald had out-grappled him for three rounds a few years ago.

It is hard to know just where MacDonald is in the welterweight rankings, but he seems to be in the discussion for top 5.

For complete results from UFC 145, check out the jump.

Read the rest of this entry »

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.