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Jon Jones may have nerve damage in his biceps from armbar

September 23, 2012 By Leave a Comment

Jon Jones overcame an early threat by Vitor Belfort to defend his UFC 152 light heavyweight title match, but it may have come at a cost.

Jones was caught in an armbar by Belfort in the second minute of the fight, and he said doctors feared he may have suffered some nerve damage in his biceps as a result.

Belfort had the armbar locked and was cranking it for about 15 seconds before Jones escaped. Jones said after the fight that he refused to submit and that he was prepared to have his arm broken.

“It was popping. After 25 years, I’ve never felt that feeling before,” he said in his post-fight press conference. “I just came to terms with what was going to happen.”

“I honestly was waiting for it to break,” Jones told Joe Rogan. “I was not going to tap out. But man, I’ll tell you what, I’ve never felt that before. I’ve got a lot of resting with it to do.”

Belfort said post-fight that he eased his hold when he was about to break Jones’ arm, like he didn’t have the heart to go through with the brutal move. Jones was able to recover to win the fight despite the injured limb.

“It just felt numb. It was a really numb feeling. It definitely didn’t feel powerful at all,” he said.

Jones officially won by a fourth-round submission via americana. Somehow he didn’t let his severely injured arm keep him from dominating the rest of the way. Maybe that’s because he was able to do so much damage with his uninjured left elbow.

It was a strong showing for Jones who undoubtedly will need some time to heal after overcoming a scare from the Brazilian. Jones is now 17-1 and has won eight fights in a row.

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Jon Jones: Chael Sonnen is a ‘punk, thug’

September 5, 2012 By 1 Comment

Jon Jones ripped Chael Sonnen and revealed his disappointment with Dana White in his first extended interview since the UFC 151 debacle.

Jones discussed many topics with MMA Fighting’s Ariel Helwani on Tuesday, including his negative thoughts about Chael Sonnen.

“Chael Sonnen? He’s a punk. He’s a thug,” Jones said. “He calls himself the ‘American Gangster’ and he ratted on all of his friends in the money laundering situation. And he calls himself gangster? That’s not gangster. The guys a straight punk that uses his mouth. He won’t be remembered in history because he loses. People remember in history the winners, not people with big mouths.”

Jones also called Sonnen “irrelevant,” saying, “his mouth is the only gift that he has.”

Jones notably denied the Wrestling Observer report that said he asked Dana White to have Chael Sonnen stop harassing him. He also denied that Dana White told him the entire UFC 151 card would be cancelled if he turned down his fight. That’s contrary to what White told the media on a conference call; he said Jones knew the consequences, so one of them most not be completely telling the truth.

Jones also said he was “hurt” by Dana White ripping him.

[Read more...]

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Jon Jones blames ‘old man’ Dan Henderson for ruining fight plans

September 1, 2012 By 4 Comments

Jon Jones has been crucified for his role in the cancellation of UFC 151, but he would like to remind you that he’s not the reason the fight was called off. Responding to a fan who tweeted him to complain that his Saturday evening plans were ruined, Jones made sure to blame Dan Henderson, whom he called an “old man.”

Jones continues to show us that he just doesn’t get it. Nobody wants to hear him complain about an opponent suffering a knee injury while training, which, by the way, happens quite frequently. The problem is that Jones turned down a chance to face a replacement fighter.

The only person to blame for there not being a UFC 151 fight card on Sept. 1 is Jon Jones. Someone needs to remind him that.

Previously: Jon Jones asked Dana White to have Chael Sonnen stop harassing him
Previously: Jon Jones: I would take Chael Sonnen fight in a heartbeat

H/T Bloody Elbow

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Jon Jones reportedly asked Dana White to have Chael Sonnen stop harassing him

August 30, 2012 By Leave a Comment

How much did Chael Sonnen get inside Jon Jones‘ head with all his trash talk the past few weeks? Apparently far enough to prompt an uncomfortable Jones to ask UFC president Dana White to tell Sonnen to stop. That’s according to a report from The Wrestling Observer.

The Wrestling Observer (via Bloody Elbow) reported that “Jones was very upset after Chael began calling him out and mocking him on Twitter, going as far as to contact White and ask him to tell Chael to stop.”

We have no idea if White told Sonnen to stop, but Chael’s Twitter account has been quiet since the 25th. From August 15-23 he sent 10 tweets, and all 10 were directed at Jones. He crafted some fake tweets that were intended to make them seem like they were sent from Jones to Sonnen, such as this one:

Sonnen also sent more direct tweets about Jones like this one:

Say Dana White told Sonnen to cool it, which doesn’t sound like something he would advocate since he loves when his fighters use social media to promote themselves and the sport, there’s no way he would do it again after the way Jones screwed over the UFC for UFC 151. And how is Jones’ relationship with White? He’s no longer following the UFC boss on Twitter after being ripped to shreds.

Jones is losing whatever popularity he had by the second. This is getting ugly.

UPDATE: Both Jones and White have denied the report.

Glove touch to Bloody Elbow, Cagewriter

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Jon Jones last week: I would take Chael Sonnen fight in a heartbeat

August 26, 2012 By 3 Comments

Jon Jones continues to look worse and worse with every day that passes. Bloody Elbow dug up a quote from an interview Jones gave last week where he said he’d fight Chael Sonnen “in a heartbeat.”

Jones joined “The Abe Kanan Show” on SiriusXM radio last Saturday and discussed the possibility of a fight with Sonnen. Jones was adamant that Sonnen couldn’t just talk his way into a title shot because the UFC isn’t like the WWF. But Kanan began selling Jones on why fighting him would be a good idea, convincing him that he would destroy Sonnen and put the loudmouth in check.

Kanan: “Why not just take the fight, do it, and make a lot of money?”

Jones: “I totally agree, and I’m not sitting here saying that I wouldn’t take the fight. I would take the fight in a heartbeat.”

Of course we learned five days later that Jones was full of crap, because he declined a fight with Sonnen leading to the cancellation of the entire UFC 151 card.

If you ask me how I account for the change in opinion, I think it’s pretty simple: What you heard in the interview was Jon Jones the fighter talking, and the person who declined the fight was Jon Jones the businessman acting under the influence of his trainer. Or maybe when he said he’d fight Sonnen in a heartbeat, it was said under the assumption that he would have proper preparation and a full training camp.

You can listen to the exchange in the clip below (warning: Kanan drops an f-bomb):

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Jon Jones apologizes for UFC 151 debacle; Dana White rips him, Greg Jackson

August 25, 2012 By 2 Comments

Earlier in the week we made the point that Jon Jones was developing a painfully corporate attitude. That point couldn’t have been more evident than when Jones turned down a fight with Chael Sonnen on Thursday, leading to the cancellation of the entire UFC 151 fight card.

Jones was set to defend his UFC light heavyweight title against Dan Henderson on Sept. 1 in Las Vegas, but Hendo pulled out with a knee injury. Sonnen, who had been baiting Jones on Twitter, was asked by the UFC to step in on short notice and fight Jones. He accepted, but Jones turned down the replacement fight feeling that he wouldn’t have enough time to properly prepare.

Jones apparently forgot that Sonnen was going to be fighting less than two months after losing to Anderson Silva, and that Sonnen was going to be at a disadvantage having to move up to 205 from 185 pounds.

Jones, being so protective of his status as a champion, was too worried about his legacy to risk his belt on short notice. Without the event headliner Jones willing to face someone else, UFC president Dana White decided to cancel the entire card in a move he termed an “all-time low.”

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Jon Jones doesn’t want to fight Lyoto Machida: He’s high risk, low reward

August 20, 2012 By Leave a Comment

Now that Jon Jones is more established as a UFC champion, he’s developing a painfully corporate attitude. The UFC light heavyweight champion admitted last month that he doesn’t want to fight Anderson Silva because they each have too much to lose. Now he says that if he beats Dan Henderson on Sept. 1, he’s not really interested in a rematch with Lyoto Machida, who is set to face the winner.

“I don’t want to fight Lyoto Machida,” Jones said, according to ESPN.com. “He was my lowest pay-per-view draw of last year.

“No one wants to see me fight Lyoto Machida. I don’t want to fight Lyoto again. Lyoto is high risk and low reward.”

So Jon Jones is a professional fighter, which means his job is to fight whomever the UFC wants him to fight, but he doesn’t want to fight a good fighter if he’s not being paid enough to risk losing. I understand where he’s coming from in a business sense, but nobody wants to hear this crap.

Do you think Muhammad Ali became a living legend by managing his risks and opponents, or did he acquire fame by proclaiming that he was the best fighter ever and ready to pound anyone, anytime, anyplace? If Jones is a true champion who believes he’s unstoppable, then that’s the sort of thing he should be saying. Instead, he’s acting like he’s frightened to lose what he’s built. That’s the type of thinking that has made boxing a stale, uninteresting sport.

The beauty of the UFC is that fighters are constantly tested against the best opponents and their records aren’t padded. It seems like Jones would prefer to go down the Floyd Mayweather Jr. path of only facing guys he knows he can beat, and collecting as much money as possible each time out. That approach can make Jones a lot of money, but it’s not the attitude that makes legends.

The more you try to protect what you have built, the more it’s all going to come crashing down when you screw up. Jones already has had a taste of that. If he’s so concerned about creating interesting fights, then he should move up to heavyweight where he will finally be properly challenged.

H/T LBS contributor A. Hull
Photo: Paul Abell-US PRESSWIRE

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