Source: Sherdog

Wanderlei Silva is nearing the end of his illustrious career. But he isn’t done yet. Silva showed some semblance of his old self in his last fight against Rich Franklin at UFC 147 this past June which prompted the UFC to keep Silva around. Silva though says he won’t be staying at middleweight, he will be moving to light heavyweight.

The move is understandable due to Silva’s old age. Once you get to a certain age, its hard to make the weight cut. I think Jon Jones will have that problem eventually. But for now, its Wanderlei Silva. The problem is Silva is a natural at middleweight. He is a bit too small for light heavyweight.

Consider Wanderlei fighting guys like Jon Jones, Lyoto Machida, and Rashad Evans. These guys will man handle Silva. Silva doesn’t stand a chance. In addition, his age will be a detriment when he gets in the octagon. One solution I think Silva could do is catchweight fights at 195 lbs if there is a fight that is interesting for him.

There are guys that would take that fight especially if they are considering a drop to middleweight or a move up to light heavyweight and want to fight in between to see how they will handle the move. Think about Rashad Evans wanting to move down but wants to take a fight in between the move. It would work. Otherwise, I think Wanderlei needs to retire because he isn’t competitive anymore.

Source: ESPN

It didn’t take long for Anderson Silva to warm up to the idea of a Jon Jones fight after all. Silva told reporters that he is an employee of the UFC so he will consider the Jones fight if that is what the company wants. Its a major turn around from what Silva had told everyone right after his UFC 153 fight with Stephan Bonnar.

Silva was right about one thing though, he won’t be returning to 205 lbs. Silva believes if he were to fight Jones it would be at a catchweight–maybe 190 or 195 lbs. Its not what everyone wanted to hear but at least the idea of Silva fighting Jones is starting to thaw out.

There is definitely one obstacle to the Silva and Jones fight happening though and that is the GSP fight. Silva wants GSP first and rightfully so since that is the bigger fight right now. GSP is a bigger name than Jon Jones even though Jones has been hotter and more active of late.

Everything will depend on GSP. If he is victorious against Carlos Condit, GSP re-establishes himself in the division and sport. The Silva-GSP fight would make sense. If GSP loses, I think Silva moves on to defend his title possibly against Michael Bisping or Chris Weidman mid 2013.

And believe it or not, Jon Jones isn’t ready for Anderson Silva yet. I think Jones and the UFC knows it too. If there were a Silva-Jones fight, it would be late 2013 or early 2014 when Jones has more time in the octagon and refines his striking. Right now he is too raw for Silva’s striking. Look at what Silva did to Belfort and Bonnar compared to what Jones did. There is no comparison right now. Given time though, Jones could catch up.

Source: MMA Junkie

Daniel Cormier and Frank Mir finally have a date. The two will meet on November 3 in Oklahoma City, OK. Cormier will have a slight home court advantage since he used to wrestle at Oklahoma State University.

The fight which was originally thought to be a title fight will actually be a regular three round affair and serve as Cormier’s last fight in Strikeforce and his entrance into the UFC. The Strikeforce card will air on Showtime at its usual 7pm PT/ 10pm ET.

I know Cormier has previously said he believes Josh Barnett to be a tougher opponent than Frank Mir but I disagree. I think this fight is Cormier’s toughest to date. Mir possesses some dangerous striking skills that Barnett did not have. Barnett seems more predictable in a fight than Mir.

Lately, I wish Mir would be more unpredictable and threaten with takedowns and his BJJ skills to keep his opponent guessing. In this fight though, Mir might not want to do that since Cormier has excellent wrestling skills. Still, you have to threaten it just to keep the other fighter off balance.

Eventually, I would like to see Cormier competing in the light heavyweight division in the UFC. I don’t think Cormier could hang with guys like JDS, Overeem, and even his training partner Cain Velasquez due to his smaller frame. Cormier has said he would love to fight Jon Jones, with the division almost being cleaned out by Jones, I could see Cormier moving to the front of the line there faster than at heavyweight.

Update 9/6/2012: Along with the Cormier vs Mir fight, a middleweight title fight between Luke Rockhold and Loren Larkin has also been confirmed for the Strikeforce card. I am a little puzzled why Jacare Souza was not given the title nod when his last KO was so impressive. Souza’s camp is also puzzled why they were past up for the rematch with Rockhold.

Update 10/12/2012: In a turn of events everyone was expecting, Strikeforce has also cancelled its November 3 card. Daniel Cormier was not even notified of the cancellation and was angered by the news. Strikeforce says it will not have any shows for the rest of the year but will have a huge show to start the new year.

Source: Youtube

You probably didn’t know this but Ed O’Neill has a black belt in BJJ. If you don’t recognize the name, then the face will definitely remind you. Its Al Bundy, the loveable shoe salesman and founder of No Ma’am. Thats right, besides making minimum wage and drinking beer, he was actually doing BJJ for 22 years with the Gracies.

Ed joined Ryron and Renner Gracie to help breakdown UFC 152‘s main event between Jon Jones and Vitor Belfort. The guys give excellent analysis into what both fighters did right and wrong. Belfort nearly pulled out the miracle armbar in the first round exposing a possible hole in Jones’ game. Even Jones admitted after the fight that he needed to work on his BJJ more.

That weakness is sure to be shored up by Jones for his next fight. Even so, Jones showed amazing skill and poise in securing the americana to submit Belfort in the fourth round. Jon Jones is so young and yet already so polished that it is scary to think that the guy is still learning and growing. I fear for the day when he is actually a master of the fight game.

Source: UFC

“Bones” knows MMA. Jon “Bones” Jones received a tougher test from Vitor Belfort than everyone thought he would and still made it look pretty easy at UFC 152 from Toronto, Canada. Jones survived an armbar scare from Belfort in the first round to later submit him with an americana in the fourth round.

Love him or hate him, Jones showed that he was tough in surviving the armbar attempt which really damaged his right arm. Jones said he tried to throw right hand punches which landed but had no power behind them. A visibly hurt Jones showed up to the post fight press conference with his right arm in a sling. He could not get an x-ray so Jones has no idea what kind of injury he suffered.

Even with the hurt right arm, Jones was able to capitalize with his length and wrestling advantages. It also helped that Belfort kept pulling guard to try and pull out another quick submission attempt on Jones. I understood why Belfort thought he could submit Jones but he was not nearly as active enough and should have remained on his feet and attacked him with flurries instead.

In the co-main event of the night, Demetrious Johnson dominated Joseph Benavidez to become the first flyweight champion in UFC history. The fight was not nearly as entertaining as I had projected but it was very technical and fast which is a signature of the flyweight division. Here are the full fight card results:

Main Bouts
Jon Jones def. Vitor Belfort by submission (americana) at :54, R4
Demetrious Johnson def. Joseph Benavidez by split decision (47-48. 48-47, 49-46)
Michael Bisping  def. Brian Stann by unanimous decision (29-28, 29-28, 29-28)
Matt Hamill def. Roger Hollett by unanimous decision (29-28, 30-27, 30-27)
Cub Swanson def. Charles Oliveira by TKO at 2:40, R1

Preliminary Bouts
Vinny Magalhaes def. Igor Pokrajac by submission (arm bar) at 1:14, R2
TJ Grant def. Evan Dunham by unanimous decision (29-28, 30-27, 29-28)
Sean Pierson def. Lance Benoist by unanimous decision (29-28, 29-28, 29-28)
Marcus Brimage def. Jimy Hettes by unanimous decision (29-28, 29-28, 29-28)

Facebook Fights
Seth Baczynski def. Simeon Thoresen by KO at 4:10, R1
Mitch Gagnon def. Walel Watson by submission (rear naked choke) at 1:09, R1
Kyle Noke def. Charlie Brenneman by TKO at :45, R1

Fight Night Bonuses

TJ Grant and Evan Dunham earned Fight of the Night honors, Cub Swanson took home Knockout of the Night, and Jon Jones was awarded Submission of the Night. Each fighter banked an additional $65k for their efforts.