UFC 139 Results: 10 Burning Questions Heading into UFC 140

UFC 139 is in the books, and the complete results are below:

Dan Henderson defeats Mauricio "Shogun" Rua via unanimous decision (48-47 x 3)

Wanderlei Silva defeats Cung Le via knockout at 4:49 of Round 2

Urijah Faber defeats Brian Bowles via submission at 1:27 of Round 2

Martin Kampmann defeats Rick Story via split decision (28-29, 30-27, 29-28)

Stephan Bonnar defeats Kyle Kingsbury via unanimous decision (30-27, 30-25, 30-25)

Ryan Bader defeats Jason Brilz via knockout at 1:17 of Round 1

Michael McDonald defeats Alex Soto via knockout at :56 of Round 1

Chris Weidman defeats Tom Lawlor via submission at 2:07 of Round 1

Miguel Torres defeats Nick Pace via unanimous decision (30-27 x 3)

Gleison Tibau defeats Rafael dos Anjos  via split decision (29-28, 28-29, 30-27)

Seth Baczynski defeats Matt Brown via submission at :42 of Round 2

Danny Castillo defeats Shamar Bailey via TKO at 4:52 of Round 1

UFC 140 will take place on Dec. 10 from Toronto, Ontario, Canada. The main event at UFC 140 will feature see Jon Jones defend his UFC light heavyweight title against former light heavyweight champion Lyoto Machida. Also appearing on the night's main card:

Frank Mir vs. Antônio Rodrigo Nogueira

Tito Ortiz vs. Antônio Rogério Nogueira

Mark Hominick vs. Chan Sung Jung

What follows are burning questions heading into UFC 140...

Can Nik Lentz or Mark Bocek Make the Next Step Up the Lightweight Ladder?

Nik Lentz has not lost a fight since 2007.  Since that loss, which was due to doctor stoppage, he has gone 12-0-2-1.  In the UFC his record is 5-0-1-1, with his last fight, being the no contest on his record.  In that fight Lentz took an illegal knee to the head from Charles Oliveira, eventually submitting to a rear naked choke. The referee missed the knee during the contest, but after review the fight was overturned to an NC.

Lentz will meet Mark Bocek at UFC 140.  Bocek has had an up and down run in the UFC, in 2008-09 he put together a three fight win streak, only to go 1-2 in his next three, losing to Jim Miller and Ben Henderson, while defeating Dustin Hazelett.

This fight may be on the preliminary card, but it a win in this one could be the winner's ticket up the lightweight ladder.

Is Yves Jabouin a Bantamweight Contender?

Yves Jabouin made his debut in the UFC's bantamweight division with a split decision win over Ian Loveland at UFC 134.  Following that win Jabouin, who had been fighting at lightweight, stated that he would have been higher ranked had he always fought at bantamweight.

Jabouin, a dynamic strike, who has had suspect wrestling skills in the past, will look to make it two wins a row in the bantamweight division when he faces Walel Watson at UFC 140.  Watson is on a two-fight winning streak, with his UFC debut taking place on the Oct. 1 card, where he stopped Joseph Sandoval in the first round.

This fight is not a launching pad to the top of the bantamweight division for Jabouin, but a dominant performance will move him up the ladder in a division that is looking for fresh competition for champion Dominick Cruz.

Can John Makdessi Remain Undefeated?

John Makdessi is 9-0 during his MMA career, with seven of those wins coming via knockout or TKO. His last win was a brutal spinning backfist that put Kyle Watson to sleep at UFC 129.

Makdessi will square off against the veteran Dennis Hallman, who you may recall as "the guy that wore a speedo at UFC 133."  Hallman, with a record of 50-14-2-1, has been around the MMA game since 1996, will be a step up in competiton for the up and coming Makdessi, who made his debut in 2008.

Is Mark Hominick vs. Chan Sung Jung the

The last time we saw Mark Hominick in the Octagon he dropped a unanimous decision to Jose Aldo at UFC 129. During that bout Hominick sported a huge hematoma that looked like he was attempting to take the role of Joseph Merrick in an Elephant Man revival.  What we also saw was a fighter with incredible drive an no quit.

Hominick's opponent at UFC 140 will be Chan Sung Jung, also known as "The Korean Zombie" for his forward moving style no matter the damage that he sustains.  Jung's last fight was a victory over Leonard Garcia.  In that bout Jung earned "Submission of the Night" honors with the never before seen in a UFC bout, twister submission.

Hominck and Jung could very well give the main event a run for its money when it comes to most anticipated fight of the night.

Is The End of the Road Near for Tito Ortiz and/or Little Nog?

Former UFC champion Tito Ortiz saved his UFC career at UFC 132, earning "Submission of the NIght" honors when he stopped Ryan Bader in the first round via guillotine choke. Before that fight Ortiz had gone 0-4-1 in the UFC and seemed like he had one foot out the door.  The win earned him the shot, as a late replacement, to face Rashad Evans at UFC 133. 

Ortiz did not win that fight, but he was a game opponent.  At UFC 140 he will face Antônio Rogério Nogueira, a fighter who is on a two-fight losing streak. Little Nog has dropped unanimous decisions to Ryan Bader and Phil Davis in his last two.

Both fighters are probably nearing the end of their careers and while no one has said that either fighter's job is on the line in this fight, a loss via anything other than a very close decision could move either of these veterans one step closer to release.

Which Frank Mir Will Show Up?

Frank Mir has looked average in his last two fights. sure both fights were wins, but as far as wins that will get a fighter mentioned in title fight talks, nope.  Mir took some heat from UFC president Dana White after both of those fights.

If Mir wants to see his name next to "UFC Heavyweight Title FIght" on a UFC card he is going to have to put these last two fights behind him and get back to the fighter that knocked out Antônio Rodrigo Nogueira the first time the two met, at UFC 92.

That knockout win, over the same man he will fight at UFC 140, earned him the interim heavyweight title.  Another impressive win over Nogueira will go a long way to getting Mir back in the mix.

Is "Minotauro" Nogueira Back?

Antônio Rodrigo Nogueira was out of the UFC mix for from February 2010 through August 2011.  During that time off he underwent hip and knee surgery.  The surgery seemed to pay huge dividends when Nogueira returned to the UFC at UFC 134 in Brazil, as he stopped up and coming heavyweight Brendan Schaub via first round knockout.

The UFC has upped the stakes for Nogueira at UFC 140, where he will face Frank Mir.  The first time the two met, back in 2008, Mir won the fight via second round TKO. 

This bout will show if the Minotauro of old is truly back after his surgeries.

Will a Jon Jones Win Earn Him Respect?

Next to Brock Lesnar, no recent UFC champion has faced the type of criticism and vitriol that Jon Jones has.  When he captured the title from Muaricio Rua at UFC 128, he was hailed as a breath of fresh air and looked at as a possible poster boy for the UFC as the promotion looked to take the next step into mainstream success.  Some, including his writer, thought that Jones and UFC welterweight champion Georges St-Pierre offered a two pronged PR attack that would push the UFC to new heights.

Seemingly overnight  the opinion of Jones changed, he went from being looked at as a humble unassuming fighter to being perceived as one of the most arrogant fighters in the UFC. Whatever the reason behind the change of opinion, many fans do not like or respect him.

If he defeats Lyoto Machida at UFC 139 it will mark his fourth consecutive win in 2011, three of which were against current or former UFC champions.  Will a victory gain him any respect? 

What Does a Win Mean for Machida?

Obviously a Lyoto Machida win means that he will regain the UFC title he lost in brutal fashion to Mauricio "Shogun" Rua, but other than that, what will it mean?

Will defeating Jones, a fighter that some said would rule the light heavyweight class for a long while, put Machida among the all-time UFC greats? Another question that can be posed is whether or not Jones' detractors will use the Machida win as proof that Jones was a fraud in the first place.

The odds are stacked fairly heavily against Machida (Jones -450 to Machida +350), so a win will be an upset, but will it carry historic significance or will the hatred that has developed for Jones cloud that, forcing Machida's win to be less celebrated than Jones' loss?

With all this in mind, it seems as if Machida, with a win, may still walk away with some sort of loss.

Will Rashad Evans Ruin the Winner's Special Night?

After Jon Jones' last two victories, the UFC brought Rashad Evans into the cage to face Jones, who was to be Evans' next opponent.  Following his win over Quinton "Rampage" Jackson, Jones stated that Evans had ruined his special night twice by appearing in the cage after his wins.

Evans, one of the top ranked contenders in the light heavyweight division, could very well be brought into the cage again after the UFC 140 main event concludes.  If that does take place will Jones, if he wins,  again remark that Evans has ruined his special night? 

The most puzzling part of all this is why is Jones blaming Evans at all?  It's not like Evans, said to himself, "You know what?  I think I'm going to walk into the Octagon after the fight and ruin this kid's night." The UFC brought Evans in there.

There's a weird dynamic between Evans and Jones, one that makes for an intriguing storyline, so don't be surprised if you see the nattily attired Evans smirking from inside the Octagon when the fight between Jones and Machida concludes.