Alexander Gustafsson Says He Is Next For Jon Jones, UFC Champ Replies

UFC light heavyweight champion Jon Jones is used to fighters coming after him through Twitter and other media outlets.

The latest, Alexander Gustafsson, claims he is the next challenger to the belt “Bones” holds so near and dear to his heart.

While Jones is in Moscow, “The Mauler” posted that he is on his way to the country, and some choice words for Jones.

Jones replied back with “Fighting me is not good for your image FYI.” Well, Gustafsson didn’t stop there, issuing a slight slap in regards to the recent contenders to Jones, writing, “if you think of what is good for your image, maybe you should continue to fight 185ers??”

The last two challengers have been middleweights for the majority of their careers in Chael Sonnen and Vitor Belfort.

 

Jon Jones Concentrating First And Foremost On Setting Record For Title Defenses

UFC light heavyweight champion Jon Jones wants to stand alone atop the record books in terms of successful title defenses of the belt he so proudly holds.

Jones’ manager, Malki Kawa, told Bleacher Report recently that breaking the record set by Tito Ortiz is his first goal. Currently, “Bones” is tied with Ortiz at five defenses.

After that, anything and everything will be on the table for the rising star.

“His next fight is at light heavyweight and his next fight will be against somebody that’s considered the No. 1 guy,” Kawa stated. “He’ll get that next defense and once he breaks that record, after that all the speculation can happen.

Jones is wearing a walking boot to help the progress of his injured toe heal. While there has been no word on a return date, Kawa feels his fighter wants Alexander Gustafsson next instead of Lyoto Machida. Jones has already defeated Machida, who was referred to as the No. 1 contender following his recent win over Dan Henderson.

“I think he really wants to fight Alexander Gustafsson next,” Kawa said. :Alexander called him out and I think Jon has said in numerous interviews that he would like to fight him next. We’re just going to wait and see what happens.”

 

Hypothetical Jones vs. Silva Promo

This fan made promo showcases a fight we’d all love to see between Jon Jones and Anderson Silva. This guy does good work; he could give nicktheface a run for his money if he keeps work like this flowing.

 

Anderson Silva Trainer: Jon Jones Bout Should Be Retirement Fight

Mark J. Rebilas-USA TODAY Sports

Rogerio Camoes, one of Anderson Silva’s trainers, believes the UFC middleweight champion should face Jon Jones.

Camoes, however, sees it more as a culminating bout in the career of “The Spider.”

“I would like to see this fight against Jones,” said Camoes, during a recent interview with Tatame. “I wanted to see this as his last career fight. He wins and retires.”

While Silva recently agreed to a 10-fight extension with the UFC and seems intent on fulfilling that obligation, the window to meet the UFC light heavyweight champion is likely closing by the day.

Jones seems poised on one more 205-pound fight before heading up to the ranks of heavyweight.

 

Chris Weidman Ok with Fans Sleeping on Him

Chris Weidman has every right to be upset about the general lack of interest in his fight with Anderson Silva, but he’s not. I really like his attitude about this. Fans still seem more interested in Silva fighting just about anybody but Weidman. I’m guilty of this too; my ears perk up anytime I hear something about Silva/GSP or Silva/Jones, Silva/Weidman not so much. In all seriousness, that’s not fair to Weidman.

 

UFC 159: The Numbers Are In…

And they are… both good and bad. UFC 159 featuring Chael Sonnen and Jon Jones sold an estimated 520,000-555,000 pay-per-view buys. That number is good enough for the second highest selling pay-per-view of the year. When comparing numbers from 2010, the number isn’t that great but considering that the UFC nowadays is struggling to put together consistently high-selling cards, I’m sure that they are pretty happy with the number.

Still, considering in the last three years there are only seven cards that sold more than UFC 159, all in all in was a good number. I can’t say that I didn’t expect something more with the combination of a season of The Ultimate Fighter and Chael Sonnen’s antics but the marketing for UFC 159 wasn’t all that great. In fact, the main promo for Sonnen’s second fight with Anderson Silva ended with the exact same words as the promo for UFC 159: “Beat me, if you can.” That being said, Chael Sonnen drew better than every other Jon Jones opponent except for Rashad Evans. And it is still way above the average buy-rate of 450,000 buys over the past three years.

Maybe I’m thinking about the numbers incorrectly. Maybe I should just accept that today’s public isn’t quite as interested in specific UFC pay-per-views because there are so many nowadays that people have to make very clear choices as to which ones to buy. Very few people can afford to shell out $59.99 for the amount of pay-per-views that are aired in today’s day in age. In the UFC’s golden age of 2010, they reached a perfect balance of matchmaking and hype, properly spacing out each card to properly market and develop hype. So the days of averaging 600,000 buy event are long gone.

All in all it was a successful card but I can’t help but think they could have achieved a little more. Then again, maybe people saw through the squash match and decided they could catch the highlights. Or maybe some people figured they’d rather watch Mayweather fight then watch Jones beat down a middleweight.

 

Jon Jones Tells Any Boxer Thinking About Stepping Inside Octagon: ‘Don’t Mess With An MMA Fighter’

Brad Penner-USA TODAY Sports

UFC light heavyweight champion Jon Jones has some stern words for any boxer out there thinking they can step inside the Octagon and survive.

“Don’t mess with an MMA fighter,” said Jones, during a recent appearance on Power 105.1 radio. “You don’t want to do that. It’s a bad look.”

Jones, who was asked about a potential “dream” fight with Floyd Mayweather, referenced the failed UFC run of boxing heavyweight James Toney. Toney was defeated in the first round by Randy Couture.

To be honest with you, if it was all hands, it would probably be a pretty competitive match. But that’s not fighting, either. You can’t be at the bar and be like, alright, no kicking, no taking me down, don’t stretch my shirt out. It’s not like that. What I do, I consider it to be the true art of fighting. To do everything. Fighting Floyd Mayweather wouldn’t even be right. Nobody would want to see that. James Toney did it about two years ago. He lost in the first round.

Currently, Jones is on the sidelines recovering from a toe injury. He does not have a fight lined up to date, but you can bet some of his words were in regards to Tyson Fury’s recent call-outs of UFC heavyweight champion Cain Velasquez.

 

Jon Jones’ Big Toe Healing Properly, Champ Is Sporting Walking Boot

UFC light heavyweight champion Jon Jones remains in good spirits after being placed in a walking boot for his injured big toe.

Jones suffered the injury in his win over Chael Sonnen last month, earning several “remakes” for his nasty left big toe dislocation.

While he is still several months away from returning to action, “Bones” did state that the skin is closing without infections, a good sign considering how open the wound was.

 

Alexander Gustafsson Open to Fighting Machida if Jones’ Injury Requires Lengthy Recovery

Alexander Gustafsson talks about his injury and bring us up to speed on that. He also says he’s interested in a potential match up with Lyoto Machida if Jon Jones will be out for too long a time.

 

Tito Oritiz Claims He’d Beat Jon Jones In His Prime

Tito Ortiz, who now shares the consecutive 205 title defenses record with Jon Jones, claims back in his prime he’d beat Jones. When asked how he’d beat Jones, Oritz seems to be unaware how he’d do it.