Hey, quit harping on fights that won’t happen like the one between Josh Koscheck and BJ Penn (he already told you he was retired! Leave BJ alone!). There’s plenty of interesting stuff that IS going down this weekend, even if many of the fighters involved [...]]]> My introductory post for Spike TV is up!

Hey, quit harping on fights that won’t happen like the one between Josh Koscheck and BJ Penn (he already told you he was retired! Leave BJ alone!). There’s plenty of interesting stuff that IS going down this weekend, even if many of the fighters involved face more uncertainty once their evenings are over.

Read more: http://www.spike.com/articles/fxjx89/uncertain-proving-grounds-barnett-vs-cormier-and-bellator-69

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Also, as a reminder, I’ll be live-blogging tonight’s Star Boxing card at the Times Union Center, part of which will broadcast live on ESPN as part of Friday Night Fights. You can check that out over at the Mixed Marshall Arts blog. The live blog will kick off at 7:30pm EST.

Unfortunately, the event paled in comparison [...]]]>

Jon Jones: new UFC Light Heavyweight Champion, seen here with the weight of the world on his shoulders. (AP Photo/Mel Evans)

UFC 128 was last night, and the theme of the event – from Dana White’s statements throughout the week right down  to Jon Jones‘s entrance music – was “boy, what a shame this is in Newark instead of Madison Square Garden.”

Unfortunately, the event paled in comparison to recent cards and even the forthcoming free Ultimate Fight Night card on Spike next week both on paper and in terms of entertainment value. Nothing was particularly bad, mind you, but nothing was particularly memorable either.

Save, of course, for the fulfillment of the Jon Jones prophecy.

Jones dominated defending champion Mauricio “Shogun” Rua the entire fight, including what could generously be described as two 10-8 rounds followed by a merciful stoppage in the third. Rua came into the cage already looking tired and old, carrying with him the war-weary look that belies the fact that he’s still only 29-years-old himself.  A soft mid-section and early exhaustion indicated that conditioning has once again become an issue for Rua, making a Jones victory an inevitability.

This is not to take anything away from the new champion. At 23-years-old and with only three years of fight experience, Jon Jones has ascended the Light Heavyweight ranks in dominant and impressive fashion.

However, to coin a phrase, “I was not eempressed with his performahnce.”

This will surely put me in opposition with most MMA fans, but I could hardly qualify Jones’s win as a sign that we finally have a dominant Light Heavyweight champion. Rua went into this fight looking even worse than he did against Forrest Griffin, and Jones himself has some conditioning issues that nobody else wants to acknowledge. Did anybody else see him in the last minute of the first round, pawing at Rua with an arm he was barely able to lift up, huffing and puffing in the face of a fighter who was out on his feet and practically begging to be struck with a halfway decent tap to the chin that would have finished the fight?

Granted, these issues can and will be addressed by Greg Jackson and his camp. Jackson is no fool: he, unlike many fans, knows that Jones is going to have a lot more trouble against Rashad Evans than he did against Mauricio Rua. Evans has a better wrestling pedigree and isn’t likely to be wrestled into exhaustion like Rua was. He’ll come in motivated and with knowledge of Jones’s fight game due to training with him at Team Jackson. If Jones can get past Evans and do so in easy fashion, then I’ll buy that we finally have a Light Heavyweight champion who can defend his title successfully.

Until then, I’m just going to keep watching the hype train from a distance as the distant echo of a cry from years past echoes in my brain: “the Machida era has begun!”

OTHER NOTABLE ITEMS: After his devastating loss to Brendan Schaub, Dana White announced at the post-fight press conference that Mirko “Cro Cop” Filipovic was done with the UFC. It would be more accurate, though, to say the UFC is done with Cro Cop. … Urijah Faber didn’t put in the dominant performance against Eddie Wineland that so many expected, but that’s due to the fans’ lack of familiarity with Wineland. I was impressed, though, with how Faber didn’t panic in the first round and turned a negative into a positive, using his losing round to figure Wineland out and adapt his game plan accordingly. A bout with Cruz is next, and rumor has it they could be the coaches for the 14th season of “The Ultimate Fighter” reality series. … After his win, Nate Marquardt told reporters he’s mulling a move down to Welterweight. I did observe that he looked smaller last night than he has in a long time, but a cut to 170 still seems like madness and isn’t something I would advise. … Jim Miller is now on a seven fight win streak, but his C.V. is less than impressive. It’ll be interesting to see what he does against the upper echelon in the division.

Full results:

• LIGHT HEAVYWEIGHT CHAMPIONSHIP BOUT:
  Jon Jones def. Mauricio “Shogun” Rua – R3 2:37 via TKO (strikes)
• BANTAMWEIGHT (135 lbs.):
  Urijah Faber def. Eddie Wineland via Unanimous Decision
• LIGHTWEIGHT (155 lbs.):
  Jim Miller def. Kamal Shalorus – R3 2:15 via TKO (punches)
• MIDDLEWEIGHT (185 lbs.):
  Nate Marquardt def. Dan Miller via Unanimous Decision
• HEAVYWEIGHT (265 lbs.):
  Brendan Schaub def. Mirko Cro Cop – R3 3:44 via KO (punch)

Prelims

• LIGHT HEAVYWEIGHT (205 lbs.):
  Eliot Marshall def. Luiz Cane - R1 2:15 via TKO (punches)
• LIGHTWEIGHT (155 lbs.):
  Edson Barboza def. Anthony Njokuani via Unanimous Decision
• WELTERWEIGHT (170 lbs.)
  Mike Pyle def. Ricardo Almeida via Unanimous Decision
• LIGHTWEIGHT (155 lbs.):
  Gleison Tibau def. Kurt Pellegrino via Split Decision
• BANTAMWEIGHT (135 lbs.):
  Joseph Benavidez def. Ian Loveland via Unanimous Decision
• CATCHWEIGHT (195 lbs.):
  Nick Catone def. Constantinos Philippou via Unanimous Decision
• FEATHERWEIGHT (145 lbs):
  Eric Koch def. Raphael Assuncao – R1 2:32 via KO (punch)

Preliminary bouts will air live on the ION Network (check local listings) starting at 9:00pm. [...]]]> REMINDER: Join us tonight at Buffalo Wild Wings in Clifton Park (22 Clifton Country Road) for UFC 127 live, starting at 10:00pm!

Preliminary bouts will air live on the ION Network (check local listings) starting at 9:00pm. The free hour of fights is headlined by a potential Fight of the Night contender featuring lightweights Ross Pearson and Spencer Fisher.

The event itself is headlined by BJ Penn taking on Jon Fitch with a potential shot at the Welterweight Title on the line and co-headlined by what has become a Middleweight grudge match pitting British fighter Michael Bisping against veteran fighter Jorge Rivera.

Make sure you get to Buffalo Wild Wings early, as seats will be filling up quickly.

The full fight card, and my predictions, are below.

Main card

Welterweight bout
B.J. Penn vs. Jon Fitch
Prediction:  Fitch by Unanimous Decision. Penn is going into this fight undersized – he came in at 167 while wearing jeans at the weigh-ins – and will have trouble overcoming the grappling prowess and strength of Fitch, who is arguably the best Welterweight in the world not named Georges St-Pierre.

Middleweight bout
Michael Bisping vs. Jorge Rivera
Prediction:  Bisping, but I’ll be rooting for Rivera for obvious reasons (Bisping’s an overrated blowhard).

Lightweight bout
George Sotiropoulos vs. Dennis Siver
Prediction:  Sotiropoulos by Unanimous Decision. I think, though, it’s going to be a lot closer than people think. Siver’s no joke, though his troubles with making weight yesterday were a bit disconcerting.

Welterweight bout
Chris Lytle vs. Brian Ebersole
Prediction:  Chris Lytle via Unanimous Decision. With a combined 114(!) fights between the two combatants, there are perhaps no more well-traveled fighters on tonight’s card. But while Ebersole has ebbed and waned against middling competition and aged warriors (one of his recent wins comes against Carlos Newton), Lytle has been fighting the best in the world for the better part of the last four years and he’s on an impressive three-fight streak that includes wins over a tenacious Matt Brown and former champion Matt Serra. Ebersole’s definitely a step down, and barring some unforeseen disaster shouldn’t have any trouble here.

Middleweight bout
Kyle Noke vs. Chris Camozzi
Prediction: Noke via KO in Round 2. He’s looked impressive and refocused since arriving in the promotion last year, and I think he’ll further his streak here.

More after the jump.

Preliminary card (airing Ion TV)

Ross Pearson vs. Spencer Fisher Prediction: Fisher via Unanimous Decision
James Te-Huna vs. Alexander Gustafsson Prediction: Gustafsson, R2 KO

Preliminary card (on Facebook – like the official UFC page to watch)
Anthony Perosh vs. Tom Blackledge Prediction: Perosh, Unanimous Decision
Zhang Tie Quan vs. Jason Reinhardt Prediction: Reinhardt, Unanimous Decision

Unaired Prelims
Nick Ring vs. Riki Fukuda Prediction: Ring, Unanimous Decision
Mark Hunt vs. Chris Tuchscherer Prediction: Tuscherer, R1 KO
Maciej Jewtuszko vs. Curt Warburton Prediction: Jewtuszko, R1 KO