UFC 145: Jon Jones vs. Rashad Evans Fight Week Diary Wrap

My "Caged In" colleague Jonathan Snowden and I have kept a running diary this week in Atlanta while we covered UFC 145. The trip is over, but I wanted to check in with a few more notes and thoughts from the actual event last night and everything that surrounded it.

A few thoughts on Atlanta itself

The Philips Arena is a very nice venue. It's modern, clean and has a great assortment of places to eat and drink, if you're into that sort of thing. In fact, I'd say the arena itself is directly opposite of the downtown Atlanta area that envelopes it. I've covered UFC events in countless cities at this point, and I can't remember one I disliked more than Atlanta.

I hear the rest of Georgia is nice, but I just wasn't a fan of downtown Atlanta itself.

But again, the arena was great. I was able to check it out twice—once during a Hawks vs. Celtics game and once for the event itself, obviously. Every seat in the house seemed to be a good one, and again, the food was fantastic. All you really need to keep me happy is good food, it seems.

And speaking of food: Kudos to the Philips Arena staff, which cooked up a crab-stuffed salmon dish for the media prior to UFC 145. It was the best single course I can ever remember getting at a media catering table. In fact, I'm getting hungry just thinking about it.

Jon Jones is the best in the world at what he does

I'll talk more about Jon Jones in the coming days. Needless to say, there's a lot to focus on. But I'll leave you with this little thought for now: he's the best fighter in the world. There's no question in my mind that Jones, with his fourth consecutive win over a top-three light heavyweight and his third title defense, has moved past Anderson Silva and Georges St-Pierre on the mythical pound-for-pound list.

He's simply the best, and he's already the best light heavyweight in the history of the sport. You can't laugh, because you know it's true. Who has beaten more top-three opponents than Jones? Bones put away Shogun, Rampage, Machida and now Evans in consecutive order, and all with ease. With the exception of Rampage, those guys are all still pretty much in or near the primes of their careers.

Nobody does what Jones can do in the cage. If you don't like him, well, that's too bad. Because you're gonna be hearing about him for a long, long time.

Take it down a notch, Joe

I believe Joe Rogan may have run out of adjectives while attempting to describe Che Mills last night.

I obviously didn't catch the televised fight the first time around the block, but I was able to watch a replay. And boy, was Rogan ever complimentary of Mills, all while ignoring the fact that he was pretty much being mauled by Rory MacDonald in the middle of the cage.

I understand the need to hype up guys who the public might not know. It builds them up in case they're able to pull an upset, which in turn makes you look like a brilliant dude. But giving credence to what is actually happening in the cage is far more important than trying to get a guy over with the audience, especially when it's apparent that he's being wrecked by his opponent.

Travis Browne: Future heavyweight champ?

Let's get one thing straight here: Heavyweights are not supposed to do what Travis Browne did to Chad Griggs last night. By "what Travis Browne did to Chad Griggs," I am referring to the brutal double flying knee that Browne used to spell the beginning of the end for Griggs.

Look, here's the thing: Travis Browne is 6'7" and 250 pounds. That's a giant of a man, even at heavyweight. And yet he moves like a middleweight. Part of that is due to his innate athletic gifts, and part of that comes from years spent training with Dominick Cruz. Browne is now stationed at Jackson's MMA, where he spends his days sparring with Jon Jones.

That's one hell of a fight school for a heavyweight who may be a contender much sooner than we ever thought he'd be.