Since the topic of Sonnen's title shot against Jones came up, I figured Id drop my 2 cents on it since I wasnt really in the board when all of that happened. Well, first let me start with the claim that he bypasses people for his title shots. Really the only time he talked his way into a title shot was against Jones, when he first got his shot against Silva, he earned it fair and square with back to back wins over Marquardt and Okami which is no easy feat and its not like there was any other contender out there really in front of him. And for his second shot, he put 2 wins together against a decent oponent in Stann and a solid fighter in Bisping after giving Silva by far the hardest test of his UFC career, so again I think he earned that title shot as well. Granted he talked a lot, but he backed it up in the ring as well. I really dont think anyone can make a case as to why he didnt deserve his first shot and I know the vast majority of people wanted to see that rematch.
Now, on to the Jones shot, and this might be a bit of a stretch but I thought Id share a possible scenario I thought about. Please keep in mind this is complete speculation. But I think there is always two sides to everything, specially when it comes to such a big company like the UFC. We have to remember this all happened very fast and only about 8 days before a huge event. Henderson gets injured and now the UFC has to scramble to find an opponent, they go down the list as they said, Machida/Shogun/Evans... all the way to Sonnen, who says yes. The problem is Jones says no and the event gets canceled. Now, I think its possible that Sonnen signed the doted line to save the event and after that Jones declined, so I think its possible that clever Sonnen put a caveat in that contract stating that he would get his shot no matter what. Again this is total speculation, but I dont think its impossible, we cant forget that there is a lot behind the scenes, lawyers, agents, sponsors... anyways feel free to shoot my theory down.
PS I understand why fighters like Machida and Shogun turned down the fight as they has a lot to lose from a title shot in such short notice where Sonnen really had nothing to lose.
PPS Its very hard for me to actually defend Sonnen as Im not a fan and was not a fan at all of his promotion against Silva as a mater of fact Id be happy to see him lose to Jones and retire. But I do my best not to be biased.
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