***spoilers*** UFC News and Discussion Thread

[The Brian J]

Amazing finish.

Also jesus christ that arm break was very difficult to watch.

[Dan]

Jon Jones is a fucking animal.

[Guest mr. potato head]

Good fight.

I'd have never bet against Jones here, but Machida winning wouldn't have been as huge a surprise as some people beating him, because his style is very matchup-based and he matches up well against wrestlers (I figured Jones' reach would be too much for him). Amazing how strong he is that he was able to choke Machida right out that quickly while standing.

[gunnar hendershow]

For a minute I thought Lyoto had a chance.

[The Brian J]

I'm honestly trying to think of who can stop Jon Jones, and I'm having trouble coming up with anybody.

The guy is on an absolute tear. It's cliche, but he really does have so many ways to finish a fight And the absolute scariest thing is that he's only 24, so he probably hasn't even hit his prime yet.

[Walker]

I thought Lyoto had a couple of rounds in the bag with every chance of a knock out shot, but after that I could only see Jones taking him down and mauling him. That didn't happen. Instead, Lyoto got his forehead slashed and was hung until lifeless. It was like a mafia hit.

P.s. If someone could get a gif of Machida flopping to the ground after the choke, that'd be nice.

[Beefus of Bethesda]

[Mountainous Cleavage]

My god, Jones is a beast and Frank Mir is a monster.

[C-MIL]

Lyoto.

[Liam]

[Beefus of Bethesda]

And not a single fuck was given that day.

[gunnar hendershow]

That image of Nog's arm snapping is stuck in my head. Gross.

[Guest mr. potato head]

So now the question is, who can beat Jon Jones?

I think the most likely culprit (just as with GSP and Silva) is himself. The fame hasn't gotten to his head yet (though it could), but he's already following that Greg Jackson gameplan of being an extremely tentative fighter who fights not to lose rather than to win. Somewhere down the line, I could see somebody who wouldn't beat Jones under normal circumstances just exploding on him and picking up a fluke victory a la Matt Serra.

More immediately, it's hard to find anyone short of an Anderson Silva superfight or Jones moving up to heavyweight. The reach advantage eliminates most strikers except for those with one-shot knockout power, like Liddell or Houston Alexander levels, and even then it's just a *chance* at beating Jones. We've seen him handle great wrestlers with ease. Rashad is a maybe because who knows what he's really picked up from training with Jones. But I'd say the most interesting candidate would be somebody like a bigger BJ Penn - somebody who can hold his own in striking and has top-level BJJ. We've never seen Jones against a strong BJJ fighter who's had a chance to use that BJJ.

Does anyone in UFC right now fit the bill? Not really. Vitor Belfort's probably the most interesting matchup, stylistically, because he has the BJJ background and will be in Jones' face right away standing, but I'd never bet on Belfort in that fight. Just don't know who else is out there.

[tomroe]

[The LBTN Express]

So now the question is, who can beat Jon Jones?

I think the most likely culprit (just as with GSP and Silva) is himself. The fame hasn't gotten to his head yet (though it could), but he's already following that Greg Jackson gameplan of being an extremely tentative fighter who fights not to lose rather than to win. Somewhere down the line, I could see somebody who wouldn't beat Jones under normal circumstances just exploding on him and picking up a fluke victory a la Matt Serra.

More immediately, it's hard to find anyone short of an Anderson Silva superfight or Jones moving up to heavyweight. The reach advantage eliminates most strikers except for those with one-shot knockout power, like Liddell or Houston Alexander levels, and even then it's just a *chance* at beating Jones. We've seen him handle great wrestlers with ease. Rashad is a maybe because who knows what he's really picked up from training with Jones. But I'd say the most interesting candidate would be somebody like a bigger BJ Penn - somebody who can hold his own in striking and has top-level BJJ. We've never seen Jones against a strong BJJ fighter who's had a chance to use that BJJ.

Does anyone in UFC right now fit the bill? Not really. Vitor Belfort's probably the most interesting matchup, stylistically, because he has the BJJ background and will be in Jones' face right away standing, but I'd never bet on Belfort in that fight. Just don't know who else is out there.

I couldn't see anyone beating Jones that is currently in the Light Heavyweight division. He doesn't seem to have any weaknesses what so ever - maybe his chin could be but that is yet to be tested and he did take a good shot from Lyoto. Rashad would need to get him to the ground and I don't see Rashad's stand up troubling Jones enough to even think about setting up a take down. It's probably going to be a while before we see someone with enough tools to beat Jones come along with Jones improving with every outing.

[Toe]

Hendo has a definite shot just because of his right hand.

[The LBTN Express]

Would Hendo be able to get inside with Jones' crazy reach advantage though? Jones would just pick him apart from range.

[Gabriel]

I don't think Henderson would be stupid enough to stay at range and just try to land a bomb. I see Hendo turning it into a greco-roman/dirty boxing contest, looking to land the big punch on separations only.

It would end up being a real grinder of a fight. I think that's probably the best option they have right now, unless Hendo wants Anderson Silva at 185 instead.

[gunnar hendershow]

You gotta beat Jones by grinding out a win, taking it in to the clinch or using superior BJJ on the ground. Really the best kind of fighter to beat him is one who excels in BJJ and there aren't a lot of fighters out there who are capable of that.

But he's only 24, the fame might get to his head and he might get complacent. You never know.

[bolleje]

Nogueira's arm was indeed difficult to watch. I don't like Goldberg & Rogan going crazy about it. I even think they made a joke about it or something (it sounded as if they were laughing). If MMA/UFC ever wants to have a chance of being really mainstream (especially here in Europe), they should never do that again. A broken arm is an injury where commentators in every other sport would get very silent of, even shocked. If MMA wants to be a main-stream sport, it has to act like one...

But... amazing finish by Mir (more the way towards then the submission itself) and great KO by the Korean Zombie. This guy could become a huge draw I guess... (especially in Asia).

And Jones...well, Machida did have a chance. But Jones had more of it :-). I guess that will be the case for his next couple of fights too. I don't see Rashad or Davis beating him either. He allready beat Machida, Rampage & Rua. Who else is there?