:iagree:

wow machida dropped out of the fight now its vitor belfort? i would have thought they would have gone back to sonnen due to the hype from yesterday


but yeah vitor is atleast a fresh fight.. vitor still has the power so who knows

This whole thing is one big mess. I think this could in the long run be a very bad business move from Bones & Greg Jackson. Dana already was not a big fan of Jackson and this is just going to make him even less of a fan. Dana can be vendictive. I would not be suprised if Dana makes it harder for upcoming lower level fighter out of the Jackson camp to get into the UFC and current Jackson fighters could get cut without as many chances some one in good graces would. Ultimelty it can detract from new fighters selecting his gym over others.

Yeah I thought the same, but it is what it is.

I don't know if it will go that far, but things will get harder for Jones specifically. He's getting no favors from Dana White

Probably true but Dana does have a hard time taking his emotions and personal feelings out of his decision making process. If there are two up and comers looking for a spot on an undercard I could see him picking the fighter with a camp that he has a better relationship with.

I guess maybe. I think in that situation though, I think they look at the marketability of the potential fights and try to look at which might be the most exciting fight. You gotta remember that money is usually the first priority for him and he's really good at making it.

So a lot of craziness going on with UFC 153. Koch got injured, so they put Edgar in against Aldo. Then both Aldo and Rampage get injured. Aldo fight gets scrapped, and Maldonado will now be fighting Texeira. Big Nog has agreed to take on Dave Herman. The weirdest of all was Anderson Silva stepping up to save the card by fighting Stephan Bonnar at LHW. This decision just confuses the hell out of me. Makes no sense whatsoever. They should have just put Silva in againt Glover and that would have been an amazing fight. Bonnar is way overmatched and is going to get killed. The only good thing about this fight is that it makes Bonnar a common opponent between Silva and Jon Jones. Of course Jones has improved much since he fought Bonnar, so it doesn't really mean much.

I agree that it should be one-sided.

However, I like that these guys are going at it. While Spider is the superior fighter, there is simply no such thing as a boring Stephan Bonner fight. The guy gives it his all, his whole heart, every time he steps into the octagon. If he's not knocked out in the first seven seconds, this could be a fun one to watch. Or, it could be a replay of Silva-Griffin lololol

Yeah and will at least keep the fight exciting. I think Glover vs Silva would have been better. I just hope we don't see Bonnar run out the octagon crying like Griffin did :icon17:

For the lolz

Here we go!!

Will Silva go 16-0 in the UFC

Well that went as expected... unstoppable Silva

Haven't finished watching all the fights yet (was out of town doing family stuff all weekend), but I have seen the 2 fights I was most looking forward to.

Anderson Silva kicked azz just like we all expected. It's just ridiculous watching him do what he does in the octagon. He makes it seem so easy and effortless. He can literally end the fight at any single moment of his choosing and that's exactly what he did against Bonnar. While it may not be a completely fair assessment, it is interesting to compare how Silva and Jones have done against common opponents. Silva quickly finished Belfort in the first round, but it took Jones till the 4th to finish it and he was almost upset in the first. Silva became the first person to finish Bonnar and with a knee to the body on top of that. When Jones fought Bonnar, he wasn't anywhere near as good as he is now but still that fight went to a decision.

I like what I saw from Glover Teixeira. He was dominant in his fight and I'm eager to see him fight Rampage after calling him out in the post fight interview. If any LHW has a chance to beat Jones it's either Gustaffson or Teixeira. Having those 2 fight each other wouldn't be a bad way to decide the #1 contender in the future.

Also, Maldonado showed a ridiculous amount of toughness and heart in that fight. I can't believe he didn't get knocked out after all those big hits. Kept fighting back and had to have the doctor stop the fight. Too bad he was clearly outmatched against Teixeira.

:iagree: bang on assessment

I still want to see Silva vs Jones, but I doubt it will ever happen. I think that article on Yahoo was pretty accurate in calling this fight the Mayweather-Pacquiao of MMA.

No big shock to me that Silva won. The boy is just a beast. I wonder if anyone beats him before he gets tired of it all and retires.

He did make a comment about fighting for another 5 years. I don't think it will happen unless he fights Jones or pulls a Chuck Liddell fighting way after he should have stopped. Wouldn't want him to end his career like Fedor did either.

That to me is the super fight. Not Silva vs. GSP. GSP would be giving up too much size for it to be a fair fight.

I think they would do Silva vs. Jones if/when Silva is ready to retire and/or Jones has cleared out the LH division and is ready to move to HW.

The longer they wait, the more it favors Jones. Had they done it sooner, he would have been too green. As years go by, Jones will still be in his prime as Silva reaches "too old".


GSP vs. Silva would have been epic a few years ago. Pretty sure GSP gets the Canadian kicked out of him if they fight.

I don't think Silva vs Jones will be quite as exciting as everyone expects though (doesn't mean I don't want to see it). I see it playing out like Jones' last fight with Belfort. He's smart so he's going to immediately go for the takedown. Jones' elbows on the ground will be a lot more devastating than Sonnen's punches. Silva might have to pull out another miracle submission for the win. I think Jones would be too scared to try and keep the fight standing up.

Jones' last defeat was a classic case of his bad strategies, though. Masterful job of Matt Hammill, baiting Jones into the 12-6 elbows.

:roflpuke2::roflpuke2::roflpuke2:

:bowrofl: :bowrofl: :bowrofl:

The UFC/Zuffa have a lot of money riding on Jones. Had they done Silva vs. Jones earlier, they would have lost a lot of PPV money no matter who lost. If they do it like I am thinking, if Jones loses to Silva, who cares, he cleared out the LH division, now move to HW and dominate there. If Silva loses, he retires with his only real loss to a much younger guy.

If Silva wins, he can retire and Zuffa sets up a fight for interim champ... Everyone is making $$$$$$$

I agree with GSP getting the Canadian beaten out of him vs. Silva. It's just not an interesting fight to me.

I'd still love to see GSP vs Silva. I agree that maybe Silva vs Jones should be done when Jones is ready to move up and Silva is ready to retire. If Silva loses though, I'm pretty sure he will be motivated to come back for one more fight at least so he can go out with a victory. Don't think after 16 wins in a row he will just decide it's over after his first loss in over 6 years.

But how bad will it be? Will he be like Randy Couture and put up a decent showing into his 40's, or will he be like Punch-drunk Liddell and have the large KO button around his chin? I guess we won't know until it happens, but I hope he doesn't go out like a b*tch.

:iagree:

Breaking news! It looks like Jon Jones and Chael Sonnen will be coaching the next season of TUF! They're set to fight on April 27, 2013. Good move business wise for the UFC to cash in on this rivalry now. I don't think Sonnen deserves the shot though, especially as his first LHW fight and after just losing to Silva. They could have easily put Hendo in as the coach opposite Jones. :shakes head:

The one interesting thing to see in that fight will be if Sonnen can take Jones down and how Jones fights off his back. Sonnen is smart enough to know that's his only chance to win and he will not hesitate in going for it as soon as the bell rings. Other than that, Jones will easily pick him apart with his striking and range.

Sonnen will get pwned, but having his knack for drama will be great on TUF.

I thought Sonnen was supposed to fight Forest Griffin. Did that get scrapped?

:iagree:

That will boost the ratings for sure. Hopefully the fight will be more satisfying than Rampage vs Evans. I think we'll get a similar level of hype if not more for this season.

Apparently.


I know ESPN sucks when it comes to MMA news, but here you go:
Jon Jones to defend UFC belt vs. Chael Sonnen on April 27 - ESPN

I don't understand why Sonnen gets a shot at the Light Heavyweight (LH) title..He lost his last fight, and hasn't fought at LH..

Silva never fought for the LH belt and now says he's done moving up to LH. Don't get me wrong, I think Sonnen is a good fighter, but shouldn't he have to win a couple at LH to deserve a shot? I know Bones has pretty much beat the entire class, but still...

he gets his title shot because he sells PPV and can hype a fight like no other. he is an annual legit contender @ 185 sure and while i think he needs atleast one if not two LH wins before its a legitimate title fight but its not that much different that vitor getting a shot only besides the fact that sonnen is a lot bigger draw. i sort of cant argue with the booking. look it might not be the ideal #1 contender but the fan in me would rather see it over any of the jones vs XXXX rematches that would be the alternative

if you go soley by the rankings then no he needs to earn a place at 205 but you know all you guys got a little excited when you read the fight was going to happen more so than if you would have read machida or whoever.. its a sport of its also a business and a bit of entertainment and that fight to me is interesting and im looking foward to it.. no i dont think chael will win but i sitll want to see what happens

plus he is going to torment jones on TUF might even make me watch the show instead of tuning in to catch the tail end of the fight the last 5 mins

and also i think jones laying off and taking the coaching gig until april might serve a purpose to let his bicep heal

:iagree: but I also wouldn't mind seeing Jones vs. Machida 2. I think Lyoto could beat him.

Another thing you have to consider is that there aren't many people willing to take a fight with Jones right now. The fact that Sonnen was the only one to man up and be willing to do it had a lot to do with making this fight. I think they should have given Hendo his rightful shot at Jones and let Sonnen at least go through with the Griffin fight first.

Anyone who has a chance to beat Jones isn't gonna be afraid of him and has to be the aggressor in the fight. That's something that Sonnen will probably do that others won't. It was the same with Belfort and it almost worked. Jones was smart to take down Belfort in the beginning of the fight, because I don't think he would have survived Belfort's bull rush of striking.

:iagree: 100%

I think Shogun could beat Jones if he's in top shape and comes in with the right strategy. Shogun needs to show up in the best shape of his life and not look flabby on fight day. If he can be aggressive with his leg kicks like he was in the first fight against Machida, he can pretty much eliminate Jones' reach advantage. Jones has skinny legs and a couple of hard leg kicks from Shogun should really slow him down.

Problem is that Shogun keeps showing up to fights out of shape and gasses way to early. Part of that obviously is because of all the damage his body has taken over the years, but he has to find a way to overcome that.

Yes! I'm surprised more guys don't use leg kicks, especially after seeing what Aldo did to Faber. His leg kicks took away Faber's power, big time.

:iagree: Leg kicks would take away his speed, range, and some of the creative striking. Would also take away from his takedown offense/defense. Seems like the perfect strategy, but no one has even tried it. Everyone just gets overwhelmed by his striking very early in the fight.

So it looks like the UFC wanted to put Jones vs Hendo fight on the Super Bowl show, but Jones won't be ready to come back till April. Don't know why they didn't just put that same fight on 2 months later.

And the trash talking begins!
Chael Sonnen: Fighters on Team Jon Jones Will Learn How to Be Selfish Entitled Brats | MMAWeekly.com