If you’re a Jon Jones fan today then you are definitely in the minority. With news about the UFC 151 debacle stemming from the champion’s refusal to fight Chael Sonnen on short notice, Jones effectively became public enemy No. 1. But the one party in t…
If you’re a Jon Jones fan today then you are definitely in the minority. With news about the UFC 151 debacle stemming from the champion’s refusal to fight Chael Sonnen on short notice, Jones effectively became public enemy No. 1.
But the one party in this situation who seems to be getting a free pass is the UFC.
Although Jones certainly deserves his fair share of the blame and backlash, so too does the UFC and to a certain extent, matchmaker Joe Silva. There have been plenty of main-event fights that have fallen through or had to change due to injuries, but never before has an entire PPV fallen apart as a result.
It just goes to show you the UFC still has a lot to learn about promoting their big stars and not placing all the responsibility of carrying an entire card on one man’s shoulders. If the PPV had a worthy co-main event like the majority of events have, this cancellation wouldn’t need to take place.
The rest of the main-card lineup of fights are entertaining matchups, but none of the fighters have enough drawing power to help promote the event. It’s an issue that could’ve happened a lot sooner at UFC 145.
UFC 145 was built around the rivalry between Jones and former teammate Rashad Evans. While their rivalry certainly led to the roughly 700,000 buyrate, look at the rest of the lineup. Rory MacDonald vs. Che Mills was put on as the co-main event despite a possible title eliminator bout, while Michael McDonald vs. Miguel Torres was relegated to nothing more than a main card filler.
Now fast forward to UFC 151 and look at the rest of the lineup that’s supposed to support Jones in promoting the event. A co-main event between Jake Ellenberger and Jay Hieron would likely be entertaining, but how do you sell that being the main event when Ellenberger is coming off a loss and Hieron is an injury replacement who is coming off a win against Romario da Silva?
Just because Jones is a rising star and one of the most recognizable figures in the sport today doesn’t mean he should be carrying the weight of an entire PPV. No single man should. If the UFC didn’t want to be put in this predicament, they should’ve built a worthy undercard for UFC 151 instead of booking it like a boxing card.
Jones certainly deserves the fan backlash for making a “business decision,” but so too does the UFC for not booking PPV-worthy fights.
Jon Jones has put himself in a no-win situation.After refusing to fight Chael Sonnen—a move that forced Dana White to cancel UFC 151 and shuffle the cards for the next venue in Toronto, Canada—Jones has drawn the ire of White, not to mentio…
Jon Jones has put himself in a no-win situation.
After refusing to fight Chael Sonnen—a move that forced Dana White to cancel UFC 151 and shuffle the cards for the next venue in Toronto, Canada—Jones has drawn the ire of White, not to mention a host of UFC fans.
White can’t just strip Jones of his title, though I’m betting the thought has crossed his mind a few times. Instead, he has moved the Jones vs. Machida 2 fight into UFC 152 (now 151). If Machida wins, though, White may just have the leverage he needs to pop what has become an irritating pimple on his behind.
If Jones wins, he’ll become a true heel for the UFC, to borrow a term from the wrestling world. The only problem with that is that Nike—Jones’ newest sponsor—hasn’t traditionally been down with athletes who have a negative image.
Jones had nothing to lose by fighting Sonnen, who is just coming off a loss to Anderson Silva at UFC 148. He is stronger and faster than Sonnen, but taking the fight would have allowed White and the UFC to cut their losses after Dan Henderson went down with a knee injury.
Instead, Jones spurned the UFC when it needed him the most.
Nike hasn’t yet spoken on the subject, but I don’t see how there’s any positive way to spin this story. The company’s image has always been about champions, winners and athletes that persevere. Jones’ decision to turn down a fight goes against that image, as far as I’m concerned.
Jones has gotten himself into a lose-lose scenario. If he wins the fight, he’s even more under the skin of White and will become a demonized champ. If he loses the fight, his image will take an even bigger hit than it would’ve if he’d fought and lost to Sonnen.
Machida needs to figure out a way to stay aggressive with his strikes while simultaneously avoiding Jones’ clutches for a decisive victory over the man that took his title back in December of 2011 at UFC 140.
That would be sweet justice, as Jones would finally get what he deserves.
While UFC president Dana White made the blockbuster announcement that UFC 151 would be cancelled due to Dan Henderson being injured and Jon Jones turning down a fight with Chael Sonnen, “The American Gangster” made a last ditch effort to save the event…
While UFC president Dana White made the blockbuster announcement that UFC 151 would be cancelled due to Dan Henderson being injured and Jon Jones turning down a fight with Chael Sonnen, “The American Gangster” made a last ditch effort to save the event.
With the ongoing Twitter war between the UFC light heavyweight champion and Sonnen, it’s no surprise Chael took to the social media platform to give “Bones” one more opportunity to fight him:
30 min to cement your legacy. Champ or Coward? I make a lot more than you do… Show up in 8 days I’ll give you my purse.
During Thursday’s impromptu press conference, White explained that Sonnen was the only fighter willing to step up and fight Jones on eight days’ notice, but Jones declined, partially due to his head coach Greg Jackson’s influence.
Living up to his word, 30 minutes later, Chael simply tweeted:
White was extremely critical of both Jackson and Jones for turning down the fight, saying Jackson is a “f***ing sport killer” and that Jones is “the first champion to ever turn down a match. That’s how Jones will be viewed.”
Jones has not been on his Twitter page since yesterday evening and has not put out a statement through his camp regarding the event cancellation.
However, Jackson has already given an interview responding to White, indicating that he simply gave Jones his opinion and “I didn’t know they had it all riding on one fight.”
Is there anyone out there that thinks Jones made the right decision by turning down the fight with Sonnen?
If there’s one thing I’ve learned from today’s big news that UFC 151 was canceled due to an injury to Dan Henderson, it’s this: The promotion has to run fewer events.With each passing year, the UFC has scheduled more and more events. In the old days&md…
If there’s one thing I’ve learned from today’s big news that UFC 151 was canceled due to an injury to Dan Henderson, it’s this: The promotion has to run fewer events.
With each passing year, the UFC has scheduled more and more events. In the old days—by which I mean just a few years ago—you’d perhaps see one pay per view a month, with three or four free events per year on Spike.
Nowadays, it’s much different. Between UFC pay per views and the free events televised on Fuel, FX and FOX, there are sometimes months with fight events scheduled two or three weeks in a row. Toss in the Zuffa-owned Strikeforce events, and it’s simply fight overload.
It’s obviously a bad deal for the fans. There aren’t a lot of people with the kind of disposable income that allows them to spend $120 a month or more on pay per view events. It forces you to make a decision, to choose which event you want to spend your money on, and that means one event or the other is going to take a hit. It’s inevitable.
It also means fans are simply overloaded with fights. Between the pay per view, television broadcasts and Facebook fights, the UFC is asking their fans to spend 5-8 hours of their day in front of the computer or the television, and they’re asking them to do it multiple times per month. For the hardcore fan, this is the perfect scenario. They’re going to watch the fights, and they’re going to love every second of it.
But for the casual fan, it’s simply too much. You can’t ask them to dedicate that much of their time watching fights that, for them, may not hold much intrigue.
But the most important drawback to inundating your schedule with fight cards is the hit it makes on your talent pool.
The UFC is obviously suffering from an injury crisis. You can blame it on the health care policy Zuffa instituted over a year ago if you want, and I wouldn’t argue with you if you did. Injuries are obviously going to happen and happen at a breakneck pace, which means you need a deep talent pool to draw from when seeking replacements for those injured fighters.
When you’re running multiple cards per month, that pool is going to be severely depleted. Instead of a decent selection of name fighters to take the place of the injured, you’re forced to go with the best available. That’s why Chael Sonnen was asked to step in against Jon Jones in the first place; he’d never get that opportunity if Zuffa didn’t require a last-ditch effort to save UFC 151 because he hasn’t earned it. But he was the only option.
I love watching fights. I’d never be in the position I’m in today, writing about this sport on a full-time basis, if I hadn’t fallen in love with fighting a long time ago. I’m one of those dudes who will watch any kind of fight he can get his hands on; I can’t tell you the number of times I’ve woken up in the middle of the night to watch a live stream of a foreign fight card.
But even though I love watching fights, I still recognize that we’re being overwhelmed with content from the UFC, and it’s causing major issues. I’m hoping that the cancelation of UFC 151 forces the UFC to take a step back and analyze their schedule, to put a rein on things, before it gets too far out of control.
Although the official record book still reads “Jon Jones,” Chael Sonnen feels like the light heavyweight division has a new kingpin. Jones turned down a fight with the former middleweight contender, making Sonnen, in his mind, the top fighter in the we…
Although the official record book still reads “Jon Jones,” Chael Sonnen feels like the light heavyweight division has a new kingpin. Jones turned down a fight with the former middleweight contender, making Sonnen, in his mind, the top fighter in the weight class.
“When I decided to go after the light heavyweight championship, I knew that I’d win it like I always do,” Sonnen told Bleacher Report in an exclusive interview. “I just didn’t know it would be by forfeit. But I do stand before you today the light heavyweight champion.”
It has been a whirlwind 24 hours for Sonnen, who was offered and immediately accepted a fight with Jones after his training partner Dan Henderson suffered a serious knee injury. Jones refused the bout, but Sonnen seemed unconcerned.
“I’m in the same position today as I was yesterday,” Sonnen said. “The fight’s going to happen sooner or later. It’s not like I’m not going to beat this guy up. It’s just a matter of when. My biggest concern isn’t with the fight or myself at all. My biggest concern is with Dan Henderson and his health. I have a personal relationship with him. I know his kids and how much he loves playing with them, so I just hate to see the guy’s health in any kind of jeopardy.”
According to UFC President Dana White, Jones turned down the Sonnen bout after discussing the contest with his trainer Greg Jackson, who advised the champion that facing Sonnen on short notice would be “the worst mistake of your career.” Although the advice may have cost Chael a high-profile title shot, he respects Jackson’s devotion to his student.
“I really think quite highly of Greg Jackson. You have to understand his opinion and influence on Jon is earned,” Sonnen said. “Jon respects him. He earned that. I understand there are repercussions for Coach Jackson, but that’s what he’s hired to do. He’s not an employee of the UFC. He’s a coach and he gave the advice to his athlete—I respect that. I think we should respect that he spoke his mind to his athlete that trusts him.”
It’s a different mindset, though, from the one Sonnen grew up in the sport around. A product of Team Quest in Portland, Oregon, Sonnen saw his mentors refuse to back down, even going from middleweight to heavyweight to fight the best in the world. It was an attitude that rubbed off on Sonnen, who prides himself in only fighting the best of the best.
“I don’t know the mindset or who’s around (Jones). I only know who’s around me. Dan Henderson, Matt Lindland, Randy Couture. These are the guys who molded me not just physically, but mentally,” Sonnen said. “They would fight anybody, any time, anywhere. Some people mean it when they say that.
“I’m from that same mold. I’d never disrespect those guys that gave so much to me by being the first one from our group to back down. And I never say that to sound like a tough guy. I say that because I think it’s really important that you’re never a bully in this sport. I hate them so much.
“I have this stigma of being a trash talker, but my only goal was to bring these bullies down. I never picked on anybody who wasn’t No. 1 in the world. When I went after Wanderlei Silva, he had an aura around him that he couldn’t be beat. When I went after Anderson (Silva), when I went after Paulo Filho, the Nogueira brothers, (Lyoto) Machida. If they were in my cross hairs, they were a No. 1 guy that everyone else was sidestepping.
“They are all a bunch of punks and bullies and I will never be one. The only litmus test I have for myself—am I willing to fight anybody? When the day comes that I won’t fight somebody, I won’t fight anybody. If there is someone out there that makes me go ‘I’m not fighting him,’ then I’m not going to fight anyone anymore.
“That’s what bullies do. Bullies pick and choose who they get in fights with based on who they think they can beat. I will never, ever do that. When the day comes that I back down, I will quit this sport.”
Sonnen made it clear he wasn’t letting the fight go. He still intends to fight Jones—it’s just been delayed a bit. To Chael, it was a huge mistake on Jon’s part not to take the fight now.
“This was his biggest opportunity. There’s no question I could beat Jon Jones,” Sonnen said. “Jon Jones can beat me too. But I can beat him. If you ever wanted to stack the deck in his favor, you’d have done it on September 1. You’d have called me out of the blue, switched weight classes on me, put me on a plane to do a press tour, put me everywhere in the world except in the practice room. That was the opportunity he had. I could have beaten him, but he could have beaten me too.
“The next time we meet up, when I’ve had a camp and my coaches around me, that’s not going to be the case. It’s really important to win these fights, and the world saw me lose a fight. I fell down. I’m not going to fall down again.”
Sonnen is scheduled to fight Forrest Griffin in December. But before he moved on to Griffin, he had a final word or two for Jones, who has recently started discussing his business acumen in the press.
“Jon Jones is a delusional brat,” Sonnen said. “He talks of being a businessman?! What?! What risks did he take? What capital did he raise? Where exactly is his office located? How many people does me employ? Hey JJ, put me on the phone with your secretary… Oh wait, what?”
UFC 151, originally set to go down on September 1, has been canceled due to an injury suffered by Dan Henderson.The event could have been saved when Chael Sonnen accepted the offer to supplant Henderson as the opponent to Jon Jones, but Jones declined …
UFC 151, originally set to go down on September 1, has been canceled due to an injury suffered by Dan Henderson.
The event could have been saved when Chael Sonnen accepted the offer to supplant Henderson as the opponent to Jon Jones, but Jones declined that fight, citing the short-notice of opponent-change as his reasoning.
Someone who knows a thing or two about taking on Sonnen with a week-or-so’s notice is middleweight contender Michael Bisping.
Bisping had been tapped to take on jiu-jitsu star Demian Maia at UFC on FOX 2 earlier this year, but was asked to swap opponents when Mark Munoz went down with an injury. Chris Weidman stepped in for Bisping against Maia, and the Brit slid in to face Sonnen.
There’s a lot of stepping up to the plate in that scenario—all four guys had fights they didn’t know they would have until about two weeks before the fact, Weidman not even knowing he had a fight to begin with.
Unfortunately, Jones refused to follow in the footsteps of this quartet of middleweights, and Bisping for one, is not impressed.
The Count took to Twitter to remind fans that accepting such a fight would not have been all that crazy of an idea, referencing his own experience as precedent:
“Jones said he’s not fighting chael on 8 days notice. I did. …. Just sayin”
This isn’t the only backlash Jones has received for his decision, nor is it likely to be the end of it.
Fellow fighters, the UFC brass and fight fans have collectively expressed their disgust at Jones’ choice, and as Bisping points out, not without good reason.
