UFC light heavyweight champion Jon Jones has taken a beating in the court of public opinion like no fighter could ever lay on him in the Octagon.
Jones has been subjected to an endless stream of invective since he chose to turn down a replacement fight against Chael Sonnen at UFC 151, which caused UFC president Dana White to pull the plug on the planned Sept. 1 card in Las Vegas.
Saturday, the champ broke his silence via Twitter, sending out an apology over the course of three tweets.
Strung together, the tweets from his @jonnybones account read “Carrying the cross for my company’s decision. If someone has to take the blame, I will accept full responsibility for the way UFC 151 was canceled. I want to sincerely apologize to all the other athletes/fans who’s time and money was waisted [sic]. I feel terrible about the way that was handled.”
Jones was originally scheduled to meet Dan Henderson in the main event, but Henderson was forced to withdraw due to an MCL injury. In the wake of the first event cancelation in Zuffa history, Jones will instead face former light heavyweight champ Vitor Belfort on Sept. 22 in Toronto.