Jon Jones has openly stated that he’s looking for big money fights. He has kids and wants to put them through university. He wants to have enough money so when he and his wife are old, they can live comfortably. He’s seen athletes like Mike Tyson, Allen Iverson and Ric Flair make hundreds of millions, and go broke before they’re 50. Like it or not, the pay day takes a considerable drop when you’re not the champ.

So why risk losing the title? Jon Jones spent upwards of three months preparing for Dan Henderson – a wrestler with anvils in both of his hands. Chael Sonnen is a far different fighter than Hendo. Sonnen would try to use the clinch more. Sonnen would try to get the fight to the ground more. Sonnen would change up Jon Jones, along with Greg Jackson’s game plan considerably; with the champ given only EIGHT days to formulate a new strategy.

Talk to any MMA trainer and they will tell you the last week of a training camp is very little physical activity, and more mental and weight cutting. What you’ve learned and prepared for in three months isn’t going to change during that final week. In fact, a lot of fighters head to the fight city a week before the event. That means “Bones” with have only one or two days to really prepare for Sonnen, watch tape and decide what type of fight the champ wants to bring to the Octagon.

That being said, why was the news of Dan Henderson’s knee injury and ultimate withdrawal kept quiet for so long? Two days before the UFC announced the cancellation of the September 1st show they held a conference call with the champ, challenger and the President. No mention was made about a possible injury. They acted like the fight would continue on. I guarantee someone had to have known something about Hendo’s knee, whether it be Hendo himself, his team at Team Quest, or even Dana. But there is no way, 10 days out of the fight, Hendo is rolling around with his teammates, and working THAT hard that his knee would pop.

Fans have fallen in love with Chael Sonnen because of his ability to sell a fight based on his trash talk, alone. The problem is, you have to actually WIN fights in order to earn a title shot. Chael Sonnen doesn’t deserve an immediate shot at the 205lbs title, arguably the most prestigious title in the UFC. Chael Sonnen is coming off a loss in the Middleweight division. He hasn’t fought at Light-Heavyweight since 2006-07. Good on Jon Jones for making a statement that promos can’t help you skip the line.

And good on Jon Jones for accepting the Machida fight. Instead of eight days to change up his game plan, he decided to take three weeks, to COMPLETELY re-haul his strategy – and take a fight only a couple weeks earlier he said he didn’t want. It was MACHIDA who turned down the title shot, saying he wasn’t ready to challenge a champion who put him to sleep less than a year ago. Nonetheless, Jones accepted that fight.

Lyoto Machida is a VERY different fighter to prepare for. He is easily the most elusive fighter in the UFC, and he is the only person to win a round against Jon Jones, landing some significant shots in their first fight, back in December.
The UFC failed by jumping the gun and announcing this fight before it was 100% confirmed.

Now “Bones” has accepted another fight. Against Vitor Belfort, which will make it four former 205lbs champions in a row he’s fought. An easier fight for Jones? Perhaps. We know Vitor is going to want to keep it standing and “Bones” will use his reach like he’s done so many times in the past. But it’s a fight that Jones didn’t have to take at all. How many times do we see a main-event scrapped because of an injury? Jose Aldo was supposed to fight Eric Koch, in July. Dominick Cruz was supposed to fight Urijah Faber. Vitor was supposed to fight Wanderlei Silva. Fights break down all the time because of injury, but because an entire event was scrapped, all the negative attention falls on Jones.

Maybe if the UFC didn’t put on a show every other week, stretching their roster paper thin, the card could have been salvaged. There lies the risk in having a stellar main event, and mediocre, albeit exciting fights on the undercard.

Sure Jones picked up a DUI not too long ago, and that’s a terrible, unforgivable thing to do. But while people are quick to jump down his throat about that, there was last March, when hours before his Light-Heavyweight title shot, Jones took down a mugger who stole some ladies purse. He’s not all bad.

It’s not Jon Jones fault for the cancellation of UFC 151, in Las Vegas. He was looking out for what’s best for his career; for his family. It sucks for the undercard fighters who won’t get paid (unless Dana White, who is known to be one of the most generous people in the world, pays them anyways). It sucks for the company, who will lose out on millions with this show not airing on pay-per-view. It sucks for the fans – we now have to wait even longer to see Bones vs. Hendo. But, in my opinion, the blame DOES NOT fall on the Champ.

When you’re that good, haters are going to hate.

Agree? Disagree? Follow me on Twitter and tell me why @roho590

Download

Download

Download

Download

Download

For the latest MMA news, make sure you follow me on Twitter

So begrudgingly, I give you my first Rohoman’s Rankings.

Heavyweight (265lbs Limit)

1. Junior dos Santos
2. Cain Velasquez
3. Frank Mir
4. Josh Barnett
5. Shane Carwin
6. Daniel Cormier
7. Fabricio Werdum
8. Antonio Silva
9. Travis Browne
10. Mark Hunt

Note: Alistair Overeem would have been in the top-5 if he didn’t fail a random drug test

Light-Heavyweight (205lbs limit)

1. Jon Jones
2. Rashad Evans
3. Dan Henderson
4. Mauricio “Shogun” Rua
5. Lyoto Machida
6. Ryan Bader
7. Quinton “Rampage” Jackson
8. Phil Davis
9. Alexander Gustafsson
10. Antonio Rogerio Nogueira

Note: Gegard Mousasi is on a lot of people’s top 10 lists. But due to the lack of top-level competition he’s faced and a draw against Keith Jardine, he does not crack my list.

Middleweight (185lbs limit)

1. Anderson Silva
2. Chael Sonnen
3. Michael Bisping
4. Vitor Belfort
5. Mark Munoz
6. Brian Stann
7. Tim Hague
8. Chris Weidman
9. Yushin Okami
10. Luke Rockhold

Honourable mention: Rousimar Palhares

Welterweight (170lbs limit)

1. Georges St. Pierre
2. Carlos Condit
3. Jake Ellenberger
4. Josh Koscheck
5. Johnny Hendricks
6. Jake Shields
7. Jon Fitch
8. Diego Sanchez
9. Martin Kampmann
10. Nick Diaz

Note: I keep Nick Diaz in my top-10 because his positive drug test for marijuana following his loss to Carlos Condit is still being debated by the Nevada State Athletic Commission. A suspension drops him out of the rankings. A ruling in Diaz’ favour will bring him back up them.

Even though I think Rory Macdonald beats most of the guys on this list, he hasn’t fought top-10 competition yet. So he doesn’t make my top-10 quite yet.

Lightweight (155lbs limit)

1. Ben Henderson
2. Frankie Edgar
3. Gilbert Melendez
4. Gray Maynard
5. Anthony Pettis
6. Jim Miller
7. Eddie Alvarez
8. Clay Guida
9. Michael Chandler
10. Nate Diaz

Note: I feel Gilbert Melendez is the best 155 pounder in the world, but until he makes the jump to the UFC and takes out Edgar and Bendo, he stays at 3.

Featherweight (145lbs limit)

1. Jose Aldo
2. Hatsu Hioki
3. Chad Mendes
4. Dustin Poirier
5. Eric Koch
6. Pat Curran
7. Chan Sun Jung
8. Kenny Florian
9. Dennis Siver
10. Marlon Sandro

Note: Six of the top-10 will compete in the next three months.

Bantamweight (135lbs limit)

1. Dominck Cruz
2. Urijah Faber
3. Renan Barao
4. Brian Bowles
5. Michael Mcdonald
6. Bibiano Fernandes
7. Scott Jorgensen
8. Brad Pickett
9. Eduardo Dantas
10. Miguel Torres

Note: I have a soft spot for Dream Champ Bibiano Fernandes… because he fights out of Vancouver (my old stomping grounds). Plus he’s awesome.

Flyweight (125lbs limit)

1. Ian McCall
2. Demetrious Johnson
3. Joseph Benavidez
4. Jussiero da Silva
5. Yasuhiro Urushitani
6. Shinichi “BJ” Kojima
7. Darrell Montague
8. Mitsuhisa Sunabe
9. Mamoru Yamaguchi
10. Dustin Ortiz

So there you have it… agree? Disagree? Hit me up on Twitter.

Silva vs. Sonnen II Moved to Vegas

Dana White and Chael Sonnen headed down to Rio de Janeiro to hold a news conference, where we all knew some sort of change was coming to UFC 147 which was scheduled for an 80,000 seat soccer stadium, in June.
Most of us thought the stadium was going to be too big and the event would be moved to a smaller venue. That’s when Dana dropped the bombshell… yes… the event would likely be moving to a smaller arena… but it would be moving without Anderson Silva vs. Chael Sonnen II as the main event.
The UFC Prez said pressure from government officials, not to clog up hotels and whatnot during the United Nations’ Rio +20 meeting.
So the event will still happen, June 23rd in Brazil… where is not sure yet, but what we did find out is Jose Aldo will headline the show now. With Sonnen vs. Silva moved to July’s UFC 148 show in Las Vegas.
While the company can cite the United Nations meeting all it wants to (and it’s a genuine concern), whether that’s the reason this fight is being moved to the US is up for debate.
The UFC is still putting a show on in Brazil. The arena in Brazil will likely be bigger than the MGM Grand Garden Arena… the new host for perhaps the biggest fight in UFC history.
What remains a fact is Chael Sonnen has openly insulted Brazil and Brazilians for two years now. Props to him for making it to the newser and out of it alive… but me thinks the fight was moved State-side for his safety as much as it was moved because of the UN.

Dominick Cruz vs. Urijah Faber now UFC 148 Co-headliner

With Silva vs. Sonnen II now heading for UFC 148 in Las Vegas… we learned that the original main event of that show would get bumped into co-main event status.
The trilogy bout between Bantamweight Champion Dominick Cruz and former Featherweight champ Urijah Faber will go on second last… despite all the hype and build the current season of The Ultimate Fighter is providing.
This makes the July 7th show one of the best cards the UFC has ever put together – Right up there with UFC 129 which was held in Toronto.
Two title fights will take place at UFC 148; With Silva and Sonnen in the main event and Cruz and Faber in the co-main event. And the following fights on the main and under card:
Rich Franklin vs. Cung Le, Tito Ortiz vs. Forrest Griffin, Michael Bisping vs. Tim Boetsch, Renan Barao vs. Ivan Menjivar, Damien Maia vs. Dong Hyun Kim – A damn good show.

Jose Aldo moved from Calgary to Brazil

Without a Brazilian in the main event for UFC 147, in Brazil, the decision was made to pull Jose Aldo’s Featherweight title defense from UFC 149 in Calgary, and into the main event slot, in June.
We still don’t know who Aldo’s opponent will be, with speculation it would be the winner between Dustin Poirier and Chan Sung Jung, but with that fight happening in the middle of May, the winner likely won’t be ready for the biggest fight of his career.
That leads me to believe Hatsu Hioki will be announced as the number one contender for Aldo’s belt.
The undercard of UFC 147 will stay the same. Vitor Belfort vs. Wanderlei Silva will take co-main event status and guys like Fabricio Werdum and the TUF Brazil finals will still take place.

Jon Jones vs. Dan Henderson could headline Calgary

One final nugget from today’s newser was Dana White hinting, if Jon Jones is recovered from his five round decision win over Rashad Evans, then he could be put into the main-event of UFC 149 in Calgary against Dan Henderson.
The timing works out nicely and Hendo is definitely itching to get this title fight on, with father time definitely not on his side.

What does this mean for UFC 152 in Toronto?

Nothing concrete yet…. But if you do the math and figure out timing… it could work out nicely for a Heavyweight Title main event… between the winner of Junior dos Santos and Frank Mir… against Cain Velasquez (If he gets by Bigfoot Silva) or Alistair Overeem (if he can get a fight license in Toronto).

Make sure you follow me on Twitter for the latest MMA news: @roho590

Mir who was supposed to fight former heavyweight champion Cain Velasquez in the co-main event now gets an opportunity to regain the championship he has held on two prior occasions. No word on who will replace Mir against Velasquez but Roy Nelson who was also supposed to fight on the card and has been vocal on why Velasquez is involved in a number one contenders bout after just losing the title would be the obvious choice.

Download

According to Nevada State Athletic Commissioner Keith Keizer, Overeem had elevated testosterone levels of 10:1. The NSAC allows a fighter’s testosterone level to be 6:1.

As with any random drug test, a “B” sample was taken, and the Dutch fighter has the right for it to be tested. An option “The Demolition Man” will no doubt exercise.

Is it time to panic and start playing fantasy match-maker for Junior Dos Santos first defense as UFC Heavyweight Champion? Not yet.

First, let’s clear this up. Overeem FAILED his drug test – he DID NOT test positive for anything; Big difference.

Overeem ran into some trouble with the NSAC back in December when he didn’t submit the proper drug tests, on time, leading into his fight with Brock Lesnar.

He submitted a drug test and subsequently passed, but part of his penalties for the late sample was a pair of random tests, further performed by the Commission. Tuesday’s test was one of those.

Overeem will not be suspended should the “B” sample fail as well, as he currently doesn’t have a license. All that will happen is he will not be granted a license to fight May 26th, at the MGM Grand.

UFC President Dana White was doing an interview with our partners Sportsnet when he heard about the failed test and was reportedly livid with the news.
This does not bode well for the former Strikeforce Heavyweight Champion should his second sample return the same results.

Let’s be clear, the fight between Overeem and Dos Santos is still ON… as of right now, but it is very much in danger if the second sample comes back positive and Overeem isn’t given a license to fight.

Already names are popping up as potential replacements against Dos Santos. A lot of people are picking Frank Mir to step in and try to reclaim the Heavyweight title, but to me, the fight that makes the most sense is an immediate rematch with a healthy Cain Velasquez.

Either way, I sure hope Overeem gets past this obstacle and gets his license. I was pumped to see him fight for the title.

Remember to follow me on twitter @roho590