UFC UFC 151 CANCELLED!!!

Phone press conference with Dana White here.

This sucks. Did Jones give any reason on his refusal to fight Sonnen as a replacement for Hendo??

Apparently Greg Jackson told him not to take the fight. Dana White described Jackson in the press call as a "fucking sport killer".

I thought the UFC fighters didn't get much say in who they fought. One of the big advantages over other combat sports where blokes will duck the big fights and take easier ones to look after their records (boxing, I'm looking at you)

All fighters have a right of refusal. Tito Ortiz famously refused to fight Chuck Liddell when Tito was LHW champion.

Just this week Weidman turned down a fight against Belfort

And the last few years we've been hearing of fighters refusing to take fights against teammates.

"Ducking" in MMA wasn't as prevalent as boxing but its something that seems to be on increase, especially in the UFC.

I can't blame them with the way Zuffa cuts fighters seemingly on a whim.

I'd be more p!ssed if I had flights to Vegas and Tix to go to UFC 151.

Dana White said in that interview that you can't force fighters to fight. And of course you can't.

But Jones and Sonnen have been going back and forth slagging each other off, and Jones had been training for a title match. He'd better pray he beats The Dragon and holds on to that belt because I can't see him being given another shot any time soon...

Dana White is probably the biggest douche in the fighting business.

Something Jones tweeted in 2010 has come back to haunt him.

Lazlow said:

Something Jones tweeted in 2010 has come back to haunt him.

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Only a bloke who turns down fights would bother to post that sorta thing

can't believe all the kids and newbie "fans" slagging on jones for this non-event

it was dana who cancelled the event. i am sure he can get a nice headliner on quick notice. he's just being a tool

why should jones risk his title by fighting sonnen who clearly does not deserve a title shot. 8 days is not enough time to train for a completely new opponent.

these guys are pro athletes and at that level you can lose in a blink of an eye.

jones is going to fight machida in a few weeks anyway - a guy who earned the right to challenge for the title.

on another note sonnen must be the most liked villain of all time

crackberry said:

can't believe all the kids and newbie "fans" slagging on jones for this non-event

it was dana who cancelled the event. i am sure he can get a nice headliner on quick notice. he's just being a tool

why should jones risk his title by fighting sonnen who clearly does not deserve a title shot. 8 days is not enough time to train for a completely new opponent.

these guys are pro athletes and at that level you can lose in a blink of an eye.

jones is going to fight machida in a few weeks anyway - a guy who earned the right to challenge for the title.

on another note sonnen must be the most liked villain of all time

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Not sure who the kids are. I'm not a fan of Sonnen, I think he is full of sh!t tbh. Was just saying that you would only bother to tweet that you don't turn down fights if there was some substance to the rumour. It's probably not a bad call to turn it down, just sucks that the event is cancelled because of it

the 8 days prep thing is kinda fair enough but it works boths ways, plus sonnen was gonna step up from 185 to 205 to fight him on 8 days notice to start his prep, everything would have been in jones favour and he still wouldnt take it,

will hurt his image

Lazlow said:

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When you have a guy who's never been shy about saying he's the best, and can beat anybody any time, pulling out of a title fight eight days prior is a bit on the nose for fans.

How many times have we seen title holders accept new opponents at short notice? If you're already training, and the new opponent hasn't been, yes it's a major adjustment but wouldn't the advantage still be yours?

Especially when you agree to be sponsored by the UFC itself and be the face of the brand.

Some blame has to be worn by the amount of events the UFC is spreading it's roster over but when you're the champ, and the "face of the sport" you have extra responsibilities.

(sneaking this post in at work so if some it makes no sense I apologise)

I'll preface this post by saying I'm no fan of White, Sonnen or Jones. White is a promoter, a salesman, and as such will forever spout BS in his favour. Sonnen has said some abhorrent things in the past and generally gets by on his mouth rather than his performances. And Jones has generally never appealed to me, feels like he just fell into the sport to make a living (as he pretty much said earlier this week) as opposed to having a passion for the sport.

Yes Zuffa canned the event, but I'd speculate that if they couldn't get a comparable main event together, continuing with the event may have made them succeptable to legal action from venues, sponsors, ticket holders and tv networks. Last time I remember something like this happening was when Barnett tested positive and Afflication canned their last show. Mandalay Bay even canned Rogan's show he was putting on there.

You have to remember that Zuffa didn't can this because Hendo pulled out, they canned it because their attempt to save it was unsuccessful. It was 8 days prior to the event so they had a very small window of opportunity to scout a new oppenent. Sonnen was a no brainer, he'd take any fight of this magnitude no question, and he'd already been taking shots at Jones in the media.

As for the title, this fight didn't have to be a title fight. Lutter failed to make weight against Silva so that fight was changed to a non-title contest. So the precedent is there.

Jones is well within his right to refuse an opponent, but its the nature of his refusal that I think is sticking with people more. He was advised that taking a new opponent 8 days out would not be smart. So it wouldn't have mattered if it was Sonnen, Rua, Machida or even Hamill. Jackson's plans were shot when Hendo pulled out. Game over.

It's also the fact that he refused to fight a middleweight, not far removed from a title fight against Silva, who wasn't in camp. The odds were very much stacked against Sonnen.

The bizarre thing is, Sonnen is more comparable replacement for Hendo than someone like Machida or Rua. They both have a strong wrestling base, Hendo just has heavier hands. Hell, Hendo trained Sonnen.

Ultimately this has shown that MMA is in a new transitional phase. The spirit of the contest is slowly slipping away from the sport. More and more fighters no longer fight to prove they're the best, fight to win. They fight to not lose. They're not entirely to blame - Zuffa seemingly cuts fighters on a whim regardless of wins or performance - but at the end of the day the fans pay to see fighters fight. It's the fans that will determine your longevity in this sport.

Like someone alluded to earlier, if Jones loses to Machinda he may very well find himself to be the next Okami.

Lazlow said:

Jones is well within his right to refuse an opponent, but its the nature of his refusal that I think is sticking with people more...

More and more fighters no longer fight to prove they're the best, fight to win... but at the end of the day the fans pay to see fighters fight. It's the fans that will determine your longevity in this sport.

Like someone alluded to earlier, if Jones loses to Machinda he may very well find himself to be the next Okami.

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Well said, Mat.

XxBrayden said:

the 8 days prep thing is kinda fair enough but it works boths ways, plus sonnen was gonna step up from 185 to 205 to fight him on 8 days notice to start his prep, everything would have been in jones favour and he still wouldnt take it,

will hurt his image

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but what does Sonnen have to lose? nothing, Jones is the 1 with everything to lose. 8 days to prepare for a completely different fighter for such a big fight is a big risk. I like Jones and also like Chael but i think Jones done the right thing for him. Dana didnt have to cancel the card, plenty of main events r changed or canned but the card continues.

Fffffffffffff really disappointed to read that Machida (who I'm a massive fan of) has now turned down the fight against Jones, so now UFC 152 will be headlined by Jones v Belfort.

Another middleweight.

The LHW division used to be the UFC's deepest, now its a shadow if its former self.

http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2012/writers/jeff_wagenheim/08/24/ufc.151/index.html

Good article that highlights what i was referring to earlier, that business trumps sport in MMA today.

This article pretty much sums it up:

http://mmajunkie.com/news/30365/a-g...game-in-the-wake-of-ufc-151s-cancellation.mma