A victorious Jones (photo via UFC / FUEL TV)

By Joshua Molina

Jon Jones, you are too young to be so delusional.

Jones said on a radio show recently that a boxing match with Floyd Mayweather would be “a competitive match.”

When did Jones start hanging out with Nick Diaz?

Regardless of a 50-pound weight and six-inch height difference, Jones would stand a better chance of beating Novac Djokovic in a tennis match than he would beating Mayweather.

Jones would have a better chance hitting a Matt Cain fastball than hitting Mayweather.

Jones shows an incredible amount of disrespect toward boxers by suggesting he could hang in a match with the greatest boxer around today. He then says that boxing isn’t real fighting because you can’t tell someone at a bar to punch only.

Apparently, Muhammad Ali ain’t much to Jones. He wasn’t a real fighter.

If we take Jones logic even further, a fight ain’t real unless you allow everything. You can’t say at a bar fight, no eye gouging, hitting below the belt, scratching or kicking an opponent’s head while they are down.

Wouldn’t that be real fighting? Anything goes in a real fight.

Jones should forget about Mayweather and fight an MMA fighter his own size.

Victories over Vitor Belfort and Chael Sonnen in the last year hardly gives him room to call out Mayweather.

Weidman (photo via UFC.com)

By Joshua Molina

Everybody’s a big shot until they get hit in the face.

That may be a lesson Chris Weidman will have to learn sooner rather than later.

Weidman will battle UFC Middleweight Champion Anderson Silva on July 6. In a recently published report, Weidman said that he is a “nightmare matchup for Anderson.” Weidman is 9-0 and the No. 1 contender. Silva is 33-4 and regarded as pound-for-pound the best mixed martial artist in the world.

It’s great that Weidman has confidence going in there against Silva, but he ought to be careful not to overlook the talented champion. He has a way of knocking out and submitting fighters, even if he loses every round – just ask Chael Sonnen.

It’s true that Silva has benefited from fighting sparingly, and then fighting guys that in the last few years that didn’t pose a real threat to him. But Weidman shouldn’t be so confident going in there with a guy who even UFC Light-Heavyweight Champion Jon Jones says is the best MMA fighter on the planet.

. . .  Speaking of top middleweights, Ronaldo “Jacare” Souza will fight on May 18 on FX against Chris Camozzi, who replaces Costa Philippou, forced out by a cut. Souza, the former Strikeforce Middleweight Champion, is a dangerous fighter who beat Tim Kennedy for the vacant title after Cung Le left for Hollywood. Souza lost to former Strikeforce middleweight champ Luke Rockhold.

Souza should be in the UFC title picture very soon if he puts together a couple of victories.

. . .  Here’s something to think about. Floyd Mayweather Jr. will step inside the ring Saturday night to fight Roberto Guerrero, in a big-time boxing match. Mayweather will defend his welterweight championship against Guerrero. Mayweather, who is undefeated, will earn $32 million for his performance, win or lose. He will earn millions more from the Pay Per View buy rate.

For years now people have been saying that boxing is dead, but Mayweather is bigger than any UFC star will ever be and makes a lot more money. Jon Jones, the light-heavyweight champ, earned $400,000 for defending against Chael Sonnen last weekend. He will earn more from Pay Per View buys.

With such a huge gap in salaries, for shows that should do comparable Pay Per View buy rates (the Mayweather fight will probably top 1.1. million), where’s all the UFC money going?

Daniel Cormier (right)

By Joshua Molina

Four months into the year and so many questions linger about the state of the UFC and mixed martial arts.

Here’s a look at some of the obvious questions fans should be asking:

What happened to Daniel Cormier dropping down to fight Jon Jones? What happened to DC’s bluster about the fight?

Why isn’t fan favorite Roy Nelson getting the next title shot considering he KO’d his last three opponents in the first round? Is it because he looks more like Hillbilly Jim than Junior Dos Santos?

Why is Tito Ortiz wasting his time talking about coming out of retirement to fight Jon Jones? Jenna Jameson would have an easier time putting Jones on his back. Tito would virtually guarantee that Jones breaks his title defense record if he steps into the cage with him.

Anderson Silva reportedly signed a 10-fight deal with the UFC. Silva is great, but 10 fights? Even if he keeps up his twice-a-year fight schedule that will take him to 41 years old, and someone between now and then is going to KO Silva badly. As great as he is, there’s always someone better and 10 fights is quite the major goal when you are 36 years old. . . Rumor has it that Tom Brady just signed a 10-year contract extension to play with Patriots.

Why did “King Mo” Lawal sign to be a pro wrestler when he’s not wrestling? All that blubber about him signing a year ago, the Spike TV, documentary about the “two-sport athlete” and Mo is irrelevant in pro wrestling and barely relevant in MMA. After getting knocked out for a second time recently, Mo should consider a year of pro wrestling to build his name and master his craft, before he kills himself in Bellator’s tournament style of fighting.

Mo is a great athlete, but he’s a better performer and showman. He belongs in pro wrestling.

Why is former Strikeforce Middleweight Champion Luke Rockhold fighting Vitor Belfort in his UFC debut?

In Rockhold, the UFC had potentially the biggest star in the sport, even bigger than the other Strikeforce steal, Ronda Rousey. Rockhold has movie star looks, a billion-dollar body and superb MMA skills.

Rockhold shouldn’t be wasting his time with Belfort, who despite his upset over Michael Bisping, doesn’t stand a chance against the Santa Cruz surfer.

If the UFC cares about creating a big star, it should book Rousey and Rockhold together in media appearances and push Rockhold as the next big thing.

Put Rockhold in the cage with Anderson Silva and we will see who deserves the 10-fight contract.

UFC Middleweight Champion Anderson Silva

By Joshua Molina

In the past year, Jon Jones has fought twice — against Chael Sonnen and Vitor Belfort.

Those are two guys who, at this stage of their career, probably ought to be competing in the World Series of Fighting, not for a UFC title.

Anderson Silva has fought twice in the last year, against Stephan Bonnar and Chael Sonnen.

How is it that the supposed two best fighters in the world, separated by one weight class and 20 pounds, have fought a combined four times in the last year, and against only three different opponents?

By way of comparison, at least Georges St-Pierre, the other guy in the pound-for-pound great discussion, fought two top contenders within a five-month span this last year.

It is absolutely time for some Super Fights.

There’s no good reason for these big fights not to happen. If you ask any boxing fan over 40 to recall some of his best fight memories, he will mention Mike Tyson and a series of Super Fights that elevated the sport.

We had Sugar Ray Leonard vs. Thomas Hearns for the welterweight title. There was Leonard vs. Roberto Duran – twice – for the welterweight gold. Leonard, Duran and Hearns all moved up two weight classes to fight middleweight champion Marvin Hagler, who beat Duran and Hearns, but lost to Leonard.

Leonard eventually won the light-heavyweight championship. Great fighters such as Hector “Macho” Camacho, Oscar de la Hoya, Roy Jones Jr. and Evander Holyfield all moved up in weight classes, and guess what? They are all now remembered as among boxing’s elite.

One of the problems is that the public doesn’t clamor for big MMA fights in the same way it does boxing fights. The UFC is still wildly popular among its base, but your average person could probably fire off the names of five boxers past, and present, for every one MMA fighter they could think of.

MMA needs SuperFights and it needs it now.

Unless of course Chael Sonnen can convince Dana White that he deserves a title shot against Cain Velasquez.

Sonnen

Roy Nelson to Fight Daniel Cormier or Mark Hunt

By FCF Staff

Immediately after being overpowered by UFC light-Heavyweight champ Jon Jones at UFC 159, Chael Sonnen hinted in his post-fight interview with Joe Rogan that his fighting career may be over. During the post-fight presser, the former middleweight contender relayed that he’ll take some time before any decision is made.

When asked to expand on his future in fighting, Sonnen stated he’s not ready to make up his mind yet, but expressed concerns as to what could be next. Since he’s already fought middleweight champion Anderson Silva twice, and now Jones, he added “what are they going to do with me? Put me in with Anderson Silva?” (Quote via MMA Junkie.com).

Speaking of Jones and Silva,  according to multiple reports, UFC President Dana White revealed at the post-fight presser that the middleweight champion called him last night to request a “super fight.” While White wouldn’t confirm whether Silva called regarding Jones or welterweight champion Georges St. Pierre, it’s interesting that the renowned fighter would do so, the same night Jones stopped his longtime rival Sonnen.

Of course, Silva has to get by rising middleweight Chris Weidman first, which will take place on July 6th.

One of the card’s highlights was Roy Nelson’s first round stoppage of Cheick Kongo, which prompted the heavyweight to call for a title shot. While White isn’t ready to declare Nelson as the top contender, he confirmed that Daniel Cormier or Mark Hunt will be the powerful slugger’s next opponent.

Cormier responded via Twitter to White’s proposal by stating that the bout “would be a damn good fight.”

Hunt is scheduled to fight former champ Junior dos Santos at UFC 160 on May 25th.

Jon Jones (photo via Al Bello/ Zuffa LLC)

By FCF Staff

Jon Jones relayed heading into UFC 159 tonight that observers may be looking past his ability to take decorated wrestler Chael Sonnen to the mat, and the light-heavyweight turned to his top game to put away the challenger in round one.

Although Sonnen was able to get back to his feet after Jones scored a couple of takedowns early on, the powerful champion began landing vicious elbows from the top position as the round approached its end. As Sonnen attempted to defend himself from the bottom along the Octagon fence, Jones landed a follow up knee to the body and several more strikes, before the bout was brought to a halt.

Despite the fact Sonnen appeared relatively okay immediately following the stoppage, the former middleweight conceded that Jones had been the better man tonight, and was noncommittal when asked about his future.

As Jones joined UFC commentator Joe Rogan for his post-fight interview, the champion realized he had a foot injury, and the camera panned down to reveal that his left, big toe was severely broken. A clearly shaken and in pain Jones continued to do the interview as doctors attended to him. If the bout had not been stopped in the champion’s favor, it may have been called in between rounds due to the nature of Jones’ injury.

Here are the results from tonight’s UFC 159 card, which was hosted by the Prudential Center in Newark, New Jersey.

Jon Jones def. Chael Sonnen via TKO (punches and elbows)- R1 4:33

Michael Bisping def. Alan Belcher via technical decision (30-27, 30-27, 29-28)- R3 4:31

Roy Nelson def. Cheick Kongo via knockout (punch) – R1, 2:03

Phil Davis def. Vinny Magalhaes via unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 29-28)

Pat Healy def. Jim Miller via submission (rear-naked choke) – R3, 4:02

Rustam Khabilov def. Yancy Medeiros via TKO (thumb injury) – R1, 2:32

Ovince St. Preux def. Gian Villante via majority technical decision (30-28, 30-29, 29-29) – R3, 0:33

Sara McMann def. Sheila Gaff via TKO (strikes) – R1, 4:06

Bryan Caraway def. Johnny Bedford via submission (guillotine choke) – R3, 4:44

Cody McKenzie def. Leonard Garcia via unanimous decision (29-28, 30-27, 30-27)

Steven Siler def. Kurt Holobaugh via unanimous decision (29-28, 29-28, 29-28)

UFC Light Heavyweight Champion Jon Jones

By Joshua Molina

After the most controversial month in recent UFC history, Jon Jones will finally step into the cage and fight this Saturday at UFC 152.

Jones will battle Vitor Belfort in a fight that would never had happened for not the wild chain of events that were triggered after Dan Henderson pulled out of the original fight with Jones.

Let’s get real here: The last month has been fun, but it’s all about to end. Barring a monumental upset, Jones will likely make short work of Belfort, who doesn’t belong in the same conversation with Jones, much less cage.

Lost in all the drama over Jones is the fact that he’s possibly the best mixed martial arts fighter in the world, and at the very least the second best. George St. Pierre has been gone too long to be considered No. 2., although a win over Carlos Condit would launch him back quickly.

For the good of the sport, Jones needs to triumph over Belfort and we all need to move on with our lives.

That includes Chael Sonnen. The trash-talking lightning rod is “in full camp” looking to step in for Belfort should he get injured.

Note to Chael. Get a life. He’s a distraction and he needs to focus on his own fights.

Unless he knows something the rest of us don’t, Sonnen should stop trying maneuver himself into the limelight here.

The worst thing that could happen to Sonnen is for Belfort to pull out of the fight. If by some miracle Sonnen were to fight Jones, he’d be in big trouble.

His best hope would be to wrestle Jones to a decision victory, but that would be extraordinarily tough, given Jones’ ample physical abilities.

Sonnen doesn’t want to be the guy who got creamed twice in three months in the first round.

UFC needs to turn the corner on the Jones-Henderson-Dana-White-Greg Jackson-Lyoto Machida-Sonnen debacle.

Let’s get back to fighting inside the cage, not out of it.

UFC President Dana White

By Joshua Molina
UFC boss Dana White spun a funny zinger on The Jim Rome Show in response to Jon Jones’ recent comments that he “felt like a piece of meat” during the UFC 151 cancellation controversy.

White snapped “I wonder how that piece of meat was feeling when we bought him that Bentley.”

Two big egos barking at each other over who they think is the bigger jerk.

We know what Frank Shamrock thinks. Shamrock, the outspoken, brash, lesser-known, but more successful adopted younger brother of UFC icon Ken Shamrock, once again blasted white, accusing the UFC revolutionary of “bringing down MMA.”

On bjpenn.com radio, Shamrock blasted White, accusing him of putting himself before the fighters and the sport, and for verbally thumping Jones for his decision not to fight Chael Sonnen instead of the injured Dan Henderson at UFC 151.

“The guy who has made himself the star of MMA is the biggest douche bag and loudmouth on the planet and he’s bringing the entire industry down,” Shamrock said.

Shamrock was the UFC’s first light heavyweight champion, but he left the promotion before it got super-big in 2005. Shamrock won the Strikeforce middleweight title and made some good money fighting the likes of Cung Le and Nick Diaz, before retiring and now enjoying a second career as an analyst for Showtime MMA events.

As Shamrock knows, it’s hard to argue with White about the state of the sport because his comeback to every criticism is always something like, “we built this (expletive) sport. We know what we are doing.”

White is either the most confident man in the world or the biggest BS-er, as seen in this interview with the WSJ from May of this year.

By the way, young MMA multimedia journalists, don’t act like interviewer if you ever get to interview White.

The interviewer doesn’t even remotely challenge White or Fertitta in any way, and looks more like a 12-year-old girl interviewing Justin Bieber than a sports journalist. At one point, the interviewer calls White, “brother.”
White had the audacity to say that “globally, we’re bigger than the NFL.” It’s tough to argue logically with someone who says those kinds of things.

White in the interview also says that there’s never been a death in the Octagon, in the UFC’s near 20-year history.

It’s funny to see White reference the 20-year history of the NFL when it benefits him, but disregard it when it doesn’t benefit him.

For example, one of White’s big excuses for not wanting to induct Frank Shamrock into the UFC Hall of Fame is because Shamrock “never did anything for the current UFC,” since it became popular.

Zuffa purchased the UFC in 2001. Shamrock competed in the UFC from 1993 to 1998, including a big submission victory over Tito Ortiz. It’s OK for White to claim the history back to 1993 when it makes him look good, but he apparently thinks it’s OK to ignore it when it doesn’t.

Cung Le (right)

By Joshua Molina

Cung Le is a fighter, but he’s first and foremost a family man. That’s one of the main reasons why the Vietnamese-American fight so often in San Jose, California, where he lives.

Nine out of the fighter’s 10 professional bouts have taken place in San Jose. All 17 of Le’s kickboxing fights took place in the United States, with six in San Jose, another six in Los Angeles and Las Vegas and the rest in Chicago, Hawaii and Florida.

He likes the home field advantage.

So it will be intriguing to see how he performs in China, as part of the UFC’s first show in that country. Le will headline the event, battling Rich Franklin, in what should be an outstanding fight between the two combat veterans. According to fcfighter.com, the fight will take place on Nov. 10 at the Venetian Macau Resort Hotel’s Cotai Arena and will be broadcast on FUEL TV.

Le, who is also a Hollywood actor, is one of the sport’s most exciting fighters. His dazzling kicks from any and all angles, and vicious spinning backfists have made him one of the most feared strikes in the business. At 40, however, his time to strike for a UFC championship is now and the only way he gets there is through Franklin.

From a promotional standpoint, the UFC needs to stop holding big UFC cards a week before big Strikeforce cards. The company did it in July and will do it again this month.

A week after Chael Sonnen battled Anderson Silva on July 7, Luke Rockhold wiped out Tim Kennedy at a Strikeforce show on July 14. There’s only so much any company, even the UFC, can do to promote two big cards that close to one another.

The Strikeforce show was stacked with great fights, yet, not a lot of people knew about it, and even the fighters complained about a lack of promotion for the event.
Now, a week after Jon Jones defends his light heavyweight championship against Vitor Belfort, Strikeforce will be live on Showtime with an event headlined by lightweight champ Gilbert Melendez battling Pat Healy.

The other big fight on that card will be Josh Thomson vs. Caros Fodor, in a fight that hopefully Fodor wins, for no other reason than not wanting to see a fourth wrestling match between Thomson and Melendez.

Strikeforce had a strong and growing brand before the UFC purchased it. It’s too bad that their shows feel like afterthoughts to the big UFC shows.

Jon Jones continues entertain the world by accident. Jones hasn’t said much about Vitor Belfort, but he has plenty to say about the canceled UFC 151 card. After Dan Henderson pulled out of the fight because of an injury, Jones refused to fight Chael Sonnen. UFC president Dana White then canceled the card, attacking Jones and questioning his manhood for refusing to fight.

Jones, however, isn’t helping matters, by constantly backpedaling in his apologies and his snooty attitude over anyone suggesting that the champ should have just stepped into the cage and fought.

He told the Associated Press this yesterday.

“I had to do what’s right for myself by turning down that fight, Dana had to do what was right for himself by putting the blame on everyone else except for himself,” Jones told the Associated Press. “The lesson to be learned is, at the end of the day, you have to protect yourself and your family.”

That’s a funny statement from Jones, considering that Jones was arrested and convicted for drunken driving earlier this year.

Contact reporter Joshua Molina at jmolina@fcfighter.com. Or follow him on Twitter at https://twitter.com/JoshuaMolinaMMA

MMA is hurting for a larger-than-life superstar like Brock Lesnar, who has said goodbye to the sport

By Joshua Molina

Mixed martial arts needs a new star, and Nike deal or not, Jon Jones is not it, thanks to Dana White.

It doesn’t matter if the sport has great fighters, smart promoters or, hundreds of MMA gyms across the country opening its doors to young athletes.

It needs a charismatic star who can communicate on a large platform.

It’s hard to believe that just four years ago the sport’s brightest star was a guy named Kimbo Slice. Somehow, after several backyard brawls, Slice talked his way into a major contract with Elite XC and found himself fighting on national television.

Slice, in the professional sense, couldn’t fight. It didn’t matter. His mystique, aura, and Mike Tyson-like ferocity forced traditional sports media to pay attention to MMA.

The media stories about Slice around this time four years ago are laughable. From the Orlando Sun Sentinel in October 2008 was this gem: “To family, MMA star Kimbo Slice is a hulk with heart.” That same year he also appeared on “Jimmy Kimmel Live!” And dozens of other mainstream articles.

It didn’t matter that Slice was one of the worst MMA fighters in the world. The mainstream world didn’t know that. He was a star and people wanted to watch him. He made more money for the fighters around him.

There are, arguably, no mainstream stars in MMA, anymore. In a hilarious twist of irony, the biggest MMA star in the world right now is probably Ronda Rousey. That’s funny because UFC president Dana White has made a career downplaying and dumping on women’s MMA.

It’s no coincidence that Chael Sonnen, the most charismatic, flamboyant and best trash talker in the sport headlined UFC 148, which received one million buys on pay per view. UFC 147, the card prior, raked in a disastrous 200,000 buys.

How many MMA fighters can the average person on the street name? I bet they name Kimbo Slice before they name Anderson Silva, who is regarded as the best pound for pound fighter in the world.

MMA took off, with the UFC in the driver’s seat, after an epic fight between Stephan Bonnar and Forrest Griffin on the Ultimate Fighter. At the time, the UFC was on the USA network, with the best time slot in the world – after WWE’s wildly successful Monday Night Raw. A lot of eyes were on that fight.

Griffin and Bonnar, not the best MMA fighters, were the finalists on the first season of the reality show The Ultimate Fighter. There were overnight stars. The show was an excellent build for the pay per view show a week later between Randy Couture and Chuck Liddell, when quickly become major mainstream stars.

Tito Ortiz was also a huge name at the time. His bleach blond hair and no fear fighting style made him someone people wanted to watch. There have been other great fighters and personalities in MMA over the years, including Quentin “Rampage” Jackson, Dan Henderson and Ken Shamrock. Even Tank Abbot was a star who helped popularize MMA.

But for every one of those kinds of personalities, there’s a dozen really good fighters that no one in the mainstream really cares about. Benson Henderson? Anderson Silva? Junior Dos Santos? Nobody in American knows who these people are, outside of the hardcore MMA world.

Dana White pulled off a masterstroke when he signed former WWE wrestler Brock Lesnar to a contract. Even though White rushed him into the main event slot, burning him out before he was ever great, Lesnar was a perfect addition to the UFC. He was a monster with a personality that everyone was already familiar with from his years as a pay per view headliner for the WWE.

The signing of Lesnar fueled the popularity of the promotion and MMA. Lesnar is the biggest pay per view draw in the history of the UFC, even though he was never a Top 10, much less Top 50 fighter in the world. It didn’t matter. He was a star and people wanted to watch him.

In team sports, the company can live off the brand. For example, even though Tim Tebow is the biggest star in the NFL, it doesn’t matter if he crashes and burns. The NFL is the strongest brand and is bigger than its stars.

But that doesn’t work in individual sports. Everybody knows the name Don King in boxing, but that doesn’t make people want to watch. Instead, they want to watch stars like Floyd Mayweather Jr. and Manny Pacquiao. Muhammad Ali, Sugar Ray Leonard, Oscar de la Hoya, Evander Holyfield, Mike Tyson, Lennox Lewis, etc. were all stars who helped bridge the sport over the years.

Pro wrestlers have always had big stars emerge to bridge the mainstream gap. Hulk Hogan, Randy “Macho Man” Savage, Stone Cold Steve Austin, The Rock and now John Cena and CM Punk are huge stars who keep the product hot.

Boxing is not as popular as MMA right now in the television ratings sense, but boxing’s stars, Pacquiao and Mayweather are far bigger mainstream stars than anyone in MMA has ever been. And the mainstream pays money to watch stars.

Mixed martial arts needs a star.

Dana White should be trying to lure someone like WWE wrestler and athletic phenom John Cena or Jake Hager, Jr, otherwise known as Jack Swagger, a 31-year-old All-American wrestler from the University of Oklahoma.

The reality is that, in America, mainstream fans aren’t going to get behind a Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu black belt who submits his opponent with an armbar, who doesn’t speak English, or isn’t interesting on the microphone, if they can.

American fans in droves are never going to appreciate seeing a fighter get out of trouble by executing a brilliant Muay Thai clinch, then kneeing an opponent in the face.
They are definitely never going to care about skilled lay-and-pray fighter who controls his opponent on the ground for five rounds.

While hardcore, intelligent MMA fans appreciate these styles, the mainstream fans are what MMA needs to survive in the long run.

MMA needs a talker, with a charisma. It needs someone who can tell a story on the microphone. It needs someone who Dana White won’t verbally destroy because he won’t save a weak card. It needs someone who can capture the attention of the middle-America, and not be held back or restrained by White or any promoter.

Who will be MMA’s next big thing?

The sport has potential stars within it. Luke Rockhold, King Mo, Sonnen and Nick Diaz all have the kinds of personalities necessary to crossover and pique the interest of the mainstream – if they are given the platform to do so.

From a business and marketing perspective, it doesn’t matter if you are a great athlete, or the best in the world at what you do, if no one knows you who are. Kimbo Slice proved that.

Contact reporter Joshua Molina at jmolina@fcfighter.com. Or follow him on Twitter at https://twitter.com/JoshuaMolinaMMA

By Joshua Molina
So-called “soccer kicks” should not be allowed in MMA anymore.
Soccer kicks were once a hallmark of Pride Fighting Championships, and have recently been revived by One FC, a Singapore-based mixed martial arts company.

One FC on Friday promoted a mega show featuring former UFC champs Andrei Arlovski and Tim Sylvia.

It was the fourth “epic” matchup between these two fighters, who are both well past their primes.

The fight ended after Arlovski dropped Sylvia with a right hand and then kicked him in the head a couple of times with his left foot while Sylvia was down, forcing the referee to stop the fight.

The referee, however, declared the fight a “No Contest” because Arlovski used the soccer kicks before it was legally OK for him to kick a fighter while down.
In One FC, the referee must somehow signal that a fighter can proceed with a soccer kick.

Regardless of the rules, and Arlovski’s mistake, allowing soccer kicks in the modern day world of MMA seems unnecessary and borderline unsportsmanlike. How can a fighter, already dazed from a punch, defend himself from a brutal kick to the head? Gravity is not on your side.

Take the case of Roger Huerta at One FC’s show in June. The former UFC and Bellator fighter was kicked unconscious, in a scene that would make anyone sick if they saw it.

From a fan perspective, soccer kicks can be exciting. They usually lead to knockouts. And one downside to modern mixed martial arts is the rise in Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu practitioners who coast on their backs to run out the time or lay on their backs and wait, like a spider, to capture their opponents in armbar or triangle choke.

Can you imagine what would have happened had Fedor Emelianenko been allowed to soccer kick Fabricio Werdum in San Jose, California in 2010? Fedor dropped Werdum with a right hand, but as he leaned in to try to KO with him with another right, Werdum, a black belt in Brazillian Jiu-Jitsu, grabbed his arm and choked him out with a triangle choke. Had Fedor been able to soccer kick him, the fight would have been over and Fedor’s future would have turned out entirely different.

But those aren’t the rules. Soccer kicks, thankfully, are not allowed in the UFC, Strikeforce or Bellator.

It’s just unfair to allow one fighter to kick another fighter while down. There’s no art or skill to that. That’s purely primal – and MMA should be a battle of talents among multiple disciplines, not a showcase of cowardly head kicks.

Last night was supposed to be the big battle between Jon Jones and Dan Henderson.
Instead, what we got was Jones mouthing off again about Henderson. Henderson injured his knee and was forced to withdraw from the fight. Chael Sonnen agreed to fight Jones – on eight days notices – but Jones, refused to fight him. Jones’ refusal led to Dana White vilifying Jones, questioning his manhood and courage, and ultimately canceling the show.

Jones over weekend said that he had considered paying the purses to the fighters who lost money with the cancelation of the show, but that he changed his mind when he read that the undercard fighters were saying bad things about him.

Then, Jones in response to a tweet from an MMA fan who said “I have no plans tonight” thanks to Jon Jones, said this: “Thanks to the old man and his knee I don’t either.”Actually Jones would have plans had he accepted Sonnen’s challenge. And to call Dan Henderson an old man is just disrespectful.

When Sonnen, the sport’s best trash talker, talks about his opponents, it’s in character and everyone knows that. It’s part of the Sonnen persona that he is created. When Jones says things like that, it is disrespectful and mean. Jones clearly believes his own hype.

Will Jon Jones be fighting when he is 42 years old?

Contact reporter Joshua Molina at jmolina@fcfighter.com. Or follow him on Twitter at https://twitter.com/JoshuaMolinaMMA

Chael Sonnen

By Joshua Molina

Chael Sonnen needs to shut up.

He’s been running his mouth almost non-stop for most of the year. After trashing Anderson Silva, his country and his training partners, he walked into the cage and got TKO’d by Silva in July.

Now, he’s trying to bait Jon Jones into agreeing to fight him. He was willing to replace an injured Dan Henderson and fight Jones on eight days notice on Sept. 1, but when Jones refused, Sonnen attacked him. He’s called him a chicken, a coward and a mental midget. Now he told ESPN radio that he will end up fighting Jones on Sept. 22 because Jones’ opponent, Vitor Belfort, is going to pull out of the fight.

Sonnen has been praised for his willingness to fight Jones on such short notice, but Jones and others have speculated that Sonnen has been quietly training for the fight because he knew Henderson was too injured to fight more than three weeks prior. Was Sonnen courageous or cunning?

Regardless of what Sonnen knew and when he knew it, he needs to stop talking before he ends up making a fool of himself.

Here’s why the Sonnen trash talk worked with Silva. People believed he could win. He hammered the unbeatable Silva for four rounds, then made a mistake, and paid for it, tapping out to a triangle choke.

The insults worked against Silva in the rematch because fans believed that he could actually beat him. It doesn’t matter that Sonnen was TKO’d in the second fight. Once again, Sonnen won the first round, and then made a mistake in the second (why on earth is he trying spinning backfists)?

Fight fans know that Sonnen is competitive with Silva, so listening to his trash talk is worth their time.

That’s not the case with Jones.

We don’t know that he’s competitive with Jones. In fact, the most logical assumption is that he’s not.

Jones is bigger, younger, faster, and just about more skilled in everything except wrestling and trash talking. To use pro wrestling vernacular that Sonnen would appreciate, barring some outside interference from Dan Henderson in the match, when the referee isn’t looking, Jones would likely clobber Sonnen and do it worse than Silva did.

Sonnen needs to calm down and stop diluting his effectiveness as a UFC character. There’s a fine line between brilliant self promoter and bizarre, delusional self promoter.

What if Sonnen talks his way into a fight with Jones and then gets tapped out in the first round? He’s going to have a hard time selling his next fight based on trash talk. He also needs to show some modicum of respect for Jones as a fighter. He’s not a coward for not wanting to fight a new opponent on eight days notice.

Professional fighters aren’t chickens or cowards. Jones may have his priorities out of whack; he might be getting bad advice from those around him; he might be playing it too safe and trying his career, but he’s not a chicken.

Besides, Jones is so hated in MMA right now that it really doesn’t matter if he fights Belfort, Sonnen or Elton John; people will pay to see him fight anybody, hoping that he will lose. At least for one more pay per view.

Lack of competition alert: Everyone in MMA is still reeling over Dana White’s verbal destruction of Jones last week during a media call. White wouldn’t be acting that way if there were another MMA competitor that he could lose Jones to. It’s easy for White to abuse Jones because he knows Jones probably won’t fight anywhere out of the UFC.

Theoretically Jones could move to Bellator once his UFC contract is up, but White doesn’t appear to be too worried about Bellator as competition yet. The UFC is not MMA.

Contact reporter Joshua Molina at jmolina@fcfighter.com. Or follow him on Twitter at https://twitter.com/JoshuaMolinaMMA