Tag Archives: UFC 128

Is PRIDE Finally Dying?

For years, PRIDE Fighting Championships was the biggest MMA organization in Japan. Building its popularity off of tournaments, open-weight “freak show” fights, and some of the biggest names in MMA putting on exciting shows for their fans from all over the world. Just as with the UFC today, for years, if you didn’t fight in PRIDE, you didn’t get any recognition. 

The Future is Now: How Jon Jones Changes the Game

Jon Jones arrived in the UFC a 20-year-old kid, that nobody knew.  Three years later, he stands at the top of the mountain, a champion, an icon and a once in a lifetime talent.  Jon Jones is years ahead of schedule.  People spoke of a torch passing, instead, it was a torch mugging and the old guard of MMA should be on high alert.

Three years ago the average age of the UFC Champions was over 31.  Now, three years later, the average age of UFC Champions is 27.  It is proof positive that we are in the midst of a recycling of talent in our sport.  Jon Jones and Jose Aldo lead the way being 23-year-old champions.  The only title holder over 30 is Anderson Silva.  The MMA times, they are a changing.

In Case You Missed it! Check Ed Lover Talking MMA

Remember Yo! MTV Raps with Doctor Dre, Ed Lover and Fab Five Freddy? Well Ed Lover is doing YouTube Video’s titles “C’Mon Son” and last week he did a special edition video on UFC 128 and the Form Athletics fighters, Jon Jones, Urijah Faber and Anthony Pettis.

MMAValor Presents: TWICBS for March 25th 2011

This weeks episode of This Week in Combat Sports recaps last weekends UFC 128 along with a look ahead at Saturdays UFN 24.

Check out The Highs and Lows from UFC 128

As the dust begins to settle from this weekend and we begin to look forward to UFC Fight Night 24, let’s take one last glance back at UFC 128. Through a night full of great fights, some things always stand out more than others; some good and some bad. Let’s take a look at some highs and some lows from Saturdays UFC 128.

Highs:

The first thing that stands out on the night is Jon “Bones” Jones’ destruction of Mauricio “Shogun” Rua and the crowning of a new Light Heavyweight Champion. For two and a half rounds, Jones imposed his will, pounded on Shogun and seemingly broke his will to fight. Jones was 3-for-3 on takedowns, stayed busy with ground and pound in Rua’s guard and attacked Rua like he’s never been attacked before. Jones used his massive reach, along with his flashy techniques, greatly to his advantage,  showing that he truly is a new breed of MMA fighter and plans to hold onto the belt for a long time.

Another encouraging statistic is the former WEC fighters, Anthony Njokuani, and Eric Koch walking away with post fight bonuses. Edson Barboza and Njokuani fought to a decision, and each earned the $70,000 Fight of the Night bonus. Koch’s first round dismantlement of Raphael Assuncao earned him Knockout of the Night, along with Brendan Schaub. All of the former WEC fighters came in and put on great fights and proved what many people said back when the WEC/UFC merger was first announced: “the WEC guys are going to come in and steal all the bonuses.”

One final high point comes in the form of Jim Miller’s seventh consecutive UFC victory. For two rounds, Miller out struck and out worked Kamal Shalorus. Between rounds two and three, Miller’s coach told him, “he’s tired, you’re not. Go out there and finish this fight.” At 2:15 of the third round, Jim Miller did exactly what his coach told him and finished the fight. Since losing to Gray Maynard in 2009, Miller has flown under the radar while stacking up wins and has begun campaigning for a title shot. After this performance, Dana White and Joe Silva can’t deny him for much longer.

Lows:

One of the big lows of the night was Mirko “Cro Cop” Filipovic’s knockout at the hands of Brendan Schaub. For two rounds, Schaub picked his shots carefully and tactfully avoided the big head kicks of Cro Cop. Going into the third, many would agree that Schaub was on his way to a decision victory. However, before it could make it to the judges’ scorecards, Schaub landed a big shot that connect right behind Cro Cop’s ear and shut his lights off. During the post-fight press conference, Dana White stated that Cro Cop was done in the UFC. As sad as it is to say, it might be best for the Croatian to call an end to his illustrious career.

Another thing that stood out as a negative was Nate “The Great” Marquardt’s performance against Dan Miller. When Miller was named as the replacement for Yoshihiro Akiyama, almost everyone wrote him off and expected Marquardt to handle him easily. While Marquardt did handle Miller easily and win the fight, he could not finish him. Throughout the fight, it was Miller that threatened with submissions and actually came closer to finishing the fight than Marquardt did. For being a former Number One Contender to Anderson Silva’s Middleweight Championship, and being a participant in two Numer One Contender’s fights (versus Chael Sonnen and Yushin Okami), Marquardt’s performance against Miller was somewhat disappointing. Although he lost the fight, Dan Miller proved his toughness and showed that Marquardt really wouldn’t pose a challenge to Anderson Silva in a rematch.

The moment from UFC 128 that came as the biggest low occurred after all of the fights were over. Following the Main Event between Jones and Rua, Rashad Evans was brought into the cage to confront the newly crowned champion, along with a barrage of booing from the crowd. Not only was it a bit WWE-esque, it was also rather awkward and unintentionally took away from Jones’ crowning moment. When Rashad stepped into the cage, Jones’ facial expression and body language immediately shifted from ecstatic and celebratory to focused and determined. As Joe Rogan began speaking to both men, you could really sense the tension in The Octagon. Jones didn’t really have much to say so the long pauses made it rather awkward.

At the end of the night, the highs outweigh the lows and we are left with what turned out to be a great night of fights.

Picture of the Day: The Faces of Jon Jones Destruction

Unless you’ve been under a rock since Saturdays UFC 128 you’ve heard the name of the newly crowned UFC light heavyweight champion, Jon Jones. The 23-year-old fighter has arguably the most hype behind a fighter in UFC history and can back it up too. When Jones fights he doesn’t just win, since joining in the UFC 2008, Jones has left a path of beaten and battered fighters on his way to the top.