Jones, Weidman to defend titles at UFC 187

MANILA, Philippines – UFC champions Jon "Bones" Jones and Chris Weidman are both seeing action on May 23 as they will defend their titles against separate challengers at UFC 187 at the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas, the UFC announced.

Jones will defend his light-heavyweight belt for ninth time against top contender Anthony "Rumble" Johnson in the main event of the evening.

Jones is coming off a successful title defense against Daniel Cormier in early January, after which it was revealed that he had failed an out-of-competition drug test by testing positive for cocaine metabolites.

Meanwhile, Weidman returns to action when he faces off against Vitor "The Phenom" Belfort in the co-main event.

Weidman will be making the second defense of the belt that he won off former champion Anderson Silva at UFC 162 in July 2013.

Weidman was originally scheduled to fight Belfort at UFC 181 last December, but the bout had to be rescheduled when the champion suffered a broken hand. It was re-set for February 28, only for Weidman to suffer another injury in training, leading to another postponement.

In the undercard, Donald "Cowboy" Cerrnoe takes on unbeaten Khabib Nurmagomedov in a showdown that will have implications in the title picture of the lightweight division.

source: www.abs-cbnnews.com

UFC: Jones undergoes surgery

MANILA, Philippines – UFC light heavyweight champion Jon “Bones” Jones underwent medical treatment for his knee which was injured while training for his supposed title defense against Daniel Cormier this September.

According to MMA fighting, the operation was a success. The champion is out of the hospital on Thursday, walking with crutches with his injured leg in a brace.

Jones tore the meniscus in his left knee and suffered an ankle sprain while training with new teammate Alistair Overeem.

The injuries forced Jones to withdraw from his supposed title fight against Cormier in UFC 178. The bout has been moved to January 3 next year.

Understandably, Cormier was disappointed by the turn of events.

He initially feared that he might lose his title shot since Jones’ original challenger may already have recuperated from his injury by January.

“Remember, I replaced Alexander Gustafsson (at UFC 178), so when I heard that Jon was hurt and him and Gustafsson are now on the same schedule in order to be healthy, my first question was 'I don't have to go behind Gustafsson again now, right?” said Cormier in UFC.com.

But UFC CEO Lorenzo Fertitta made it clear to Cormier that he will still be Jones challenger come January.

source: www.abs-cbnnews.com

Jones-Velasquez superfight can wait, says White

MANILA, Philippines – Ultimate fighting Championship (UFC) president Dana White is not in a hurry to arrange a superfight between light heavyweight champion Jon "Bones" Jones and heavyweight title holder Cain Velasquez.

White stressed that Jones, who easily handled Glover Teixeira in UFC 172, will have lots of more appealing fights in the light heavyweight division.

“Jon Jones has [Alexander] Gustafsson, possibly [Chris] Cormier if he wins that fight [against Dan Henderson]. He’s got a lot of guys lined up still,” said the UFC executive in BJ Penn.com.

White added that "Bones" is getting heavier that he expects the light heavyweight king to invade the heavyweight class in a few years’ time.

This could set up a possible collision between Velasquez and Jones.

"Jon Jones is 26 years old. As he continues to get older, he will have a harder and harder time making 205, which would eventually probably force him up to heavyweight. It's not the time for a Cain versus Jon Jones superfight,” said White.

source: www.abs-cbnnews.com

UFC: Jones dominates Teixeira to retain title

Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) light-heavyweight champion Jon “Bones” Jones had little trouble defending his belt against Glover Teixeira in the main event of UFC 172, as he cruised a to a dominant unanimous decision victory.

Teixeira, who has not lost since 2006, was considered to be a tough match-up for Jones, who is coming off a difficult title defense against Alex Gustafsson in 2013.

But Jones proved that he has fully recovered from that tough outing, using his superior striking skills to dominate Teixeira, landing a variety of shots including elbows and low kicks.

Teixeira’s best moment came in the second round, when he was able to close the distance against Jones and catch him with some shots, but the champion quickly recovered.

In the third round, Jones opened up a cut above the Brazilian’s right eyebrow with a barrage of elbows.

Jones was also able to knock Teixeira’s mouthpiece off with a well-placed uppercut in the third round, and again in the fourth round, this time with a jab. Teixeira lost his mouthpiece for a third time in the fifth round, and saw little success even at close

Jones was unable to earn a stoppage win, but all three judges scored the bout in his favor, 50-45.

“The game plan was takedowns and going at him from range,” Jones said after the fight, as quoted by MMA Fighting. “But I realized he was winding up on his punches, and you can’t do that when someone is on top of you.”

“I realized I was a lot better hand fighter than he was,” he added.

Jones won his 11th straight UFC fight, and his seventh consecutive title defense. Meanwhile, Teixeira saw his 20-fight winning streak snapped.

“My game plan was to push him, but hey, he’s a great champion,” he later said.

In the co-main event, Anthony “Rumble” Johnson marked his UFC return with a unanimous decision win against light-heavyweight contender Phil Davis.

Johnson used his power to his advantage, rocking Davis multiple times while also successfully preventing any takedown attempts.

All three judges scored the bout 30-27 in Johnson’s favor.

In another match, Luke Rockhold submitted Tim Boetsch in the first round with a kimura in the opening round.

source: www.abs-cbnnews.com