UFC 135 Preview
The Title Fights are back in the UFC as they will hold at least one title fight in the next four events and it all starts with the Light Heavyweight division. The Light Heavyweight division has been the most entertaining for years with other classes either not fighting, like the Heavyweights and Lightweights, or being dominated by one athlete, Welterweight and Middleweight. The Light Heavyweight division has not had a champion hold the belt for anymore than slightly over a year since Chuck Liddell held the belt for 770 days, defending the belt 4 times. Since Liddell the belt has been held by Quinton Jackson, Forrest Griffin, Rashad Evans, Lyoto Machida, Mauricio Rua, and now Jon Jones. Jones is the youngest champion in UFC history at the age of 24 and did it through his extremely unorthodox striking style. He is known for his great physical ability and his unique strikes including his now famous spinning back elbow. His strikes come from everywhere and are extremely accurate but not only is he an unorthodox striker he also has a great ground game. His opponent will be the last champion to hold the belt for more than a year in Quinton “Rampage” Jackson who held the belt for 405 days but only defended it once. The biggest knock on the former champion was and still is that he makes no mistake at telling everyone that he hates training. He has also had a history of some mental lapses and that could be happening again as he accused Jones of sending a spy to his camp. Whether or not Jackson is correct it seems like his focus has been taken away as he has not been able to avoid talking about it. We will see if it has become a factor or not but aside from the “Spy” in his camp Jackson has looked to be a little more focused in camp and has been enjoying his training somewhat more than usual. The trash talk has come flying before this fight but the true test will be during the fight. Jones is a well-rounded fighter but does not have the true KO power of striking professionals instead he has ways of putting shots exactly where they need to be. Jackson is much the opposite as he is one of the strongest strikers in the UFC but has not shown anything special on the ground. Jones would be smart to take Jackson down in this fight but I have a sneaking suspicion that Jones will want to stand. He will not be completely outmatched but with Rampage’s striking ability it might not bode well for the young champion. Jones is the future of MMA and will have a great career but it seems as though he may be similar to Georges St. Pierre in his rise as he will suffer some losses that will only make him a better fighter. I think Rampage has finally done training to the point that he is ready for this fight and with his standup ability it only will take one shot. As long as Rampage can keep this fight standing up he will earn the KO after a drawn out fight. I think that Rampage will win this fight and take the belt by KO in round 4 of the fight.
With one belt up for the grabs this event will see one of the former great champions in the UFC as Matt Hughes will fight one last time. Hughes will take on Josh Koshcheck in what Hughes has said will be his last fight. Hughes has won more fights than any other fighter in the UFC with a 46-8 record and a spot in the UFC Hall of Fame. Hughes has also been one of the longest title holders in UFC history as he has had the Welterweight belt a total of 1,577 days and defended it 7 times. Meanwhile Koshcheck has been one of the premiere welterweights in the UFC as he has been able to get past everyone except the champion, Georges St. Pierre. After 9 months out of the octagon Koshceck will return to attempt to fight Hughes who Koshcheck has never wanted to fight him. Koshcheck has regularly called out Hughes claiming he has been dodging him and the entire AKA camp. Hughes and Koshcheck will face off just before the championship bout and expect fireworks as Hughes will leave it all in the cage to make sure everyone remembers him as a great fighter. Koshcheck will be looking to make sure Hughes doesn’t finish off his career with a win. Either way the fight will be great and will be a good way to wet your appetite for the big title fight to kick off a big string of title fights.
Fight Card
Main Event:
Jon “Bones” Jones vs. Quinton “Rampage” Jackson [Light Heavyweight Title] (PPV)
Main Card:
Matt Hughes vs. Josh “Kos” Koscheck (PPV)
Travis “Hapa” Browne vs. Rob “The Bear” Broughton (PPV)
Nate Diaz vs. Takanori “The Fireball Kid” Gomi (PPV)
Ben Rothwell vs. Mark “Super Somoan” Hunt (PPV)
Undercard:
Tony “El Cucuy” Ferguson vs. Aaron Riley (Sportsnet/Spike)
Nick “The Promise” Ring vs. Tim “The Barbarian” Boetsch (Sportsnet/Spike)
Junior Assuncao vs. Eddie “The Filipino Phenom” Yagin (Facebook)
Takeya Mizugaki vs. Cole “Apache Kid” Escovedo (Facebook)
James Te Huna vs. Ricardo Romero (Facebook)
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