The rumor mill had been running rampant leading up to UFC 151 regarding Dan Henderson’s health, with the fighter ultimately being forced to withdraw from the fight, forcing company owner Dana White to cancel the entire pay-per-view.
The 41-year-old MMA veteran was supposed to be in the main event match for the event against none other than Jon Jones in one of the more high-profile UFC fights in recent time.
Through all the rumor storm that lead to Henderson’s withdrawal, UFC owner Dana White kept quiet about his headline fighter’s health status until ultimately making the official announcement.
Via UFC’s official Twitter account, White gave the grim news to mixed martial arts fans, stating:
UFC 151 news from Dana: “This is one of my all-time lows as president… For the first time in 11 years we’re gonna cancel an event.”
— UFC (@ufc) August 23, 2012
White explained that while Chael Sonnen did ask to take Henderson’s place in the main event, Jones refused to fight him after the advice Jones received from Greg Jackson. Here are the official quoted tweets from White explaining how this situation unfolded:
Dana: “Jon Jones said ‘I’m not fighting Chael Sonnen on 8 days’ notice.’.. a world champion turned down a fight, that’s never happened”
— UFC (@ufc) August 23, 2012
Dana says Greg Jackson told Jon that taking the fight would be the biggest mistake of his career. “This guy is a f$@n sport-killer.”
— UFC (@ufc) August 23, 2012
After explaining to his fan base the reasoning behind one of the toughest decisions he’s made in over a decade, White explained that the next pay-per-view will no longer be called UFC 152, instead it will be renamed UFC 151.
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