Jon Jones set to coach and fight Chael Sonnen April 27th

Sonnen's statements on getting the fight:

Chael a G.

Jones' statement (emphasis added):

And Dana on the fight (emphasis added):

In some ways, he's right. Sonnen appeared to be the only guy who was willing to step up and fight Jones on virtually no notice to save the card. He is a true fighter, willing to fight anyone at anytime. It's right that he should be recognized and rewarded for that, over guys who want to pick and choose and have everything their own way. In that sense, Sonnen deserves the opportunity.

On the other hand, he needs at least one win in the LHW division. And even though he's coming off a loss against the GOAT, that's still a loss and you should never get another title shot in a different division straight after losing your last chance at a belt.

:hat

 

Henderson made his own bed. He has nobody to blame if he sleeps badly in it. What job is there where you can lie to your bosses, cost them millions and cause them public humiliation because of your deception, and then expect them to just shrug it off like it's nothing? :conf

:hat

 

Let's not go off the deep end here. 151 getting cancelled happened because of a whole host of factors, not just Hendo getting injured.

 

**** the sport. It's smart business. Besides - Jones deserves an easy fight after the run he's made over the past two years.

 

To be fair - Henderson had every intention of going through with the fight and only pulled out at the last minute because he had no choice. This was the first and only time he's backed out of a fight due to injury - ever.

 

The biggest thing that killed it was Hendo getting injured and then concealing it for three weeks.

The second was Jones declining to fight Sonnen.

The third was Kos getting injured and not being able to fight Ellenburger, with left the event without a meaningful/name-value matchup underneath the main event.

Yes it was a lot of factors and there is a lot of blame to pass around between Hendo, Jones and Dana. But the #1 reason is that Henderson got injured and deliberately didn't tell anybody about it until it was too late.

:hat

 

Technically that would be the rack to stretch their arms. lol

Iron Maiden is the metal coffin full of nails but I get what you were saying.

 

That's true, but it's neither here nor there. He made the choice to conceal the truth of his injury. I'm not hating on Henderson, the guy is a legend even if he seems like an *******. But he should have known better than to play those games. Either he was able to make it to the cage and turned in a **** performance because his knee was ****ed, or he cost 20 other fighters a paycheck and an opportunity that most of them were relying on.

Again, there is plenty of blame to go around for everybody. But most of it rests with Henderson. He's the only one who was deceptive. :good

And yes, Jones has built up enough credit with fighting top guys in quick succession that he's justified in taking an easier fight for big money to beat the **** out of a guy he can't stand. :good

:hat

 

He just had one! (In theory anyway)

Anyway the reality is its about promoting the ultimate show and its not a bad option from that pov.

Just frustrating to see by hardcore fans who hate fluff and love real fights and fight game.

 

Sorry this isn't true.

Henderson withdrawal would be to blame for UFC 151 getting cancelled if the UFC couldn't find a replacement.

But they could and did. The minute they find a replacement then its not Henderson's fault but becomes the fault of the man who turned down the replacement.

You can think Jones was put in a difficult position by Henderson but to say its Henderson's fault for the cancellation is simply not true.

 

We have been through this a million times, but none of the fighters are to blame. The organization is to blame for making a card that couldn't survive without the main event.

 

Like I said, there is plenty of blame to go around. It's not ALL Henderson's fault.

But the only one who was deceptive, was Henderson.

You can somewhat justify Jones being unwilling to face a changed opponent (which smelled like a setup, with Chael coming from the same camp and knowing of Hendo's injury for at least a couple of weeks) on such short notice.

You can't really justify Henderson for suffering a knee injury that he knew would at the very least have him perform FAR below his ability, and lying about it and trying to pull the wool over everybody's eyes.

Jones didn't step up to the challenge, and it is fair to criticize him for that. (Though I'm of the opinion that Jones would have fought, and Greg Jackson is the one who ultimately killed it.)

And there is some blame on the UFC for not being able to make it happen anyway.

But everybody was honest and upfront, except for Henderson. Three weeks is a HELL of a lot better for finding a late replacement than eight days is. It was Henderson's decision to lie and cover the truth of his injury that led to this whole fiasco. Jones misplayed a situation that Henderson forced him into. :good

:hat

 

:rofl Chael will tap that ass when it comes to verbal assaults.. But in the Octagon Jon is going to smash!

 

I wish Cormier would of got the shot!

 

I wonder what people would have thought had Gray Maynard gotten a title shot against GSP after his two fights against Edgar.