MMAjunkie.com Radio: UFC's Rich Franklin, UFC Fight Night 24 preview

With anticipation growing for his next fight, UFC light heavyweight Rich Franklin today joins MMAjunkie.com Radio to discuss his preparations.

We also talk to the former champ and fan favorite about Jon Jones' quick rise, the pressures of being a new champion, his thoughts on UFC Fight Night 24's Phil Davis vs. Antonio Rogerio Nogueira headliner, and more.

MMAjunkie.com Radio airs from 12-2 p.m. ET (9-11 a.m. PT) live from the Mandalay Bay Resort & Casino's Race & Sports Book. Listen to and watch a video stream of the two-hour show at www.mmajunkie.com/radio.

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Phenom Jones blows away Rua to take light heavyweight title at UFC 128

The pace at which MMA is evolving is amazing and Jon Jones is full proof of that. Bigger, more athletic and harder working athletes are getting into the sport everyday. Jones, a good college wrestler from a family of football players, just completed a short three-year journey to take out one of the greats of MMA with relative ease.

Jones pummeled Mauricio "Shogun" Rua on the feet and ground for two and half rounds. The Brazilian couldn't take anymore and slumped to the canvas at the 2:37 mark of third round giving the UFC light heavyweight title to the 23-year-old Jones at UFC 128 in Newark, N.J.

"It feels go good. It's a testament that dreams do come true guys. They really can, believe in yourself," Jones told UFC analyst Joe Rogan following the victory. "It means a lot to me, but I know it also means I have a huge target on my back. And when you guys come to strike at me, I'm going to strike right back."

The 6-foot-4 Jones is really unlike any athlete the UFC has ever seen aside from former heavyweight champ Brock Lesnar. He walks around at roughly 225 pounds, but his frame looks like it could easily carry 250 pounds. His football playing brothers are massive. Chandler, a defensive lineman at Syracuse, is 6-6, 251 and his older brother Arthur, is a 6-3, 313-pound tackle in the NFL with the Baltimore Ravens.

The dwarfed Rua (19-5, 3-3 UFC) was in trouble from the opening seconds of the fight. A very well-rounded fighter, Rua looked like amateur in the clinch, on the ground and even standing up. Just 20 seconds in, the fighters clinched and Jones did what he's done to every previous opponent, he tossed Rua on his head like he was fighting a lightweight.

Anytime the fight was on the feet, Jones kept Rua at long distance and delivered a bevy of front, leg and body kicks. He was also devastating with his knees. Jones, who appears closer to 6-5 or 6-6, used his height to grab Rua's head on multiple occasions to deliver nasty knees to the body from a thai clinch.

By the end of the first round, Rua looked out of gassed and stunned. The onslaught continued in the second. Jones did damage with a nasty front kick and an inside leg kick with three minutes in the round. Amazingly, Rua, who's known for his kicks, hadn't thrown one the entire fight. Jones scored another takedown with 2:33 left in the round and showed great patience. He wore down Rua with forearm across his chin and grinding elbows across his face.

In the third, Jones got top control again when Rua made a desperate attempt at a leg lock. The Brazilian stayed out of trouble for a few seconds before Jones landed some nasty elbows. After getting abused on the ground for nearly a minute, Rua scrambled and as he tried to get to his feet, he got crushed by a knee to the body. He was hurt badly and immediately stumbled across the Octagon to put his back on the fence. Jones, possessing incredible killer instinct, threw a vicious body shot to Rua's right side. He went down in a heap. That was it. He had no more fight left in him.

UFC analyst Joe Rogan captured the scene by saying, "That ladies and gentlemen is the future and the present!" Rogan went on to say that Jones might be the greatest natural talent the sport has ever seen.

Rua, 29, was once the future of the sport. He shocked the world by winning the PRIDE 205-pound Grand Prix back in 2005. Shogun, just 23 at the time, wrecked a field filled with legendary fighters like Vitor Belfort, Alistair Overeem, Quinton Jackson, Dan Henderson, Antonio Rogerio Nogueira, Ricardo Arona and Wanderlei Silva.

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After starting his career with a $500 payday, Faber on the verge of superstardom

As frustrated as New York MMA fans must be this weekend remember it was less than five years ago, when the Empire State was the norm.

Urijah Faber started his career in the dark days when outside of Indian reservations, states like New Jersey and Nevada and those without commissions, the rest of the U.S. was off limits. As he readies for his UFC debut, Faber recalled his first fight in 2003 when he battled for $200 to show and $200 to win. He also got $100 for his cut of the gate.

"I loved it," Faber told Neil Davidson of the Canadian Press. "My rent was $225 a month. I had a tiny little room in an apartment with a couple of my buddies. And it only took me a minute and a half for the fight and I was like 'man, this is awesome.'"

Faber won in 82 seconds and hauled in that "major" payday of $500.

How things have changed for Faber. Through hard work and success in the cage, the California became one of the most popular fighters in the sport while with the WEC. Faber faces Eddie Wineland this weekend at UFC 128 in Newark, N.J.

The jump to the UFC means a ton for Faber, who'll get a lot more exposure and a massive boost to his business endeavors outside of the Octagon. Faber owns Form Athletics which was purchased by K-Swiss in 2010. He's also got a popular website and is working on a self-help book.

To make the next step at the top of the sport, he needs to take out Wineland. That should set up a bantamweight title fight against the new UFC champ Dominick Cruz.� Faber was the longtime champ at 145 pounds and wants the hardware at 135, where he's facing guys closer to his natural size.

"I feel a little bit faster at 135 (bantamweight) and a little bit more powerful at 145 (featherweight), but very little difference really," Faber said. "I was only 2-3 pounds off my competition weight and I think that puts me at par with most of the guys at 135 and an advantage with some of them."

"I never really had that at the 145-pound weight class. I was always giving up weight and was able to do well because I'm an accomplished fighter but as far as having every advantage to win, I think now I have that advantage."

You can watch UFC 128 right here on Yahoo! Sports.

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Paul Daley Signs Contract to Fight Nick Diaz in April

Filed under: Strikeforce, FanHouse Exclusive, News

Nick Diaz vs. Paul Daley, the most anticipated welterweight title fight in Strikeforce history, is officially happening on April 9.

Diaz's manager and trainer, Cesar Gracie, confirmed with MMA Fighting that the British slugger signed the bout agreement on Tuesday, thus ending speculation that "Semtex" would pull out of the fight.

Diaz vs. Daley had already been announced by the promotion, but after Zuffa purchased Strikeforce two weeks ago, Daley hinted online that he may back out of the title fight given his previous relationship with UFC president Dana White.

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Leonard Garcia Looks to Remake Himself in 'Korean Zombie' Rematch

Filed under: UFC

Leonard Garcia has a problem. To put it more precisely, he has a difficult decision to make. He has to choose between being the fighter fans have come to expect and being the fighter his coaches and teammates see glimpses of in the gym. He has to choose between wild brawls and technical displays.

Maybe, when it comes down to it, he even has to choose between entertaining and winning. The thing is that, lately, he's begun to wonder whether it's even his choice to make in the end.

"I get a lot of talk about how I'm willing to go out there and brawl," Garcia said. "The fans like it, the UFC likes it, but then everybody in the gym says, hey, when you're technical and you do things correctly, it's hard to stop you. But when we go out for the rules meeting and Dana White is talking about the Fight of the Night bonus, he stares right at me. I mean, right at me. And all the guys in the room, you can see them, they're like, man, Leonard's on the card. He's going to go get that bonus. So it is a double-edged sword."

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Twitter’s evil downside: Tito and Jenna fighting again online

Tito Ortiz, still one of the most high profile fighters in mixed martial arts, is a prolific tweeter, but the last day or so is one of those times you wish he and his former pornstar wife Jenna Jameson would power down.

Two nights ago, Ortiz got MMA fans and followers all worked up when he sent out a tweet saying, "I'm out."

The rumor mill cranked up thinking the fighter was talking about his career in the cage. After all, Ortiz has had a ton of injuries and delays in recent years. He was supposed to fight this weekend at Ultimate Fight Night 24 against Antonio Rogerio Nogueira before pulling out. It was confirmed early this week that he'll return against Ryan Bader at UFC 132.

Right now, there's no need to worry about his work in the Octagon. Instead, it looks like Tito was talking about the latest run-in with his wife. Ortiz wasn't very forthcoming, but Jameson was tweeting on the topic of her marriage with every Tom, Dick and Harry.

In his efforts to stay relevant, continue to earn a living and complete his contract with the UFC, Ortiz is already battling father time. God only knows how the seemingly constant drama on the homefront has to be affecting his career.

Thanks to Cage Potato for this tip and Twitter screengrabs. CP also did a great job of summing up the latest chapter in the Tito-Jenna story:

Seriously. Is Twitter and Facebook just a major waste of time for anyone who isn't a creep or an attention whore? Hopefully they follow through with this latest threat of a split so we don't have to report on their train wreck of a relationship again.

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MMA overtime: Yay or Nay?

With Frankie Edgar vs. Gray Maynard and Jon Fitch vs. B.J. Penn both going to a draw, a debate has broken out in the MMA world over ties and overtime. Should fights that are scored as draws be given an overtime, sudden-death round?

Edgar is on board.

"I think another five-minute round would be perfect," Edgar said. "You go into a fight, you prepare, and you want a decisive outcome. To have to wait another three months and possibly another fight is kind of annoying. I would say another round would be great. You get to figure out who's the winner right then and there.

Edgar had to face a rematch with B.J. Penn after winning the belt in a narrow decision, and now has another one scheduled because of the draw with Maynard.

The positives that Edgar mentioned are obvious. It would give both the fighters and fans a decision that night on who should win. It would also favor fighters who have stronger cardio. 

But it's not a completely perfect idea. For a sport as punishing as MMA, adding a round adds the opportunity for injury. Also, if commissions overseeing MMA in the U.S. were to adopt an overtime rule, would it be just for championship fights in major promotions, like with Edgar and Maynard, or would it extend to all fights? That could be problematic for fighters on smaller shows who don't train full-time.

I'm in favor of using overtime to decide championship bouts that end in a draw, which would mean no rematch for Edgar/Maynard, and that the lightweight belt would get to be tested by a new fighter. However, as Penn/Fitch was not for a belt, it would remain a draw.

It's not all about me, though. What do you think, readers? 

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