Showing posts with label ufc 128. Show all posts
Showing posts with label ufc 128. Show all posts
Sunday, March 20, 2011
ufc 128 jon Jones defeats Rua, becomes youngest UFC champ the future is here ....
Jon Jones has been the Ultimate Fighting Championship’s most hyped prospect since B.J. Penn entered the promotion more than a decade ago. And Jones more than lived up to the hype Saturday, demolishing highly regarded light heavyweight champion Mauricio “Shogun” Rua and stopping him in the third round to become the UFC’s youngest champion in the main event of UFC 128 at the Prudential Center.
Jones landed a series of kicks, elbows, punches and just about anything else he wanted to land. It was a complete blowout as Rua, the fourth-ranked fighter in Yahoo! Sports’ rankings, had next-to-no offense.
Rua’s face was a mess when the fight ended, with his eyes closed and swollen and blood coming from his nose and mouth and welts covering his body.
More From Kevin IoleNew champion Jones is one of a kind Mar 20, 2011 Jones hype is 'Shogun's' motivation Mar 18, 2011 AdChoices
Jon Jones (top) dominated Mauricio "Shogun" Rua to win the light heavyweight title.
(Al Bello/Getty Images)
Jones, now 14-1 overall, blistered the Brazilian throughout and never let Rua get on track. Jones came out hard with a flying knee early in the bout and then a pair of kicks.
“He was better than me tonight,” Rua said. “He’s a very tough guy. He showed good ground work. He had very good Muay Thai. He’s a great champion.”
After the fight, the UFC brought former champion Rashad Evans into the cage and announced he will fight Jones in Jones’ first defense. Jones and Evans have been teammates and long said they would never fight.
But Jones said Saturday he would take the fight and Evans said, “I guess you should never say never.”
Former World Extreme Cagefighting featherweight champion Urijah Faber had a difficult challenge in his UFC debut, but he rallied to win the final two rounds to pull out a unanimous decision victory over Eddie Wineland.
The win may set up a rematch with UFC bantamweight champion Dominick Cruz, who watched the fight from Octagonside and stood for most of the bout.
Wineland took the first round, using superior takedown defense and landing the harder strikes. But Faber’s speed took over in the final two rounds. He managed to land a clear number of strikes and, in the second round, pounded Wineland with a series of hard elbows.
Faber’s hand speed was a difference in the third too, as he was consistently beat Wineland to the punch.
“Going in, you don’t know how fast someone is, or how powerful they are, until they’re right in front of you,” Faber said. “I was gauging that [in the first].”
Jim Miller won his seventh consecutive UFC fight and put himself near the top of the lightweight division, stopping Kamal Shalorus in the third round.
Miller had controlled the action in each of the first two rounds and had Shalorus’ back in the second. He worked for a rear naked choke, though Shalorus successfully fought that off.
Jon "Bones" Jones Autographed UFC Glove W/PROOF, Picture of Jon Signing For Us.
But Miller, who is now 20-2 overall, used his hands and his knee to end the fight at 2:15 of the third. Miller raked Shalorus with an uppercut that staggered him and sent him back to the cage.
Miller charged and landed a knee to the face that put Shalorus down. Miller ended it with a quick ground-and-pound finish.
Afterward, he was thinking about fighting for the title.
“That’s seven in a row,” Miller said. “I’m ready. I’m ready for it [the title shot].”
His brother, Dan Miller, wasn’t so fortunate. Earlier on the card, Dan had no defense for a right hand and so Nate Marquardt kept throwing it. The result was that it cut Miller by the left eye, swelled it shut and helped Marquardt to pull out a unanimous decision. All three judges scored it 30-27 for Marquardt, who hopes to fight his way back into contention in the middleweight division.
He had to fight off two guillotine chokes by Miller, one in each of the first two rounds, but Miller mustered very little offense other than that. Marquardt pummeled him with the right hand, raked him with elbows on the ground and controlled the fight virtually all the way.
Brendan Schaub is a young up-and-coming heavyweight star, but he had his hands full with veteran Mirko “Cro Cop” Filipovic before ending it in the third round with a right hand to the temple.
Filipovic was preparing to fire one of his legendary kicks, but Schaub was quicker and his overhand right got to the target first. Filipovic went down immediately. Schaub landed a power fist on the ground before referee Herb Dean stopped it at 3:44 of the third.
Brendan Schaub (left) continued his rise up the heavyweight ranks by beating Mirko "Cro Cop" Filipovic.
Schaub is one of the heaviest-handed fighters in the UFC, but he used a lot of wrestling on Saturday. He took Filipovic down several times as a way to avoid getting into a slugfest with the powerful Filipovic.
“I keep getting more and more experience,” Schaub said. “I showcased my wrestling because Mirko is so dangerous [on his feet].”
Luiz Cane made short work of Elliot Marshall, landing a punch that knocked Marshall down and finishing him with a barrage of punches on the ground. Referee Dan Miragliotta stopped it at 2:15 of the first.
Marshall may have been poked in the eye in the sequence that knocked him down. When he hit the mat, he covered up and did very little. Cane fired punch after punch and, while many of them did not land, they did enough to force Miragliotta to step in and halt the fight.
The best match on the preliminary card was a lightweight battle between Edson Barboza and Anthony Njokuani, a fight which featured spinning kicks and elbows and plenty of powerful strikes.
Barboza connected with a spinning kick to the head at the bell in the third round, punctuating a late rally that enabled him to claim the unanimous decision. All three judges gave Barboza the third for a 29-28 victory.
Mike Pyle won a very closely contested fight with black belt Ricardo Almeida, managing to avoid bad positions on the ground en route to a unanimous decision. All three judges had it 29-28 for Pyle.
Gleison Tibau disappointed a large hometown contingent that came out to root for Kurt Pellegrino, rallying in the final round to claim a split decision in a welterweight match. Judges Cardo Urso and Doug Crosby each had it 29-28 for Tibau while Anthony Tamburrino saw it 29-28 for Pellegrino.
Pellegrino knocked Tibau down in the second and did some damage on the ground, but Tibau controlled the third. He took Pellegrino down late and did some
yahoo.com/ufc
Jones landed a series of kicks, elbows, punches and just about anything else he wanted to land. It was a complete blowout as Rua, the fourth-ranked fighter in Yahoo! Sports’ rankings, had next-to-no offense.
Rua’s face was a mess when the fight ended, with his eyes closed and swollen and blood coming from his nose and mouth and welts covering his body.
More From Kevin IoleNew champion Jones is one of a kind Mar 20, 2011 Jones hype is 'Shogun's' motivation Mar 18, 2011 AdChoices
Jon Jones (top) dominated Mauricio "Shogun" Rua to win the light heavyweight title.
(Al Bello/Getty Images)
Jones, now 14-1 overall, blistered the Brazilian throughout and never let Rua get on track. Jones came out hard with a flying knee early in the bout and then a pair of kicks.
“He was better than me tonight,” Rua said. “He’s a very tough guy. He showed good ground work. He had very good Muay Thai. He’s a great champion.”
After the fight, the UFC brought former champion Rashad Evans into the cage and announced he will fight Jones in Jones’ first defense. Jones and Evans have been teammates and long said they would never fight.
But Jones said Saturday he would take the fight and Evans said, “I guess you should never say never.”
Former World Extreme Cagefighting featherweight champion Urijah Faber had a difficult challenge in his UFC debut, but he rallied to win the final two rounds to pull out a unanimous decision victory over Eddie Wineland.
The win may set up a rematch with UFC bantamweight champion Dominick Cruz, who watched the fight from Octagonside and stood for most of the bout.
Wineland took the first round, using superior takedown defense and landing the harder strikes. But Faber’s speed took over in the final two rounds. He managed to land a clear number of strikes and, in the second round, pounded Wineland with a series of hard elbows.
Faber’s hand speed was a difference in the third too, as he was consistently beat Wineland to the punch.
“Going in, you don’t know how fast someone is, or how powerful they are, until they’re right in front of you,” Faber said. “I was gauging that [in the first].”
Jim Miller won his seventh consecutive UFC fight and put himself near the top of the lightweight division, stopping Kamal Shalorus in the third round.
Miller had controlled the action in each of the first two rounds and had Shalorus’ back in the second. He worked for a rear naked choke, though Shalorus successfully fought that off.
Jon "Bones" Jones Autographed UFC Glove W/PROOF, Picture of Jon Signing For Us.
But Miller, who is now 20-2 overall, used his hands and his knee to end the fight at 2:15 of the third. Miller raked Shalorus with an uppercut that staggered him and sent him back to the cage.
Miller charged and landed a knee to the face that put Shalorus down. Miller ended it with a quick ground-and-pound finish.
Afterward, he was thinking about fighting for the title.
“That’s seven in a row,” Miller said. “I’m ready. I’m ready for it [the title shot].”
His brother, Dan Miller, wasn’t so fortunate. Earlier on the card, Dan had no defense for a right hand and so Nate Marquardt kept throwing it. The result was that it cut Miller by the left eye, swelled it shut and helped Marquardt to pull out a unanimous decision. All three judges scored it 30-27 for Marquardt, who hopes to fight his way back into contention in the middleweight division.
He had to fight off two guillotine chokes by Miller, one in each of the first two rounds, but Miller mustered very little offense other than that. Marquardt pummeled him with the right hand, raked him with elbows on the ground and controlled the fight virtually all the way.
Brendan Schaub is a young up-and-coming heavyweight star, but he had his hands full with veteran Mirko “Cro Cop” Filipovic before ending it in the third round with a right hand to the temple.
Filipovic was preparing to fire one of his legendary kicks, but Schaub was quicker and his overhand right got to the target first. Filipovic went down immediately. Schaub landed a power fist on the ground before referee Herb Dean stopped it at 3:44 of the third.
Brendan Schaub (left) continued his rise up the heavyweight ranks by beating Mirko "Cro Cop" Filipovic.
Schaub is one of the heaviest-handed fighters in the UFC, but he used a lot of wrestling on Saturday. He took Filipovic down several times as a way to avoid getting into a slugfest with the powerful Filipovic.
“I keep getting more and more experience,” Schaub said. “I showcased my wrestling because Mirko is so dangerous [on his feet].”
Luiz Cane made short work of Elliot Marshall, landing a punch that knocked Marshall down and finishing him with a barrage of punches on the ground. Referee Dan Miragliotta stopped it at 2:15 of the first.
Marshall may have been poked in the eye in the sequence that knocked him down. When he hit the mat, he covered up and did very little. Cane fired punch after punch and, while many of them did not land, they did enough to force Miragliotta to step in and halt the fight.
The best match on the preliminary card was a lightweight battle between Edson Barboza and Anthony Njokuani, a fight which featured spinning kicks and elbows and plenty of powerful strikes.
Barboza connected with a spinning kick to the head at the bell in the third round, punctuating a late rally that enabled him to claim the unanimous decision. All three judges gave Barboza the third for a 29-28 victory.
Mike Pyle won a very closely contested fight with black belt Ricardo Almeida, managing to avoid bad positions on the ground en route to a unanimous decision. All three judges had it 29-28 for Pyle.
Gleison Tibau disappointed a large hometown contingent that came out to root for Kurt Pellegrino, rallying in the final round to claim a split decision in a welterweight match. Judges Cardo Urso and Doug Crosby each had it 29-28 for Tibau while Anthony Tamburrino saw it 29-28 for Pellegrino.
Pellegrino knocked Tibau down in the second and did some damage on the ground, but Tibau controlled the third. He took Pellegrino down late and did some
yahoo.com/ufc
Saturday, March 19, 2011
UFC 128 Weigh-in results:
Weigh-in results:
BAD BOY SHOGUN RUA "UFC 128 WALKOUT" BLACK SHIRT SIZE LARGE
Maurcio “Shogun” Rua (205) vs. Jon “Bones” Jones (205)
Urijah Faber (135½) vs. Eddie Wineland (135½)
Nate Marquardt (186) vs. Dan Miller (185)
Brendan Schaub (245) vs. Mirko “Cro Cop” Filipovic (229)
Jim Miller (155½) vs. Kamal Shalorus (155)
Eliot Marshall (205) vs. Luis Cane (205½)
Anthony Njokuani (155) vs. Edson Barboza Jr. (155½)
Mike Pyle (171) vs. Ricardo Almeida (170)
Kurt Pellegrino (156) vs. Gleison Tibau (155)
Joseph Benavidez (136) vs. Ian Loveland (135)
Nick Catone (194) vs. Constantinos Phillipou (195)
Erik Koch (145) vs. Raphael Assuncao (145)
BAD BOY SHOGUN RUA "UFC 128 WALKOUT" BLACK SHIRT SIZE LARGE
Maurcio “Shogun” Rua (205) vs. Jon “Bones” Jones (205)
Urijah Faber (135½) vs. Eddie Wineland (135½)
Nate Marquardt (186) vs. Dan Miller (185)
Brendan Schaub (245) vs. Mirko “Cro Cop” Filipovic (229)
Jim Miller (155½) vs. Kamal Shalorus (155)
Eliot Marshall (205) vs. Luis Cane (205½)
Anthony Njokuani (155) vs. Edson Barboza Jr. (155½)
Mike Pyle (171) vs. Ricardo Almeida (170)
Kurt Pellegrino (156) vs. Gleison Tibau (155)
Joseph Benavidez (136) vs. Ian Loveland (135)
Nick Catone (194) vs. Constantinos Phillipou (195)
Erik Koch (145) vs. Raphael Assuncao (145)
Friday, March 18, 2011
JON Jones vs Shogun ufc 128
Mauricio “Shogun” Rua says he wasn’t trying to prove a point Thursday during a spirited workout in front of the media, a little more than 48 hours prior to his light heavyweight title defense against budding star Jon “Bones” Jones in the main event of UFC 128 Saturday at the Prudential Center.
He still did make his point, very loudly, even if he wasn’t trying to do so.
Rua is a 2-1 underdog and has been almost shunted aside by the media in the buildup to the fight, as Jones, the UFC’s 23-year-old phenom, has essentially been given top billing.
More From Kevin IoleGrounded Jones on brink of superstardom Mar 17, 2011 Schaub ready to let loose at UFC 128 Mar 15, 2011 AdChoices Bad Boy Mauricia Rua Shogun UFC 128 Walkout T-shirt - Royal (X-Large)
It was Jones, he of zero championship fights, whom the UFC opted to devote a separate, prime-time special on, not Rua, the reigning champion.
It was Jones, who was still in high school in Endicott, N.Y., when Rua won the Pride Grand Prix by defeating Quinton “Rampage” Jackson, Antonio Rogerio Nogueira and Ricardo Arona in 2005, who drew the most attention at Wednesday’s final news conference at Radio City Music Hall in New York.
And it was Jones, whose addition to the card in February as a late replacement for the injured Rashad Evans, who sparked a flurry of ticket sales that quickly sold out the arena.
If anyone forgot that Rua is a world-class talent and as dangerous as they come, Rua gave them a very audible demonstration in a conference room at the Hilton Penn Station on Thursday.
He threw rapid-fire combinations at the mitts, the sound resonating in the crowded room like an automatic weapon firing bullets.
Pop! Pop! Pop! Pop! Pop! Pop!
Then, Rua began a drill that involved kicking the bag that sounded like a series of explosions every time he made contact.
Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom!
Rua just shrugged when asked if he was bothered by the perceived slights – “He has been winning his fights in great fashion and this is a natural consequence of that,” Rua said – but Rua’s manager, Eduardo Alonso, believes it has made a change for the better in him.
Rua is, indeed, annoyed at “Bonesmania,” Alonso said, but he has used it to his advantage.
“I think it does (bug him), but the good thing is, it bugs him in a good way,” Alonso said. “It brings out his competitiveness and his motivation to prove something to everyone. He’s a very competitive guy. He gets pissed off and wants to prove a point.”
Rua had been expecting for nearly a year to fight Evans. Evans defeated Quinton “Rampage” Jackson at UFC 114 last May and, when Rua injured a knee, opted to wait until Rua was recovered from surgery rather than taking an interim fight.
But during a routine training drill in February, Evans injured his own knee and had to pull out. Rua had been working out in preparation for Evans, but didn’t have the sense of urgency that Alonso felt he needed. When Jones was given the shot, that all changed.
Jones is, in a way, “The Chosen One.” He’s a good-looking, charismatic guy with a knack for saying the right thing at the right time and for bringing fans out of their seats with his unorthodox moves.
An extremely confident Jones began signing autographs with the tagline, “Champion 2011.” And though he frequently professed respect for Rua, he also made it clear he thought Rua was there to be had.
“He can be broken mentally and physically, mainly mentally,” Jones said. “That’s part of what I am going to do to him. I’m going to show that the Mark Coleman fight (at UFC 93) wasn’t a fluke, that the Forrest Griffin fight (at UFC 76) wasn’t a fluke, that he didn’t come unprepared.”
Suddenly, the highly competitive Rua had a reason to ratchet up his training and his intensity.
“When a guy is so talented as Shogun is, they tend to get lazy,” Alonso said. “Against Rashad, as a team, we were a little more accommodating. It’s not to say Rashad is not a great fighter, but we’d been thinking about him for a year. But then, when they changed it to Jones, it was like, ‘Hmm. There is motivation. We have to work.’ We all got pumped. It’s really for the best for him. He’s focused and he started to train much more. He’s very motivated and the team united.
Bad Boy Mauricia Rua Shogun UFC 128 Walkout T-shirt - White (Large)
“We had some problems, personal problems within the team, health issues within families, and it was tough. But this brought us back together. Shogun performs best when he’s an underdog and that’s why we’re feeding this whole thing that Jones deserves to be the favorite.”
Those who made Jones the favorite probably didn’t see Rua blistering the bag with kicks Thursday. He’s had three surgeries on his left knee, including one in June that forced a postponement of a title defense against Evans, but it looked 100 percent on Thursday.
UFC middleweight contender Demian Maia, a long-time friend of Rua’s, said he has never seen Rua as physically fit as he is for the bout with Jones. Alonso hired Eric Haddad to work on Rua’s strength and conditioning and the results have been astounding.
Maia said he got a chance to see it first-hand and it left him shaking his head.
“Everybody went out and talked about what Jon Jones could do and how good Jon Jones is and Shogun I think was bothered by that,” Maia said. “He’s a professional and he’s accomplished a lot. I think he pushed himself so hard so he would be at his absolute peak and be able to put on a performance that the people will remember.”
Rua is one of the most popular fighters in the world, particularly among long-time fans, though it’s only recently that he’s begun to get a high profile in his native Brazil. Alonso said that, despite the perception of Brazil as an MMA hotbed, it hasn’t been until only recently, through the UFC’s marketing efforts, that the sport has begun to catch on there in the mainstream.
As recently as a year ago, Alonso said, Rua could have walked down a busy street in Sao Paulo, the country’s largest city with a population of around 8 million, and gone unrecognized.
In the last year, as the UFC has expanded its marketing and public relations efforts and brought the sport to television, interest in MMA is growing quickly and Rua is suddenly becoming a star. He’s sponsored by BVA, a large bank in Brazil, and representatives of a national supermarket chain in the country who are interested in sponsoring him will attend Saturday’s bout.
He was mobbed at a news conference in Rio de Janeiro to announce a UFC show there and has made several appearances on various shows on Global, the country’s largest over-the-air television network.
A win over Jones would go a long way toward firming his status as one of his nation’s elite athletes. The low-key Rua, though, isn’t worried about much other than doing his job.
“Surely, if I win this fight, I’ll take one more step forward in my career,” Rua said. “In the end, I understand that Jon Jones has been winning his fights decisively and earning all this hype behind him. But I’ve set goals for myself and I’m going to do everything in my power to reach those goals. … If I do exciting fights, everything else takes care of itself. The important thing is to go out there and win and put on the best fight I can. That’s what I will go out to do, no matter who I am fighting. Fighting someone with all the attention of Jon Jones is good, but I have to stick to my approach that brought me to where I am.”
yahoo.com/ufc
He still did make his point, very loudly, even if he wasn’t trying to do so.
Rua is a 2-1 underdog and has been almost shunted aside by the media in the buildup to the fight, as Jones, the UFC’s 23-year-old phenom, has essentially been given top billing.
More From Kevin IoleGrounded Jones on brink of superstardom Mar 17, 2011 Schaub ready to let loose at UFC 128 Mar 15, 2011 AdChoices Bad Boy Mauricia Rua Shogun UFC 128 Walkout T-shirt - Royal (X-Large)
It was Jones, he of zero championship fights, whom the UFC opted to devote a separate, prime-time special on, not Rua, the reigning champion.
It was Jones, who was still in high school in Endicott, N.Y., when Rua won the Pride Grand Prix by defeating Quinton “Rampage” Jackson, Antonio Rogerio Nogueira and Ricardo Arona in 2005, who drew the most attention at Wednesday’s final news conference at Radio City Music Hall in New York.
And it was Jones, whose addition to the card in February as a late replacement for the injured Rashad Evans, who sparked a flurry of ticket sales that quickly sold out the arena.
If anyone forgot that Rua is a world-class talent and as dangerous as they come, Rua gave them a very audible demonstration in a conference room at the Hilton Penn Station on Thursday.
He threw rapid-fire combinations at the mitts, the sound resonating in the crowded room like an automatic weapon firing bullets.
Pop! Pop! Pop! Pop! Pop! Pop!
Then, Rua began a drill that involved kicking the bag that sounded like a series of explosions every time he made contact.
Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom!
Rua just shrugged when asked if he was bothered by the perceived slights – “He has been winning his fights in great fashion and this is a natural consequence of that,” Rua said – but Rua’s manager, Eduardo Alonso, believes it has made a change for the better in him.
Rua is, indeed, annoyed at “Bonesmania,” Alonso said, but he has used it to his advantage.
“I think it does (bug him), but the good thing is, it bugs him in a good way,” Alonso said. “It brings out his competitiveness and his motivation to prove something to everyone. He’s a very competitive guy. He gets pissed off and wants to prove a point.”
Rua had been expecting for nearly a year to fight Evans. Evans defeated Quinton “Rampage” Jackson at UFC 114 last May and, when Rua injured a knee, opted to wait until Rua was recovered from surgery rather than taking an interim fight.
But during a routine training drill in February, Evans injured his own knee and had to pull out. Rua had been working out in preparation for Evans, but didn’t have the sense of urgency that Alonso felt he needed. When Jones was given the shot, that all changed.
Jones is, in a way, “The Chosen One.” He’s a good-looking, charismatic guy with a knack for saying the right thing at the right time and for bringing fans out of their seats with his unorthodox moves.
An extremely confident Jones began signing autographs with the tagline, “Champion 2011.” And though he frequently professed respect for Rua, he also made it clear he thought Rua was there to be had.
“He can be broken mentally and physically, mainly mentally,” Jones said. “That’s part of what I am going to do to him. I’m going to show that the Mark Coleman fight (at UFC 93) wasn’t a fluke, that the Forrest Griffin fight (at UFC 76) wasn’t a fluke, that he didn’t come unprepared.”
Suddenly, the highly competitive Rua had a reason to ratchet up his training and his intensity.
“When a guy is so talented as Shogun is, they tend to get lazy,” Alonso said. “Against Rashad, as a team, we were a little more accommodating. It’s not to say Rashad is not a great fighter, but we’d been thinking about him for a year. But then, when they changed it to Jones, it was like, ‘Hmm. There is motivation. We have to work.’ We all got pumped. It’s really for the best for him. He’s focused and he started to train much more. He’s very motivated and the team united.
Bad Boy Mauricia Rua Shogun UFC 128 Walkout T-shirt - White (Large)
“We had some problems, personal problems within the team, health issues within families, and it was tough. But this brought us back together. Shogun performs best when he’s an underdog and that’s why we’re feeding this whole thing that Jones deserves to be the favorite.”
Those who made Jones the favorite probably didn’t see Rua blistering the bag with kicks Thursday. He’s had three surgeries on his left knee, including one in June that forced a postponement of a title defense against Evans, but it looked 100 percent on Thursday.
UFC middleweight contender Demian Maia, a long-time friend of Rua’s, said he has never seen Rua as physically fit as he is for the bout with Jones. Alonso hired Eric Haddad to work on Rua’s strength and conditioning and the results have been astounding.
Maia said he got a chance to see it first-hand and it left him shaking his head.
“Everybody went out and talked about what Jon Jones could do and how good Jon Jones is and Shogun I think was bothered by that,” Maia said. “He’s a professional and he’s accomplished a lot. I think he pushed himself so hard so he would be at his absolute peak and be able to put on a performance that the people will remember.”
Rua is one of the most popular fighters in the world, particularly among long-time fans, though it’s only recently that he’s begun to get a high profile in his native Brazil. Alonso said that, despite the perception of Brazil as an MMA hotbed, it hasn’t been until only recently, through the UFC’s marketing efforts, that the sport has begun to catch on there in the mainstream.
As recently as a year ago, Alonso said, Rua could have walked down a busy street in Sao Paulo, the country’s largest city with a population of around 8 million, and gone unrecognized.
In the last year, as the UFC has expanded its marketing and public relations efforts and brought the sport to television, interest in MMA is growing quickly and Rua is suddenly becoming a star. He’s sponsored by BVA, a large bank in Brazil, and representatives of a national supermarket chain in the country who are interested in sponsoring him will attend Saturday’s bout.
He was mobbed at a news conference in Rio de Janeiro to announce a UFC show there and has made several appearances on various shows on Global, the country’s largest over-the-air television network.
A win over Jones would go a long way toward firming his status as one of his nation’s elite athletes. The low-key Rua, though, isn’t worried about much other than doing his job.
“Surely, if I win this fight, I’ll take one more step forward in my career,” Rua said. “In the end, I understand that Jon Jones has been winning his fights decisively and earning all this hype behind him. But I’ve set goals for myself and I’m going to do everything in my power to reach those goals. … If I do exciting fights, everything else takes care of itself. The important thing is to go out there and win and put on the best fight I can. That’s what I will go out to do, no matter who I am fighting. Fighting someone with all the attention of Jon Jones is good, but I have to stick to my approach that brought me to where I am.”
yahoo.com/ufc
Saturday, February 5, 2011
breaking news UFC 128: Shogun vs. Jon Jones is an upcoming mixed martial arts event to be held by the Ultimate Fighting Championship on March 19, 2011 at Prudential Center in Newark, New Jersey
Evans is out of ufc 128 , Jon Bones Jones will replace Rashad Evans ........
UFC 128: Shogun vs. Evans is an upcoming mixed martial arts event to be held by the Ultimate Fighting Championship on March 19, 2011 at Prudential Center in Newark, New Jersey
UFC 128: Shogun vs. Evans is an upcoming mixed martial arts event to be held by the Ultimate Fighting Championship on March 19, 2011 at Prudential Center in Newark, New Jersey
Tuesday, January 4, 2011
UFC 128 official for March 19 in New Jersey with Rua vs. Evans, Faber vs. Wineland
UFC 128 official for March 19 in New Jersey with Rua vs. Evans, Faber vs. Wineland
As expected, the world largest mixed martial arts promotion heads to the Garden State on March 19 for "UFC 128: Shogun vs. Evans."
Featuring a long-awated light heavyweight title clash between current champ Mauricio "Shogun" Rua and former title holder Rashad Evans, UFC 128 takes place at Prudential Center in Newark, N.J.
"This is the light heavyweight title fight that everyone has been waiting to see," UFC president Dana White stated in today's official release. "'Shogun' has been on an absolute tear and proved that by knocking out Lyoto Machida to take the belt. Now he faces Rashad Evans, who is coming off back-to-back wins over Thiago Silva and 'Rampage' Jackson and has never been hungrier to reclaim the title.
"With the main event and the other fights we're putting together, we're bringing another awesome card to New Jersey, and I'm excited to get back to the East Coast."
Rua (19-4 MMA, 3-2 UFC), a longtime star with the now-defunct PRIDE Fighting Championships, is 3-1 since his promotional-debut loss to Forrest Griffin. The lone defeat came to Lyoto Machida in their first meeting, and many in the industry panned the unanimous decision and felt Rua won the fight. Seven months later in the rematch, he needed less than a round to score a knockout and win the belt from his fellow Brazilian.
Evans (15-1-1 MMA, 10-1-1 UFC) earned another shot at the title with a May win over rival Quinton "Rampage" Jackson in the main event of UFC 114. Although he said he'd be open to an interim-title fight if Rua were to experience a lengthy layoff while recovering from knee surgery, he later said he'd prefer to wait for the champion. Evans, who also has defeated Thiago Silva since losing his belt, will have a yearlong layoff while waiting for his shot to reclaim the title.
In addition to the main event, UFC brass also officially announced the previously reported clash between former WEC champions Urijah Faber and Eddie Wineland.
The bantamweight bout marks the UFC debut of Faber (24-4 MMA, 0-0 UFC) and Wineland (18-6-1 MMA, 0-0 UFC), who were both victorious in their final obligations to the WEC before the promotion officially ceded its talent to the industry leader.
Faber met former contender Takeya Mizugaki at WEC 52 in his first bout as a bantamweight and cinched a first-round rear-naked choke that won him "Submission of the Night" honors.
Wineland slammed his way out of the WEC in the promotion's final event, WEC 53. Newcomer Ken Stone made the unwise move of pulling a standing guard on the Indiana native in the first round of their preliminary-card meeting and found himself violently introduced to the canvas and knocked out.
The sensational finish capped off a four-fight streak for Wineland, who became the first WEC bantamweight champion when he knocked out Antonio Banuelos for the belt at WEC 20. (He subsequently lost the strap to Chase Beebe when he returned the next year to the Zuffa-owned promotion.)
Tickets for UFC 128, which range in price from $60 to $500, go on sale Thursday, Jan. 13, at Ticketmaster.com.
The latest UFC 128 card includes:
•Champ Mauricio "Shogun" Rua vs. Rashad Evans (for light-heavyweight title)
•Urijah Faber vs. Eddie Wineland
•Yoshihiro Akiyama vs. Chael Sonnen*•Mirko "Cro Cop" Filipovic vs. Brendan Schaub*•Jim Miller vs. Kamal Shalorus*•Ricardo Almeida vs. Mike Pyle*•Kurt Pellegrino vs. Gleison Tibau*•Edson Barboza vs. Anthony Njokuani*•Luiz Cane vs. Karlos Vemola*
As expected, the world largest mixed martial arts promotion heads to the Garden State on March 19 for "UFC 128: Shogun vs. Evans."
Featuring a long-awated light heavyweight title clash between current champ Mauricio "Shogun" Rua and former title holder Rashad Evans, UFC 128 takes place at Prudential Center in Newark, N.J.
"This is the light heavyweight title fight that everyone has been waiting to see," UFC president Dana White stated in today's official release. "'Shogun' has been on an absolute tear and proved that by knocking out Lyoto Machida to take the belt. Now he faces Rashad Evans, who is coming off back-to-back wins over Thiago Silva and 'Rampage' Jackson and has never been hungrier to reclaim the title.
"With the main event and the other fights we're putting together, we're bringing another awesome card to New Jersey, and I'm excited to get back to the East Coast."
Rua (19-4 MMA, 3-2 UFC), a longtime star with the now-defunct PRIDE Fighting Championships, is 3-1 since his promotional-debut loss to Forrest Griffin. The lone defeat came to Lyoto Machida in their first meeting, and many in the industry panned the unanimous decision and felt Rua won the fight. Seven months later in the rematch, he needed less than a round to score a knockout and win the belt from his fellow Brazilian.
Evans (15-1-1 MMA, 10-1-1 UFC) earned another shot at the title with a May win over rival Quinton "Rampage" Jackson in the main event of UFC 114. Although he said he'd be open to an interim-title fight if Rua were to experience a lengthy layoff while recovering from knee surgery, he later said he'd prefer to wait for the champion. Evans, who also has defeated Thiago Silva since losing his belt, will have a yearlong layoff while waiting for his shot to reclaim the title.
In addition to the main event, UFC brass also officially announced the previously reported clash between former WEC champions Urijah Faber and Eddie Wineland.
The bantamweight bout marks the UFC debut of Faber (24-4 MMA, 0-0 UFC) and Wineland (18-6-1 MMA, 0-0 UFC), who were both victorious in their final obligations to the WEC before the promotion officially ceded its talent to the industry leader.
Faber met former contender Takeya Mizugaki at WEC 52 in his first bout as a bantamweight and cinched a first-round rear-naked choke that won him "Submission of the Night" honors.
Wineland slammed his way out of the WEC in the promotion's final event, WEC 53. Newcomer Ken Stone made the unwise move of pulling a standing guard on the Indiana native in the first round of their preliminary-card meeting and found himself violently introduced to the canvas and knocked out.
The sensational finish capped off a four-fight streak for Wineland, who became the first WEC bantamweight champion when he knocked out Antonio Banuelos for the belt at WEC 20. (He subsequently lost the strap to Chase Beebe when he returned the next year to the Zuffa-owned promotion.)
Tickets for UFC 128, which range in price from $60 to $500, go on sale Thursday, Jan. 13, at Ticketmaster.com.
The latest UFC 128 card includes:
•Champ Mauricio "Shogun" Rua vs. Rashad Evans (for light-heavyweight title)
•Urijah Faber vs. Eddie Wineland
•Yoshihiro Akiyama vs. Chael Sonnen*•Mirko "Cro Cop" Filipovic vs. Brendan Schaub*•Jim Miller vs. Kamal Shalorus*•Ricardo Almeida vs. Mike Pyle*•Kurt Pellegrino vs. Gleison Tibau*•Edson Barboza vs. Anthony Njokuani*•Luiz Cane vs. Karlos Vemola*
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