Phil Davis in No Rush to Make Jon Jones Fight a Reality

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At the UFC 126 post-fight press conference, Urijah Faber said he was looking forward to one day seeing Jon Jones fight Phil Davis for the light heavyweight title.

He's not the only one.

Since Jones won the belt on Saturday, and to a degree even before UFC 128, media, fans, and even fighters have pegged Davis as the man who could give the unstoppable Jones trouble inside the Octagon.

That's a huge compliment for a 26-year-old who only made his MMA debut in October 2008.

But Davis (8-0), who faces Antonio Rogerio Nogueira in the main event of UFC Fight Night 24 this Saturday, says he isn't concerning himself with anything other than what's next.

Source: http://www.mmafighting.com/2011/03/23/phil-davis-in-no-rush-to-make-jon-jones-fight-a-reality/

Enson Inoue Takeshi Inoue Tokimitsu Ishizawa Wallid Ismail

Bellator 37 ratings take a dip, event draws 173,000 MTV2 viewers

Facing competition from the NCAA men's basketball tournament and UFC 128's preliminary-card Facebook stream, this past weekend's Bellator 37 event drew 173,000 viewers on MTV2.

MMAjunkie.com confirmed the ratings with an industry source.

Ratings took a dip from the season-high 230,000 viewers who tuned in for the first run of Bellator 36, which also drew 241,000 with its immediate replay.


Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/mmajunkie/~3/U-TYzTF5SLU/bellator-37-ratings-take-a-dip-event-draws-173000-mtv2-viewers.mma

Dos Caras Jr   Phil Cardella Roan Jucao Carneiro Shane The Engineer Carwin 

Rashad Evans "done" with Greg Jackson's camp as he prepares to face Jon Jones after UFC 128; Jackson won't be involved with their fight [UPDATED]

By: Jamie Penick, MMATorch Editor-in-Chief

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Jon Jones' destruction of Mauricio "Shogun" Rua at UFC 128 on Saturday night has set up a bout that, just six weeks ago, was "never going to happen."

Greg Jackson teammate Rashad Evans is the number one contender for Jones' title, and this situation has now split the two of them, and with Evans now on board for a fight he said before he didn't want, he says he's also done with Jackson and his camp.

"I'm done with Jackson's. I'm done," Evans said bluntly to MMAFighting.com's Ariel Helwani after the fight Saturday. Asked if he felt betrayed by Jackson's camp, Evans simply repeated "I'm done with Jackson's."

Evans went into slightly more detail on Twitter on Sunday, explaining that it was Jackson's decision to bring Jones in initially when Rashad was against the idea.

"Greg brought this situation about," Evans wrote. "He brought Jones on board a while back against my wishes & here we [are] today."

"So I decided [to] leave Greg because I felt like he didn't have my best interest anymore. Greg is not the same coach he use [to be]."

Evans said he's been preparing himself for this matchup mentally, as he believed Jones would do just what he did to Shogun on Saturday night.

"I thought about, it was going to happen even before it happened," he said. "This whole situation is awkward, but it is what it is. I'm happy for the dude, he went out there and fought well? he looked phenomenal, but at the same time, he's got that strap so now I have to go get it. I know I was going to fight him, no matter if he lost tonight or not, I was going to fight him [eventually]...

"His performance was phenomenal. From the minute they [set up] that fight, I knew [Jones] was going to destroy him."

For Greg Jackson, Jones' huge win was a bittersweet moment for him. As a longtime friend and trainer of Evans and mentor and friend to Jones, this is a fight he has no desire to see.

"I'm really happy for Jon Jones, it's a very bittersweet moment for me because Rashad's gotta fight him next," Jackson said in a separate interview with Helwani. "I love Rashad like a brother, I love Jon like a brother. I'm extremely happy for Jon, he showed what he could do, but it's bittersweet."

"I couldn't even be in the cage [for the Jones-Evans faceoff], I'm not going to corner anybody for that fight. The coaches will have to figure it out on their own, but I love Rashad and I love Jon, and I hope after they fight they can be one happy family again, because for me it's all about the love and I won't have anything to do with the two of them fighting."

Helwani informed Jackson of Evans' statement that he was done with the camp, and Jackson was caught off guard, saying it was the first he'd heard of that.

"I'm hoping it's just emotion talking and that won't be the case, cause we love him to death and I love him to death," Jackson said. "This is the first time I'm hearing it. But you know you get emotional and [with] the crowd, there's a lot of things that are said that I hope aren't meant.

"I'm a veteran of a lot of situations, so I'm not going to be tearing my hair out or anything like that... Every great fighter has to be an optimist at heart and I'm an optimist that it's all going to work out."

Jackson said he's not planning on being in the arena when the two eventually meet, and joked that he'd be drowning his sorrows in water because he doesn't drink. For Jackson, this is his opinion on teammates fighting other teammates, and though he sees why the fans and the UFC want to see the fight, it's not something he wants to be a part of.

"How would you feel if your brother was going to fight your brother?" Jackson asked. "Put it on yourself. If everyone was asking 'who's going to win that fight? Your one brother or your other brother?' You'd be like 'I don't really want to see them fight.' That's just me, though.

"The UFC wants what it wants and the fans want what they want, I'm happy being an unimportant person, so that's just my opinion. I can't win that one so I'm not going to play."

Updated with Evans' Twitter comments

[Rashad Evans art by Cory Gould (c) MMATorch.com]

Source: http://www.mmatorch.com/artman2/publish/UFC_2/article_8811.shtml

Cory MacDonald Matt MacGrath Leonardo Lucio Nascimento Paweł Nastula

Coker interview: Strikeforce boss uncertain about Daley, Fedor and Barnett in the UFC

Scott Coker, the other guy in the UFC's purchase of Strikeforce, sat down for a lengthy interview with HDNet's Bas Rutten. Coker was grilled on many of the hot button issues that last Monday's  conference call never hit on.

Rutten asked the Strikeforce CEO if he thinks fans will ever see Josh Barnett, Paul Daley or Fedor Emelianenko in the UFC. Coker said he didn't know (11:35 mark), but added that he hoped all three continued to fight with Strikeforce.

Other interesting points included:

Coker confirmed that the deal between Zuffa and SVSE came together quickly. He only informed Showtime of the sale one day before the news leaked on Mar. 12.

He denied the rumors that Josh Barnett will be removed from the Strikeforce heavyweight Grand Prix and replaced by Shane Carwin.

The Strikeforce boss joked about his first meetings with the UFC brass talking about Zuffa's 25-person marketing and P.R. staff. He brought along his two employees in those positions (4:40 mark).

Coker is excited about the new resources behind Strikeforce and growth possibilities which include a goal of pay-per-view by the end of 2011.

Surprisingly, even with a roster of 150-plus fighters, Coker says "business as usual" also includes signing new fighters in the future (9:00 mark).

Read into it anyway you'd like - Coker was asked if the purchase by UFC was a good or bad day, he answered by it's a reality (9:30 mark).

Showtime got the call the day before the news leaked 11 days ago, but Coker still hasn't had a chance to speak with M-1 promotions, Fedor's management team (13:25 mark).

Hopefully, Coker is involved in the MMA business at the highest level for years to come. He's definitely an asset, who puts the fans first. He did an amazing job turning a regional promotion, which held its first big fight in Apr. of 2009, into something worth buying for an estimated $40 million less than two years later.

Tip via MMAConvert

Source: http://sports.yahoo.com/mma/blog/cagewriter/post/Coker-interview-Strikeforce-boss-uncertain-abou?urn=mma-wp506

Rob Broughton  Mike Brown  Junie Browning Paul BuentelloÂ