UFC on Fox 4: Rua, Vera, Bader and Machida’s open workouts
UFC President Dana White shifted gears somewhat, on his earlier announcement that UFC on Fox 4: Shogun vs. Vera would be a title eliminator. Shogun, Vera or the winner of this weekend’s co-main event between Lyoto Machida and Ryan Bader will now become the top contender to the Light Heavyweight belt currently held by Jon Jones. White said via press release: “It is down to what these four guys do Saturday night in the octagon. Winning isn’t enough; they’ve got to win impressively. Any one of these four fighters can take things into their own hands and make a title shot happen. When the fans speak, we listen. So whoever scores the best win, whoever gets the fans excited by going out there on Saturday and looking the most impressive, he will get the winner of Jones vs. Henderson.”
In advance of this Saturday’s event, our good friends at MMA H.E.A.T. have provided us with the following open workout videos for each of the four fighters in the Main Event. Jones has beaten each of these four potential opponents, but an impressive win this Saturday night should make for a more legitimate title bout as opposed to a mediocre win by split decision. One of these men is going to get a rematch if Jones defeats Dan Henderson.
Mauricio “Shogun” Rua lost to Jones via third-round TKO at UFC 128. According to Rua: “The loss to Jones, I can’t live with. I could have done so much better and I want to fight him again.”
Brandon “The Truth” Vera lost to Jones via TKO in 2010’s UFC Live: Vera vs. Jones: “I thought Jones was young punk when we fought and that I got what I deserved for underestimating him. I didn’t train hard and didn’t take him serious.”
Ryan Bader succumbed to a guillotine choke in the second round against Jones at UFC 126. He wrote in a column today on Yahoo Sports: “I’d love to fight Jon Jones again. He was my first loss and I could have done so much better than I did. But first I have to beat Machida and Jones has to beat Dan Henderson.”
Lyoto Machida met the same fate as Bader at UFC 140 and seems the least enthused of the four about a rematch with Jones or a title fight: “Really, anything can happen. I’m trying to train as hard as I can and put on a good fight. A future title shot is not really what I’m focused on right now.”
