The Power of a Loss

People have been making a huge deal lately about Jon “Bones” Jones and rightly so. He is undefeated in the Octagon, and has won all of his matches in an impressive fashion. He has been considered the best at 205 yet he hasn’t fought for the title. He has defeated top notch competition in his climb up to his title shot, yet he hasn’t faced the ultimate opponent, a loss.

Jon Jones (Throwing the knee)


People underestimate the power of the loss, and I can’t think of a better example than Lyoto “the Dragon” Machida. Machida climbed the UFC’s light heavyweight ranks undefeated, and handily dispatched all who stood before him… UNTIL, he fought Shogun. Shogun beat his leg to a pulp for 5 rounds and Machida was unable to mount any sort of offense. He lost the fight even though the judges thought otherwise. The judges decision led to a rematch, and this time Shogun left nothing to chance and KO’d Machida in the first round. The undefeated “Dragon” had fallen, and the invincible was suddenly mortal.


Lyoto Machida

The fact that the undefeated champion fell is nothing spectacular, and it was bound to happen sooner or later, but what may have been harder to predict was the mental toll that it would take on the now defeated “Dragon”. He has fought once since his defeat, and he lost… again, to a game Quinton “Rampage” Jackson, but he didn’t look like he had improved from his former self. The question is why? The competition did not evolve that much in a year, he wasn’t suddenly “left behind”, so what happened? I would say that Machida was beaten both mentally and physically. Losing when you are undefeated can have dire consequences and is often times a greater test than any worthy opponent. Shogun mentally defeated him the first time, he broke the Dragon, and in the second fight he simply swept up the pieces.



There have been other instances where a fighter comes back better from a loss, as seen in the case of GSP, or Randy Couture, and that is why they are true champions. Jon Jones may be one of those true champions but only time will tell.



Until Next Time,
Ryan,

p.s. Don’t get me wrong I think Jon Jones is a great kid, he has an amazing humble attitude, and is soft spoken, I’m just saying he may be a bit over-hyped as he has yet to face the test of a loss.

Pre - UFC 118: Edgar Vs. Penn 2 Thoughts

It’s TIME! That’s right folks another UFC is right around the corner and this Saturday here’s how I see things breaking down on what appears to be a pretty decent card.

Diaz vs. Davis: Nate Diaz is a very gifted mixed martial artist, he uses a less violent form of boxing which lessens up on the power but increases speed and accuracy. Diaz is also good on the ground. That being said Marcus Davis is a powerful striker (former boxer), and can hold his own on the ground. If Diaz makes it out of the first round I could see him out pointing Davis, or getting a submission if the fight goes to the ground. Either way this will be a great fight. Both guys like to leave it all in the octagon. My prediction: Marcus Davis via KO, Round 1.

Florian vs. Maynard: Kenny “Ken-flo” Florian, is one of my favorite fighters, and while Gray Maynard is undefeated in the Octagon I think Kenny will be too much for this elite level wrestler. Gray does have a shot if he can take Kenny down and control him for three rounds, to do that though he will have to get past Kenny’s viscous Muay Thai and then even if he does get Kenny down he will have to deal with a high level BJJ black belt, and Ken-Flo’s notoriously sharp elbows from the bottom. My prediction: Kenny Florian via unanimous decision.

Maia vs. Miranda: This matchup looks like it could go one of two ways: Plan A: Miranda takes Maia down repeatedly but is unable to do any damage due to Maia’s BJJ skills on the ground. I don’t know that much about Miranda’s BJJ skills but he better be dang good if he expects to take the fight to the ground with Maia’s world class BJJ. Plan B: Maia repetedly tries to take Miranda down but is unable to due to Miranda’s wrestling pedigree. This will lead to a boxing match where both fighters are inexperienced. Either way it will be a close match. My prediction: Too close to call. If Maia wins it will be by submission, if Miranda wins it will be by points. That’s all I’m saying.

Coture vs. Toney: Couture takes Toney down punches and elbow’s him in the face til he taps out or the ref stops it. Really the only question in this match is what round it will end in. Toney has made no apologies for not training MMA for a fight that is under MMA rules. While Toney is a legendary boxer he needs to realize that boxing is only one facet of the game that is MMA. Toney’s only chance is to hit Coture on the way in for a takedown. I give Toney a 10% shot at victory. My prediction: Randy “the Natural” Coture, by TKO Round 2.

Penn vs. Edgar: This will no doubt be an exciting fight that I am looking forward to. In their first matchup Edgar beat Penn by staying more active. (even if that activity was simply jumping up and down) For this matchup I am predicting more of the same. Penn landing some good shots but just not being able to find the newly crowned champs timing. Frankie “The Answer” Edgar will out-work BJ as he did the first time to get the nod (even though it may not be unanimous). I expect BJ to be a bit more aggressive this time, but in the end I think that will just lead to a tired BJ Penn. My prediction: Frankie Edgar: Unanimous Decision.

Those are my predictions, and please note they may be biased. Looking forward to a great night of fights.

Much Love,

Ryan