UFC 159 Preview
There are certain fighters in the UFC who separate UFC fans between those who hate them and those who love them. One of these fighters is Chael Sonnen who seems to bring out the hate and the love from every fan. The reason for this is fairly simple as he is the loudest fighter in the UFC which many times can rub people the wrong way. This is especially true of Sonnen who always seems to talk his way into major fights. That is what will happen at UFC 159 as Sonnen made enough noise to earn a Light Heavyweight Title shot despite not fighting in the division since 2005 when he made his UFC debut. The fight would come during one of the toughest times in the UFC. At UFC 155 Jon Jones was set to defend his title against Dan Henderson in Henderson’s return to the UFC. Only 8 days away from the fight Henderson would drop out with an injury putting the title fight in danger. Dana White and the UFC would call everyone they could find to see if someone wanted to fill in for Henderson on 8 days notice. The only fighter to accept was Chael Sonnen but Jones would not accept the fight. Instead Jones would wait another month to defend his title against Vitor Belfort at UFC 156. Since the moment Jones rejected the fight Chael Sonnen has done what he does best. Sonnen has used any outlet that he can to get the fight that he was willing to accept on short notice. He would finally get his wish when The UFC would make him a coach on The Ultimate Fighter alongside Jones. Through the show both fighters would gain more respect for each other through the process. Still there would be some hatred there with Sonnen continuing to talk trash and Jon Jones continuing to stay silent through it all. Sonnen essentially talked himself into a title shot with Jones while never really having a fight in the light heavyweight division. It was evidence that Chael’s strategy continues to work much like it did when he got a rematch against Anderson Silva. Even though Chael Sonnen’s mouth gets him more attention than his skill he is a great fighter. As an NCAA All-American wrestler Sonnen is a great fighter with plenty of experience and a well-balanced game. There is no doubt that his wrestling background gives him a good base on the ground where he prefers to take the fight but he can stand up. Meanwhile Jon Jones is widely considered the new breed of MMA fighter. A creative and very athletic fighter Jones will hit his opponent from anywhere with anything. He finds new ways to end fights and has begun his domination of the Light Heavyweight Division that has been one of the toughest divisions to keep the belt. Jones is looking to shut up Sonnen while showing that he is here to stay as the Light Heavyweight Champion. The matchup is not the greatest as Sonnen has not really earned this title shot especially after losing twice to Anderson Silva. The fight will not be a complete wash but there is little doubt that Jon Jones will win. The only way Jones loses is if he believes he can walk through Sonnen which may not be completely off. Jones should walk away with the win and the belt as he will get a 3rd round KO and move on to a more deserving challenger.
The talk is not limited to the main event at UFC 159 as there is plenty of bad blood in the main card as well. One of these bad blood fights is between two middleweights looking to get their shot at the title. It is not rare that Michael Bisping is one of the loudest fighters on any card as he has been known to talk plenty of trash. This time is no different as Bisping has continued to be one of the loudest on the card and may be matched by his opponent Alan Belcher. Belcher seems to be the one who started the war of words with Bisping calling him out on multiple occasions. Bisping would not take many of the fights claiming that he wanted to fight bigger contenders to work his way up the middleweight ladder. It seems as though the talk finally got to Bisping though as he would accept a fight at UFC 159 to finally shut Belcher up. For Belcher the fight is a chance to add a big name to his record and hopefully jump over Bisping in the middleweight rankings. For Bisping the fight is simply to get someone off of his back and continue his move towards Anderson Silva. Both fighters have done their fair share of talking before this fight with escalating bets and plenty of insults. Now it is time to get to it just like the main event a many other fights on the card as the UFC will finally settle the score between so many fighters at UFC 159.
Fight Card:
Main Event:
Jon “Bones” Jones vs. Chael Sonnen [Light Heavyweight Title] (PPV)
Main Card:
Michael “The Count” Bisping vs. Alan “The Talent” Belcher (PPV)
Roy “Big Country” Nelson vs. Cheick Kongo (PPV)
Phil “Mr. Wonderful” Davis vs. Vinny “Pezao” Magalhaes (PPV)
Jim Miller vs. Pat “Bam Bam” Healy (PPV)
Undercard:
Erik “Goyito” Perez vs. Johnny “Brutal” Bedford (Sportsnet/FX)
Gian Villante vs. Ovince St. Preux (Sportsnet/FX)
Sara McMann vs. Sheila “The German Tank” Gaff (Sportsnet/FX)
Rustam “Tiger” Khabilov vs. Yancy “Frisson” Medeiros (Sportsnet/FX)
Leonard “Bad Boy” Garcia vs. Cody McKenzie (Facebook)
Nick “The Jersey Devil” Catone vs. James Head (Facebook)
“Super” Steven Siler vs. Kurt Holobaugh (Facebook)
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