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[Sniggles]

[disposableassassin]

[Sakara=Excitement]

[Goremire]

Originally Posted by rivethead

I agree with everything I didn't repost...but do you think there is a more effective way of disciplining Jones, without looking like you don't have control of your employees--or your company--while you do it publically?
rh

This. I'm of the view that any airing of company dirty laundry in public is a bad idea. No matter how many buses Dana throws Bones and Jackson under it won't change the fact that Dana comes out of this situation looking incompetent for not having a contingency plan for the main event, and weak for being held over a barrel by his 20 something LHW champion. He's the president, and when he told his employee to do something, his employee said "No." what does Dana do in response? Throw a hissy fit and cancel the card thereby costing his organization millions of dollars. Not. A. Good. Look.

Dana made the first mistake by not ensuring that the card could survive the main even being scrapped. This would be halfway forgiveable if it was the first time something like this had happened but for fucks sake it's not. Last minute injuries are a known variable for the UFC by now.

Having said that, Jones and his team are dumbshits for not taking the Sonnen fight. Forget the fight itself, or the merits of the Sonnen's selection as a challenger: Jones and his team sacrificed so much potential PR and so much potential leverage over the UFC it's not funny. Take the fight and this whole shitstorm is avoided, you've saved your bosses ass and the same fans who are baying for your blood think you're the man. As a business/branding decision it was straight up retarded.

I've said it before a ill say it again: this whole situation is a clusterfuck and should not have been allowed to happen. And the main reason Jones is copping so much flack is because Dana got on the front foot and got his version of events out there before Jones did. History is written by winners, and Dana clearly won the PR battle. Between Jones' inability to articulate himself under pressure and Jackson's greasy attempts to distance himself from the decision to turn down the fight, if not the actual advice ("Hey, I'm just a trainer, just going my opinion...hypothetically, you understand") this was never a fair fight to begin with.

Originally Posted by AnchorPunch

The twist is that the UFC isn't publicly traded and the closest to a publicly traded entity in the fight game are the fighters themselves, as sponsorship contracts change over time due to both success and public image. DW just made a huge statement that he can influence that public image. It's a serious power play that I think had to be done before anyone could really understand the implications.

it was a power play, although Dana has thrown opponents under the bus previously, I can't recall anything like on this scale before. Time will tell if it's a smart move or not. He's shown that he's not afraid to publicly burn his top guys if he feels they've screwed him. If I were the Fertita's, I'd be asking the question of why it was necessary in the first place. After all, Jones will probably smash Belfort, and anyone's else they place in front of him. The UFC has to keep working with Jones - but the relationship is badly damaged at this point. Ultimately, as the UFC profits from Jones image (the more fans he has te more money they make) they've just damaged that investment. Rightly or wrongly, Jones is copping the brunt of this. How the hell are they gonna market their champion for Belfort fight in four weeks time when the president is publicly slating him rigt now? Or the fight after that?

Just dumb, dumb, dumb. Just so unnecessary. We should be talking right now about how close UFC151 came to not happening, and how the UFC need to urgently review the number of cards and the quality of fights on them. We should be congratulating Jones on being a true champ for stepping up, commending Sonnen for taking the fight on short notice, and whether he'll get finished in the first round or second.

We should not be talking about the first ever card cancelation in UFC history, and all the myriad ways that sucks a barrel full of asses.

[joeodd2]

^^^This, although I do disagree with one point. Sonnen should never have even been an option. If it was another LHW or even MW on a winning streak, I'd agree entirely. But to have a losing fighter fight for the title sets the biggest MMA promotion in the world and the sport it'self back in the eyes of the mainstream sports world. It's WWE territory, and no one can deny that.

Yes Dana and company were in a tough spot, but I still believe the first call they should have made was to Jon Jones, and told his Champion the entire situation before calling ANYONE else. He got used to dictating terms to fighters unconditionally, so calling Jones first wasn't even a thought in his mind. He thought that Jones would do whatever he told him to do, and I will give Jones some blame in that because he's stated publicly that he would do anything the UFC told him to do. So after reviewing some of his past statements, yes JON JONES HAS SOME ACCOUNTABILITY in this situation. That being said, Dana still should have made the call and found out what his Golden Goose had to say about taking a new fight on 8 days notice. In the future, I bet the Champion of any weight class will be Dana's first call now. Otherwise he's an arrogant fool. Now if Jones did not feel right about taking the fight, then he made the right decision in my book. If it was another LHW contender, then I would agree with stripping the title.

But Sonnen who is so far removed from any title picture, coming off a loss, and in a different weight class at that? Like I said, Sonnen should never have been considered. Everyone seems mad Jones didn't take a "gimme fight". Am I crazy to still think that MMA is a sport and not want to see the Champion take a "Gimme Fight"? That a champions should actually face a *GASP* Challenge? That's why they call his opponents "Challengers" right? If they couldn't find a sufficient challenge for Jones to face, then cancelling the event with no mention of this nonsense would have been the wisest and smartest choice the UFC could have made. And I believe 99% of smart business men in the world would have made that decision. But we're stuck with Dana White. I can't wait for the day the UFC stops being a fucking reality TV show and becomes a serious professional business enterprise.......maybe then this sport can get some real traction....

[rivethead]

In retrospect, I think Lorenzo should have handled the negotiations with Jones. I think he would have been able to convince him that it was the thing to do, taking away the pissing-contest inevitability that comes with dana.

I also think they should have offered a second-tier HW, not a sonnen. Someone like Gonzaga. It makes the fight credible, takes away the title shot, and Jones could focus on the bout rather than the weight cut for that final week. And if he won, it would do wonders for his alleged p4p status.


but that's just me.
rh

[RearNakedStroke]

Originally Posted by rivethead

I also think they should have offered a second-tier HW, not a sonnen. Someone like Gonzaga. It makes the fight credible, takes away the title shot, and Jones could focus on the bout rather than the weight cut for that final week. And if he won, it would do wonders for his alleged p4p status.

Another great idea that was probably not even considered.

If they wanted to keep the card alive at any cost they could have. They could have had Chael fight any random fighter that's a halfway decent draw that would step up. Hell, they probably could have thrown some money at Kimbo and brought him in to fight Chael at HW. Just call the event UFC 151: Chael Will Fight Anyone. It wouldn't be much more of a freakshow than having Chael fight for the LHW title.

Seriously though, I really think Dana screwed up huge in this whole situation. I know he doesn't shoulder all of the blame for the company having put together such a weak ppv card that it couldn't survive a last minute injury, but as the face of the company he has to take some of it. Someone with a cooler head probably could have kept things together and figured something out. I'm sure Dana will have to answer for this, though he probably wont get thrown under the bus publicly for it.