Fantasy Fights
Intelligent, unique MMA analysis
Tag Archives: filipovic
Heavyweights’ Records Against UFC-Quality Opponents
Posted by on July 20, 2011
On my SILVA scores page, I list each fighter’s name, SILVA score, rAP, Fight Level, MMA record, and UFC record. While this is all useful information, there’s a lot of potentially useful information that isn’t included.
I feel that a great way to put a fighter’s record into perspective is to look at how he’s fared against quality opponents. While my definition of who a “UFC-quality” fighter is is rather arbitrary, it is based on real mathematical data that looks at a fighter’s record and each of that fighter’s opponents. When a fight would give a Victory Score of at least 65, that fight is considered to have taken place against a “UFC-quality” opponent. Examples of fights that have yielded a Victory Score of approximately this amount include Andrei Arlovski’s win over Paul Buentello (64.91), Shane Carwin’s win over Christian Wellisch (64.72), Fedor Emelianenko’s second win over Mark Coleman (65.14), and Brett Rogers’s win over Ron “Abongo” Humphrey (66.05). Buentello, Wellisch, Coleman, and Humphrey are examples of fighters on the fringes of “UFC-quality.”
Three things to note before I publish the list. First, Victory Score doesn’t view fighters the same way that SILVA does. While SILVA is more accurate than Victory Score in terms of rating fighters, because SILVA is based on Victory Score, I can’t use SILVA to determine which individual fights count as “UFC-quality” fights. Rest assured that the vast majority of fights that should be rated as “UFC-quality” are rated as such by Victory Score.
Second, not all “UFC-quality” wins are created equal. Ben Rothwell’s win over Gilbert Yvel (65.67) isn’t rated nearly as highly as, for instance, Fedor Emelianenko’s second win over Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira (81.48). I’ll note when a fighter has a disproportionate number of wins against relatively weaker “UFC-quality” competition.
Finally, these records don’t include a fighter’s losses to opponents who are worse than the “UFC-quality” cut-off point. The result is that Gegard Mousasi (for example) has a 7-1 record against “UFC-quality” competition, meaning that because Mousasi’s overall record is 31-3-2, two losses and two draws are not included.
Without further ado, here is the list, with a minimum of five fights, ranked by winning percentage:
- Cain Velasquez: 6-0
- Daniel Cormier: 5-0 -Wins against Riley, Palelei, Cole barely qualify
- Junior dos Santos: 7-1
- Fedor Emelianenko: 11-2 – Includes 6-0 record in PRIDE despite 14 fights in the promotion
- Antonio Silva: 9-2
- Josh Barnett: 15-5
- Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira: 16-6
- Fabricio Werdum: 8-5
- Mirko Filipovic: 13-8-1 -Record before loss to Gabriel Gonzaga was 12-3-1
- Ben Rothwell: 6-4
- Shane Carwin: 3-2
- Brock Lesnar: 3-2
- Tim Sylvia: 8-6
- Chris Tuchscherer: 4-3 -Includes two wins in YAMMA, which barely count as MMA fights
- Frank Mir: 5-4 -Wins in UFC against Traven, Williams, Abbott, Sims, Christison, Hardonk, and a 1-0 Lesnar aren’t UFC-quality wins as far as Victory Score is concerned
- Jeff Monson: 11-9
- Alistair Overeem: 10-10 -Since moving to heavyweight: 5-1
- Joey Beltran: 4-4
- Stefan Struve: 4-4
- Brett Rogers: 3-3
- Andrei Arlovski: 7-8
- Cheick Kongo: 3-4-1
- Pedro Rizzo: 6-8
- Gabriel Gonzaga: 4-6
- Pat Barry: 2-3
- Aaron Rosa: 2-3
- Tim Hague: 3-5
- Roy Nelson: 3-6
- Rob Broughton: 2-4
- Mark Hunt: 3-7
- Valentijn Overeem: 3-11
- Gilbert Yvel: 2-11
- James McSweeney: 1-6
The most telling record, to me, is the 3-6 of Roy Nelson. Jonathan Snowden took a lot of criticism when he wrote that Roy Nelson wasn’t a top-shelf fighter. He was absolutely right when he wrote that.
Some Thoughts On Recently Announced UFC Fights, Including Frank Edgar vs. Gray Maynard
Posted by on July 15, 2011
So the UFC decided that it was going to unload a ton of fight announcements, including some very major ones, in a very short period of time. Now that my head’s stopped spinning, here are my quick thoughts about the fights that have been announced.
UFC 136 – Lightweight Title Match: Frank Edgar (50.23 SILVA) vs. Gray Maynard (54.05)
In the first fight between these two, Gray Maynard used his superior power and wrestling ability to stifle and frustrate Frank Edgar. In the second fight, Maynard bombarded Edgar early with power strikes, knocking Edgar down multiple times in the first round. Then Edgar came back against a fatigued Maynard to force a draw. It’s hard to see Edgar being able to deal with Maynard’s power this time around, but now that Edgar is experienced against Maynard, maybe he’ll find a way to wear Maynard out without taking too much damage.
UFC 136 – Featherweight Title Match: Jose Aldo (48.14) vs. Kenny Florian (36.54)
First, let me express disappointment that Chad Mendes isn’t getting this opportunity, after he was originally set to face Aldo at the upcoming UFC 133. With that said, I understand why the UFC wanted to put this fight together: Kenny Florian is a name that casual UFC fans know and recognize, and presumably would help introduce those fans to the new UFC featherweight division. Unfortunately for Florian, I see him becoming 0-3 in title fights after facing Aldo; I don’t see Florian either being able to handle Aldo’s striking or taking him down consistently enough.
UFC 133 – Light-Heavyweights: Alexander Gustafsson (33.76) vs. Matt Hamill (32.45)
Supposedly, Vladimir Matyushenko was going to be the UFC’s next choice to fight Rashad Evans if it turned out that both Lyoto Machida and Tito Ortiz turned the fight down. It’s a good thing Ortiz accepted, because now Matyushenko is out of his fight against Alexander Gustafsson. His replacement, Matt Hamill, needs a win very badly after his lackluster decision loss to Quinton “Rampage” Jackson at UFC 130. This should be an interesting battle of striker vs. wrestler: I like Gustafsson a lot, but the one time he’s faced a great wrestler in the UFC, he lost to Phil Davis. Still, Hamill is not near Davis’s level, so this should be a close, competitive match.
UFC 136 – Middleweights: Demian Maia (44.11) vs. Jorge Santiago (32.75)
I recently speculated about Demian Maia’s UFC future, suggesting that the top two potential opponents for him were Jorge Santiago and Chris Leben. I then stated that I felt a fight against Leben was more likely. As I usually am when predicting future matchmaking, I was wrong. Maia will, in fact, face Santiago, who is just 1-3 in his career in the UFC. While some may suggest that Santiago will have an advantage in the striking department, Maia did quite well for himself against Mark Munoz at UFC 131. With Santiago’s weak chin, there’s a real chance Maia wins this by TKO. Of course, Santiago will not want to play the ground game with Maia, so on paper, I think this is a good fight for Maia and a bad fight for Santiago. Full disclosure: I’m a huge fan of Demian Maia.
UFC 136 – Lightweights: Melvin Guillard (31.54) vs. Joe Lauzon (29.92)
This seems to be a strange fight for Melvin Guillard to lobby for if he wants to fight for the title, as Joe Lauzon isn’t really in title contention right now. Despite that, Lauzon represents a better test of Guillard’s ground game than any of Guillard’s recent opponents. If Guillard wins this fight, and I think he will, I anticipate that he’ll move way up the ladder for his next fight. Still, time may be running out for Guillard; the 9-year rule strikes for him in November.
UFC 137 – Heavyweights: Cheick Kongo (29.79) vs. Matt Mitrione (50.40)
I’ve thought for quite a while now that Cheick Kongo is something of a fraud; his UFC wins tend to be against guys like Mustapha Al-Turk and Dan Evensen. When Kongo faces fringe UFC opponents like Heath Herring and Pat Barry, he either loses or comes very close to it. When he faces high-level opponents like Frank Mir, he gets smoked.
I love Mitrione to win big here. Mitrione represents a blend of power and striking that Kongo hasn’t faced yet; the most similar opponent he’s had is probably Travis Browne, but I happen to think Mitrione is just plain better than Browne is. I’m going to go out on a limb and say Mitrione wins in round 1.
UFC 137 – Heavyweights: Mirko “Cro Cop” Filipovic (27.03) vs. Roy Nelson (30.48)
I thought Cro Cop should have retired after losing by KO in the third round to Brendan Schaub, and him being matched up against Roy Nelson doesn’t change my opinion. I’ve completely given up on the idea of “the old Cro Cop” showing up, so that probably means that his fight against Nelson will be often spent in the clinch, and has a high chance of being particularly awful. If recent history is any indication, Nelson will get a KO late in the third round after Cro Cop puts up “not that bad of a fight.”
UFC 136 – Heavyweights: Dave Herman (26.72) vs. Mike Russow (35.83)
It’s very hard to get a hold of how good Russow is at this point. He got obliterated for two and a half rounds by Todd Duffee before landing a KO punch out of nowhere. While that makes for an amazing highlight moment, it doesn’t bode well for Russow’s future as a UFC contender. Against Dave Herman, he’ll definitely want to take the fight to the ground; I think Russow will be good enough to win a decision in this one.
UFC 136 – Featherweights: Matt Grice (30.16) vs. Josh Grispi (26.62)
I have a secret suspicion that Joe Silva puts together fights based on the alphabet. Other random examples: Nik Lentz vs. Waylon Lowe, Quinton Jackson vs. Keith Jardine, Manny Gamburyan vs. Tyson Griffin, Demian Maia vs. Nate Marquardt… OK, maybe I have too much time to think about things like this.
I don’t know what happened to Josh Grispi. My baseless speculation is that there’s some performance anxiety related to competing in the UFC. It’s not that he lost to Dustin Poirier and George Roop, it’s that he got completely battered in the process. Under normal circumstances, I would take Grispi to win this fight, but given his recent performances… I just can’t do it. This is coming from somebody who generally puts very little stock in just a fighter’s recent performances.
UFC 128 Preview: Main Card Fights
Posted by on March 17, 2011
These fights are guaranteed to be broadcast on pay-per-view at 7:00 PT/10:00 ET on Saturday, March 19th.
8. 265 lbs: Mirko “Cro Cop” Filipovic (27-8-2, 4-4 UFC) vs. Brendan Schaub (7-1, 3-1 UFC)
SILVA prediction: Cro Cop (42.40) over Schaub (41.09)
Schaub is a strong betting favorite for this fight, at about 2 1/2 to 1, and it’s easy to see why. Cro Cop has struggled a lot in the UFC; the strongest win on his middling UFC record is probably against Pat Barry, and he took a ton of punishment in the process. In his last fight, he failed to score very much at all against Frank Mir, although he did show good defensive abilities in that fight. For what it’s worth, Cro Cop is saying that he’s finally healthy and that he can use his punches and kicks, but we’ve heard that before. Yet, all of Cro Cop’s old glory is just enough for SILVA to pick him to win. Brendan Schaub is a rising star in the UFC, a fighter whose only loss was in only his fifth career fight to Roy “Big Country” Nelson. That, however, might be the hope for Cro Cop fans. If Big Country can knock out Brendan Schaub, surely Cro Cop should be able to, right? Schaub did show impressive hands in knocking out Chris Tuchscherer and beating Gabriel Gonzaga, but then, neither of those guys are near the striking level of Cro Cop (despite the result when Gonzaga faced him).
Here’s the bottom line: both of these guys like to strike, and both of them have knockout power, although Mirko not so much with his hands. If it’s true that Cro Cop has been injured this whole time, and is now fully healthy, he could bring an all-out striking offensive that could be too much for Schaub to handle. If, on the other hand, it’s the same Cro Cop we saw lose to Frank Mir, Schaub will likely at least out-point him to win a decision, and has a very good chance of knocking him out.
9. 185: Nate Marquardt (30-10-2, 9-4 UFC) vs. Dan Miller (13-4, 5-3 UFC)
SILVA prediction: Miller (38.32) over Marquardt (34.14)
I might end up being the only prognosticator who likes Miller in this fight. The thing about Nate Marquardt is that everybody likes to talk about how well-rounded he is. The problem is that he isn’t exceptional in any area. He was out-boxed by Yushin Okami at UFC 122, and two fights prior to that, was out-wrestled and out-grappled by Chael Sonnen. What Marquardt does bring to the table is serious knockout power, which he showed against Rousimar Palhares and Demian Maia. At UFC 128, he faces the very tough Dan Miller. Miller’s UFC record is split: his five wins were against lower-level UFC middleweights, and his three losses were against very high-level UFC middleweights (Michael Bisping, Maia, and Sonnen). For Miller, the key will be to take Marquardt down and play the ground game, as he’s a strong grappler, but a very mediocre striker. For Marquardt, the key is to defend the takedown and let his hands go. Sprawl and brawl.
10. 155: Jim Miller (19-2, 8-1 UFC) vs. Kamal Shalorus (7-0-2, 0-0 UFC)
SILVA prediction: Miller (51.35) over Shalorus (48.00)
Where there’s one Miller brother, there’s likely to be another Miller brother. The thing is, I don’t know if the UFC likes Jim Miller very much. I have no reason to believe that other than the fact that Miller is 8-1 in the UFC, and now has to face a UFC newcomer who is extremely tough and making his UFC debut in Kamal Shalorus. In other words: high risk, low reward for winning. I still like Miller to win the fight, as his very tough, fundamentally sound grappling enabled him to win a decision against Mark Bocek at UFC 111, and submit Charles Oliveira with a kneebar at UFC 124. Shalorus, already with four KO or TKO victories on his record, is a man who prefers to strike, so he’ll look to defend the takedown. If there’s one group of fighters Miller excels against, however, it’s strikers, as Miller is usually good enough to take them down. Shalorus has serious power and could catch him, but I like Miller to win this one.
11. 135: Urijah Faber (24-4, 0-0 UFC) vs. Eddie Wineland (18-6-1, 0-0 UFC)
SILVA prediction: Faber (46.26) over Wineland (24.76)
I’ll be honest: until I heard promotional spots referring to Eddie Wineland as a “former WEC bantamweight champion,” I had no idea that was the case. Indeed, Wineland won the WEC bantamweight championship with a head kick delivered to Antonio Banuelos. Wineland’s career path has been very unusual. He began his career 3-4-1; most fighters who win only three out of their first eight career fights are doomed to a career of mediocrity or worse. Wineland, however, blossomed as a fighter, going 15-2 since then. The problem for Wineland is that he hasn’t faced nearly the kind of competition that Urijah Faber has. Faber’s WEC run included fights against Dominick Cruz, Raphael Assuncao, Takeya Mizugaki, and Jose Aldo, all tougher opponents than any Wineland has faced. Faber is also a much more well-rounded fighter, particularly on the ground. Believe it or not, the last KO or TKO win Faber has earned that wasn’t by doctor stoppage was on July 1st, 2006, at Gladiator Challenge 51 against Naoya Uematsu. So when Wineland, on the UFC 128 Countdown show, said that he feels the “UFC is probably using this fight to introduce Faber,” unfortunately, he’s probably right.
12. UFC light-heavyweight championship: Mauricio “Shogun” Rua (19-4, 3-2 UFC) vs. Jon Jones (12-1, 6-1 UFC)
SILVA prediction: Jones (47.91) over Rua (45.51)
I could probably write a whole thousand-word post previewing this fight without breaking a sweat. There are so many variables that it’s tough to keep track of them all. Let’s start with the champion. Mauricio “Shogun” Rua has a record of 19-4, which is impressive enough before realizing that he’s been fighting elite opponents for a very long time now. Here’s a list: Quinton “Rampage” Jackson, Antonio Rogerio Nogueira, Alistair Overeem twice, Ricardo Arona, Forrest Griffin, Chuck Liddell, and Lyoto Machida twice. Shogun won all but two of those fights. He has a very dynamic, effective striking approach; arguably, the only fighter to ever outstrike Shogun was Nogueira. Here’s the thing: Shogun won that fight with takedowns and ground and pound. What sets Shogun apart as a fighter is not just that he’s great in all areas, but that he transitions from one area to the next seamlessly. One second, he’ll be throwing punches, and the next, he’ll be attempting a kneebar. Opponents of his need to be wary of all potential forms of attack at all times.
Shogun’s not the only fighter who transitions so well. In fact, transitions are probably what have impressed me the most about Jon Jones also. Against Ryan Bader, Jones would defend a takedown and suddenly be attempting a north-south choke. Jones would take Bader down and suddenly apply a guillotine choke. Jones’s reach is well-documented; he’ll have a major advantage there. For Shogun, that means to strike effectively, he needs to operate inside the reach of Jones. That brings up another way Jones is so good: his opponents need to get inside to strike, but Jones’s inside game is probably better than his outside game, as he has spectacular Greco-Roman wrestling skills, skills he used to make fellow wrestlers Bader, Vladimir Matyushenko, Matt Hamill, and Brandon Vera look really bad. Just knowing how to fight Jon Jones is a challenge.
For Shogun, I think the key is in jiu-jitsu: Jones claims he’s a white belt in it, and I personally doubt that claim, but it might just be a source of weakness. When Charles Oliveira fought Jim Miller at UFC 124, the announcers were having trouble with the idea that Oliveira was just a purple belt, especially when he was putting together chains of submission attempts. Suddenly, Oliveira left his leg exposed, Miller went for a kneebar, and it was over. Perhaps Jones has defensive deficiencies in the ground game that Shogun could exploit. One problem… how does Shogun get him to the ground? Maybe Jones takes Shogun down, and then Shogun goes for sweeps? The truth of the matter is that it’s not the offensive capabilities of Jon Jones that make him a great fighter. It’s his defensive capabilities; the absurd reach and the great takedown defense. Opponents can’t do much to him. I’ll be rooting for Shogun to win, mostly because I like to root for former PRIDE fighters, but it’s easy to see why Jones is favored to win the fight. Honestly… what do you do with this guy?
Fantasy Fights 
UFC 128 Results and Commentary
1. 195: Nick Catone (32.74 SILVA) def. Constantinos Philippou (47.43) by Decision (Unanimous) (30-27, 30-27, 30-27)
2. 145: Erik Koch (48.75) def. Raphael Assuncao (41.29) by KO (Punch), 2:32 round 1
There’s not a whole lot I can say about this fight. What I will say is that in MMA, leading with your head is generally a bad idea. Chuck Liddell did it at UFC 115 and got knocked out by Rich Franklin. Raphael Assuncao did it against Erik Koch, and Koch knocked him out with a short right hook to the ear.
3. 135: Joseph Benavidez (44.02) def. Ian Loveland (22.59) by Decision (Unanimous) (30-27, 30-27, 29-28)
“Joe B.-won Kenobi”? Seriously?
4. 155: Gleison Tibau (31.71) def. Kurt Pellegrino (35.17) by Decision (Split) (29-28, 28-29, 29-28)
I guess what perplexes me about Gleison Tibau is that he gives himself a huge advantage by being able to cut more weight than anybody else who fights in the lightweight division, but then fights in a defensive way, with a low volume of attack. Tibau was very reluctant to attack early in the fight, and then after he was hit hard by Pellegrino in the second round, was put in a position where he was forced to attack with much higher volume in the third round just to win the decision. Tibau won a split decision, but I just feel that if he was more aggressive, he wouldn’t have to win fights by the skin of his teeth.
5. 170: Mike Pyle (32.20) def. Ricardo Almeida (40.54) by Decision (Unanimous) (29-28, 30-27, 30-27)
Once again, Mike Pyle showed that he’s a very tough fighter to do anything with, as Ricardo Almeida had difficulty striking with him, and more difficulty taking him down. When Almeida finally was able to take Pyle down, Pyle immediately worked to get back to his feet. If there’s a criticism I have of Pyle’s game, it’s that it seems to be a game centered around winning decisions; it’s difficult to see what Pyle does that would finish opponents, other than perhaps an attacking guard game. Still, that’s mostly a criticism from an entertainment standpoint; from a sport standpoint, there’s nothing wrong with the way Pyle fights, and it seems it will take fighters with serious talent to take him out.
6. 155: Edson Barboza (54.53) def. Anthony Njokuani (32.09) by Decision (Unanimous) (29-28, 29-28, 29-28)
I hope that if you’re reading this, that you tuned in to Spike TV an hour before the pay-per-view to watch this fight. If you didn’t, you seriously missed out, as it wasn’t just a striking war, it was a striking war with a very high skill level by both combatants. I knew Edson Barboza had fantastic Muay Thai, but I wasn’t expecting Anthony Njokuani to be able to battle with him punch-for-punch. Barboza won the first round with a punch that hammered Njokuani and staggered him a little bit. Njokuani won the second round with a high-volume attack that seemed to throw Barboza off quite a bit. Near the end of the third round, I felt that I was going to write about how Njokuani scored a huge upset… and then, with literally seconds left, Barboza unleashed a devastating kick to the head that left Njokuani woozy. Inexplicably, Barboza spent the last few seconds celebrating instead of trying to finish Njokuani, but the kick was enough to win the decision.
7. 205: Luis Cane (30.42) def. Eliot Marshall (36.15) by TKO (Punches), 2:15 round 1
Cane brought a very physical striking attack to Eliot Marshall, and Marshall didn’t know what to do with it. He was dropped early, and then made desperate efforts to tie Cane up on the ground while Cane was pummeling him with punches, trying to finish the fight. Dan Miragliotta finally stopped it at the 2:15 mark when Marshall had taken too much punishment. I guess Marshall’s striking is a lot worse than I remembered, but it’s a great victory for Luis Cane, who certainly earned a lot more respect from me with the first-round victory.
8. 265: Brendan Schaub (41.09) def. Mirko “Cro Cop” Filipovic (42.40) by KO (Punch), 3:44 round 3
I was really looking forward to writing about how the up-and-comer in Brendan Schaub won the fight with physicality, takedowns, and solid striking defense, but Cro Cop still showed a lot of fight in busting Schaub’s face up in the clinch. Then Schaub crushed Cro Cop with a right hand behind the ear, and Cro Cop was out cold as he landed face-first on the canvas. In any sport, an athlete’s career runs a certain course: there’s the rise, there’s the prime, and then there’s the decline. In a sport like basketball or baseball, the decline can often be graceful, but in mixed martial arts, it tends to be much more brutal. We’ve seen it with legends like Chuck Liddell, Andrei Arlovski, Jens Pulver, and Kazushi Sakuraba. Now we’re seeing it with Mirko Cro Cop, and while I always root for him to win, there’s no entertainment for me watching him out cold. I hate to say it, but it’s time to call it a career.
9. 185: Nate Marquardt (34.14) def. Dan Miller (38.32) by Decision (Unanimous) (30-27, 30-27, 30-27)
Miller had his moments, particularly a guillotine choke attempt in the first round that Marquardt escaped, but Marquardt was just too physical for him. Marquardt landed a number of powerful punches against Miller, a fighter who’s historically struggled in the striking game, and secured a number of takedowns as well. It was a complete effort from Marquardt, and a nice comeback victory after the disappointing loss to Yushin Okami at UFC 122.
10. 155: Jim Miller (51.35) def. Kamal Shalorus (48.00) by TKO (Punches), 2:15 round 3
Shalorus loves to stand and bang, but I saw a red flag almost immediately when Shalorus held his elbows away from his body in his stance. That’s almost always a sign of an undisciplined striker, and when Shalorus threw his looping punches, Jim Miller was able to throw quicker, more technical strikes that beat Shalorus in the exchanges. Combine this with great grappling and solid takedowns, and it’s easy to see how Miller is a tough customer for anybody in the lightweight division. I don’t know about anybody else, but I would approve of Miller getting a title shot against the winner of Frank Edgar vs. Gray Maynard in May.
11. 135: Urijah Faber (46.26) def. Eddie Wineland (24.76) by Decision (Unanimous) (29-28, 29-28, 29-28)
Eddie Wineland was tough, but Joe Rogan hit the nail on the head when he said that Urijah Faber was just too fast for him. Wineland had some success in the first round defending takedowns and landing punches, but once the second round started, Faber had much more success with both his takedowns and his punches. It was actually a somewhat dull fight, which is uncharacteristic of Faber, but it was very effective as Wineland didn’t have the grappling ability from his back to deal with Faber’s ground and pound. Good victory for Faber, who may have earned himself a title shot against Dominick Cruz.
12. UFC light-heavyweight championship: Jon Jones (47.91) def. Mauricio “Shogun” Rua (45.51) by TKO (Punches), 2:37 round 3
Shogun tried to strike with Jon Jones, but he couldn’t get inside Jones’s reach to score with punches. Shogun tried to sweep Jon Jones, but Jones had an extremely strong base, and wouldn’t budge. Shogun tried to get a leglock, but Jones simply slipped out. All the while, Jones was landing brutal punches and elbows, wearing Shogun out and beating him down. In the third round, Jones hit Shogun very hard and Shogun turtled up. Shogun showed great heart in actually standing up, but he was clearly wobbly, dazed and confused, and after another Jones attack, Herb Dean was stopping the fight as Shogun was tapping on the canvas. I love Shogun, and I’m thrilled that he got to be the UFC light-heavyweight champion. But this guy, Jon Jones, might just be unstoppable. Maybe Rashad can give him a run for his money, and I think Machida would have the best chance of anybody, but I wouldn’t favor anybody against Jon Jones right now.