Agree. I know when I watch Jones fight I'm seeing greatness. I just don't like the guy, he seems like the A-Rod of mma. Evans is an intelligent man who easily got into Jones' head. i just hope he can back up all the smack talk.
Heh, the A-Rod of MMA really is the fit there too imo.
Aldo probably beats him. But the key with Zombie is that he won't be content to Rashad his way through a title fight to save face (literally and figuratively). Zombie will bring it in victory or defeat.
Looked like a terrible game plan from Mir. His clear advantage would have been on the ground. He shot at JDS once. Then he nodded at him and just tried to kick that lead leg every once in a while. Meanwhile, JDS was landing punches high and low. It's like Mir said "fuck it, I hope he breaks his fist on my face." Really disappointing performance from Mir, but you've got to give JDS credit for putting him away. He is one bad man.
No idea why Mir thought that was a prudent corse of action. I figured the one guy that wouldn't fall into the stand up trap would be Mir. Man, so dissapointing. If Struve can figure out how to jump gaurd and tap a guy you would think Mir would have tired a couple more times to get the fight to the ground.
http://espn.go.com/mma/story/_/id/8095007/ufc-148-anderson-silva-vows-break-chael-sonnen-arms-legs-teeth
So Henderson gets injured (partial mcl tear, I think), chael sonnen takes the fight on eight days notice, and bones turns it down.
Fighters take fights on short notice all the time, I don't buy that because he holds a belt that he is above taking a fight on short notice. And its not like Chael has been training for Jon Jones, who is arguably the most dangerous man on the planet. Or Chris Weidman.
He was supposed to beat Henderson as well, it'd have been a huge deal no matter what.
Again, neither has Chael. I just don't see how that is a valid counter-argument. Its not like Henderson isn't a wrestler himself. I'm sure he was working on TDD and clinch work.
This is where I think its fair to criticize the UFC. They could have set up a better card, injuries happen. But that isn't an excuse for Jones. The UFC has helped him build that career.
I doubt this very much.
Chael's stepping in because he has nothing to lose. He was supposed to be fighting Forrest Griffin and Dana said even with a win, he wouldn't earn a title shot, so why not take your chance on fighting for the title even if its on short notice.
He was supposed to beat Henderson, but Henderson is coming off wins over Shogun and Fedor, Chael just lost to Anderson at 185, so if he were to beat Jones, I'd argue its a bigger deal than Henderson beating him.
C'mon Henderson hasn't used his wrestling other than in TDD for years now. He's followed the Chuck Liddell school of thought for a long time now in using his olympic caliber wrestling to keep the fight standing and look for the H Bomb
The UFC has helped him build his career, but if he were to lose and take a endorsement/ppv revenue/ championship pay hit, would the other fighters chip in to help him cover that because they got to fight on the card since he was nice enough to take the fight?
You seriously doubt if Shogun regrets taking the Jones fight on short notice after what Jones did to him and since he hasn't been able to work his way back into a title fight since?
Chael does have something to lose, like getting mangled and beat up.
He fought Fedor over a year ago, who is now retired. As fun as that fight was, its not a selling point to the average MMA fan. Chael is a MUCH bigger draw then Dan. If you think that a story line of Jones stepping up to fight the biggest heel in the UFC, and thus saving the card wouldn't be a huge win for him, I don't know what to tell you.
Henderson is nothing like Liddell. Liddell was 10x the striker Dan is, much more diverse. But if you think that Jones wasn't seriously training his TDD and clinch work, again, I don't know what to tell you. I'm quite sure Jones would have looked to keep the fight standing against Chael and work his stand up, which I doubt very seriously he'd have a problem with.
He just signed a deal with NIKE, he's going to be OK. He'd also have gotten a rematch right away if he did lose. He has nothing to worry about money wise.
He was on the verge of getting a title shot after the Vera fight. If Machida didn't embarass Bader, Shogun would have gotten it. I cannot for the life of me, knowing what we do about Shogun, picture him regretting a fight.
Chael didn't have a fight scheduled until December 29. A whole event was hinged on his acceptance of a fight against someone he had every advantage against. Worst case scenario is he loses the fight and then gets a rematch.
