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Courtesy UFC
Mauricio “Shogun” Rua celebrates after his TKO victory over Chuck Liddell at UFC 97 in Montreal Saturday, April 18, 2009.
Friday, March 18, 2011 | 2:37 p.m.
UFC 128: Jon Jones
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Light heavyweight championship contender Jon Jones speaks with media for the last time before his main event bout with Shogun Rua at UFC 128 in Newark, N.J. The 23-year old Jones is a 2-to-1 favorite in the fight.
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NEWARK, N.J. — With all the formalities out of the way, the light heavyweight championship belt is officially on the line tomorrow night at the Prudential Center.
Champion Mauricio “Shogun” Rua and challenger Jon Jones both made weight at the UFC 128 weigh-in Friday afternoon, as did the other 22 fighters on the card.
“This belt is mine,” Rua said. “And it will keep being mine.”
Both Rua and Jones came in at 205 pounds. Fighters are allowed a one-pound cushion from their weight limit, but that was only necessary for one competitor on the main card. Nate Marquardt came in at 186 pounds for his middleweight bout against Dan Miller.
Jones and Rua are ready to stop the talking and step into the octagon. After Jones made weight, he unleashed a raspy scream that reverberated through the Prudential Center practice rink.
“I feel great,” Jones said. “This is the biggest opportunity of my life.”
Although Rua said all week he had no ill feelings toward Jones, the 29-year old champion admitted Friday that one thing has bothered him. Jones has signed “Champion 2011” alongside his autograph for fans leading up to the fight.
“This is disrespectful,” Rua said, “but it’s OK because tomorrow we will see who is the better man.”
Below are the full results from the UFC 128 weigh-in.
Light Heavyweight Championship Bout: Shogun Rua (205) vs. Jon Jones (205)
Bantamweight Bout: Urijah Faber (135.5) vs. Eddie Wineland (135.5)
Middleweight Bout: Nate Marquardt (186) vs. Dan Miller (185)
Heavyweight Bout: Mirko Cro Cop (229) vs. Brendan Schaub (245)
Lightweight Bout: Jim Miller (155) vs. Kamal Shalorus (155)
Light Heavyweight Bout: Luiz Cane (205 ) vs. Eliot Marshall (205)
Lightweight Bout: Edson Barboza (155) vs. Anthony Njokuani (155)
Welterweight Bout: Ricardo Almeida (170) vs. Mike Pyle (171)
Lightweight Bout: Kurt Pellegrino (156) vs. Gleison Tibau (155)
Bantamweight Bout: Joseph Benavidez (136) vs. Ian Loveland (135)
Catchweight Bout (195): Nick Catone (194) vs. Costantinos Philippou (195)
Lightweight Bout: Erik Koch (145) vs. Raphael Assuncao (145)
Case Keefer can be reached at 948-2790 or case.keefer@lasvegassun.com. Follow Case on Twitter at twitter.com/casekeefer.
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