The Cobra
12-11-2011, 01:43 PM
TSN
TORONTO -- Light-heavyweight champion Jon (Bones) Jones survived a challenging first round to choke out former title-holder Lyoto (The Dragon) Machida at 4:26 of the second round at UFC 140 on Saturday night.
The Brazilian didn't tap and toppled when referee (Big) John McCarthy stepped in and the champ finally let go of the standing guillotine choke.
Jones (15-1) becomes the first 205-pound champion since Chuck (The Iceman) Liddell to make back-to-back successful title defences.
"He looked phenomenal. Jon Jones is the real deal," UFC president Dana White said. "I just don't see anybody beating this guy any time soon."
The main event took fight of the night honours, earning Jones and Machida an extra US$75,000 each.
Jones, 24, has had a banner year -- dethroning Mauricio (Shogun) Rua and beating former champs Quinton (Rampage) Jackson and Machida as well as up-and-comer Ryan (Darth) Bader.
The Air Canada Centre was rocking as Jones emerged, working out the kinks as he approached the cage surrounded by security.
At 6-4, Jones had three inches in height and 10.5 in reach on the Brazilian. But the elusive Machida, who had the crowd behind him, darted in and out and got Jones' attention in the first round with quick attacks and some counters.
At one point, the Braziian southpaw drove Jones backwards.
It was more of the same in the second. Jones scored with some kicks but was hurt on the counter.
A Jones takedown restored the balance with a nasty elbow carving open a gash on Machida's forehead. Machida got back up, only to have McCarthy call in the doctor.
The fight was allowed to continue and Jones stunned Machida (17-3)with a punch, then locked in the standing guillotine choke at the fence.
In the co-main event, former heavyweight champion Frank Mir rallied to submit Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira in the first round. Mir earned $75,000 for the submission of the night.
It was a vicious ending, gut-wrenching to watch.
Nogueira hurt Mir early on with strikes, knocking him wobbly with a right. But Mir (16-5) survived and then showed some elite jiu-jitsu, rolling out of trouble and then forcing Nogueira to tap to a vicious kimura at 3:38 that had the crowd gasping as the arm was shown bent at a horrific angle in replays on the big screen.
Doctors worked on Nogueira (33-7-1 with one no contest) for some time after Mir exited the cage. His arm was immobilized when he was finally led out.
White said Nogueira shoulder or elbow was probably broken in the submission.
Mir stopped Big Nog at UFC 92 in 2008 but Nogueira had been hampered by injuries and a staph infection going into that fight.
Earlier, Antonio Rogerio Nogueira (Rodrigo's twin brother) pounded out a first-round TKO over former light-heavyweight champion Tito (The People's Champ) Ortiz.
Ortiz started well but Nogueira (34-6-1 with one no contest) hurt him with strikes and then dropped him with a knee to the body. Little Nog punished Ortiz on the ground, giving him a taste of the medicine that made him an MMA star, until Montreal ref Yves Lavigne stepped in at 3:15.
"He hurt me," said Ortiz, who hopes for one more fight before retiring after 15 years in the cage. "The body shot hurt me."
The 36-year-old Ortiz (17-10-1) has now won just one of his last eight UFC fights.
The show was the second for the UFC in Toronto and did not generate the buzz of the first. UFC 129 drew a UFC-record 55,724 to the Rogers Centre in April to see Georges St-Pierre defend his title. Saturday's event had a crowd of 18,303 at Air Canada Centre, for a gate of $3.9 million.
Still Saturday's show brought out Leafs GM Brian Burke, coach Ron Wilson (in black cowboy hat), captain Dion Phaneuf and sniper Phil Kessel as well as celebrity chef-TV foodie Anthony Bourdain.
Canadians went 2-5 on the night, with some of the losers going out quickly.
Featherweight Mark (The Machine) Hominick of Thamesford, Ont., lasted just seven seconds against Chan Sung Jung, aka The Korean Zombie.
That tied Todd Duffee for the fastest UFC knockout. Duffee did it against Edmonton heavyweight Tim (The Thashing Machine) Hague.
Hominick rushed out and swung wildly, eating a right that put him down. Jung punched away from above until referee Herb Dean stepped in -- saving the dazed Canadian from more pain.
"I came out a little too wild," said Hominick, who apologized to the fans.
The lightning quick finish earned Jung $75,000 for knowckout of the night.
The Korean entered the arena to "Zombie" by the Cranberries. Hominick, remembered fondly for his gritty performance in a loss to 145-pound champ Jose Aldo at UFC 129, came out to loud cheers and "Coming Home" by J. Cole.
Brian (Bad Boy) Ebersole won an unpopular 29-28, 28-29, 29-28 split decision over Toronto welterweight Claude (The Prince) Patrick (14-2)
"I'm very thankful to get a decision in his home town," said Ebersole.
Probably lucky too. The decision could well have gone the other way.
In what may be a first, Ebersole (49-14-1 with one no contest) had a Tapout logo shaved into his chest hair, as well as an arrow. In recent fights he had opted for a bigger arrow design.
Canadians went 2-3 on the undercard with wins for lightweight Mark Bocek and bantamweight Yves (Tiger) Jabouin and losses for light-heavyweight Krzysztof (The Polish Experiment) Soszynski and lightweights John (The Bull) Makdessi and Mitch (Danger Zone) Clarke.
Like Hominick, Soszynski and Makdessi had short, painful nights.
Croatian Igor Pokrajac overwhelmed Soszynski en route to a lopsided first-round TKO. Soszynski (22-13-1) never got started.
Pokrajac (24-8) rushed the California-based Winnipeg fighter, drove him backwards and then dropped him at the fence where he finished him off after just 35 seconds.
Veteran Dennis (Superman) Hallman had his way with Makdessi, taking the Montreal lightweight down early and then dominated him on the ground until a bloody Makdessi (9-1) tapped out to a choke at 2:58 of the first round.
Hallman (67-14-2 with one no contest), in his return to lightweight, failed to make the 156-pound non-title limit, coming in at 158.5. That cost him 20 per cent of his purse.
Earlier, Bocek (10-4) had his hands full with Nik (The Carny) Lentz but came away with a unanimous 30-27 decision.
The jiu-jitsu black belt from Woodbridge, Ont., was on top of Lentz (23-4-2 with one no contest) for most of the fight but Lentz -- suffering his first loss in eight UFC outings -- was prickly from below.
At one point in the second round, Bocek (10-4) almost lost his shorts trying to wriggle out of a guillotine choke. Referee Herb Dean stood the fighters up soon after and then had to pull Lentz away so Bocek could pull his shorts up without being punched.
Montreal's Jabouin won a split (28-29, 29-28, 30-27) decision over Walel (The Gazelle) Watson.
The five-foot-six Jabouin was giving up five inches in height and seven in reach but still did more damage than Watson in a fight that saw both men dip into their bag of fancy tricks.
Clarke (9-1), the first Saskatchewan-born fighter to crack the UFC, was stopped by fellow UFC debutante John Cholish (8-1) by TKO at 4:36 of the second round.
Middleweight Costa Philippou (9-2 with one no contest) had the crowd going as he battered Jared Hamman (13-4) before putting him away at the fence at 3:11 of the first round.
Welterweight Jake (Hitman) Hecht (11-2) rallied to stop Rich (The Raging Bull) Attonito (10-5) by TKO at 1:10 of the second round.
TORONTO -- Light-heavyweight champion Jon (Bones) Jones survived a challenging first round to choke out former title-holder Lyoto (The Dragon) Machida at 4:26 of the second round at UFC 140 on Saturday night.
The Brazilian didn't tap and toppled when referee (Big) John McCarthy stepped in and the champ finally let go of the standing guillotine choke.
Jones (15-1) becomes the first 205-pound champion since Chuck (The Iceman) Liddell to make back-to-back successful title defences.
"He looked phenomenal. Jon Jones is the real deal," UFC president Dana White said. "I just don't see anybody beating this guy any time soon."
The main event took fight of the night honours, earning Jones and Machida an extra US$75,000 each.
Jones, 24, has had a banner year -- dethroning Mauricio (Shogun) Rua and beating former champs Quinton (Rampage) Jackson and Machida as well as up-and-comer Ryan (Darth) Bader.
The Air Canada Centre was rocking as Jones emerged, working out the kinks as he approached the cage surrounded by security.
At 6-4, Jones had three inches in height and 10.5 in reach on the Brazilian. But the elusive Machida, who had the crowd behind him, darted in and out and got Jones' attention in the first round with quick attacks and some counters.
At one point, the Braziian southpaw drove Jones backwards.
It was more of the same in the second. Jones scored with some kicks but was hurt on the counter.
A Jones takedown restored the balance with a nasty elbow carving open a gash on Machida's forehead. Machida got back up, only to have McCarthy call in the doctor.
The fight was allowed to continue and Jones stunned Machida (17-3)with a punch, then locked in the standing guillotine choke at the fence.
In the co-main event, former heavyweight champion Frank Mir rallied to submit Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira in the first round. Mir earned $75,000 for the submission of the night.
It was a vicious ending, gut-wrenching to watch.
Nogueira hurt Mir early on with strikes, knocking him wobbly with a right. But Mir (16-5) survived and then showed some elite jiu-jitsu, rolling out of trouble and then forcing Nogueira to tap to a vicious kimura at 3:38 that had the crowd gasping as the arm was shown bent at a horrific angle in replays on the big screen.
Doctors worked on Nogueira (33-7-1 with one no contest) for some time after Mir exited the cage. His arm was immobilized when he was finally led out.
White said Nogueira shoulder or elbow was probably broken in the submission.
Mir stopped Big Nog at UFC 92 in 2008 but Nogueira had been hampered by injuries and a staph infection going into that fight.
Earlier, Antonio Rogerio Nogueira (Rodrigo's twin brother) pounded out a first-round TKO over former light-heavyweight champion Tito (The People's Champ) Ortiz.
Ortiz started well but Nogueira (34-6-1 with one no contest) hurt him with strikes and then dropped him with a knee to the body. Little Nog punished Ortiz on the ground, giving him a taste of the medicine that made him an MMA star, until Montreal ref Yves Lavigne stepped in at 3:15.
"He hurt me," said Ortiz, who hopes for one more fight before retiring after 15 years in the cage. "The body shot hurt me."
The 36-year-old Ortiz (17-10-1) has now won just one of his last eight UFC fights.
The show was the second for the UFC in Toronto and did not generate the buzz of the first. UFC 129 drew a UFC-record 55,724 to the Rogers Centre in April to see Georges St-Pierre defend his title. Saturday's event had a crowd of 18,303 at Air Canada Centre, for a gate of $3.9 million.
Still Saturday's show brought out Leafs GM Brian Burke, coach Ron Wilson (in black cowboy hat), captain Dion Phaneuf and sniper Phil Kessel as well as celebrity chef-TV foodie Anthony Bourdain.
Canadians went 2-5 on the night, with some of the losers going out quickly.
Featherweight Mark (The Machine) Hominick of Thamesford, Ont., lasted just seven seconds against Chan Sung Jung, aka The Korean Zombie.
That tied Todd Duffee for the fastest UFC knockout. Duffee did it against Edmonton heavyweight Tim (The Thashing Machine) Hague.
Hominick rushed out and swung wildly, eating a right that put him down. Jung punched away from above until referee Herb Dean stepped in -- saving the dazed Canadian from more pain.
"I came out a little too wild," said Hominick, who apologized to the fans.
The lightning quick finish earned Jung $75,000 for knowckout of the night.
The Korean entered the arena to "Zombie" by the Cranberries. Hominick, remembered fondly for his gritty performance in a loss to 145-pound champ Jose Aldo at UFC 129, came out to loud cheers and "Coming Home" by J. Cole.
Brian (Bad Boy) Ebersole won an unpopular 29-28, 28-29, 29-28 split decision over Toronto welterweight Claude (The Prince) Patrick (14-2)
"I'm very thankful to get a decision in his home town," said Ebersole.
Probably lucky too. The decision could well have gone the other way.
In what may be a first, Ebersole (49-14-1 with one no contest) had a Tapout logo shaved into his chest hair, as well as an arrow. In recent fights he had opted for a bigger arrow design.
Canadians went 2-3 on the undercard with wins for lightweight Mark Bocek and bantamweight Yves (Tiger) Jabouin and losses for light-heavyweight Krzysztof (The Polish Experiment) Soszynski and lightweights John (The Bull) Makdessi and Mitch (Danger Zone) Clarke.
Like Hominick, Soszynski and Makdessi had short, painful nights.
Croatian Igor Pokrajac overwhelmed Soszynski en route to a lopsided first-round TKO. Soszynski (22-13-1) never got started.
Pokrajac (24-8) rushed the California-based Winnipeg fighter, drove him backwards and then dropped him at the fence where he finished him off after just 35 seconds.
Veteran Dennis (Superman) Hallman had his way with Makdessi, taking the Montreal lightweight down early and then dominated him on the ground until a bloody Makdessi (9-1) tapped out to a choke at 2:58 of the first round.
Hallman (67-14-2 with one no contest), in his return to lightweight, failed to make the 156-pound non-title limit, coming in at 158.5. That cost him 20 per cent of his purse.
Earlier, Bocek (10-4) had his hands full with Nik (The Carny) Lentz but came away with a unanimous 30-27 decision.
The jiu-jitsu black belt from Woodbridge, Ont., was on top of Lentz (23-4-2 with one no contest) for most of the fight but Lentz -- suffering his first loss in eight UFC outings -- was prickly from below.
At one point in the second round, Bocek (10-4) almost lost his shorts trying to wriggle out of a guillotine choke. Referee Herb Dean stood the fighters up soon after and then had to pull Lentz away so Bocek could pull his shorts up without being punched.
Montreal's Jabouin won a split (28-29, 29-28, 30-27) decision over Walel (The Gazelle) Watson.
The five-foot-six Jabouin was giving up five inches in height and seven in reach but still did more damage than Watson in a fight that saw both men dip into their bag of fancy tricks.
Clarke (9-1), the first Saskatchewan-born fighter to crack the UFC, was stopped by fellow UFC debutante John Cholish (8-1) by TKO at 4:36 of the second round.
Middleweight Costa Philippou (9-2 with one no contest) had the crowd going as he battered Jared Hamman (13-4) before putting him away at the fence at 3:11 of the first round.
Welterweight Jake (Hitman) Hecht (11-2) rallied to stop Rich (The Raging Bull) Attonito (10-5) by TKO at 1:10 of the second round.