UFC 145: Jones vs. Evans (4/21)

[NZB2323]

Fedor and Shogun are nowhere near the opponent that Jones is.

I'm not disagreeing, but who at LHW has beaten better opponets recently? Hendo beat Shogun, who was the champ before Jones.

Fedor and Shogun are certainly better than Thiago Silva and Vladimir Matyushenko.

Shogun, Rampage, Machida, and Rashad have all had their chance.

Phil Davis just lost to Rashad. Ryan Bader lost to Jones and then Tito Ortiz, and Fedor and Shogun are better than Rampage and Jason Brilz.

Hendo should get the shot. He'll probably get destroyed, but you could say the same thing about every LHW on the planet. If it were up to me I'd matchmake the LHW division as:

Jones vs. Hendo
Shogun vs. Rashad
Machida vs. Gustafsson
Rampage vs. Thiago Silva
Ryan Bader vs. Phil Davis

It's a reach issue. Hendo just creeps forward with that right hand cocked to his cheek. He's so immobile. He'll get eaten alive. How can he possibly overcome teh reach disadvantage when someone as athletic and quick as Rashad can't?

Rashad landed a couple of overhand rights, and Jones did say that one of Rashad's punches rocked him during the press conference. No one is arguing that Hendo can beat Jones via decision. But Hendo has a puncher's chance, and his H-bomb is dangerous.

If Rashad can land a headkick against Jones, Hendo can land the H-bomb.

[NZB2323]

Rashad might be the 2nd best LHW, but what do you guys think about Rashad moving down to MW? He said that he won't rule it out, and I've also heard rumors of Machida moving down to MW.

[REDDzone]

Rashad was pretty adamant at the post fight presser that he was staying at lhw. "I'm a 205 pound fighter". Saying he wants to work his way back up.

[K1NG]

I'd love to see Rashad vs Anderson.

[Headliner]

I've been calling for Rashad vs Anderson for ages.
Rashad would be a dominant 180 pound fighter, and he'd have a great shot at Silva.

[CPT]

I think Rashad would beat Hendo and it would look a lot like the Hendo/Shields fight, without the dominant 1st round for Hendo.

Rashad and Shogun is a fight I'd love to see. I'd say do it now, while both guys are pretty far removed from title contention and both coming off losses.

I think my point when I started this post is that if we deny guys title shots on grounds that "Rashad couldn't do it, how is this guy going to?" we might as well dissolve the division. Hendo has earned his shot, and I think he should get it. He may only have a puncher's chance, but it's a lot more than anyone else is bringing to the table right now.

[Nemesis21]

Rashad/Machida 2 makes the most sense for me.

[duppyy]

Would love to see that.