Ryan Bader vs Jon Jones in the works for UFC 127
Since Ryan Bader’s win over Antonio Rogerio Nogueira at Ultimate Fighting Championship 119, there has been a great deal of talk about who the unbeaten light heavyweight would take on next.
It seems that question has been answered, as MMAWeekly is reporting that a fight between Bader and Jon Jones is in the works for UFC 127.
“Darth” Bader, The Ultimate Fighter season eight champion winner, took the fight over the much more experienced Nogueira by unanimous decision. With the victory, Bader moved to 12-0.
Bader’s win also propelled him to number six on the USA Today consensus mixed martial arts rankings in the light heavyweight division. Prior to the fight at UFC 119 he was ranked at number
16.
The 23-year-old “Bones” Jones holds a record of 11-1. The only blemish on his record comes from a disqualification for using a 12 to six elbow in his fight against Matt Hamill at The Ultimate
Fighter 10 Finale.
According to the Nevada State Athletic Commission website, “all elbow strikes are legal except for an elbow that is thrown in a downward trajectory (hand travelling from 12 o’clock to
6 o’clock).”
Jones last fought in August and scored a technical knock-out victory over Vladimir Matyushenko at 1m52s into the first round.
Jones’ current ranking on the consensus light heavyweight rankings, puts him at number seven.
MMA pundits and fans have been hoping for a fight between these two young guns for quite some time.
UFC 127 will be held in Las Vegas on Saturday, February 5, 2011, the day before the Super Bowl. The other fight rumoured for UFC 127 is a title bout between UFC middleweight champion Anderson
Silva and former UFC light heavyweight champion Vitor Belfort.
The winner of the Bader vs. Jones fight will surely move to the short-list to battle Mauricio “Shogun” Rua for Rua’s UFC light heavyweight championship.
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