Smartest Guy at the Bar: UFC 152 Edition
Al
Bello/Zuffa LLC/UFC/Getty Images
If there was one winner in the whole UFC 151 debacle it was the good people of Toronto. The Ultimate Fighting Championship will fly into Canada on Saturday swirling with controversy and a shiny new main event, as former champion Vitor Belfort will challenge Jon Jones for his UFC light heavyweight crown. The fun, inaugural flyweight title bout between Joseph Benavidez and Demetrius Johnson dropped to the co-main event, while a fantastic middleweight duel between Michael Bisping and Brian Stann rounds out the top three pay-per-view matchups.
If UFC 151 was a casualty, UFC 152 is a resurrection.
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Mandel/Sherdog.com
Jon Jones said no to Chael Sonnen.
Useless Fact: This is the second time Belfort has earned a title shot inside a weight class in which he was not previously competing. He knocked out Rich Franklin at 195 pounds to earn his shot against middleweight king Anderson Silva, and he submitted Anthony Johnson in another catchweight appearance to earn his shot against Jones. At least Urijah Faber fights in the actual weight class before going for gold.
Bulls--- Storyline: Can we get over the Jones-Dana
White drama already? Minutes after announcing that he was forced to
cancel an event for the first time, the UFC president went on a
trademark tirade telling the world Jones and trainer Greg Jackson
killed UFC 151, cost the undercard fighters their purses and made
the dinosaurs die -- all because “Bones” would not accept a fight
against Sonnen on eight days’ notice. Later, he sent out an
official press release reaffirming his displeasure with the
champion and the Jackson’s
Mixed Martial Arts head. How did White punish Jones once the
dust settled and his temperature returned to 98.6 degrees? He gave
him a multi-million-dollar fight three weeks later against a man
many view as an easier matchup than Sonnen. No matter what inner
animosity these two proud men feel for each other, their business
relationship is not changing as long as people are willing to pay
to see Jones rearrange faces in unique and terrifying ways.
Demetrious Johnson/Sherdog.com
Will it be Johnson, or Benavidez?
Say What: Tristar Gym trainer Firas Zahabi has spent time with both Jones and Belfort. During an interview on the SiriusXM Fight Club, he described how Belfort could dethrone Jones. “He’s got an incredible left hand,” Zahabi said. “Anybody he hits that left hand with is going down. I’ve seen him in practice. I’ve trained with him. I’ve held pads for him. I’ve coached him in sparring. He’s got a left hand I’ve never seen before, and he can end anybody’s night. That left hand is a blessing and it’s something very, very special.”
Sign of the Times: The middleweight division of the UFC has never been healthier. Stann-Bisping at UFC 152, along with Chris Weidman-Tim Boetsch and Alan Belcher-Yushin Okami at UFC 155, gives the promotion some options for Silva once he is done moonlighting as a light heavyweight. Remember when Patrick Cote and Thales Leites were title contenders?
Matt
Hamill/Sherdog.com
Welcome back, Hamill.
Coming Home: “The Ultimate Fighter” alums Matt Hamill and Vinny Magalhaes return to the Octagon after extended layoffs. Magalhaes finds his way back after getting cut for two consecutive losses, while Hamill ends his brief retirement. Magalhaes has not heard Bruce Buffer call his name in nearly three years, but he kept busy, racking up a 7-1 record and winning a championship inside M-1 Global. Hamill simply missed the opportunity to fight and the ensuing paychecks that follow. Both are known names to fight fans, and, with fighters dropping like flies to injuries, expect more UFC veterans to re-enter the fold.
Awards Watch: Cub Swanson and Charles “do Bronx” Oliveira are on alert for “Fight of the Night,” as many expect them to go nuts in the opening bout on pay-per-view. Both men consistently score fight night bonuses. Jim Hettes has to be the favorite for “Submission of the Night.” His one-sided thrashing of Nam Phan was no fluke, but it marked the first time in Hettes’ career that he did not deliver a submission. Do not expect Marcus Brimage to be as savvy as Phan. Jones is not a one-punch-knockout kind of a guy. He prefers to stretch out his beatings over the course of a few rounds. However, with an undersized, overmatched foe like Belfort, Jones will pull something fun out of his bag of tricks for “Knockout of the Night.”
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