On Saturday Night, the UFC presents its next Pay-Per-View event, this time from the Air Canada Centre in Toronto, Ontario. The Light-Heavyweight Title is on the line in the Main Event of UFC 140: Jones vs. Machida.
Once again, the original Main Event was scheduled to see Rashad Evans get his long-awaited shot at Jon Jones (14-1, 8-1 UFC), but a thumb injury forced the UFC to award the match to former champion Lyoto Machida (17-2, 9-2 UFC).
“Bones” Jones has had a busy 2011. First, he defeated Ryan Bader in February, won the Light-Heavyweight Championship from “Shogun” Rua in March, defended the title against “Rampage” Jackson in September, and now finished up the year versus Machida.
To the contrary, Lyoto Machida (the man that experts have speculated would provide the biggest threat to Jones’ reign) has fought only once in the past year, defeating Randy Couture with what I consider to be the “KO of the Year.”
The biggest question is whether or not Machida’s unorthodox striking style will be enough to confuse Jones, and allow “The Dragon” to get close enough to unleash his furious “Karate Style” attack. Or, will Jones’ size and reach advantage be able to keep Machida at bay, and allow him to display his own unique style of striking, with spinning kicks and elbows that seem to come from the next area code?
One thing is for sure; this will not be a boring fight. Fireworks should be plentiful in this one.
The two Co-Main Events feature the Nogueira Brothers.
Big Brother Antônio Rodrigo “Minotauro” Nogueira (33-6-1, 4-2 UFC) looks to avenge a 2008 loss to former Heavyweight Champion Frank Mir (15-5, 13-5 UFC). “Big Nog” is coming off a HUGE KO victory in August against Brendan Schaub, while Mir outlasted Roy Nelson in May. Although not for any type of title contention, this will be an exciting fight that, if taken to the ground, should highlight two of the most technically sound BJJ players in the Heavyweight division.
“Little Nog” Antônio Rogério Nogueira (19-5, 2-2 UFC) is attempting to salvage his UFC career with a win over the suddenly resurgent Tito Ortiz (16-9-1, 15-9-1 UFC). Ortiz saved his job back in June by quickly submitting Ryan Bader, but lost to Rashad Evans a month later (taking the fight on less than 3 weeks notice). Nogueira has been less than impressive during his UFC run. This will only be his 5th fight in the last 2 years, and his last two have been Unanimous Decision losses (to Ryan Bader and Phil Davis).
Here is a rundown of the full Pay-Per-View card, and my picks:
Mark Hominick vs. Chan Sung Jung
Hominick via TKO 2nd Round
Brian Ebersole vs. Claude Patrick
Ebersole via Decision
Antonio Rogerio Nogueira vs. Tito Ortiz
Ortiz via TKO 1st Round
Frank Mir vs. Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira
Mir via Decision
MAIN EVENT
Light-Heavyweight Chmpionship
©Jon Jones vs. Lyoto Machida
“Bones” Jones via TKO 3rd Round
Please let us know what you think. Leave a comment below, send me an EMAIL, or leave me a message on either Facebook or Twitter.
Also, make sure you check out this week’s edition of The Ultimate Fight Show, as we take a closer look at this card, recap The Ultimate Fighter 14 Finale, look back at the HUGE boxing weekend that was (Mares/Agbeko II, Margarito/Cotto II), and preview this weekend’s big fights (Klitschko/Mormeck, Khan/Peterson, and Roy Jones, Jr).
Enjoy the fights!
