Friend of our site


MMA Headlines


UFC HP


Bleacher Report


MMA Fighting


MMA Torch


MMA Weekly


Sherdog (News)


Sherdog (Articles)


Liver Kick


MMA Junkie


MMA Mania


MMA Ratings


Rating Fights


Yahoo MMA Blog


MMA Betting


Search this site



Latest Articles


News Corner


MMA Rising


Audio Corner


Oddscast


Sherdog Radio


Video Corner


Fight Hub


Special thanks to...

Link Rolodex

Site Index


To access our list of posting topics and archives, click here.

Friend of our site


Buy and sell MMA photos at MMA Prints

Site feedback


Fox Sports: "Zach Arnold's Fight Opinion site is one of the best spots on the Web for thought-provoking MMA pieces."

« | Home | »

So much for the UFC’s ham-handed attempt of prodding Phil Davis to trash Jon Jones

By Zach Arnold | April 26, 2014

Print Friendly and PDF

Event: UFC 172 (Saturday, April 26th at the Baltimore Arena)
TV: Fox Sports 1/PPV

Topics: Media, MMA, UFC, Zach Arnold | 11 Comments » | Permalink | Trackback |

11 Responses to “So much for the UFC’s ham-handed attempt of prodding Phil Davis to trash Jon Jones”

  1. rst says:

    So Jones closed him out?

    Thats not exactly the snuff out that people are acting like.

    Whatever you do, dont recognize that Gloever took him to title rounds.

    Haven’t seen it yet.

    Why should I?

    • klown says:

      It’s worth watching the Jones fight, rst. He is becoming a master like Anderson and GSP. The evolution of Jon Jones is one of the few genuinely exciting things happening in the sport right now, imo.

      The fight reminded me of GSP’s early performances where he shut down the wrestlers (Hughes, Koscheck and Fitch): defended all their takedowns, then took them down at will, which broke them mentally… and then battered them. Similarly, Jones fought Texeira at close range, clinched up with him against the cage, absorbed his biggest shots, then proceeded to shred him with elbows from all angles, hooks and uppercuts. Texeira broke and was apologizing to his corner between rounds.

      Jones displayed a dizzying array of spinning elbows, flying knees, axe kicks, oblique kicks and takedowns, and he taunted with Silva-esque antics. And (if his story is to be believed) he demonstrated something GSP considers to be a mark of greatness: the ability to adapt to his opponent and change the game plan effectively during a fight.

      I think Jones will be ready for Gustaffson next time. It will be a fun fight for strategy enthusiasts, because both fighters will come at it with a carefully thought out gameplan. I don’t know if we’ll see a finish because it seems like Jones is transforming into a GSP-esque Greg Jackson product, a methodical fighting machine. A finish can happen if the opponent crumbles, but Jones doesn’t need to chase after it.

      Cormier could present a bigger challenge though. He possibly hits harder than Texeira, he could take Jones down, and he might be able to overpower Jones in the clinch and against the cage. But something tells me we will see another brilliant Jackson-Winkeljohn gameplan for that fight and possibly witness something brand new from Jones. I think these next two fights will see him rise to another level of greatness. I’m excited to see what happens.

      I just hope he manages to maintain good mental health – treat people decently, not behave criminally or anti-socially, be respectful on social media, etc. That’s the concern, I think. If he can keep it together, he can attain or surpass the level of Anderson and GSP, not just among the best fighters ever, but also the most exemplary martial artists.

  2. 45 Huddle says:

    I hear they erased Tito Ortiz’s name from the record books last night. Can it be any more WWE like?

    Glad I didn’t buy the PPV. Absolutely not buying the next two UFC PPV’s either. They are both junk.

    Thinking sbout buying UFC 175, but I hate the fact that a Rousey fight is on it and the rest of the PPV isn’t look too great either.

  3. turd says:

    i think the ufc numbers will continue to drop

    • rst says:

      Thats weird how there seems to be a chick on EVERY card recently.
      And Arlovski’s back.

      dana is frantically and desperately fishing wround for something hip.
      I’m telling you he needs to talk to george clooney.
      clooney/Matt Damon for some sort of interim title.

      • rst says:

        I’m reading the bloody stool PBP by Burke, and he’s totally hating on Jones.
        The whole description is what Glover landed and what Jones didn’t.

        Thats weird how people hate Jones.
        I think he just doesn’t fit into that mass media script/worldview like a Rampage Jackson.
        And they hate that.

      • Diaz's cashed bowl says:

        What about Arlovski’s back? does he have tattoo?

  4. Nepal says:

    I can’t imagine paying for 175. As much as I want to see the Weidman fight, it’s the only “real” fight on the main card. I’m happy to wath Silva and Sonnen but it’s just a ” for fun” fight. If Rory and Woodley are on the card, that would make it better but I can’t see myself paying for a UFC card ever again. I get all the UFC cards included with my cable package so my perspective might be different. I’m still passionate about MMA but paying for crap cards just doesn’t seem reasonable anymore.

  5. Nepal says:

    Good god. I just realized Gomi and Valley Flagg won FotN. That was just an embarrassing fight by 2 people that have no business being in the UFC (other than to draw Japanese fans). Gomi was great back in the day but he was gassed 2 minutes into round 1, he won the fight but only because Flagg was worse. This reminds me of Shogun and Coleman winning fight of the night when they were both so gassed they just sat there on the mat, taking a break. What a joke.

  6. rst says:

    I am loving that Jones/Texiera fight!

    Jones and earlier Shogun fights are some of the only fights I can just watch over and over…

    I guess some people feel the same about Anderson,
    but the comp wasn’t there IMO.

    • rst says:

      As far as the eye-pokes, maybe he should curl/ball his fingers.

      Its seems to me that its a homage to Kareem from Game of Death.
      Which is awesome.
      And effective as all heck.
      Out of him doing that almost the whole fight, there was only the two initial pokes.
      Maybe he should ball that hand a little bit more or something.

Comments to Nepal

*
To prove you're a person (not a spam script), type the security word shown in the picture.
Anti-spam image