Jon Jones defends the decision not to fight at UFC 151

Sorry John but you shouldn't have to apologize. Dana White and the UFC put you in that situation because the card was weak FACT. Since when is it a fighter's responsibility to ensure everyone else gets paid. Dana attitude doesn't surprise me but the response I've seen from SO CALLED MMA fans on lowkick has been shocking.

It's a champion's job to show up to fight who the UFC puts in front of him. Jon may not have had a legal responsibility to take that fight, but he certainly has a moral responsibility to represent the belt appropriately. The appropriate thing for a champion to do in that situation was to take the easily winnable fight the UFC offered him and to thereby save the event.

@mmauk - So im guessing you just think your a REAL MMA FAN because you have a different opinion on this subject then most including Lorenzo and Dana who run the company? Yea the Card f*cking sucked just like a lot have lately UFC's fault YES..but when you build up a kid from nothing to a superstar who would not be where he is right now if it wasnt for Lorenzo and Dana so im sure they thought they could count on their CHAMPION to step up for them when they need him(who had a full camp)..but no he cost them millions and has become very selfish to the people that made him.

Build a kid from nothing... I like that. They took somebody who was going to be a superstar like Both of his brothers and just made him a superstar in THEIR domain. That's it. Some people a built for greatness, some work their ass off for it. Jon is both, with some obviously recently not the best decisions in the world but still.



I agree, I think all Champions should fight, but there is a reason you have a camp, otherwise they would just do draw straws like in the old day. Jon did a lot of BS promotion for the UFC and MMA in general and to act like he would be nothing without them is a joke. If he chose a different domain, he would probably be champion or close to it in that as well.

Like i said they built this kid to what he is today yea he is a very talented person but how many champions in other mma promotions are actually superstars NONE...he chose mma there for if it wasnt for dana and the UFC he would not be the superstar he is today..just because his brothers play other sports doenst mean he can go and be a superstar in another sport..niether of his brothers are breakout superstars and im sure Jones makes more then both of them..the UFC made this kid period! how about he be there for the company that made him when they need him

I did say entirely different domain. He'd a been a great Football Player, Basketball, baseball, whatever he put all of his effort into. Your mad because he chose the correct promotion to fight for and make a living at? I am a HUGE dana white and UFC fan but they absolutely should have had a large enough backup fight to carry the promotion. Ever hear the expression, "don't count your chickens before they hatch" or "don't put ALL your eggs in one basket", the UFC did both. It's not like Jon doesn't want money also, he just isn't ready to throw away his entire run because the company he works for failed to do their job.

mmauk: Completely agreed. This is nothing but an indication of most MMA fans naivete when it comes to MMA. The UFC and Dana needed a scapegoat to take the blame for their OWN mistakes and Jon Jones just happened to be the perfect man for the job. If I were Jon Jones, I would just embrace the villain role and continue to dominate the LHW division.

first of all I don't think Greg Jackson or winkeljohn have anything more important then coaching there UFC champion so that tells me that Jon is full of shit and let's just say that is the case if you have a new opponent the whatever cancelled everything and would have been there faster than you could say "sussess". and yes it's absolutely Jon and Greg Jacksons fault that UFC 151 was canceled because they didn't just refuse to fight cheal he refuse to fight at UFC 151. or else we would of had Anderson putting a weapon on him

You're surprised by the response's really? Is there another Lowkick site because on this one Bones & Silva gets NO LOVE Playa.

They really dont, whats the deal with hating on the best fighters?

I hate to say this, because I wasn't one of his greatest fans but Fedor wouldn't have thought twice..... I have to say, this is why at one time he was the best.

They wouldn't have replaced Brock with Frank mir though, it would have been replacing 7 ft asian dude with 350lb asian dude. not quite the same thing. Probably more sell able, but not quite the same thing.

I agree it is not up to Jon to carry the card, but I think Jon should have stepped up and taken care of business. Dana is going to need to work with other organizations and blow this sport up.

Jones punked out of the chance to fight Sonnen. Sonnen and Henderson have similar fighting styles but Henderson is a much better power puncher. Sonnen would probably have better stamina than Henderson.



Being a champion he shouldn't ever back down from a fight. He should take on all fighters who want to step up for a shot. Thats what a real champion does. Not backout!



Yes the fight card was weak especially for a PPV event. But having a championship fight on the card with a fighter like Jones on it is worth getting. Jones and Greg Jackson apparently do not know what star power is. They are both chumps!

chael said ill fight him tonight LOL!!!

Now this is why you gotta love Sonnen despite not "always" living up to the hype.

Always or ever? Cause he hasnt accomplished much in the ufc

I'd fight Sonnen on 8 days notice. The guy sucks.

to me its the fact of talkn chit about a guy ...in a smaller weight class,..not

trained at all.,and he manned up and said you say im a piece of chit worthless fighter with no talent,..phuck you to lets do it and Ill fight for free

just to put you in your place,,...and the guy who said all the chit (the Middle Champ) the guy who is best in the world on the P4P list, a guy who should take on all comers, again the guy that basically called him

out....said no im not ready my daddy is gone and dont know how to fight with out him...(even tho Hendo and Chael have a style the same) sorry

not sure bitchmade or cowardly...you talk chit about a guy be a man back it up

i agree dana care more bout money then fight that makesense chael lost lat month no1 should b mad at jones for tunrinng it down

Chael always has been willing to fight anyone on short notice. It's just a matter of balls. Jones is so afraid of losing that he doesn't care if the card gets dropped or undercard guys don't get a much needed paycheck. Granted they did not have to cancel the card. They could have found a way. But Jones must honestly believe he can stay undefeated forever. The way he talks about his motivation is not wanting to ever be immortalized in a highlight reel KO or whatever. That in itself is just stupid. Unless he retires young. He will lose sometime.

"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,"



WHAT, so if it was his first fight, had, no choice "what so ever" and they needed someone to step up, then he would consider it !!?? WOW, that's great John!

really? cause it took AS about 9 months prep the first time and another 10 months the second time.

Would've*

And the fact that DH's camp withheld his injury for 3 weeks is also Jon and Greg's fault? Good stuff.

Also, Jon knew perfectly effing well that failing to take the Sonnen fight would result in the event being cancelled. In deciding to turn down the fight, he knew all the other fighters on the card would loose out, but he took the decision none the less. Also, any fans who planned travel to Vegas etc have lost out big time.



All this from the guy who keeps talking about how he's such a good christian etc etc and how he would never turn down fights. The 'christian' thing to do would have been to consider the concerns of fans and fighters and not just look out for #1 in such a cynical manner. There's a reason everybody calls him a fake.

@godsof

I understand your point, but no fighter should ever be put in that position imo. Therefore the hate that is coming his way is unfair, the UFC are to blame for the card cancelled not Jones.You said he should ''represent the belt appropriately'' imo that is preparing the best you can and performing the best you can, but were gonna have to agree to disagree on what ''representing the belt appropriately'' means. I commented on another article saying his decision was not the most courageous but was a smart one imo. I would have loved to see him smash Sonnen but I'm not gonna go overboard and call him a coward because he didn't. That the problem I have with this whole thing. Dana and the UFC are being let off here and the fans and the media are letting get away with it.

The UFC is still young as a sport. It'll be years before they can replace anyone they want in a few days notice. And never have to even worry about these things. Therefore if guys who currently fight there, want a legacy, and want to be part of growing the sport. They need to man up the way Sonnen always has. The way Fitch and Koschek do. Every real fighter out there is willing to fight any guy his size, if they've already been preparing for a fight. Machida just wasn't back to training hard yet and would be no where near a full camp after his last fight. However I am disappointed he didn't take the fight either.

godsofwarfare you are so full of it...



A fighter signs on the dotted line to fight an opponent. NOT....Hey throw me whoever you want 8days away from fight night. There are different strategies against different fighter. You are stupidly wrong for thinking Jones is just going to walk all over Chael.....anything is possible...

UFC never did anything to make Jones what he is, Jones did and the UFC gets good money because of guys like him. Jones doesn't owe the YFC anything, he pays more than what he owes anytime he talks, fights, farts or smiles.

No.

'' I've done 1800 fights, no one has ever turned down a fight'' WOW Dana is a real nasty piece work. Only a month ago Dana said '' No one wants to fight Texira no one wants to fight that guy Shogun doesn't want to fight him'' yes i spelled the name wrong but you get the point.

Its a political and news tactic shift the blame and change the subject from the real reason the card was canceled it was shit, besides the main event

The UFC did fail to be a little more prepared. And since everyone already hates Jones for being fake. They knew they could give him more of the blame. I blame Jones about 45%, the UFC 45%. And the MMA gods get 10% for yet another injury near fight week.

Where does Dan Henderson get any blame for holding back on his injury. WTF is going on here people. Damn, the media does a good job of guiding 'followers' to the wrong light.

he said no champion has ever turned down a fight. get your facts right

@ 1:26 he states that no FIGHTER has ever turned down a fight. He might have MENT champion, but he said fighter... perhaps you should get YOUR facts right? lol

I don't blame Jones for the cancellation of the card but It's Jones ego that caused him to turn the fight down. It's that hunger that he used to have when he would take a fight on short notice that got him where he is now. The minute he starts to over think things this kind of s*it happens.

Considering that Jones was only a few days away from a huge title fight, why were Jackson and Winklejohn not around to begin with? You'd think that so close to a big fight, your coaches would be around, helping with final preparations. This stuff about his coaches not being available sounds like a really BS excuse. Also, if this was really a problem, why didn't Greg mention this stuff in his interview with Mauro? I wish this guy would just say he didn't like the fight on short notice an leave it at that, rather than trying to blow smoke up our a$$es with these silly excuses.

It seems apparent that things are not at all as clear as they seemed on day one and that everybody involved had their own biased stakeholder position that they were expressing and trying to promote / protect.



Looking at everything I have been able to see nobody has been completely honest in this thing.



I'm certainly growing tired of it all. It is amazing how much life a story can have when there is nothing else to talk about.....How about JDS. He's quite a fighter, don't you think?

Ah, I need to go a little further than that.



Godsofwararise is right (just above). Why were Bone's coaches away during the last week (at another fight apparently). And Bones should be hungry. AND I had a lot of fun bashing Jackson and Jones two days ago BUT....



If I'm to be honest, it is not Jon's problem to worry about the card and the other fighters. That's Dana's job. As Evan pointed out yesterday, Chael is moderately different than Hendo AND I believe that Chael (of whom I have been a big supporter and fan of) orchestrated this offer to Dana by keeping back the injury info. Now maybe Hendo legitimately thought he could overcome the injury and wanted to watch it for a bit. Maybe Hendo was trying to help Chael. Maybe Dana was in on it. Who knows???



One thing I now believe - This is NOT all on Jon's shoulders. Is Jon free of ANY responsibility here? No, but this steamy pile of sh!t is not all his to clean up. I think everybody involved shares some of the responsibility.

Bottom line is..... Dana is pissed about the cancelation. Even though it wouldn't of had to be canceled had the rest of the card been good, he's taking it out on Jones for a fairly good reason. If he's had a full camp for a similar style fighter (but bigger and more dangerous), and the replacement hasn't had a camp at all, and Jones is considered one of the best P4P fighters and a champ, what risk is there? The card could have been saved, and everyone could have gotten paid. The high risk/low reward thing isn't really a factor with Sonnen. But that's just this guys opinion

Im LMAO at Jon "If I fight Im not using my intellect"

Coming from the same douche bag that just wrapped a Bently around a powerpole with 2 whores in the car....."Intellect" t"

We get it he's a douche & he crashed HIS Bentley not yours. Now lets keep it pushing, I'm with Money Mike what's next? 9/22 GREAT

Whatever lets move on.

"This is war and you have to go in prepared." You don't get to choose all your battles in war, you should always be prepared.

If your assessment were true then fighters wouldn't have training camps before fights.

I didn't make the analogy, JBJ did. If you want to compare it to war then be prepared for the unexpected.

I agree that the War analogy was a poor one and it shouldn't be mentioned in any ”sport.”

Furthermore, Anderson Silva was the one willing to step in, out of fight zhape, out of division, tons more to lose, 8 days notice. Now THAT'S a warrior..

Good point. Why would Silva do that? To help the Ufc or deflect hate from Jones? I would sooner think the latter especially given how Dana had ripped Anderson in the past.

Maybe even to show up jbj? Just a guess, but AS stepping up tp jbj weight class to save his card would make jbj look sort of like a fool.

AS wouldn't have lost anything.. the LHW title is up for grabs.

I agree that to get the best possible outcome in any challenge is to be prepared. We know that he is the champ and it was his call. BUT we have seen him take a match on the fly againts rua when it was to his advantage. So this boils down to him being a selfish asshole who only thinks about money. what if rua said no to the fight againts him because he wasnt prepared for the youngest upcomming contender? it wasnt about money dana was quoted in the conference saying that the discussion about pay was not made. SO i dont believe that jonny was afraid, it was not about money, its not about being prepared, then it boils down to bad advice from gay ass greg jackson.. THE END

Your Shogun comment proves the difference between new school and old school fighters. Pulling for Vitor all the way.

You are comparing getting a months notice and fighting Shogun, one of the most televised fighters in MMA to an 7.5 day notice to fight Chael Sonnen who clearly has been training specifically for Jon Jones for about 3.5 weeks now. It's not even close to the same thing.

IMO, Hendo is a better fighter then Chael so for Bones to pull out is bullshit cuz if anything i think he was handed a fight against less of a wrestler then Hendo is. Hendo has knockout power and Chael hasn't knocked anyone out in the UFC. For him to say coaches aren't around is also a bitch move cuz he had a full camp especially if he is the champ. I hope Vitor works on his cardio and handles jones for 5 rounds. All around bitch move by jones

When Dana White asked JJ to fight on a week's notice – and later raged about his refusal – all he was thinking about was money. JJ is nobody's b*tch. This regrettable situation where fighters, trainers and reporters are kissing DW's *ss to be allowed to fight, train or write must be put an end to. By the way, this can only happen in an organization with no clear ranking system, in which fights are made by matchmakers and the owners. And when fighters are forced to sign enslaving contracts. Then everybody is afraid they will get cut, if they try to reason.

I'm not a fan of JJ, and I think he should have taken the fight. First of all he has the advantage in almost every aspect against CS. This is pretty much as close you can come with a guarantee win at the higher level of MMA. Secondly, JJ does not have the best PR persona as other fighters, this would have defiantly won him some huge points.



Saying all that, everybody in this situation is to blame. JJ for not taking the fight, Dan for milking his injury instead of notifying Dana about a possibility of not being able to fight, and might have given Dana more time to save the event. Also, Dana did not have to cancel the whole event, sell the card for half the price, at least try to break even. I believe JJ was in a win/lose situation. He made a "smart" decision but not the "right" decision.

Milk an injury? Pull out of a title fight? JDS injured his knee before fighting Cain, that seemed to his advantage to fight through that wouldn't you say?

The can't cut the price per their agreement with the cable companies. Each PPV has to be sold at a specific price. They might have even had to pay a penalty for not putting an agree upon event on.

"...This is war, and you have to go in there prepared."



(shakes head)



Football is not war. Professional fighting is not war. People die every day in war.



Somebody get this guy a better PR person/firm.

Stop being so pedantic Evan. You're letting the haters rub off on you lol.

? Because I called into question his comparison of competition to war? C'mon man. I'm not in agreement with anybody who suddenly hates him because of his recent decision. I'm just not a fan of anybody using "war" the way he used it.

No, he's right. This is Jackson's problem too- they think they're smarter than the are. Constantly quoted "great men" because they think that's what great men do; and over thinking EVERY f*cking move they make to the point where nothing, NOTHING they do is sincer

The card had lack of depth because there are TOO MANY CARDS. You can't have your cake and eat it too people. Plus, who is to say that this card could not have had some of the most exciting fights of 2012.



Now we will never know.



Jones- get off your Nike sponsored pedestal and BE A FIGHTER.



Real fighters fight anyone, anytime, anywhere.



MONEY WILL RUIN THIS SPORT JUST LIKE THE OTHERS.

Like Kimbo Slice? How's his Nike contract coming along these days? Oh never had one, my bad.

Dumb fighters with short careers who end up broke fight anyone, anytime, anywhere. Like it or not this is a BUSINESS where each side brings something to the table and the end goal is profit for both parties. Which makes it endlessly fascinating that Dana trashed another one of his must lucrative products.

Jon Jones has defended his belt more so then any LHW for a very long time. This is most likely due to him preparing for the fights and sticking to his game plan. Not by throwing strat out the window and swinging for the fences. Props to Jones for holding to his guns and declining it. Why didn't White simply put chael into the late sept fight instead of machida btw? No one's asked that.

I think the main question White has to answer is why was Sonnen all he had to offer Jones. He himself said Sonnen was nowhere a title shot just a few days before then rams it down Jones throat balls deep the fact he refused that fight.

Nike: Just Do Nothing

I like Jon Jones, or at least, the person he seems to be. But to think I "know" who JJ is is silly.



You become successful, maybe a bit famous, and everyone on the planet is your best friend. Or your worst enemy.



I understand if you don't like Bones. You can dislike or even hate on whoever you want, that's part of being a fan.



But like him or not, he was just what 205 needed. It used to be the belt no one could keep. Chuck was the man, and he defended it 4 times. Jones is already up to 3.



Whatever you think about him, he's a fantastic fighter. I don't think I know who he "really" is, and I could give a sh*t. I just want to see the dude fight.

Why don't you use you're INTELLECT to go dive your car into another pole.

@willhammy yo somebody just used the same line busta

For everyone calling the card crap..You don't know MMA. The last few cards were called crap before they even began and turned out to be some of the best card I've seen in a while and they were free. Second Jones just proves that he's not mature enough to think about his career and place in the UFC. Game plans in the UFC never workout like you want and thats not a good reason to back down from a championship fight. Champions are supposed to go that extra mile and prove there the real deal no matter who there fighting. IMO Jones should have taken the fight, won, like I'm almost 99.9% sure would have happened and then his boss would have praised him and his challenger for doing there job. Which is to fight and display some of the worlds best contact fighting on the planet.

If the card wasnt crap then why did Dana cancel the card?

J.lo and bispings comments on jj refusing to fight was great. they saw it from the fans and their bosses point of view and would willingly take the fight on short notice. Jones needs some of that desire to fight. he would of put on a great show win or lose.

jon's right. his coaches got day jobs man.

Jeez man , It's a lose-lose situation for jj fans. He declines the fight = he's scared and/or selfish. He fights sonnen and beats the living hell outta him, we get excuses like: sonnen didn't have a full camp, he's not a LHW, or sonnen just sucks. Dudes need to stop hatin!



One more thing ....I think it's sad ppl bring up his dwi to make up themselves feel better about the fact that he has f*cked up all their favorite fighters in the division

Jeez man , It's a lose-lose situation for jj fans. He declines the fight = he's scared and/or selfish. He fights sonnen and beats the living hell outta him, we get excuses like: sonnen didn't have a full camp, he's not a LHW, or sonnen just sucks. Dudes need to stop hatin!



One more thing ....I think it's sad ppl bring up his dwi to make up themselves feel better about the fact that he has f*cked up all their favorite fighters in the division

Wtf dude , they heard you the first time

Dont worry Jon, people that don't hate you for whatever reason understand champions have every right to turn down a fight on days notice. And the ufc has a responsibility to make a card with more than 1 good fight on it.

Jones does have an obligation, first of all the ufc is what made him the fighter he is, it gave him fame,fortune, and higher skill, SERIOUSLY they gave him a title shot when he didnt quite deserve one, so you think he would return the favor, hes suppose to be the best fighter in his division and should be confident enough to fight sonnen PERIOD!

By not quite deserving one, do you mean he failed to make Shogun look like he didn't even deserve the title shot for his own belt? Jones tore him up and on a months notice, how is that undeserving?

Go get some fans, Jones

Jon Jones didnt have any problem taking a short notice to fight when he got a chance to fight for a title with shogun.. hope he lose the title so he can start all over again

he now he's misrepresenting nike "just do it"