If you ask anyone at MMASucka.com, I make some of the worst fight picks. We even have the numbers to back this up. I can admit that I choose my picks very emotionally, especially when it comes to fighters whom I have been cheering for for years. Guys that I have invested money into purchasing their swag, and time in waiting in line ups for autographs. No matter how lop sided a match will be out of their favor, I am still hoping that they will come out on the positive side of “anything can happen”. For UFC 140, I went an awesome 1-4 on the main card with the help of some great performances by Chan Sung Jung, Brian Ebersole, Little Nog and Frank Mir. Jon Jones was my only saving grace, but even he gave me a first round heart attack. Although I didn’t do so well, I do see the silver lining. Through these wins, there are some very interesting match ups that now make sense for the UFC to put together.
Jon Jones
Jon Jones had successfully solved the Lyoto Machida puzzle. As a reward, he gets to take a well deserved vacation. Dana agrees with giving him a 4-5 month lay off especially after fighting 4 times in 2012, 3 times for a belt, and 2 times defending it. Once he gets back, two fights make sense. First, and most anticipated, would be the grudge match with Rashad Evans. To make this happen, Evans will need to defeat Phil Davis, unscathed. Coming out healthy will be the biggest concern as both Evans and Jones had to postpone this fight because of injury.
Second, if the first fight doesn’t happen, Strikeforce champion Dan Henderson is deserving of a shot at Jones. Henderson presents a unique challenge as he contains Olympic caliber wrestling, the “H-Bomb” over hand right and a granite chin. Most importantly, Henderson has no fear to come forward and bull through a few shots taken to get on the inside to connect his with his power or for a take down.
Against both Henderson and Evans, Jones still possesses a large reach advantage which has kept him from rarely being hit, but will it be enough to keep him from getting taken down as both holds the pedigree to accomplish just that. I guess we will need to wait another 5 months to find out.
Frank Mir
Frank Mir showed resilience in coming back from a hard punch to the chin from Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira. He also showed that his BJJ is no joke when he reversed Big Nog’s famous sit out escape into a vicious kimura win, which broke Nogueira’s arm (see x-ray above). Now on a 3 fight win streak, Mir has solidified his spot for another title shot. The only issue is that the next title shot is thought to be promised to the winner of Brock Lesnar vs Alistair Overeem. So long as this fight happens (rumors of an Overeem injury had been brought up during the post fight press conference) and if the winner comes out uninjured to fight Junior Dos Santos, Mir will be left to fight the last of the top 5 heavyweights.
Former title holder Cain Velasquez makes the most sense for a title eliminator. Most can expect Cain will be motivated and focused after coming off his first career loss, and a fight against a veteran like Mir will bring out his best. Mir will be coming in with the air of confidence of being the only person to submit and KO Nogueira. At first glance, it may look like heavyweight grappling match as both Mir and Velasquez are strong ground specialist, but each have develop exceptional kickboxing skills in the last few years. I don’t see Mir wanting to be stuck underneath a strong wrestler like Cain, or Cain is willing to play within one of Mir’s strengths in his guard, so the fight may end up as a stand up war.
Antonio Rogério Nogueira
Antonio Rogério Nogueira had the opportunity to play the role of spoiler for the newly minted “People’s Champ” Tito Ortiz. Nogueira was able to weather Ortiz’s initial storm and kept his composure, then landed a knee that crumpled Ortiz to an eventual technical knockout.
Nogueira has had some mixed success in the UFC succumbing to 2 losses and a close decision wins to strong wrestlers. Now that he is back on his winning ways, he will probably take his position back as the gate keeper to the light heavyweight top 10 as he has done so for Ryan Bader and Phil Davis. On the upswing right now would be Stephan Bonnar who is coming off a win against Kyle Kingsbury. Stylistically this would be crowd pleasing match up as both Nogueira and Bonnar would be willing to exchange blows.
Quick Hits
-Brian Ebersole’s split decision win against Claude Patrick could have gone either way. Ebersole had the more dominant positions, but Patrick had the more effective attacks. My wish for Ebersole would be a fight against DaMarques Johnson. Johnson is currently not booked for another fight, and is coming of a great KO win over Clay Harvison. Stylistically, it is the most likely matchup to see Ebersole to attempt his patented cartwheel kick.
-Chan Sung Jung tied the official fasted KO in UFC history with a 7 second KO over former featherweight championship contender Mark Hominick. That’s 2 big wins in a row over tough opposition for the Korean Zombie. In a wide open division like the featherweight division, it could mean that he would be next in line for title contention against the winner of Jose Aldo vs. Chad Mendez.
-Tito Ortiz may have lost his bout against Nogueira, but he hopes to fight one last time. He has stated publicly that his next fight may be his last in aiming for a May 30th retirement date, exactly 15 years from his first UFC fight. During the post fight press conference Dana White was uncommitted to giving Ortiz the last fight, but in my opinion, Ortiz deserves the last fight for what he has done for the sport of MMA. The fight he has asked for is the rubber match against Forrest Griffin. Hopefully his wish is granted and Ortiz stops competing on his own terms.
