Making sense out of Jon Jones vs. Chael Sonnen
Posted on October 16, 2012, 06:39 PM by Andreas HaleAfter all the talk of a super fight between Jon Jones and Anderson Silva after Silva's legalized manslaughter of Stephan Bonnar at UFC 153, the entire MMA world has been thrown a curveball as it was announced that Jones will coach opposite Chael Sonnen on the next season of TUF. And we all know what that means: Jones vs. Sonnen on April 27.
Wait, what?
Considering all that has transpired in the past couple of months, how the hell did this happen?
The answer is easy: good business.
Forget about Jon Jones turning down a last minute fight with Sonnen that resulted in the cancelation of UFC 151. Don't even think about the tantalizing Chael Sonnen vs. Forrest Griffin fight that would have been the perfect introduction for Sonnen into the 205 division. And that whole Jones-Silva fight? Yeah, scrap that too.
Don't think of it as a reward for Jon Jones, consider this to be more about the UFC injecting their flailing reality show with some much needed adrenaline. We all know that Sonnen makes for good television and he can pretty much talk people into believing that he has a legitimate shot at pole vaulting over the moon. Having him as the coach for TUF opposite a supreme talent like Jon Jones can only result in quite possibly the best on-air exchanges since Rashad Evans and Rampage Jackson coached the heavyweights.
What's that you say? Sonnen doesn't deserve a title shot? Who cares! This is all about business and if the UFC can drum up some interest in TUF -- which has been dying a slow death the past two years -- while reeling in casual fans, Dana White sees it as a win-win. Jon Jones still doesn't think Sonnen deserves a title shot; Sonnen still thinks Jon Jones absolutely sucks; Most die-hard fans figure that Jones' demolition of Sonnen will make Stephan Bonnar's obliteration at the hands of Anderson Silva look like a competitive scrap. But none of that matters when you are trying to rehab your company for casual fans after a year that hasn't quite been the banner year the UFC anticipated when inking the deal with FOX.
All that talk about Anderson Silva facing Jones has pretty much gone up in smoke. It's not like Silva wanted the fight to begin with. Even though Dana White felt that he could coerce Silva into fighting Greg Jackson's prized pupil, the reality is that a bout with Georges St-Pierre or a middleweight title defense makes much more sense. Having Jon Jones tied up with TUF will also help figure out some things in 205. You know, like, who the hell is going to fight Jones next. Keeping Jones busy will allow the likes of Glover Texieria, Phil Davis and Alexander Gustafsson to stake their claim as top contenders. Having Jones linger only means that he has to be fed somebody who clearly isn't ready. So, may as well throw him in there with a lunatic like Chael Sonnen.
This is all really good timing ultimately. At this point, the UFC can't afford to try and appease die-hard fans. Their job is to bring in as many eyeballs as possible. If that means making fights that we can't really comprehend, then so be it.
Act like you won't watch TUF if you want to, but you will. Just like you'll watch Jones vs. Sonnen on April 27.
Right?
Comments
This seems like a completely left-field move considering Chael still hasn't even fought Forrest yet. So win or lose he gets a title shot? I feel this is Dana's pay back for the cancelation of 151.Idk. I guess, what better way than to have Sonnen talking shit all season long. Seems like itll be a stressful situation.
the UFC is becoming a circus!!! you dont have to be the best fighter to get a title shot!!! how deserves chael"bla bla bla"sonnen a title shot at LHW??? it makes no sense, and makes the UFC looks stupid!!! this is not about the best fighters, its all about money!!! i hate it and will not watch this TUF season!!!!!
Your tears make me happy :]
Anyone with even a modicum of common sense can see that this sucks and it's not fair.
It seems some fans on prefer the WWE circus style nonsense (Chael fans) than making MMA an actual credible sport. This is going the way of boxing.
I like listening to Chael from an entertainment point of view, much like i liked Ric Flairs segments when I was about 6 or 7. But he DOES NOT derserve to be ANYWHERE NEAR a title shot.
The guy is a proven flop in big fights. He got two shots at Anderson and got finished twice.
Now he has a title shot at LHW before even fighting there. What a joke!
Maybe Vince McMahon can be a guest "coach" for Chael on TUF.....
@johndo
Most Sonnen fans agree he doesnt deserve the title shot.
He doesnt. But we arent crying the rest of the people.
All I know is I laughed and was confused when I heard Sonnen was getting the title shot.
Jones was begging for someone who can help him get a big PPV. TUF sucks and this seems to be the best option to revive it and make money.
Yeah, it's like Xfactor now. You don't need to be a special talent, you just need to make the most people want to see you the next week.
I agree Kackvogel, bad decision by the UFC, and completely unfair to actual deserving fighters in the division.....
"Sonnen still thinks Jon Jones absolutely sucks;" - really??? I suppose you still believe WWE is real as well? lmao
that shows what type of fan you are ;]
I guess I should just quit training to win fights and to be exciting for the fans and just go to shit talking school. @danawhite
and this says one of sonnens best friends!!! any questions??? :]
PUUBBEE FACE !!
facepolm!!
"Making sense out of Jon Jones vs. Chael Sonnen"
Big money.for the UFC/Saving TUF from further obscurity
^^thats all that needed to be said ^^
Guess dana didnt offer silva enough money
The flip side to that: Maybe Jon saw how dana wanted to make the fight happen with him and the spider, so in order to avoid the situation, he QUICKLY AGREED to fight cheal to kill the pressure of the superfight?
Its a good thing cuz it lets JJ's inner elbow/arm heal up
Chael has taken 5 rounds of the 7 rounds he fought with Silva, so despite coming up with two loses, he isn't that much of a stretch for a title shot at lt. heavy.
At the age of 35, the UFC wants to squeeze every last bit of marketing out of Chael while they can, so this makes total sense from that point of view..
Also, Silva and Jones are similar, in that they tend to do most of their "talking" in the ring. I doubt Anderson would consider doing TUF with Chael, so this is the next best thing.
Let the mind games begin.
Easy fight for Jones - here comes another sub.
This is the dumbest thing I have ever heard. I have less than no interest in this show or the resulting title fight.
When's the last time TUf was interesting? Oh yea rashad and rampage....and then only because of the coaches really.
Atleast this makes for good TV if nothing else...
Agreed. I have never been much of a TUF fan but I do usually watch the fights and the final matches. I won't be watching even that on this one. This just makes my head hurt.
Its all about buisness, yeah, thats what kills the Sport...
lets do another reality show after chael takes the beating of his lifetime.
lets call it: "p4pking fighting random cans"
I really thought the UFC was trying to be a respectable and reputable sports organization. Maybe something like the NFL and NBA. I guess not. It's obviously strictly about money which is cool for them I guess. In these other sports there is always talk of keeping the integrity of the sport. The UFC obviously doesn't care about this at all. I used to laugh at the WWE comparisons but I've come to believe those comparisons weren't so out of line. This sport is getting sad. I will still watch the big fights and still have favorite fighters but it still disappoints me to see what the UFC has become.
Chael will take his beating from Jon Jones, ala Brandon Vera, get his huge payday, then elope with Dana White to Paris. Dana will soon be sharing his personal office with Chael and they'll live happily ever after. That's the only thing I can take from this nonsense.
All kidding aside, Chael has found a way to get what he wants from the UFC when he wants. In order words, he is a very smart man.
Other words.
i miss pride!
amen!!!
no more is the UFC about the best fighting the best. boycott TUF and the PPV. lets watch bellator and show dana whats up. the consumer has the power, not the other way around.
i love how people are going to continue bashing the ufc but fully intend on watching the events. ****ing hypocrites. believe me this was a bad idea for a title fight, but i still love the ufc and will continue to.
Stop with your ads. We laugh at your pathetic attempt....
i laugh at the fact that there will dozens of great fights until april, but everyone hates the ufc because of one bad match-up. too many opinionated scrubs. the fights a shitty idea that doesnt make sense but who made you mma royalty? i didnt know your judgement was golden
Chael and Forest as coaches would've made sense. Those two personalities could've help to save a floundering franchise. But putting your second most dominant champion against a talker? What a horrible decision..... Get ready for the new generation of Chael's who realize talk gets results. Putting your champ on the shelf until february when he'll destroy a wrestler with no power..... Bad move Ufc. Bad move.
I have mixed feelings about this. All the sentiments about Sonnen hasn't earned a title shot and it's about money not integrity etc, I share fully.
That said, I do think the MMA community has short memories. In the decade and a bit that it has become and emerging mainstream sport we now expect our plates to be lavished with nothing but the best we can choose from the pick and mix on offer. Only natural of course, but I do remember not so long ago the excitement of sitting down to watch anyone fight anyone. Of finding rare videos in the only shop I knew that sold them and buzzing all the way home and not being able to get the video into my player fast enough. Now we sit here and grumble regularly about this and that, I am no exception, and have lost sight of the essence of what first got us hooked into MMA in the first place.
Of course with emerging talents and champions over time we expect the best to be fighting the best and not being fed the Sonnen's of the world, but when all we do is complain about one man getting in the octagon to fight another man, we have become spoilt. Myself included.
I understand where you are coming from, but at the beginning they were sorting out who was who and where. When you start any sport you watch it for the sport at it's essence but as it grows the players get sorted in to skill levels in order to justify an order of greatness in that sport. The whole point of starting it was to weed out the talkers like was Gracies first motive in proving anyone can talk but when they get in the cage it will sort it out. Then once we got PAST that we then have the losers go to the back and the winners climb to the front so that we don't have pointless fights of bears and tigers fighting gerbals and bunnies. We want them fighting lions and leopards. Does the local highschool football team go on record to play the national or world champs? Does Jennifer Lopez get a shot Jones or Silva because she has fame and has trained in boxing for a movie? We have an order to hold to as we have moved from just seeing any fight to seeing the best fight each other. I watched my first UFC in 1994 a few months after the first one came out, when my dads friend rented it. I loved it but it was the start not the end plan. Anyone could fight at that time because nobody knew who could fight and there was no stepping platform. One thing I do miss though is I wish we could go back to a no rounds fight so that only a finish really wins a fight as that is a true win.
Good article.
Well, Forrest must feel like a piece of sh*t.
hello everybody my name is John Lao and I just wanted to introduce myself to the lowkick community. I love this community of MMA fans, and I look forward to some awesome debates!
Welcome john
Welcome and some debates you will have! Have fun.
we get a little heated sometimes but most of us shrug off and carry on. Welcome.
So Hale you don't think this kind of shit makes a mockery of MMA and the UFC and destroys so much of what they have been trying to build over the years? Doesn't this make UFC feel more and more like pro boxing?
Also the only economical gain UFC may see from these kinds of fights are short term, and in the long term it will hurt the UFC and MMA as a whole.
Lastly, the fact that the UFC seem this desperate to make a quick buck is really scary imo.
Krogan,
While I share the same sentiment that Sonnen doesn't necessarily deserve a shot at Jones, I also understand that in order for the UFC to expand, it has to have mainstream appeal. The circumstances surrounding Jones and Sonnen made it a perfect storm for this fight to happen. Jones' injury, the fact that Henderson was injured and Machida turned down the fight, coupled with the notion that Chael knows how to sell a fight and the TUF ratings struggle created the perfect brew to put Jones and Sonnen on TUF and culminate in a title fight.
Sadly, Jon Jones' dominance is his greatest drawback. At this point, there is no opponent that anyone believes can dethrone him at 205. Not to mention that the 205-ers aren't tripping over each other to call him out. What has to happen is the division needs a bonafide #1 contender in order to create an atmosphere for a challenging championship fight.
GSP's injury is the best thing that could happen to the welterweights because Condit emerged as a viable threat. Jones' stint on TUF can shake out the division so that by mid-2013 we have a believable opponent. I'll deal with the Chael nonsense in order to get there.
Mainstream comes in time, if they are fed rediculous fights it will only be short term success as they will not recognize the legitimacy of the sport only be entertained until they become real fans and be pissed. Most sports that are successful today are ones that kept things fair as people were willing to stay and see the results of top sports people competeing. If there was a little patience the masses will come because word would get out about how legit it is from the real fans. If it goes like the way it is the real fans will rub off on the casual fans and it will prove to be short term gain for long term pain. Danas lining his trousers right now but maybe thats just it he wants it all to happen on his watch to line his pockets and to make himself look the best in the future because of the fights he was able to set up.
Save the SPORT of mma. BOYCOTT THIS CRAP!!!!