Jon Jones | MMA Training

My 10 Favourite MMA Fighters Of 2011

This is a feature I hope to start doing once a year. I watch quite a lot of Mixed Martial Arts so I thought I may as well talk about it sometimes as well. I know my site is supposed to be a MMA Training website but I figure a small amount of journalism dedicated to professional MMA wouldn’t hurt. It might even help improve the site.

To clarify I don’t buy into that “If they don’t fight in the UFC they aren’t worth ranking alongside UFC fighters bullshit a lot of other MMA websites peddle around”. It should be mentioned that a fair chunk of the aforementioned websites get paid by the UFC to write press about them. That is why a lot of websites seem to always take a pro-UFC stance. I’m happy to put any professional fighter from any promotion on my list.

10. Donald Corrone

Cowboy has had an amazing year so far (up until the end of it anyway). He started it off by beating British fighter Paul Kelly. He followed that up by beating Vagner Rocha, tapping out Charles Oliveira and finally besting Dennis Siver. It was only Nate Diaz that managed to derail his whirlwind year. Nevertheless Donald Corrone had a fantastic year in 2011 with 4 out of 5 wins. If he keeps winning he’ll surely be given a title shot in 2012.

09. Shinya Aoki

Shinya Aoki bounced back from an extremely disappointing 2010. Despite beating Tatsuya Kawajiri, Marcus Aurelio and Yokthai Sithoar, he dropped a decision to Gilbert Melendez and got knocked out by Yuichiro Nagashima in a DREAM/K-1 Special Rules bout. But in 2011 he has managed to submit Lyle Beerbohm, Rich Clementi and Rob McCullough using the exact same submission move which is a hybrid face bar and neck crank. Rob McCullough must have suspected what Aoki was going to do yet he couldn’t stop the BJJ phenom from doing what he wanted once the fight hit the ground. He topped off the year by beating Satoru Kitaoka by decision in DREAM’s new years eve show.

08. Dan Henderson

It’s been an eventful year for Hendo. First winning the Strikeforce Light-Heavyweight championship from Rafael Cavalcante. He followed that up by going up to heavyweight and knocking out Fedor Emelianenko in the first round. Something no one else has ever managed to do up until now. Dan Henderson then re-signed with the UFC and made his debut (is it classed as a debut if you have fought for them on two separate occasions previously?) against Shogun Rua, in what was one of the greatest MMA fights I’ve ever seen.

07. Edson Barboza

Probably the least known (along with Aoki) in my top 10 outside of the die hard MMA fans. Edson Barboza is a fearson Brazilian Muay Thai fighter with 6 of his current 9 wins coming via knock out. Did I also mention he’s had 25 wins as a professional Muay Thai fighter with 22 of them being Ko’s. He’s also a purple belt in BJJ so he’s rounding himself out well as a MMA fighter. His wins against Anthony Njokuani and Ross Pearson both earned him a fight of the night award. Expect big things from this guy in the future.

06. Anderson Silva

I’m sure anyone with a brain would have known I would include Anderson Silva on here somewhere. His Karate Kid-esq crane kick of Vitor Belfort could be a contender for knock out of the year. But his dominating performance and knock out of Yushin Okami, who was the last person to beat him showed that he will be champion for a long time unless Chael Sonnen manages to unseat him in a rematch of their 2010 slobberknocker.

05. Jake Ellenburger

I think no one would argue with Jake Ellenberger being included on this list with his two Ko’s and one decision in 2011. One of those included number one contender Jake Shields though Shields had just lost his father 3 weeks before so his head probably wasn’t 100% there for that fight. Though nothing should be taken away from Ellenberger who has had a fantastic year and must be only one or two wins from a welterweight title shot.

04. Carlos Condit

Carlos Condit hasn’t fought as much in 2011 as the other candidates on the list (especially Corrone) but his highlight reel knockout of Dong Hyun Kim is a legitimate contender for knockout of the year. He was supposed to face Georges St. Pierre at UFC 137 but an injury to GSP put that fight on ice. Now we hear that him and Nick Diaz will fight for the intrim welterweight champion. Condit is an extremely talented fighter and I believe he is more than a match for Nick Diaz. Mark my words it will be an entertaining fight!

03. Nick Diaz

What can I say about Nick Diaz that I haven’t said in the past. On one hand he is one of the most talented fighters in the welterweight division. On the other he is his own worst enemy. If we forget how he beat BJ Penn, he still had two incredibly memorable fights with Paul Daley and Cyborg Santos, who are both good competitors in their own right this year before the Penn fight. He was able to beat all three. That is why Diaz gets my number three position.

02. Jon Jones

Jon Jones has had quite a year. First he knocked out Ryan Bader, then won the UFC light heavyweight championship from Maurício Shogun Rua, and then successfully defended it against Quinton Rampage Jackson. The year wasn’t over yet though as Jones defended his championship again against Lyoto Machida. He submitted Machida in spectacular fashion with a modified guillotine choke to retain the belt. So to recap in the space of 12 months Jones has beaten 1 number one contender (Bader), won a championship belt and defeated three former champions (Rua, Jackson and Machida). In my opinion he now has a legitimate argument for being the number one pound-for-pound fighter in all of MMA. But I’ve only ranked him at number 2, so who will be number 1?

01. Frankie Edgar

Are you really surprised that this guy is my number one? He survived not one but two first round beatdowns at the hands of Gray Maynard, who is a much, much bigger fighter and even came back to knock out Maynard in the fourth round of their second fight. How much heart do you have to have to come back twice from getting destroyed in the first round of two fights in a row? A lot that’s how much. Jones might be the most naturally gifted fighter on the list but Edgar beats him hands down in heart and the desire to win. You can’t learn that in gym. That is why Frankie Edgar is my number one fighter for 2011.

Honourable Mentions

Roger Gracie – After beating Trevor Prangley so convincingly he would have been a shoo-in for my top ten if he hadn’t been knocked out by King Mo in September. He was pushed into a fight with Lawal far too quickly in my opinion after only having 4 professional MMA bouts. It was a case of Strikeforce needing some big name fights after fighters started jumping ship to UFC. Couple this with him being a world grappling champion and Lawal being a former light-heavyweight champion and it was a no-brainer for Strikeforce but a very bad move for Gracie.
Gilbert Melendez – The way he came back from injury and dominated Tatsuya Kawajiri was quite a stunning victory. Unfortunately he only fought once at the time of writing. He didn’t quite impressive me enough this year to be included on my list. But there is always next year.

Needs To Try Harder In 2012
Charles Oliveira – It was a pretty bad 12 months for this young fighter. Billed by everyone as a future UFC lightweight champion by most who have seen him fight. 2011 saw him drop one fight and have one fight ruled a no contest by kneeing Nik Lentz in the head while Lentz had all four limbs on the ground. His performance was so dominating up until that point he looked like he would have easily been a top 5 on this list.

Who are your 10 favourite fighters of 2011? Do you disagree with any of mine? Is Frankie Edgar not deserving enough of the no 1 spot? Let me know what you think in the replies.

Thanks for reading, cheers!

Jones Vs Machida UFC 140 Breakdown

by Brendan · 0 comments

If you have been reading this site for a while you will remember that I predicted Lyoto Machida would give Jon Jones his toughest test to date and I wasn’t wrong when the two finally met at UFC 140. But as we all know what sets true champions apart from the rest is how they deal and subsequently overcome adversity.

For the first time in his UFC career Jones lost a round. Despite two judges giving him the first round it was clearly Machida’s, Dana White and Ariel Helwani both agree with my sentiments as well if you watch their post UFC 140 interview.

In the first round Machida used his speed and elusiveness to avoid Jones’s attacks while countering him with flurries of punches and kicks when he leaped in and out of range. For all watching it looked like we were returning to the Machida Era. The look of bewilderment on Jones face at the end of round 1 only added to the feeling that it would be Lyotos night. But Jones proved why he’s the champion and did it with BJJ.

In the second round Jones switched his tactics and shot for a takedown. While on the ground he used his razor sharp elbows to open a nasty cut above Machida’s eye. Referee Big John McCarthy then called a stop to the fight so Lyoto could be looked at by the cageside doctor to access the severity of the injury.

After the restart the two traded punches until Machida got caught with a right straight that caused him to stumble. He attempted to turn this fall into a takedown. But Jones latched on to a guillotine as Machida attempted to back out and get back up to his feet.

Jones vs Machida UFC 140 Jones used a modified guillotine in which he pressed Machida up against the cage to put pressure on both sides of the neck. From the GIF you can see that Jones uses his right hand to push up his left arm in a kind of lever fashion to put incredible pressure onto the neck of Lyoto. Not only is he being choked but he’s also getting neck cranked at the same time. Joe Rogan said at the end of the fight that it is the same choke Cody McKenzie likes to use (known as the McKenzietine )

There is no denying that Jon Jones has amazing reach but seeing how he finished that submission, it seems to me that he has a heavyweights strength even though he fights at light heavyweight.

Jones holds the choke until Machida goes limp and John McCarthy is forced to stop the fight (late in my opinion, which isn’t like Big John). Jones then performs the greatest walk off submission I have ever seen, leaving Machida to fall, unconscious face first onto the mat. I said after the Rampage fight that I could see Jones being champion for a long time and this fight further cements that theory.

Rener and Ryron Gracie break down how Jon was able to submit Machida. They also break down the submissions from Diego Brandao and Tony Ferguson from the ultimate fighter finale and Frank Mir’s kimura armlock that broke Minotauro Nogueira’s arm.

What did you think of 140? Do you think Jon Jones will be the champion for a long time? Le me know in the comments.

Thanks for reading cheers, and all the best to you!

Jon Jones Looks Untouchable

by Brendan · 2 comments

As I sat watching UFC 135 last weekend one thing became thoroughly apparent to me: Jon Jones looked invincible when he was fighting Quinton (Rampage) Jackson. With his diverse range of striking including spinning back fists, spinning back elbows and Steven Segal esq front kicks. Not to mention his submission grappling and his Greco-Roman wrestling pedigree you have to wonder who can best the current UFC light-heavyweight champion.

Heavyweight MMA fighter Pat Barry summed it up well when he said:
“Jon Jones has the Mike Tyson effect — the same thing as Anderson Silva. Both of those guys are going to lose eventually. It has to happen; everybody’s got to lose. But what has to happen is someone has to get in the ring that’s not afraid of them.”
I have to agree with him in the second and third round Rampage seemed to be just sitting back waiting for Jones to throw something at him, Joe Rogan even felt the need to comment on it.

Jon Jones Vs Rampage Jackson

I honestly don’t see Jones loosing any time soon with the way he’s looked in his last two fights. They way he dismantled Shogun Rua, who is an excellent Muay Thai striker inside of three rounds to win the light-heavyweight championship goes to show that he is the real deal. Jones has been anointed by the MMA press as the prototype of the newest breed of fighter that is stepping foot inside the cage.

He is now considered by many to be the future of the sport. Pure athleticism mixed with technical wizardry. His highly unorthodox style has left all opponents up until now baffled on how to solve the Jon Jones puzzle.

For those of you reading who train Mixed Martial Arts or one or more of the martial arts associated with it (which should be most of you after all this is an MMA Training blog) what lessons can you take from Jon Jones’s approach to fighting?

1. Hard Work – Yes Jones is a supremely naturally talented fighter BUT talent alone doesn’t equal success, when it comes to success hard work is the real deal maker. Talent without hard work will only get you mediocrity. Jones clearly spends a lot of time in the gym training – you don’t get his physique by sitting at home playing Gears of War 3 on your Xbox. He practices striking and grappling six days a week while also working in strength and conditioning training to help improve his strength, speed and stamina.

“I do not know anyone who has gotten to the top without hard work. That is the recipe. It will not always get you to the top, but it will get you pretty near.” – Margaret Thatcher

2. Diet – To get a sub 10% body fat percentage, I would guess Jones has somewhere in the region of about 5% even with all of the training he does, he will have to follow a strict diet. I have around 17% body fat even though I exercise 3-5 times a week and watch what I eat pretty well (though I do have one cheat day where I can eat whatever I like). I imagine Jones will eat a lot of Lean Proteins (like Chicken, Turkey and Fish), Vegetables, Salad, and Fruit also I would assume he watches his intake of Carbohydrates and Gluten (Quick Tip: If you want to loose weight quickly limit your bread intake to just once a day and try and substitute it for Pitta Bread, Tortillas or Wraps if you can). His diet is perfect for those of you who want to loose some weight and drop your body fat percentage down.

3. Gameplan – Whenever Jones is preparing for a fight he sits down with head trainer Greg Jackson to concoct a strategy to defeat Jon’s upcoming opponent. In the video below you can see Jones and Jackson working on various strategies to overcome the threat of Rampage and counter his favourite moves such as his powerful left hook that he usually throws to the head to end his fights. From watching the video you can see how meticulous the planning stage of the fight is, Jones even trains specific counters to specific moves that his opponent (in this case Jackson) is likely to throw at him. Preparation really is the key: Train to win.

4. Hunger To Learn – As you can see from the video above Jones loves learning new moves and attacks. He is clearly aware every time he fights he needs to improve from the last fight or else he will get beaten.

As you can see it is for all the above reason Jones has been able to rise to the top of the MMA mountain as quickly as he has. Lots of fans have started to hate him yet I’ve never heard a single person say they don’t enjoy watching him fight. As strange as it feels to write this he brings a sort of beautiful violence to his fights. The skills he displays aren’t the sort of skills anyone is born with they are born from hours spent practising and honing his skills in a gym.

So in conclusion: Work hard in the gym. Watch what you eat, especially carbs. Plan your fights well and always go in with a good gameplan devised by you and your . Have a hunger to learn and keep improving from fight to fight. Finally never give up.

I sincerely hope you found this article interesting and useful. Please leave me a comment and let me know your thoughts on Jon Jones and where you see his MMA career going.

I would also love to hear if you have any ideas how I can improve these articles so please leave me a comment if you have any tips or suggestions.

As always thank you for your support cheers!