UFC light heavyweight champion Jon Jones has proven to be an amazing fighter, but he can be beat.

How exactly?

Lyoto Machida demonstrated a very important lesson: Jon Jones can be hit and stumbled.

Before the Machida fight, we never saw Jones really ever take a hit. Feared strikers Mauricio “Shogun” Rua and Quinton “Rampage” Jackson couldn’t hit Jones—but Machida could.

This means that, for a fighter to be successful against Jones, he has to have diverse striking and has to attack from different angles, like Machida did.

If a fighter throws hands only, like Rampage, he’ll lose.

Machida did his best when he went on the offensive and got on the inside with an aggressive flurry of strikes. The hypothetical fighter to beat Jones will have to be a very aggressive striker who can constantly put pressure on Jones. He must also have the conditioning to do that throughout the fight.

Concerning grappling, the fighter to beat Jones will need a very solid wrestling base to avoid getting taken down.

Jones has great take downs and scary ground-and-pound with vicious elbows. It took only one takedown and elbow for Jones to cut Machida’s forehead open.

So, not only will a fighter need takedown defense to beat Jones, he’ll need either great submissions off his back or a very good scrambling ability. This will enable him to get back up once Jones takes him to the mat.

This hypothetical fighter will also need a strong chin as to not get rocked by any of Jones’ unorthodox strikes (such as his famous back-elbow).

Unfortunately for Jones haters, a fighter with all of these attributes doesn’t exist at light heavyweight (at least not yet). Jones should be ruling the division with an iron fist for quite some time.

However, all it takes is one lackluster performance or loss for many fans to turn on that fighter and either declare him “finished” or say that he was never that good in the first place. It happens time and time again—after Lyoto Machida lost to Mauricio “Shogun” Rua, after Brock Lesnar lost to Cain Velasquez, after Anderson Silva’s last-gasp win over Chael Sonnen, and so on.

It even gets to the point where people forget anything that happened prior to a fighter’s last fight and all of the praise they were heaping on that particular fighter. After the recent Shogun and Dan Henderson fight, I read one of the dumbest things I have ever seen on Sherdog’s discussion board, as one poster said that he believed the fight showed that Shogun was and had been overrated, and that he was never even a top five light heavyweight at any stage of his career.

Are you serious?

It wouldn’t surprise me if after Silva loses his first fight in the UFC, fans start saying that he was overrated and that his undefeated streak means nothing, just like many people say about Fedor Emelianenko. Even Jon Jones will suffer such criticism after he loses his first fight, and it is ridiculous.

No matter what happens in upcoming fights, everyone that enters the octagon deserves our respect, especially those that have reached great heights.

While it might go down as a Chad Dawson TKO of Bernard Hopkins, the real story of Saturday night was boxing’s newest problem—bizarre, controversial endings. It’s the second time in less than a month that fans have walked away from a major boxing event scratching their heads.

In September, confusion was paramount when Floyd Mayweather, Jr. knocked out Victor Ortiz while he was resetting after a break.

It was a story that never gained the momentum it deserved due to Mayweather’s post-fight shouting match with Larry Merchant.  On Saturday night, Dawson gave a little shoulder barge to Hopkins, who proceeded to fall through the ropes and injure his shoulder. Even though Hopkins was legitimately injured, the immediate reaction was to wonder if Hopkins was only in it for the paycheck.

The Executioner clearly didn’t bring the same intensity to the bout that allowed him to start his career 46-2-1. He’s gone 6-4-1 over his last 11 fights and, at 46 years old, is nearing the end of his career. The knockout was the first of Hopkins’ career.

So, what can boxing due to avoid these type of endings from becoming an epidemic? With the rise of MMA on a national stage, boxing can’t afford for fans to think its athletes are giving anything less than 100 percent in the ring.

Casual fans certainly aren’t going to keep shelling out upwards of $50 for pay-per-views if the shows don’t improve. And if the viewing audience continues to decrease, so will the purses. It’s a vicious circle.

It’s just another problem on boxing’s growing list of issues to deal with. Right alongside the lack of big name stars and a failure to setup a mega fight between Manny Pacquiao and Mayweather. That bout could revitalize the sport, but it doesn’t appear to be on the horizon right now.

Although the diehards will always support boxing, it’s the casual observers who buy into the hype and order PPVs that keep the sport alive and well. And just like any form of entertainment, if it fails to deliver what’s expected, its appeal will lessen exponentially.

Not to mention the last thing blue-collar workers want to see is boxers collecting a six-figure or bigger paycheck for a couple minutes work and a shaky finish.

Hopefully these finishes are just a short-term fluke and not a long-term problem.

Despite blowing his UFC 137 title shot, former Strikeforce welterweight champion Nick Diaz is likely a win away from receiving another opportunity to contend for UFC gold.

The controversial welterweight star wasted no time in stirring up drama in his UFC arrival earlier this year.

After being awarded a shot against Georges St-Pierre for the welterweight title at UFC 137, Diaz missed two scheduled press conferences for the event, which forced UFC President Dana White to remove him from the card.

Welterweight contender Carlos Condit was awarded the shot in Diaz’s place, and Diaz was moved to the co-main event to face former two-division world champion BJ Penn.

A win over Penn would be a monumental step in the right direction for Diaz, who is looking to get back in White’s good graces and fight for the UFC title.

If Diaz manages to defeat an all-time great like Penn, would White be willing to forgive past mistakes and award the Stockton native another title shot?

“Yeah,” White told MMAWeekly. “I saw Nick when Nate won. He was at that fight. I saw him, and everything seems good. He seems like his head is in the right place, and we’re ready to go.”

As far as skipping out on mandatory press conferences, White believes that’s all in the past.  “I don’t see that happening again,” White stated. “If it does, then I don’t even know what to say. It is what it is.”

“We don’t babysit man. He knows, we’ve talked, and I seriously would be shocked if he didn’t show up at another press conference,” he said.  UFC 137 is scheduled to go down on October 29th at the Mandalay Bay Events Center in Las Vegas, Nevada.

It could be put up or shut up time for Diaz, who has complained for the past year about lackluster opposition.

It doesn’t get much tougher than Penn.

The problem with MMA is that it’s too much of a “mixed” style, and when you have a grappler fighting a stand up striker it generally makes for a boring fight to the average fan unless the striker gets his licks in first.  It’s obviously not that simple, but to the average casual fan that doesn’t frequent MMA blogs or websites may not know what an Omoplata is.  So when Joe Rogan or whomever else is commentating the fights, the intricacies of the craft do not register very well to the casual observer.

Boxing has the same problem as the casual fan is simply watching hoping for a knockout, but lacks the interest or desire to realize that a 12 round performance by Floyd Mayweather is art in motion.  There is so much more to boxing than knocking people out, and the hype that surrounds big fights.  It’s too bad that in most cases the average fan leaves equally upset about an early round knockout and a 12 round decision where one fighter couldn’t hit the other.  They want brawling in the center of the ring for at least eight rounds with one fighter being knocked unconscious to end it.  That just isn’t the case in most fights, and it’s going to be interesting if boxing can ever solve that problem.

The reason the casual fan is mentioned is because they drive the dollars in sports.  Organizations already know that the loyal diehard fans will tune in and consume the product, but they want to capture the dollars they aren’t expecting by drawing in those outside fans.  MMA is trying to bridge that gap by releasing MMA Workout Plan DVD’s featuring their best fighters like Georges Saint-Pierre in order to draw the casual fans interest.  The boxing community is a bit more stubborn and won’t go that route as of yet because they feel their sport will sell itself, but until they adapt to what new age sports fans want they will continue to be left behind.

It has been nine fights and nine dominant performances for Jon Jones since debuting in the UFC back at UFC 87 against Andre Gusmao.

His latest win was his first defense of his UFC Light Heavyweight Championship against Quinton “Rampage” Jackson.

While Jones was climbing the ranks of the light heavyweight division, his critics were constantly coming up with reasons as to why “Bones” was soon to fall. People claimed he hadn’t been tested, he hadn’t taken a punch, and his stamina was questionable.

Even after winning the belt against Mauricio “Shogun” Rua, critics claimed that “Shogun” was coming off of a long layoff and he wasn’t completely healthy.

At this point, however, those questions are no longer valid. Jackson admitted after the fight that this is the best “Rampage” ever. He trained hard and had no excuses—Jones is just the superior fighter.

It’s frightening to see the way in which Jackson was dominated, considering he had spent nearly a decade fighting before “Bones” made his debut in mixed martial arts in 2008.

There are certainly things to critique regarding Jackson’s performance. He abandoned his leg kicks—the only thing that seemed to be effective against Jones—and never pressed the action as he claimed he was going to do before the fight. Instead, he was content to stand back and let Jones pick him apart.

Still, this can be explained by Jackson’s fear of being taken down due to Jones’ amazing wrestling ability and Jones’ 84.5-inch reach.

“Rampage,” along with several other fighters who have been defeated by Jones, mentioned his difficulty in dealing with the severe reach disadvantage.

While “Rampage” could have done a few things differently, it’s hard to argue that the outcome would have been altered. Jones was clearly the superior striker, out-landing his opponent 61 to 16 in significant strikes, according to FightMetric.

He also was able to take Jackson down and mount him effortlessly, showing his clear dominance in the grappling department as well.

The way in which the fight ended—a rear-naked choke submission in the fourth round—was a fitting way to display Jones’ well-rounded talents. Even late into the fight, he seemed completely relaxed, dispelling any belief that his stamina should be questioned.

While Jones’ career is still blossoming at just 24 years old, he already has made his claim as one of the best mixed martial artists on the planet.

In addition, he has the potential to be one of the greatest ever, especially if he continues to improve at his current rate.

The decisive punch combination came moments after Ortiz intentionally head butted Floyd Mayweather.  Referee Joe Cortez called time so Mayweather could recover and deducted a point from Ortiz, both fighters moved to the center of the ring, hugged and touched gloves.  As Ortiz looked toward Cortez for some signal to restart and the referee not even looking at the fighters, Mayweather stepped back and launched a sharp left hook that seemed to daze Ortiz, followed by a right that put Ortiz down for good.  Many consider it a cheap shot by Floyd, but the bottom line is that you have to have your guard up at all times when you are in the ring, and had he not head butted Mayweather that incident would not have occurred.

Victor Ortiz had hugged Mayweather, he kissed him, and he tapped gloves with him. Then he hugged him again, the final act of affection coming after referee Joe Cortez had said “let’s go.” At what point does the conversation shift from what Mayweather did to what Ortiz didn’t do? It’s no coincidence that when great fighters offer an apology, it comes in the form of one arm extended with the other coiled and prepared to parry an incoming shot. Mayweather’s actions make a good highlight and his polarizing personality makes him easy to criticize. But this incident was more about Ortiz than Mayweather, about what happens when an inexperienced fighter looking to be friends meets a world class fighter looking to win.  Believe it or not, but Ortiz was in awe of Mayweather especially after he realized he was not going to be able to beat him, after the first round Mayweather knew he was too quick for Ortiz.  He then started peppering him with punches at will.

All of the negative comments towards Mayweather are s direct result of the fact that he is easy to hate because he is cocky, undefeated, and unapologetic.  A lot of people are just dying to see him lose, and will view anything he does in a negative light.  Mayweather will keep winning and being that he made about $25 million to fight Ortiz, why on earth would he fight Manny Pacquiao at this point?

After his win over Yushin Okami at UFC 134, there is no question where Anderson Silva lies in the middleweight division.  The victory earned Silva his 15th consecutive win and ninth consecutive title defense, both UFC records. The achievement of erasing a loss to Okami definitely left the champion and the Brazilian crowd in a sense of relief and excitement, as Okami was the last opponent to defeat Silva in 2006.

So as the support continues to grow for Silva, and the numerous claims as the greatest fighter of all-time is consistently to be brought up, it leaves some to question whether any fighter can dethrone him.  Although his legacy might remain intact following his recent win, there is still a dark cloud that hangs over Silva and his legitimacy as an elite-level competitor.  In other words, who has he really beaten to receive such high praise and reward for his accomplishments?

Sure, he has faced and beaten fighters like Rich Franklin, Dan Henderson and Forrest Griffin but he never fought elite-level competitors on a consistent basis, nor did he face those three opponents in the same year.  According to Sherdog.com, following his first win over Franklin, he fought Travis Lutter and Nate Marquardt, whose last four opponents had a combined record 70-51 and 87-35, respectively.

After he defeated Henderson, Silva would get past Patrick Cote, James Irvin and Thales Leites, who all share a combined record of 31-20. And following his win over Griffin, Silva’s last three opponents carried a combined record of 85-29.  Obviously, he has fared a little better against his opponents since his win over Griffin, but these statistics would suggest that he hasn’t necessarily fought the best fighters, and neither have most of his opponents.

And while his victory at UFC 134 gave him a measure of revenge, it wasn’t like Okami realistically had any chance of beating him.  Silva’s reign as UFC Middleweight champion will go down as one of the most impressive reigns in UFC history, statistically, but there is a little more left to be desired in terms of his resume.  Silva is unquestionably one of the greatest fighters of all time and while he deserves all the credit for his accolades and accomplishments inside the Octagon, his victories might mean a little more if it came against better competition more consistently.

It’s been a pretty good year for Tito Ortiz.  The former UFC Light Heavyweight Champion is finally injury free and competing at the level that is expected from a man who once held a UFC belt.

At UFC 132, Ortiz earned his first victory inside the UFC since defeating Ken Shamrock way back in 2006. He defeated the highly favored Ryan Bader by first-round guillotine choke after rocking the young competitor with a big right hand.

The victory was huge for Tito, as it allowed him to keep his job and earned him the respect of the fans once again.  An interesting opportunity presented itself to the Huntington Beach Bad Boy after UFC 132.  Rashad Evans was scheduled to meet Phil Davis in the main event of UFC 133, but Davis was forced to pull out due to injury. The UFC offered Phil’s spot to Tito and he accepted.

Now barely a month after his victory over Ryan Bader Tito is set to face Rashad Evans at UFC 133.

Was it a good idea for Ortiz to take this fight?

Yes. Tito is coming off a win, but it was his first in five years. Before that win he was very close to losing his job and a loss to Evans could put Ortiz right back into that position.

Even if Tito’s job isn’t at stake, he still runs the risk of immediately losing all of the momentum he built up after defeating Bader.  While the risks may be great, the potential rewards may be greater.

The UFC did not intend on giving Ortiz this big of an opponent right after his win over Ryan. He got the fight via circumstance and a win over Rashad would catapult Tito right into the title mix. Without this fight, it would take Ortiz much longer to reach that level in the division.

Basically, Tito has a lot to lose and a lot to gain.

Ryan has done well in the UFC, but Rashad is a former champion and one the division’s elite. Evans has only lost once in his career and has defeated the likes of Quinton Jackson, Thiago Silva and Forrest Griffin.

There is a chance that Ortiz may have done himself a disservice by only giving himself five weeks to prepare for a fighter of Evans’ caliber.

However, Tito just fought and should be coming into this one fresh while Evans is coming off a 14 month lay off. It’s a definite possibility that he could be suffering from ring rust.

Win or lose, the UFC owes Tito for stepping in at the last minute—a good thing for Ortiz since his relationship with the promotion has been somewhat strained during the past several years.

Ultimately, we won’t know if Ortiz made a mistake taking this fight until the fight actually happens.  If he wins, it was a good move and should put him back in title contention, but if he loses, it was a huge mistake that could derail his career.

Before Tito Ortiz stepped into the Octagon on July 2 to face Ryan Bader, UFC president Dana White made one thing clear to Ortiz, lose and his run with the UFC, which began in 2007 at UFC 13, would be over.  The odds were against Ortiz going into the fight, as Bader was a huge favorite over Ortiz.  White refused to write the former UFC light heavyweight champion off, telling the press before UFC 132, “Tito fights the best when his back’s against the wall, we’ll see how he does.”

How he did was amazing. Ortiz went into the Octagon and stopped Bader in under two minutes, securing his first win since defeating Ken Shamrock in 2006.  After the fight Bader described the loss to the press, “I got caught, I really don’t know what happened, ask the cornerman. I got caught with an uppercut or something and woke up in a guillotine and it was tight and I was done.”

The quick finish earned Ortiz “Submission of the Night” honors and an extra $75,000.  With his career back on track with Saturday’s victory, the next question is, who will ‘The Huntington Beach Bad Boy’ face next?

If Ortiz gets his wish he will continue fighting only the top competitors in the light heavyweight division, “I’d like to see Forrest Griffin, maybe the winner between him and (Mauricio) ‘Shogun’ Rua,” Ortiz said at the UFC 132 post-fight press conference. “I want to fight top guys. I want to fight guys with big names. I want to give fans want they want to see. I want the biggest fights in the world.

Ortiz and Griffin have fought twice before with Ortiz earning a split decision win in their first meeting in 2006, while Griffin took the second bout via split decision in 2009.  Griffin and Rua are scheduled to meet at UFC 134 in Brazil on August 27.  While Ortiz’s next opponent is uncertain, one thing is for sure, Ortiz has no interest in going gently into retirement.