Dear Bones Jones,

Yours truthfully,

Nick Diaz

An in depth look into the Rivalry between Jon Jones and Rashad Evans

This is one of the most anticipated fights of the year with the bad blood between the former "brothers" making it very interesting. Not only that this may well be the highest level of MMA we will be able to see this year, this well may be fight of the year and the fight which would solidify both Jon Jones and Rashad Evans legacy as one of the best. Both fighters are exciting, technically adept, has a high level of fighting IQ and to top it all off, both are pissed. There's nothing better to fuel a fighter than bad blood.

UFC 140: Jones vs Machida fight card

Fight card

Main Event

Jon Jones vs Lyoto Machida (Light heavyweight title bout)

Main Card

Big Nog vs Frank Mir
Lil Nog vs Tito Ortiz
Brian Ebersole vs Claude Patrick
Mark Horminick vs Chan Sung Jung

Prelims

Igor Pokrajac vs. Krzysztof Soszynski
Dennis Hallman vs John Makdessi
Jared Hamman vs. Constantinos Philippou
Yves Jabouin vs Walel Watson
Mark Bocek vs Nik Lentz
Rich Attonito vs. Jake Hecht
Mitch Clarke vs. John Cholish


My predictions on bonus of the night


FOTN:  Mark Horminick vs Chan Sung Jung
KO: Jon Jones
SUB: Walel Watson

Machida looking to beat Jon Jones in their upcoming fight in UFC 140

From Sherdog
by Marcelo Alonso

Lyoto " Ryu" Machida

Two and a half years have passed since Lyoto Machida knocked out Rashad Evans at UFC 98 and became the Ultimate Fighting Championship’s light heavyweight titleholder. He defended the crown once against Mauricio “Shogun” Rua before losing by knockout in their rematch at UFC 113. Another defeat to Quinton “Rampage” Jackson followed, leaving Machida in limbo.

A highlight-reel knockout against hall of famer Randy Couture before 55,000 fans at UFC 129 put Machida back on track and back in play at 205 pounds. Now, he awaits the most difficult test of his career: a five-round title bout against reigning light heavyweight king Jon Jones in the UFC 140 main event on Dec. 10 in Toronto. The former champion believes he has the weapon he needs to dethrone the man they call “Bones.”

“It’s hard to say what the perfect style is to stop Jones,” Machida told Sherdog.com. “I have a lot of trust in my skills against any fighter. I won’t change what people have seen, and I’d rather show them in the Octagon instead of talking about it beforehand. Jones wasn’t my problem until the UFC booked the fight. I’ll spend a lot of time studying him and find the best way to stop him. I know he’s versatile, but I have my own talents and know what it takes to win.”

Jones has looked unstoppable.
Machida figures to be an underdog to Jones, who has yet to suffer a legitimate defeat in his professional career. “The Dragon” cares nothing for the odds.

“The fight will be decided in the Octagon,” he said. “Let him be the favorite. He’ll enter with the label of being a prodigy, but I’ll be stronger because of that. Since I’m the underdog, I will enter the fight even more motivated to show that I deserve to be here and to show why they offered me the chance.”

Age has provided Machida with valuable seasoning.

“I’m a complete man now that I’m 33. I’m not a 22- or 23-year-old kid anymore,” he said. “What changed most for me was my maturity and the experience I gained. It’s something subtle that people don’t see easily, but you feel the change. You acquire things you couldn’t even imagine.”

Machida has already begun his training camp, which will include Yuri Alcantara, Ildemar Alcantara and K-1 fighter Anderson “Braddock” Silva. Glover Teixeira will likely not be involved full-time, as he plans to travel to the Netherlands with Pedro Rizzo; there, they will train with Peter Aerts in advance of Rizzo’s forthcoming bout with two-time UFC heavyweight champion Tim Sylvia. Nevertheless, Machida does hope to secure the services of UFC middleweight boss Anderson Silva, a former teammate at Black House. The two share managers in Ed Soares and Jorge “Joinha” Guimaraes, and Silva matches up nicely with Jones physical features.

“We told Ed and Joinha that we would want to bring in Anderson to help,” Machida said, “but I can’t count on that because he has so many obligations, and I respect that. He’s the biggest name in MMA. I would love to have him beside me for this camp and he will be welcomed if he joins us, but I don’t want to count on him and not have it happen.”

Machida thinks he can drag Jones into the later rounds.

“I can get Jones to the fifth round,” he said. “I believe in myself, in what I’m doing and in my teammates.”

When Machida steps in the cage against Jones, nearly eight months will have passed since he flattened Couture. The layoff seems of little concern.

“I’ve seen athletes that returned from an even longer period of inactivity and had success,” Machida said. “I’ve been away from the Octagon for less than seven months, and I’ve been training. I won’t have trouble getting back in there.”

And the first jab thrown in UFC 140 is... Lyoto Machida

From Five Knuckles
By Hubert lau

Could 2012 be year of the Dragon?

Lyoto Machida is confident as he is given the chance to reclaim his title when he faces the one time defending UFC light heavyweight champion, Jon Jones, at UFC 140 according to tatame.com.

Currently Jones is standing in a similar position to where Machida was just two years ago. Armed with an unorthodox style that has left his opponents bewildered and battered in their fights, Jones reigns the UFC's light heavyweight division much like Machida when he first won the title from Rashad Evans at UFC 98.

"It's hard, he's is much versatile and knows a lot of techniques, but we play a similar game. He kicks, I kick, he punches and goes to the ground, I can defend myself and take him down too. Stamina and game plan are things that could define this bout's outcome. Nobody is invincible," said Machida.

Machida declares that his is physically 100 percent ready for his fight with Jones and opts to keep his training camp in Brazil, looking to train with Anderson Silva for preparation. Additionally Machida predicts a strategic duel when he faces Jones at UFC 140.

"It'll be a strategic bout, he's a guy who studies his opponents and so do I...I'll do my job and keep training. My life ain't about money and fame, it's always been training, since I was an amateur. I've always waited for this moment to come to me again," added Machida

UFC 140 is expected to be scheduled on December 10 at the Air Canada Center in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. The Jones vs. Machida light heavyweight title match is to headlined, complemented by the Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira vs. Frank Mir rematch in the co-main event.

* According to the Chinese calender, 2012 is the year of the Dragon

Here we go again: Jones says Rashad Ducking him

From 5th Round
by Tom Ngo

Jon "Bones" Jones stripped down 

If you can dodge a wrench, but can you dodge a fight. The game of dodgeball between UFC light heavyweight champ Jon Jones and Rashad Evans appears never ending. After agreeing to meet Evans at UFC 140 just 12 days after making his first successful title defense, Jones is claiming his former teammate is ducking their grudge match.

Evans had the pins removed from his surgically-repaired right hand on Wednesday, but his doctor won’t allow him to start training for another three weeks. With the clock ticking on their proposed December 10th showdown, Evans felt he wouldn’t have enough time to prepare for Jones.

“He’s tried to call me out on nine weeks notice,” Jones told MMAFighting. “Obviously, who wants to fight on nine weeks notice? … Rashad calls me out, predicting that I would say no, to make me look like I was ducking him again, and I say yes, and now he says, ‘Oh, I didn’t know he would say yes. I don’t want to fight him.’ He called Dana White, asked for 140, Dana White called me and said Rashad wants this fight. I gave him the fight he wanted and then he pulled out.

“Rashad, predicting that I would say no, he kind of kicked himself in the butt because I said yes, he turns around and says, ‘Oh, I didn’t expect Jon to say yes. I don’t want to fight him that soon.’ So in reality, he’s kind of the one who’s ducking the fight. I feel like he’s ducking the fight.”

Jones is fresh off the most rigorous training camp of his young career and treated himself to a $190,000 Bentley after submitting Quinton “Rampage” Jackson at UFC 135. Clearly, some R&R to break in his new ride was on his mind. However, with the opportunity to squash his beef with Evans staring him dead in his eyes he couldn’t help but accept the challenge.

“Like I said, Rashad is the biggest antagonist of my career,” Jones added. “He’s the biggest hater. He has so much envy. I don’t write him, he writes me. He harasses me pretty much. He is so envious and so jealous and it’s so obvious, he doesn’t even try to hide it. And after I beat him, he’s going to hate me even more.”

Oh, and regarding Evans’ long-term top contender status, Jones believes his mortal enemy should be forced to fight again before he sniffs another championship affair.

“Obviously I want to fight him, but how long are you going to get to wait and sit around?” Jones asked. “You go from not fighting for a whole year, and then you get a fight like Tito Oritz, which everybody knows where Tito is at in his career, and now he just gets to sit around and be the No. 1 contender again?

“It looks like he’s the one that’s sitting on his glory and riding his glory. There’s tons of guys out there. I think when he gets better, he should have to fight Phil Davis or Dan Henderson. How does he get the right to just sit around and say who he is going to fight and when he is going to fight and continue to be the No. 1 contender while everybody else fights all year long?”

Jones now defends his throne against Lyoto Machida at UFC 140 inside the Air Canada Centre in Toronto.

UFC 140 headliner features champ Jon Jones vs. Lyoto Machida

From MMA Junkie
by MMA Junkie Staff

UFC light-heavyweight champion Jon Jones (14-1 MMA, 8-1 UFC) will fight in UFC 140's headliner, but it won't be against Rashad Evans (16-1-1 MMA, 11-1-1 UFC).

Injuries have cost Evans another promised title shot, and ex-champ Lyoto Machida (17-2 MMA, 9-2 UFC) has taken his spot in the December title fight.

UFC president Dana White today announced the news via Twitter.

The new newly announced main event comes a day after news of a potential Jones vs. Evans UFC 140 headliner. A source told MMAjunkie.com and other outlets that the fight was being targeted for the Toronto show. However, White ultimately told MMAjunkie.com that wouldn't be the case.

UFC 140 takes place Dec. 10 at Air Canada Centre in Toronto. The night's main card airs on pay-per-view.

The slot initially was Evans, but a hand injury suffered in a recent win over Tito Ortiz will keep him sidelined. Evans, who sported a cast earlier this month during UFC 135 media appearances, sat out most of 2010 waiting for a title shot with Rua that ultimately was scratched when Evans suffered his own knee injury. Then a planned Jones booking was scratched earlier this year due to Jones' uncertain timetable for a return from a hand injury.

Jones, who recently made his first successful title defense with a fourth-round submission win over Quinton Jackson, now owns five straight victories, which included a title win over Mauricio "Shogun" Rua back in March. His only career loss came early in his UFC career to Matt Hamill after Jones' was questionably disqualified due to illegal "12-to-6" elbow strikes. Jones otherwise dominated the December 2009 fight.

Machida recently got back in the win column with a vicious April knockout of Randy Couture. Prior to that, he suffered a title loss to Rua and a subsequent close split-decision defeat to Jackson. Prior to that, the Brazilian karate specialist had posted 16 straight victories to open his career. The run included eight straight wins in the UFC.

For the fun of it, here's Machida's crane kick

UFC Champs by numbers

I got this info graphic thanks to the guys from Sherdog.com

Data courtesy of Fight metric

Some numbers which stood out to me

Cain Velasquez - Strikes landed per minute - 7.05
Jon Jones          - Take down defended - 100%
Anderson Silva  - Strikes landed  - 68%
Anderson Silva  - Title reign - 1,783 days and counting
Anderson and Cain - Wins by Finishing - 86% of their fights
GSP - Submission attempted per minute - 1.35