MMA Roundup: Jon Jones injured, Frank Mir, Marquardt

Injuries are an unfortunate part of a sport like MMA, where the training can often be just as dangerous (if not more so) than the actual fights. In the latest high-profile injury, Jon Jones had a long-time injury to his hand aggravated in his fight with Mauricio “Shogun” Rua, leading to a necessary surgery and a postponed title defense against former training partner Rashad Evans.

Rashad Evans to face Phil Davis in wake of Jones injury

The light heavyweight division has had a rough go of it lately when it comes to injuries, and between the rotating carousel of champions and the lengthy injury setbacks to major players in the division, it hasn’t enjoyed the stability that many of the others in the UFC have had. Jones was thought to have been the man to bring some excitement and stability to the division, but now he’s on the shelf for a little while. What happens to Rashad Evans?

Apparently, he will be taking on prospect-turned-legit contender Phil Davis, who recently passed the biggest task of his career by defeating Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira in a hard-fought three round decision. So, after waiting for then-champion Mauricio “Shogun” Rua to get healthy after a knee surgery, then losing his long-awaited title shot to Jones because of his own knee injury, Evans will put his shot on the line against Davis later this year.

It’s a good enough fight, though I think it may be a bit early for Davis yet. His striking is still quite rudimentary, and he’s continuing to work on incorporating his wrestling into the rest of his game. He shows a natural talent for submissions, but he may have a tough time getting Evans to the mat, as he’s no slouch in the wrestling room, either. Should be a compelling fight when it happens.

Frank Mir not excited to face Roy Nelson, thinks Alistair Overeem wouldn’t fare well in UFC

Frank Mir has prepared for his upcoming fight with Roy Nelson while warming up his well-known gift of gab in interviews, leaving behind some rather interesting nuggets about his fight with Nelson and how Strikeforce Heavyweight Champion Alistair Overeem would do in the UFC.

Mir says that he and Nelson “are about the same level right now so I don’t think it does anything for either one of us to have a victory” in the upcoming fight, adding that he was hoping for a fight with Shane Carwin, which he believes could have put him in place for another title shot in the near future.

Meanwhile, on MMA: 30, Mir said that he doesn’t think Overeem would do as well as many might expect in the UFC’s Octagon. “He’s a great fighter. He has a pretty wicked guillotine — at least at light heavyweight he does, I haven’t really seen him establish it too much since he’s put the weight on — but he has some submissions off his back… He’s been fighting in boxing rings and stuff and now, going and fighting in the cage — which, he’s had fights in cages, but you get some of the guys like Velasquez, or Carwin or Brock, and they change levels on you and they push you into the cage and rip you down.”

I have to disagree with Mir about the Nelson fight- I think both are at least two solid wins away from a title opportunity, and a win in their upcoming bout puts them close to contention. You couldn’t have really sold Mir-Carwin 2 just yet; it’s not like Mir set the world on fire against Mirko “Cro Cop” Filipovic, and he lost to Carwin quite convincingly, to boot. With that said, if the winner of Mir-Nelson wins another while Cain Velasquez defends against the winner of Lesnar-dos Santos and possibly Carwin, I don’t see why they couldn’t be ready for a shot. The heavyweight division is solid, but there are definitely two distinct tiers, with a rather limited number of fighters in the top one.

Mir may be right about Overeem, or it may be sour grapes because of his own struggles against wrestlers Carwin and Lesnar. I do think the top three is going to be hard to crack for those without great takedown defense, but Overeem’s pure athleticism and physicality may be a great start. I think his cardio would hold up fairly well against Lesnar and especially Carwin, too, so if he could weather an early storm and fight off of his back, the second round and beyond would possibly be all his. Velasquez would provide an interesting matchup, for sure.

Quick Shots

–Nate Marquardt said recently to ESPN.com that he was encouraged by Georges St. Pierre to make the switch from middleweight to welterweight. This happened after GSP heard what Marquardt’s walk-around weight was. As far as the possibility of having to fight St. Pierre goes, Marquardt said the two would cross that bridge when they get there. Personally, I take this as more compelling evidence that St. Pierre is eyeing a switch to middleweight. By the time Marquardt could climb the ranks, St. Pierre will likely be long gone.

–Whenever Fedor’s management team is involved, you can expect some strange demands and setbacks, and negotiations for “The Last Emperor” to face Dan Henderson are no exception. In a fight that would have Henderson step up in weight to face the all-time great himself, Fedor’s team actually prefers a catch weight of 220 pounds, while Henderson just wants to do it at heavyweight. You have to wonder why Fedor’s team would want him to cut weight when he otherwise wouldn’t have to. It’s unlikely that Henderson would come in much over 220 (if at all), anyway. Why not just have Fedor drop some weight if that’s what you want? I know, I know, that makes too much sense.

Strikeforce CEO Scott Coker did confirm that he wants badly for the fight to happen in an interview with MMA Weekly, saying that, “We’re doing our best, but the devil’s in the details.” This is doubly true when dealing with Vadim Finkelstein and M-1.

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Tags: Alistair Overeem, Dan Henderson, Fedor Emelianenko, Frank Mir, Georges St. Pierre, Jon Jones, Nate Marquardt, Phil Davis, Rashad Evans, Roy Nelson, Strikeforce, UFC