If you can put down your haterade and suspend your disdain for just a bit today, we suggest listening to UFC light heavyweight Jon Jones discuss his decision to not fight Chael Sonnen on short notice at UFC 151, in a full-length interview with The MMA Hour. The full interview is after the jump.
Having had a week to reflect on it, and despite all the criticism that has come his way since he “murdered” this weekend’s scheduled event, Jones does not regret his choice to not fight Sonnen. “I actually think it was a really smart personal career decision,” the champ said.
Jones said that immediately after he got the offer he assembled all of his coaches to get their opinions. Jones said that while they all told him that they had “no doubt” that the light-heavyweight champ could win a fight against Sonnen, they also let it be known that the trash-talking middleweight was a totally different fighter than his original UFC 151 opponent Dan Henderson.
“They honestly believed I could win the fight. They also said, ‘I want you to be aware of the fact that you prepared for a complete opposite style.'”
If you can put down your haterade and suspend your disdain for just a bit today, we suggest listening to UFC light heavyweight Jon Jones discuss his decision to not fight Chael Sonnen on short notice at UFC 151, in a full-length interview with The MMA Hour. The full interview is after the jump.
Having had a week to reflect on it, and despite all the criticism that has come his way since he “murdered” this weekend’s scheduled event, Jones does not regret his choice to not fight Sonnen. “I actually think it was a really smart personal career decision,” the champ said.
Jones said that immediately after he got the offer he assembled all of his coaches to get their opinions. Jones said that while they all told him that they had “no doubt” that the light-heavyweight champ could win a fight against Sonnen, they also let it be known that the trash-talking middleweight was a totally different fighter than his original UFC 151 opponent Dan Henderson.
“They honestly believed I could win the fight. They also said, ‘I want you to be aware of the fact that you prepared for a complete opposite style.’”
“Chael Sonnen is a southpaw. He has a completely different pressure, different takedowns. His ground and pound is different…He’s a completely different warrior,” Jones went on.
Jones, often criticized for supposedly being arrogant, said that he believes taking a fight with someone as good as Sonnen with virtually little notice would have, in fact, been arrogant of him. “I think it would have been extremely arrogant on my part to take the fight,” Jones said.
“To assume I could beat one of the top 10 fighters on the planet without preparing for him whatsoever — that would be extremely ignorant.”
As for the criticism that Jones should have been brave enough to fight Sonnen because Sonnen was willing to fight him on short notice, “Bones” explained that he and “The American Gangster” are in much different places in their respective careers. “[Chael has] absolutely nothing to lose,” Jones said.
“I don’t think people realize Chael’s record in the UFC is 5-6…Why would I put a world championship on the line against a very dangerous opponent but a person who hasn’t even remotely earned the right to consider himself in the position to fight for a world title? That’s like hitting the jackpot and I refuse to be anyone’s jackpot.”
Jones maintained that he didn’t become the youngest champion in UFC history because he’s athletically gifted, but rather because of his meticulous preparation for fights. Jones said that he wasn’t good at fighting “because I’m this freak athlete with two brothers in the NFL…My secret to success is being so prepared.”
Listen to Jones’ full interview below to hear him discuss much more, including his current relationship with UFC President Dana White, being made to feel like a “piece of meat,” and the claim that he asked Dana to make Chael stop taunting him. (He denies it.)
MMA has entered the age of the superstar, but with mainstream appeal comes mainstream problems. One such problem was recently on display—the issue of a fight negatively influencing an athlete’s “brand image.”In a moment that instantly became…
MMA has entered the age of the superstar, but with mainstream appeal comes mainstream problems.
One such problem was recently on display—the issue of a fight negatively influencing an athlete’s “brand image.”
In a moment that instantly became one of MMA’s most infamous, UFC light heavyweight champ Jon Jones refused to face Chael Sonnen on short notice at UFC 151 after Dan Henderson withdrew due to injury. This conundrum prompted the cancellation of the event and put egg on the face of the UFC and the sport of MMA as a whole.
Jones himself seemed nonchalant about the incident.
“I take a lot of pride in the way I perform, and I want to put on the best performance possible every time I fight,” he told MMAjunkie after the event’s cancellation. “I don’t want to go out there just to win the fight. I want to go out there to dominate. I want to make it look effortless. I want it to be a beautiful thing.”
“You have to go in there prepared and know that you did your homework. I wouldn’t be the same warrior if I just jumped in there blindly and was cutting weight while I was trying to prepare for the fight…If I would have taken this fight, that would have been letting my ego get in the way and not using my intellect,” he said.
“This is a professional sport. It’s not just a backyard fight. You put everything on the line every time you step into the cage, and I now have a new mission. I’m all-in now, and I won’t give anything less than my full effort,” said Jones.
It is a line in the last paragraph that is the most telling; “This is a professional sport. It’s not just a backyard fight.“
Jones is absolutely right. MMA is a professional sport, and along with professional sports come professional sponsorships.
Why should a man—nay, a superstar—who recently signed a deal with one of the world’s leading sports apparel companies in Nike put that sponsorship and his entire “brand” as an athlete on the line just to make his boss and the fans (the same fans who’d crucify him if he lost the fight, mind you) happy?
Jones isn’t the first fighter to behave in such a manner.
UFC welterweight champion Georges St.Pierre, too, changed when he became more popular.
His cold, canned, calculated responses at press conferences and interviews have become one of his main characteristics. The fighting style that earned him the nickname “Rush” was discarded in favor of one that preserved his pristine record and, more importantly, his power to attract big-name sponsors.
Again, why should GSP—an athlete who has been sponsored by Under Armour, and appeared in commercials for Gatorade and ESPN—risk everything by trying to be more entertaining?
What would he accomplish? He’d please fans who, should he lose, would criticize him for having a poor game plan instead of praising him for changing his ways.
For the first time in the sport’s history, the pitfalls that await big-name fighters outside the cage are greater than the glory they can achieve inside the cage. It’s not worth putting your mainstream appeal and brand strength on the line just to win a fight.
Gone are the days of the Tank Abbott who would fight anyone, anywhere, anytime, for practically any price.
We are now entering the age of the superstar, where fights cease to be just fights and instead become calculated risks to increase one’s name value and bargaining power amongst the sportswear titans.
Despite being the most hated man in MMA, Jon Jones is still able to walk with his head held high and an ear-to-ear grin.The UFC light heavyweight champion has taken the brunt of the blame for the cancellation of the UFC 151 fight card, which left 20 ot…
Despite being the most hated man in MMA, Jon Jones is still able to walk with his head held high and an ear-to-ear grin.
The UFC light heavyweight champion has taken the brunt of the blame for the cancellation of the UFC 151 fight card, which left 20 other fighters out of work.
After Dan Henderson pulled out of the main event with a knee injury, Chael Sonnen offered to step up as a late replacement, but Jones opted not to take a fight against a new opponent on short notice.
The decision subsequently led to the entire fight card being cancelled.
UFC light heavyweight champion Jon Jones spends a lot of time on twitter. These days, it takes a lot of guts for him to do so.
When would be-challenger Dan Henderson pulled out of his scheduled UFC 151 engagement with the champ and Jones turned down a short-notice replacement fight with Chael Sonnen, Jones was thrown under the bus by UFC President Dana White and fighters and fans alike joined in on the hate-a-thon, bashing Jones in interviews and on twitter. Jones has been all over the map since then.
First, he sequestered himself away with no comments, then he was defensive. Eventually he was apologetic. Last night he jokingly set on blaming Henderson on Twitter for their not fighting last night as he had planned.
When a fan tweeted Saturday that thanks to Jones, “he had no plans tonight,” Jones retorted with a Hemingway reference. “Thanks to the old man and his knee I don’t either,” Jones replied.
(What a nice-looking young man.)
UFC light heavyweight champion Jon Jones spends a lot of time on twitter. These days, it takes a lot of guts for him to do so.
When would be-challenger Dan Henderson pulled out of his scheduled UFC 151 engagement with the champ and Jones turned down a short-notice replacement fight with Chael Sonnen, Jones was thrown under the bus by UFC President Dana White and fighters and fans alike joined in on the hate-a-thon, bashing Jones in interviews and on twitter. Jones has been all over the map since then.
First, he sequestered himself away with no comments, then he was defensive. Eventually he was apologetic. Last night he jokingly set on blaming Henderson on Twitter for their not fighting last night as he had planned.
When a fan tweeted Saturday that thanks to Jones, “he had no plans tonight,” Jones retorted with a Hemingway reference. “Thanks to the old man and his knee I don’t either,” Jones replied.
See what he did there? If I hadn’t recently spent an hour and a half in a Barnes and Noble reading “The Old Man And The Sea,” without buying it afterwards, I might not have. Thankfully I did, and was ready for Jones’ great tweet. Fate.
On its face, the tweet just seems like another in a growing series of public relations gaffes for Jones. However, Jones seems to be disproportionately punished for honesty that, in other athletes, we find refreshing and endearing.
Jones might have too little of a filter, be too good, too young and too black, all at the same time. Or perhaps he just doesn’t have enough history and goodwill with fans yet to get away with that stuff.
I for one, have always smiled when I’ve heard Henderson mock an opponent, brag on himself or promise to beat the crap out of someone. Jones doing the same seems to rub me the wrong way off the bat. What’s up with that?
In any case, back to Jones blaming Henderson. It may seem ridiculous at first.
After all, no one is questioning the legitimacy of Henderson’s MCL injury. There is no reason that he should have felt compelled to fight through that.
But if he had, he wouldn’t have been the first. Chuck Liddell beat Tito Ortiz with a torn ACL and we didn’t find out about the injury until afterwards.
No one made Henderson wait a few weeks to tell the UFC about his injury, either. When he did, there was little time for them to find a logical replacement.
When Jones decided not to fight Sonnen on a week’s notice, the UFC had no other good options, in part because they hadn’t do their due diligence in checking with all their superstars who might have been willing to step in and save the event and decided to shut down their otherwise weak (in terms of marketability) event. The situation stunk.
Looks like Jones is no longer happy taking all of the blame for it. What do you say, ‘taters?
Do you want to see Jones offer a mea culpa (one in which he doesn’t compare himself to a crucified Messiah), or do you want to see him continue to embrace his villain role?
If he goes the villain route, who else could he insult on twitter to get there?
For an event that was to be headlined by two of the sports all-time greats, and a supporting cast that was pretty much garbage-ass, it’s disappointing that tonight you have no PPV to watch, no excuse to spend even more time at Hooters, and no good reason not to attend the wedding your girlfriend has been nagging you about going to. But if you thought that was going to stop us from milking this thing for everything its got, you are severely wrong, my friend.
Taking the reigns tonight is longtime CagePotato contributor/Twitter pseudo celebrity Jason Moles. This card will either be a smashing success thanks to the main event or a failure of epic proportions thanks to everything else. Stick around, insult him in the comments section, and be sure to tell all of your friends about the only UFC 151 liveblog on the internet (EVER!) can be found. Now let’s get to it.
For an event that was to be headlined by two of the sports all-time greats, and a supporting cast that was pretty much garbage-ass, it’s disappointing that tonight you have no PPV to watch, no excuse to spend even more time at Hooters, and no good reason not to attend the wedding your girlfriend has been nagging you about going to. But if you thought that was going to stop us from milking this thing for everything its got, you are severely wrong, my friend.
Taking the reigns tonight is longtime CagePotato contributor/Twitter pseudo celebrity Jason Moles. This card will either be a smashing success thanks to the main event or a failure of epic proportions thanks to everything else. Stick around, insult him in the comments section, and be sure to tell all of your friends about the only UFC 151 liveblog on the internet (EVER!) can be found. Now let’s get to it.
Preliminary card results
– Michael Johnson def. Danny Castillo via unanimous decision (29-28 x 2, 30-27)
– Jeff Hougland def. Takeya Mizugaki via submission (triangle choke), 1:12 of round 3
– Tim Means def. Abel Trujillo via TKO, 2:04 of round 1
– Daron Cruickshank def. Henry Martinez via submission (armbar), 2:59 of round 2
– Jacob Volkmann def. Shane Roller via unanimous decision (30-27 x 2, 30-28)
– Charlie Brenneman def. Kyle Noke via TKO due to injury (eyeball popped out of socket; GIF to come ASAP), 4:29 of round 2
Before we get started, I’m not typing Urshitani twenty times so he will be known as YU from here on out. Both men looked pumped. Lots of pressure to start the night of right.
Round 1: Lineker lands a nice leg kick. They both trade a few jabs. YU shoots for the takedown and gets it. Does a little G&P before Lineker wall walks his way up the cage. They separate. Both looking to make their move. It’s YU who gets another takedown. Lineker sweeps, very impressive. Lineker raining down punches. YU grabs hold of his arms. The bell sounds.
Round 2: Lineker comes out guns blazing. YU shoots for a takedown and gets stuffed. Shoots again successfully. Lineker looking for a kimura. He’s got it. Looks to be locked in. Rogan is going bananas! YU escapes and gets butterfly guard. Lineker looking to drop bombs but gets his arm caught. YU has an armbar locked in! There’s the tapout. It’s all over!
Winner: Yasuhiro Urishitani, 2:55 of round 2, submission due to armbar.
Ya know, every time I see Hallman wearing anything more than a bananna hammock I do cartwheels around my living room. Tonight is no different.
Round 1: The crowd is already booing. Looked like Tavares may have kicked as Hallman as he was attempting to touch gloves. Not to worry, Hallman is more than game to return the favor with a well-timed kick of his own. Hallman shoots a double leg. Back right up on the feet. Tavares lands a nice hook. Hallman answers with a huge right that sends Tavares to the mat. Tavares is bleeding but gets back to his feet. They clinch. If this were on FX, they’d have to swing by Home Depot for more spray paint — looks someone sacrificed a small animal in there. They break. Hallman lands an elbow backing away. Tavares is hurt but is saved by the horn.
Round 2:Seeing Arianny up close never gets old, amirite? Hallman is attacking like there’s no tomorrow. Lefts and rights flying. Tavares still bleeding like a stuck pig. Tavares moving well, too bad it’s towards Hallman’s right hand. Did this guy not see Bisping vs. Henderson at UFC 100? Hallman cuts him off, slips a hook, and boom! – Tavares is out.
It’s not fair to call Dennis Siver a one-trick pony, but it’s not like he’s got an entire arsenal at his disposal either. If there’s one thing Eddie Yagin needed to prepare for, it’s that sick spinning back kick. Siver walking out to “Last Resort” by Papa Roach. Ahh, good times. Yagin proving he’s the more sophisticated music lover with “American Badass” by Kid Rock.
Round 1: Siver opens up with a punch, kick and 3-4 solid strikes. Yagin tries to clinch, gets it. Dirty boxing against the cage. Siver breaks free and drops Yagin with a left head kick. He pounces but Yagin has recovered. Back to the clinch. Yagin shoots for a takedown and fails. Siver gets walked back and peppered with a few jabs followed by a hook. Siver blocks a head kick. End of round one. Feeling out process over, I hope.
Round 2: Siver eats a head kick. Yagin gets the clinch but does nothing. Both men tired of hugging and start fighting. Nice little back and forth here. Not sure what happened but Siver is cut. Yagin gets him against the cage and continues the punishment. Siver moves away and lands a nice body kick. Yagin stays light on his feet and gets another takedown. Full mount and lands several shots to the head. Siver gives up his back. After a scramble, Siver is on top and moves to side control. Horn.
Round 3: Siver’s cut looks nasty. Not goat vagina nasty, but still. Siver finds his range and lands a few body kicks. Excellent head kick cuts Yagin. Spinning back kick!!! Left hook by Siver. Yagin counters. These two are just banging! Another head kick by Siver. Back and forth: I punch you – you punch me. Siver gets taken down, reverses and gets locked in a triangle. Siver powers out of it. On the feet they trade some more. Horn. This one’s going to the judges.
Ellenberger doesn’t care about the Eminem Curse, trots to the cage as ‘Till I Collapse’ plays over the speakers. Hieron gets his hat stolen by some groupie. That should rake in about tree-fiddy on eBay. I should mention that this isn’t the first time these two have met. At IFL: Championship 2006 “The Thoroughbred” took Ellenberger the full three rounds and won a decision. Will tonight be any different?
Round 1: No feeling out process for these hungry lions. Hieron’s got a lot riding on tonight. Both trade leather. Ellenberger gets a double leg and knocks some sense to the returning UFC fighter. Hieron sweeps and land a few nice shots of his own. Hieron goes for an armbar. HOLY $%&@!!! Jay Hieron taps out Jake Ellenberger!!! Welcome back to the UFC! Just before he talks with Rogan, his corner slips a wreath around his neck. Well, can’t say I saw that one coming.
Winner: Jay Hieron, 1:07 of round 1, submission due to armbar.
Finally, the moment we’ve all been waiting for. Jon “Bones” Jones defends his UFC Light heavyweight title for the first time since driving drunk and crashing his Bentley against 40 year old TRT king, Dan “Hendo” Henderson. If Henderson wins, does that make him the light heavyweight GOAT?
Ahh yes, the extended fight preview to make up for the quick finishes. Now is the time to grab a quick snack or hit the can. You won’t want to miss anything after Buffer starts screaming.
Jones looks nervous, but he always does (I think so, anyway) and he always wins. Henderson looks happy to have a chance to finally win that elusive UFC gold. No matter the outcome, Hendo is a legend and has his spot reserved in the UFC Hall of Fame.
Round 1: Let’s do this! Jones runs across the cage and lands a flying knee. Shoots for a takedown, but Hendo’s wrestling stuffs it almost immediately. Dan shoots and gets a takedown. Hendo can’t hold the young lion. Jones back on his feet but Dan is boxing him into the fence. Henderson trips him and moves into half guard. Jones eats a few punches but manages to escape. Henderson clinches and dirty boxes Jones. Jones drops levels and gets the takedown. Jones cant hold him. Hendo back up. Jones lands a spinning back fist that cuts the former PRIDE champ. End of round 1.
Round 2: Jones using his reach quite well. Lighting up Hendo. Now they’re both trading leather. Hendo bloodies Jones. Never saw this before! Henderson smells blood and gets the takedown. They scramble and both trade top position. Hendo gets full mount but seems too tired to do anything with it. There we go, he’s dropping elbows now. I wonder if Jones even knew he could bleed? Henderson peppers him with pillow punches until the horn. Shouldn’t the ref have stood them up?
Round 3: Dan “waists” no time trying to get the champ to the ground. Jones on his back, Hendo in half guard, a few strikes getting through. Bones blocking most. Henderson finds an opening and rocks Jones. Quickly recovers and back on the feet, Jones is truly being tested for the first time in his pro career. Henderson clinches and tosses him to the mat. Side control and H Bombs are firing. Herb Dean calling for the champ to protect himself . Hendo continues the onslaught. That’s it! We have a new champion! Dan Henderson has now won the most prized crown in all of combat sports: the UFC championship! The crowd is nucking futs. They’ve just witnessed history. Buffer seems ultra exited to declare Henderson the new champ.
Winner: Dan Henderson, 3:10 of round 3, TKO
Henderson says he’s not done fighting yet, but admits it won’t be too long before he hands up the gloves and puts his teeth back in. As all champions should, Henderson tells Rogan that he’ll face whomever Joe Silva and Dana White put in front of him. He then thanks his fans, the UFC, and his sponsors. Surprisingly, no mention of TRT.
Jones apologizes for his performance and apologizes to the fans and the UFC. Joe asks him what’s next and he says he’ll head back to Jackson’s and watch the tape to see what went wrong. Says he’ll be back stronger than ever, and he too, will face anyone they put in the cage with him, unless, you know, it’s on short notice.
End-of-night bonuses:
Submission of the Night: Jay Hieron
KO of the Night: Dennis Hallman
Fight of the Night: John Lineker vs. Yasuhiro Urishitani
If there’s been one guy who’s come out of the UFC 151 debacle looking universally bad to MMA fans, it’s Jon Jones. It’s been one mishap after another as far as fan relations are concerned. The backlash for Jones may continue after this tidbit of inform…
If there’s been one guy who’s come out of the UFC 151 debacle looking universally bad to MMA fans, it’s Jon Jones. It’s been one mishap after another as far as fan relations are concerned. The backlash for Jones may continue after this tidbit of information.
As reported by Franklin McNeil on MMA Live, a source close to Jones stated that the UFC champion offered to pay the purses of the fighters due to the event being canceled. Jones’ good deed, however, never happened due to Twitter.
“A source from very close to him said Jon Jones was willing to pay the fighters, he felt so bad about the card being cancelled, he was willing to pay the fighters on that card their fees. But after all these attacks on him by other fighters, he chose not to do that. He feels really bad about this situation and did not expect the entire card to be cancelled.”
It’s easy to understand why Jones wouldn’t want to face a guy the caliber of ChaelSonnen on such short notice, but he isn’t doing himself any favors with MMA fans with information like this being leaked out.
With the reports recently about Jones asking Dana White to tell Sonnen to lighten up on the verbal attacks combined with this news, Jones’ image continues to suffer terribly. I don’t get why he would change his mind so quickly on a charitable notion like this unless he didn’t really want to do it in the first place.
It almost sounds like Jones was looking for a way out of doing this due to the petty reasoning behind it. It’s admirable the Jones would even offer to do something like this, but to refuse based off fighters being upset with him is a little ridiculous. Did he expect the guys on the card to be fine with their livelihoods being jeopardized by the card being canceled?
Obviously, nobody called “no take backs” on Jones’ donation.
