UFC 151: 'The Event That Never Was'

[Patrick "Madman" Kelly]

For the record I believe that he should have taken the fight. He's in the fight business so you fight whoever you employers put in front of you. Jones is going to out heel Lesnar by a country mile on the back of this.

 

Great admirer of his abilities as a fighter but there's something about him that makes me feel he would sell his mum and feel no worse for it. He's false as fuck in my opinion and so is that Greg Jackson. They made for each other.

He may be in the fight business, but should that mean he takes a fight with three days prep time? After listening to Mauro Ranallo's interview with Greg Jackson, it may not have been the best thing from a purely fighting standpoint.

 

I know it would have made Jones a lot of money, but there must be a reason why they didn't take the fight. Jackson is far from being an idiot, so he'll have been fully aware of the financial benefits of such a fight.

 

He would have been in the same boat as Sonnen with preparation time. For me Sonnen is cut from the same cloth as Hendo without the stand up finishing ability and actually Jones had the advantage of feeling comfortable fighting at his own weight which is something that would not be afforded to Sonnen.

 

If your as skilled a fighter as Bones who is seemingly confident in his own abilities you should have the abilities to over come obstacles. For me that's what makes fighting champions and cements legacies. For me he has showed that he is not the champion I thought he was.

 

Bottom line is a lot of respect has been lost for the LHW champion.

[wandshogun09]

Edit: Also it appears there's another reason why Belfort stepped in to fight Jones - Alan Belcher has a spinal fracture. Luckily he says he'll be fine and will be back by November and wants Chris Weidman next.

 

Yeah I saw that as well. Shame. Every time Belcher starts to gain momentum he gets sidelined.

 

When I saw that Belfort was stepping in to fight Jones I was fully expecting an announcement over the next few days that Wanderlei Silva vs Alan Belcher would be the new co-main event for UFC 153. It would have been perfect. Wand gets to fight in Brazil again, Belcher still gets a big name opponent and their styles would make for some excitement.

 

I guess Rampage vs Teixeira will co-main event in Rio now. Good job they stacked that card up.

[David]

If your as skilled a fighter as Bones who is seemingly confident in his own abilities you should have the abilities to over come obstacles. For me that's what makes fighting champions and cements legacies. For me he has showed that he is not the champion I thought he was.

 

Bottom line is a lot of respect has been lost for the LHW champion.

Is there any other combat sport where a headliner and champion such as Jones would be expected to face someone else with basically three days of prep time? Has this ever happened in boxing?

 

Would we have seen, for example, Mayweather scheduled to fight Ortiz, only for Ortiz to drop out and be replaced by someone like Amir Khan on such short notice? I seriously doubt it.

 

In fact, the closest thing I can see to this is Khan scheduled to fight Peterson again on May 19th of this year, with Peterson being pulled from the fight eleven days beforehand. Was there ever any serious considerations of just throwing someone else in there for that May 19th slot to replace him?

 

Khan went on to fight Danny Garcia almost two months on from the original fight date.

 

Now, Jones camp has made it crystal clear that they were more than happy to face Sonnen, Machida, Rua or anyone else the UFC wanted to throw his way on September 22nd, which is exactly three weeks from his original fight date.

 

The guy is willing to accept that he's geared all of his training, which includes tapering off his program in order to peak for September 1st only to have it adjusted and have to keep himself ticking over for another three weeks to defend his strap on September 22nd against a completely different opponent.

 

Is that not worth respecting?

 

What about Machida? Or Rua? Machida refused the fight with Jones on the 22nd for lack of prep time, so what does that say about him?

[CurryAngel]

David is absolutely spot on there. For me, Dana's press conference was yet another reason why the man should not be the public face and voice of the UFC. He comes across as a child who wishes he was a 'Fucking Ultimate Fighter' with a 'just fight' attitude.

 

Taking a fight on a weeks notice is different depending on where you are in the grand scheme of things. It's all well and good for the Chris Lebens of the world who'll never be top of the tree, will never ammount to much and need money/exposure but the top tier fighters shouldn't have to put themselves out like that.

Is it Jon Jones or Greg Jacksons fault that the UFC threw all their eggs into one basket? No it's the UFCs fault.

Is it Machida or Shoguns fault for needing a lot of time to prepare for a man who choked him out/ battered him senseless? No.

 

This was bound to happen eventually for the UFC. Trying to put on PPV caliber events every 3-4 weeks is nigh on impossible due to the fact they only have about 6 main event stars people will throw their money down for (Anderson, GSP, Jones are definite draws and I'd like to think Diaz, Aldo and JDS bring in fans). So instead of Dana throwing his toys out of the pram and blaming everyone else for this he should have a look at the problems in his own company and I really believe the Fertitta brothers should think about phasing Dana out from the public eye.

[David]

As much as I didn't like the way Jackson dealt with the whole Rashad/Jones situation, his response to White's ridiculous tirade was, as usual, classy and measured;

 

While UFC president Dana White was tossing several expletives at MMA trainer Greg Jackson during a special conference call on Thursday, Jackson was doing his best to defend himself on The MMA Show with Mauro Ranallo.

 

White took issue with Jackson telling UFC light heavyweight champion Jon Jones to turn down a fight with Chael Sonnen at UFC 151 after Dan Henderson was forced to pull out with a knee injury. Jackson explained his decision process on the radio show.

 

"I was asked if it was smart to take a fight on three days (due to media obligations and weight cutting) notice, and I didn't think it's smart to do that," Jackson said. "Three days to fight a guy that caliber (of Sonnen) is not a smart thing to do. I'm not trying to ruin the sport or cancel an event. I don't know about that stuff, but I thought it wasn't a wise course of action."

 

Sonnen was willing to accept the fight, and the UFC started to put together new commercials on Wednesday evening. White, however, said he found out early Thursday that Jones has declined the fight. Instead, Jones will face Lyoto Machida on September 22 at the new UFC 151: Jones vs. Machida II card in Toronto.

 

Jackson said he was confused by White's words, adding, "I really like Dana and respect him....there is no ill feelings. I'm more confused than anything else. I didn't know they had (the entire card) riding on one fight. It's one of those things. As a trainer, I'll give you my opinion. I'm not a yes man. I do what's best for my guy."

This column actually sums up the situation perfectly;

 

It's been a wild 24 hours for the UFC. From the injury to Dan Henderson, to Jon Jones turning down the Chael Sonnen fight, to the cancellation of UFC 151, to Jon Jones vs. Lyoto Machida, to Jon Jones vs. Vitor Belfort... that's a lot going on, and it has become a highly emotional issue. Dana White has been very clear that, in his eyes, all the blame for these problems lies squarely on the shoulders of two men - UFC Light Heavyweight champion Jon Jones and his trainer Greg Jackson. But there's a big problem with Dana's blame game.

 

Jon Jones was right to turn down the Sonnen fight.

 

After yesterday's vitriolic attack on Jones and Jackson by Dana White, Jackson took to The MMA Show, explaining that, in his opinion, to fight Sonnen, Jones would need a full training camp, which is why he advised the champion to turn down the fight. Despite Dana's arguments to the contrary, Jackson is absolutely correct here.

 

Chael Sonnen may be coming up in weight, and he may be coming off a loss to Anderson Silva, but he remains a very dangerous opponent. More importantly, he presents a completely different stylistic challenge than Dan Henderson. Against Hendo, Jones's primary concern was avoiding the H Bomb KO punch; against Sonnen, it would be a complete change in training with a focus on takedown defense. That's a significant change, and 8 days is not much time to make it. That shortened time frame becomes an even bigger factor when you consider the amount of press Jones, as champion, would be expected to do fight week, leaving him less than 8 full days to adjust.

 

For his part, Sonnen is a specialist, so while he would also have only 8 days, he's going to play his game no matter what. He also obviously has a lot more to gain in a short notice fight with Jones, who has everything to lose.

 

One of the big complaints seems to be that it was Jones and Jackson who cancelled the show, thereby hurting the UFC and all the other fighters scheduled. That mentality is flawed. Jon Jones did not cancel UFC 151 - Zuffa cancelled UFC 151. Jon Jones turned down a fight when his originally scheduled opponent was injured. Could he have been more of a "team player" and fought for the greater good of the company? Sure. But why is he required to? He is not an owner in the company. At the end of the day, Jones and his team have to make the best decision for Jon Jones, not for the UFC, and they made a perfectly justifiable decision. It's up to the owners of the company to figure out how to deal with that decision.

[jimufctna24]

Thing with Greg Jackson is if you are from his camp chances are you will not be a fan favorite or the public will turn against you as I will show

 

GSP

 

Before he joined Jackson in 2007, GSP was the sports most beloved property. Humble, athletic and talented he had it all, fans lapped up his wins over smug bastards like Frank Trigg and passed the torch from the unlikable Matt Hughes. He was a finisher as well, before Jackson only a domination with insane skill over Jason Miller and a bloody war where showed heart against BJ Penn went the distance.

 

He joined Jackson I believe before the first Serra fight, a fight he shockingly lost, not because of Jackson though due to he break up with his girlfriend that distracted him and the power in Serra's hands. After this fight he became more gun-shy and instead concentrated more on his wrestling and as a result more fights went the distance.

 

This was a gameplan from Jackson and as time went on fans turned against GSP slightly due to this. Then came greasegate, Jackson and his team was directly involved in this and that really pushed GSP from humble babyface to a polarizing figure. If he had not joined Jackson I believe based on his talent he would still have the public in his corner and been just as dominant. No doubt Jackson's gameplans helped take away risks , but it also took away more finishes that fans really value. Other camps like AKA could have nurtured GSP just as well without the backlash from the fans

 

Jon Jones

 

I am indifferent to Jones as a person, as a fighter I have said the past 2 years he may just be the best I have ever seen. I run out of reasons to say Anderson Silva is the best MMA talent over Jones. The past 2 years he has been simply awesome. More impressive than Fedor, GSP and maybe Anderson have ever been. His phony personality and Christian worship have made him unlikable though to some and some have waited for a reason to dislike him. The DUI helped that, but this incident thanks to Jackson has made him hated by a large portion of the MMA community, not just fans but other fighters as well. He will now be in the Rashad zone where he will be booed loudly, and it will take time before he can turn the tables, not just with the fans but the media and the company he works for.

 

Clay Guida

 

Clay has had some classics (Tyson Griffin, Hueta and Sanchez) and some dull outings (Danzig and Pettis) but the fans up until recently loved the long haired, hard nosed midget who gave it his all. Then came the Maynard fight, if he would have won there would have been a positive, but he did not, the gameplan Jackson devised pissed off the company and the majority of fans. Footage of Guida acting like a simpleton to Maynard after the fight did not help. If he would have won, people could argue that it was smart, and I will say I think he had a better chance of winning with the gameplan he used than any other way, so I will give credit it was smart of Jackson. However, the judges saw it other wise and he is now nowhere near as beloved as he was beforehand.

 

I could name a few others but I will keep it brief - Rashad never warmed to the public under Jackson, Carlos Condit is hated in some circles due to Jacksons gameplan with Diaz when he was liked beforehand and oother fighters like Schaub and Nate Marquart are hardly selling t-shirts.

 

Its not all Jacksons fault his team is full of fighters the fans do not warm to, but with some he does have a hand in it. Sometimes its because he gave them a clever gameplan and sometimes its was down to bad advice, but whatever it is if you want to be popular with the public as a MMA fighter stay away from Jacksons (unless you are Brian Stann)

[David]

At the end of the day though, if you're a fighter and you're going to work with Jacksons MMA you know exactly what you're going to get.

 

Greg Jackson is probably the greatest MMA trainer in the history of the sport at present, and his knowledge of the game and ability to put together gameplans for fights is legendary. His advice to Jones a few days ago was much like every other piece of advice that Jackson gives his fighters. Well reasoned and very sound.

 

I heard it mentioned on a radio show last night, but maybe the issue now is that the UFC, and Dana White in particular simply don't know how to deal with top end athletes. He's spoken for years about how MMA is going to be as big as the NFL, and whilst that may not be true, it's certainly bigger than it was five years ago.

 

As I mentioned earlier, could you possibly imagine Floyd Mayweather signing to fight Victor Ortiz, only for Ortiz to fall out of the fight a matter of days beforehand and him take a replacement with three days prep time? Why didn't Amir Khan just go ahead and fight someone else when Peterson was taken out of their fight in May? Why did he wait until July before fighting Danny Garcia?

 

Because these are top level professional athletes, that's why. I know that may not sit well with some of the "fuck yeah, just fight" crowd, or those who think that doing what Jones did means he isn't a "real warrior" or something similarly ridiculous.

 

The UFC is evolving. We're seeing FOX Sports, Nike, Microsoft and so on getting involved in the sport. The days of Chuck Liddell only needing time to shave his mohawk before taking a late fight, or Tito Ortiz pretending to dig graves in the cage are disappearing, and those types of fighters are being left behind as well.

 

Now we see the likes of Junior Dos Santos, Jon Jones, Anderson Silva, George St-Pierre, Benson Henderson, Jose Aldo & Dominick Cruz heading the divisions. Every one of those guys is a serious athlete, who take their shit seriously and behave like top level professional athletes.

 

Of course the UFC only really cares about how much money it can make. That's not surprising nor is it wrong, but the days of them being able to hold fighters in an iron grip are fading with every new Nike, McDonalds, Microsoft or other high end sponsorship deal that one of their fighters signs.

 

It won't be long before MMA is recognised as the "real sport" that White always claimed it is, and personally I see this whole Jones/UFC scenario as being the real start of that.

 

I can't wait, but I'm not sure how far behind the Chuck Liddells, Ken Shamrocks and Tito Ortiz' of this world Dana White will be in exiting the sport. That conference call was cringworthy to say the least, and I don't think it portrayed him in a good light at all.

[wandshogun09]

I don't like Greg Jackson simply for the irrational reason that I just don't like how he looks. Oblong narrow head with beady little eyes and an overhanging top lip. The squeaky voice doesn't help. Just something creepy and unsettling about him, he's like a real life Mr Burns. He looks like a grade A sex pest, the type who sneaks into gardens stealing women's knickers and socks to use as sniffturbation paraphernalia.

 

I've clearly got no evidence to back this up. But I bet he does.

 

I think it's overblown with the Jackson gameplan stuff though. Fighters like Diego Sanchez, Donald Cerrone, Cub Swanson, Julie Kedzie, Leonard Garcia are the opposite of 'safety first' fighters. Marquardt just had one of the top 2 or 3 FOTY. Jones is wrecking everyone.

 

GSP I think has became 'safety first'' but I think that's more down to the position he's in, he feels like it's not worth taking risks.

 

The Condit ran stuff was all bollocks stirred up by disgruntled Diaz fans. Close fight but he fought brilliantly.

[jimufctna24]

See there is something unsettling about him, just a bland underwhelming person. He is polite but there is has always been something very boring about Jackson and his camp, not that he is not great at what he does, he is indeed one of the best trainers and camps in MMA.

 

The Condit stuff was bollocks, but it did not stop a backlash against him with some fans and it was thanks to Jackson's gameplan. Jones also does wreck everyone, but its this bit of advise from Jackson that has really turned the public against him.

 

GSP could go both ways, maybe he would have gone "safety first" anyway without Jackson.

 

I agree there are fighters that do not follow a clear gameplan under Jackson, but Leonard Garcia actually does as he and Jackson believe that if he comes forward and pushes the action it will sway the judges and at times it has worked even when he has clearly lost the fight to the TV audience. Not all of Jackson's gameplans are boring.

 

Oh and love him or hate him, Dana will be around for a good more 5 years at the least.

[lambyUK]

I will always remember Jackson for his comments immediately after Jones dangerously let Machida slump to the floor without any regard. I normal human being with any emotional regard would have said something along the lines of "go and see how your opponent is", but Jackson had the gall to simply say "go and win some fans". He is just a sly cunt in the end. Great coach though.

[herbie747]

Where the fuck is this "3 days of prep time" coming from? He's had a 12 week camp he's in shape - he's been practising, working on his conditioning, doing his drills, etc - and he'd have been fighting a guy who would LEGIT have had only 3 days prep. It's a dumb argument. The advantage would still be his, even with a new gameplan.

[jimufctna24]

I will always remember Jackson for his comments immediately after Jones dangerously let Machida slump to the floor without any regard. I normal human being with any emotional regard would have said something along the lines of "go and see how your opponent is", but Jackson had the gall to simply say "go and win some fans". He is just a sly cunt in the end. Great coach though.

This and a video that someone posted a while back (EBB I think) of him sending someone out of the corner when they were half-dead. Someone else will fill in the details.

[David]

Where the fuck is this "3 days of prep time" coming from? He's had a 12 week camp he's in shape - he's been practising, working on his conditioning, doing his drills, etc - and he'd have been fighting a guy who would LEGIT have had only 3 days prep. It's a dumb argument. The advantage would still be his, even with a new gameplan.

Well, there was eight days until the fight, and five of those would have involved media work and cutting weight etc, leaving three days to prepare for a different opponent. Plus, Jackson had already planned those last three days to be working with another fighter, leaving Jones to basically prepare for Sonnen by himself.

 

It doesn't matter if he's already had a eight week fight camp. That camp was tailored towards fighting Dan Henderson, not Chael Sonnen. Jones was perfectly within his rights to refuse the fight, and I believe it was the correct move.

 

Everyone seems to be forgetting that he's fighting again four weeks from the date of the original fight, so it's hardly as if he's refusing to fight anyone. Four weeks to prepare for a fighter as radically different from Henderson as you can get is pretty admirable as far as I'm concerned.

[twelve_grand]

Doesn't matter if he's right or wrong from here on in he's going to be hated. That was entirely predictable. Now the only decision is whether he embraces it or whether he tries to fight it. If I was his business manager I'd be going mental - the guy's just got a worldwide Nike contract and now he's going to be screamed out of the building and told to go fuck himself in front of their executives.

[herbie747]

Where the fuck is this "3 days of prep time" coming from? He's had a 12 week camp he's in shape - he's been practising, working on his conditioning, doing his drills, etc - and he'd have been fighting a guy who would LEGIT have had only 3 days prep. It's a dumb argument. The advantage would still be his, even with a new gameplan.

Well, there was eight days until the fight, and five of those would have involved media work and cutting weight etc, leaving three days to prepare for a different opponent. Plus, Jackson had already planned those last three days to be working with another fighter, leaving Jones to basically prepare for Sonnen by himself.

 

It doesn't matter if he's already had a eight week fight camp. That camp was tailored towards fighting Dan Henderson, not Chael Sonnen. Jones was perfectly within his rights to refuse the fight, and I believe it was the correct move.

 

Everyone seems to be forgetting that he's fighting again four weeks from the date of the original fight, so it's hardly as if he's refusing to fight anyone. Four weeks to prepare for a fighter as radically different from Henderson as you can get is pretty admirable as far as I'm concerned.

 

I know all that and I've heard all the interviews from all parties. I'm saying it's not really 3 days notice. It's 3 days to alter an existing gameplan. He already had a full camp. "3 days notice" implies he hasn't been training at all and got a phonecall out of nowhere. It's skewing the facts. Guys who usually take fights "on short notice" haven't had a full camp and have questionable cardio, trouble making weight, etc. Jones doesn't fit that bill. He was just offered a new, and easier, opponent.