General UFC Chit Chat/News

Shazbot

This just came from Bisping.

michael ‏@bisping
Jones said he's not fighting chael on 8 days notice. I did. .... Just sayin

He has a point in fairness.

adamski8

Shazbot wrote: »

This just came from Bisping.



He has a point in fairness.

jesus this is some incident when it actually paints bisping in a good light !

Ush1

Have the Sherdog servers melted beyond repair yet?

Zero-Cool

Hard to comment here without being infracted for bones bashing but why the hell did he / jackson refuse sonnen. Bones would have won but it would have been interesting to watch. This is just gonna fuel sonnen that bones is scared of him.

Was really looking forward to watching hendo have a go.

Digitalism

oh jeez, Sherdog is blowing up, the bones fan boys are getting trolled badly

riffmongous

From the UFC twitter account

UFC ‏@ufc Chael on ESPN: "I don't know why he won't fight me, what else does he have to do? Is there a wine tasting?.. Did he think he had to drive?"

:pac:

stealinhorses

Chael Sonnen - "With Jon Jones Nike will have to change their slogan to 'Just Do Nothing'"

How does he come up with that stuff?

brinty

Wow, they have the conference call on ufc.com now, explosive stuff...

Bones is a disgrace to the sport....kick him to the curb...no one doubts his abilities.... but when he won't take a fight against a guy smaller than him, who's coming of a recent scrap against another champ and is not even in shape and bones is ready to go, you've got to question him...

Delighted to see the other fighters getting on his back about the fights they took at short notice or the effect its having on them..

Jackson is also a major letdown...i had a lot of respect for that little yoda...but now its gone

I hope GSP walks away from him too..

Chael, what a legend, he said he'd step up despite being out of fighting shape and go in 8 days, thats incredible and i have nothing but respect for the guy...

Librium

Chael - nothing to lose
JBJ - everything to lose

the memory of CS beating JBJ - unforgeable
the memory of ufc 151 skipping a beat - nobody will care in a few years time

Shazbot

So Jones recently stated that he fights for the money. Sonnen offers his purse to him on 8 days notice. That's a nice payday for Jones yet still turns down the fight.

Jones wants to be considered the greatest of all time yet turns down Sonnen and Weidman. Both coming up from 185.

On top of all that. We all wanted a super fight and Anderson Silva offered to step up despite not being in great shape. The message didn't get to Dana on time though. Link.

Here's Jones response from MMAjunkie

"I definitely apologize to the other fighters on the card," Jones said. "I feel terrible, but it also wasn't my decision to cancel the whole card. I don't make those decisions.

"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. 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."

"Chael is completely different fighter," Jones said. "This is war. This is strategy. 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.

"Greg Jackson wasn't going to show up until Friday. Coach (Mike) Winkeljohn wasn't going to be there until Wednesday or Thursday. I would have been pretty much on my own trying to prepare for a new opponent. That's just not the best way to prepare."


"If this was my first fight in the UFC and I really didn't have a choice and they needed somebody to step in last-minute, if it was that type of scenario, then I'd probably more open to it," Jones said. "But I'm a UFC champion, and I need to perform that way. If I would have taken this fight, that would have been letting my ego get in the way and not using my intellect. This is war, and you have to go in there prepared.

"The criticism does bother me, but I have to stand by my decision. I have to be the man that I am. With such large audiences comes great criticism. There will be a lot of scrutiny, but I've got to do what makes me happy and feels right to me. At the end of the day, I have to make the best choice for me and my family."

"I apologize to the people that lost money on tickets and travel and things like that," Jones said. "I don't apologize for my decision, but I do apologize for the way it affected people. I hope people can understand I was just trying to do the best thing for my career.

"Dan Henderson got hurt, and our fight was canceled. As difficult as it is to deal with everything that's happened, I just didn't feel like I had enough time to prepare both physically and mentally for a fight with a new opponent. I just didn't feel I had enough to prepare properly and perform at my best. Whether Chael Sonnen actually deserves a title shot really isn't my place to say. But if he wants to fight on Sept. 22, then I'm fine with that."

martyos121

I'm getting sick of a lot of fighters dodging Weidman. He's a great fighter, but if Anderson Silva and Bones, 2 of the best fighters in MMA are too afraid of that fight, the sport is dead. As for Sonnen, he is one of the biggest draws in UFC because of his trash talk, and Bones would be a fool to turn down that fight as well, because he won't see a bigger fight purse unless he fights Anderson Silva, not that it will ever happen.

Zero-Cool

Sonnen just posted this on his facebook page. Gold! Looks like he is MW and LHW champ at the moment.

I am no longer permitted to speak ill of the former champion Jon Jones as we have come to an agreement. I will stop tearing him down verbally and in exchange he has relinquished his belt to me. I would like to read a prepared statement from the former Champion.

Mr Sonnen,

In every mans life a choice must eventually be made. Run or fight. I said I wouldn't duck any man as champion. But you are no ordinary man. You've spoken nothing but truth in your attempt to gain a title fight with me. My last act of cowardness is to hand over what you would have beaten out of me 8 days from today. The UFC LHW Title. Now I must refocus my life. Good luck Champ.
...
Signed,

Jon Bones Jones

P.S. I just ordered your best selling book, A Voice of Reason from amazon, I've been told by Greg Jackson that it will help me get through this tough time. Thanks
See more

DrPhilG

I have 2 thoughts on this.

1 - I said to a friend just yesterday that Jones is becoming a bit of a diva. I've read his statement and I can see his point that with Jackson being involved with another fighter he would only have 2 or 3 days to prepare, but come on. He's not being offered someone like Machida, or even Teixeira or Gustafson. He's being offered a mouthy MW. He should have taken the fight because A, it wouldn't be a tough one and B, it saves the cancellation.

2 - Dana is playing this very smart. Jones says he didn't know the event would be cancelled. Main events have been lost before and the show goes on. Fighters have turned down late replacements before. Dana is doing a very good job of making Jones the villain when the fact is, if the card hadn't been so poor they could have continued. Silva allegedly offered to step in too so it could have been salvaged.

Instead Dana cancels an event that would have been a flop in terms of ticket sales and PPV figures and gets to pin all the blame on Jones.


Not defending Jones by any means, as I say he should have taken the fight. But Dana is playing a clever game too.

unknown13

Machida pulled out of the Jones fight a few hours ago. Belfort in to fight Jones. Bad fight.

adamski8

unknown13 wrote: »

Machida pulled out of the Jones fight a few hours ago. Belfort in to fight Jones. Bad fight.

yeah why bother have a LHW title fight next month, put a title fight back a few months and lets have either a heals hendo or ready machida

p to the e

riffmongous

unknown13 wrote: »

Machida pulled out of the Jones fight a few hours ago. Belfort in to fight Jones. Bad fight.

This is really just getting embarassing for the UFC now

Masked Man

RainMaker

Masked Man wrote: »

I guess it was easier to say that when he had nothing to lose!

El Guapo!

That's gonna haunt him for the rest of his career!

Ush1

So he's saying Dana White is a liar or is he nit pickly saying Greg Jackson did the deciding and talking for him?

RainMaker

Ush1 wrote: »

So he's saying Dana White is a liar or is he nit pickly saying Greg Jackson did the deciding and talking for him?

That tweet is from 2010...

Chavways

RainMaker wrote: »

That tweet is from 2010...

But he said he never will turn down a fight and he just did. He probably didnt expect to ever be in a situation like this though.

RainMaker

Chavways wrote: »

But he said he never will turn down a fight and he just did. He probably didnt expect to ever be in a situation like this though.

Well it's easier to say it when you don't have a title to lose as well.

csallmighty

Lost a lot of respect for Jones and the UFC over this.

Masked Man

Twitter is amazing.

tonymontana82

anderson offered to fight another light heavyweight, not jones.

RainMaker

tonymontana82 wrote: »

anderson offered to fight another light heavyweight, not jones.

Was it another rematch with Sonnen at light heavy weight??

tonymontana82

RainMaker wrote: »

Was it another rematch with Sonnen at light heavy weight??

i doubt it, wonder who he would have fought though if not jones?

El Guapo!

tonymontana82 wrote: »

i doubt it, wonder who he would have fought though if not jones?

If I had to guess, I'd say Rashad.
There was talk of him dropping to MW not so long ago. I remember reading an interview with him recently where he said he was considering it and would be interested in fighting Silva if he did drop down.