Pros React to UFC 151 Cancellation

Leucoethiops · 08-23-2012, 08:08 PM

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Aug 23, 2012 - At some point during Thursday afternoon's fateful conference call, UFC President Dana White dropped a mid-rant comment about how light heavyweight champion Jon Jones has struggled to gain popularity with fans, and the day's events probably wouldn't help him in that regard. In all likelihood White's words will prove to be 100-percent correct, but the level of vitriol spewed from fans was nothing when compared to flood of hatred let loose by Jones' fellow fighters....

Jones rejected the Sonnen fight, UFC 151 was subsequently cancelled, and White downright threw Jones and his trainer, Greg Jackson, under the bus for what he called a "selfish, disgusting" decision.

In truth, the whole situation is as shocking and bizarre as it gets. But none are hurt more than the fighters who invested countless dollars and the last three months of their lives preparing for a bout that will never come, and nowhere was that stark truth more evident than on Twitter.

Pros React

Follow the link to check the tweets, including but not even close to limited to:

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michael @bisping
Jones said he's not fighting chael on 8 days notice. I did. .... Just sayin

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Jeff Hougland @JeffHougland
@JonnyBones Can I at least get one of your new Nike T-shirts? I'll give it to my kid since I won't have any money for her school clothes.

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Charlie Brenneman @SpaniardMMA
@JonnyBones u can send my check to PO box 198. EH NJ. Rent is due the first, so preferably by then. Thanks. @ufc

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Jason High @KCBanditMMA
Screw u guys calling him selfish man. I can’t stand fans. Of course he’s selfish. Who’s gonna take care of his shit if he doesn’t. You? #FOH

Sakara=Excitement · 08-23-2012, 08:12 PM

Three UFC 151 undercard fighters fire back at Jon Jones, explain financial implications of the cancelled event - MMAmania.com

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Wanting to get to the bottom of the situation, Matt Bishop booked all three men for an appearance on Bloody Elbow Radio just hours ago to get their immediate reaction to the situation. You'll be stunned to see just how much the cancellation of UFC 151 affects not only each fighter's personal livelihood, but their friends and families as well.

We've got all the juicy quotes posted after the jump:

UFC lightweight Daron Cruickshank, who was set to fight Henry Martinez on the preliminary card

-On how the event cancellation affected him

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"Another thing, I was expecting to fight. I was expecting money to come in and I spent a lot of money getting ready for this fight, a lot of money that I wouldn't have spent if I wasn't getting ready for a fight."

"When I'm getting ready for fights, I don't teach anybody. I'm not training anybody. So I'll have to get back on the horse and start training, doing personals, maybe teaching at other gyms and doing seminars. Whatever I can do. It's not gonna break me. I've got a ton of student loans that I'm paying off right now so that sucks. I'm just an up-and-comer. I'm not the main event so I just have to make it work."

-On the monetary implications of not fighting next weekend, including sponsorships:

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"I'm a walking billboard and when I go out there, that's when you get paid. I don't have any sponsors that take care of me every month just to do it. That does suck. I'm missing out on probably about 30 grand not fighting. That sucks."

-On Jon Jones

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"Money talks. It sucks that he ruined the whole card."

UFC welterweight Charlie Brenneman, who was expected to battle Kyle Noke in the first bout of the evening

-On how he's feeling right now:

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"I've been through a lot of stuff in my career. The highs and lows, the ups and downs, the lefts and rights. I hate to say it but I'm almost not too surprised that this is happening to be honest. Behind the scenes stuff that we know about that fans don't know about. Fights falling through, possible match-ups happening, not happening but this definitely takes the cake as the suckiest thing that's happening to me in my career. There has been some other stuff, but it's kind of hard to take in."

-What his immediate reaction was to the news:

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"This is my job. Imagine working six to eight weeks and your boss saying, 'Well, I'm not gonna be able to pay you for the last eight weeks so sorry about that.'"

-How the decision by Jones and the UFC affects his friends and family:

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"I guess I'm kind of pointing the finger at Jon Jones and Greg Jackson but I don't know what they talked about behind closed doors. What people don't realize it trickles down to, I just got married, my wife just spent 600 bucks on a plane ticket. Her best friend just spent 600-700 bucks on a plane, a room. My parents spent money on a flight, a room. They booked a helicopter trip around the Grand Canyon."

-On the champion's obligation to accept the fight:

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"Here's my biggest thing. Jon Jones was offered a fight on eight days' notice. It's a big situation. You're the champion of the world. Your risk is very, very high but guess what? You're in this sport. You became the best. When you're in the limelight, when you're Peyton Manning or these guys, there comes a level of obligation that you owe, you inherently owe as a famous sports figure. And what that is is that's maybe doing things sometimes that you may not want to do personally because you understand and you have the integrity to say that, 'You know what? I have to do this. I might not want to do this but I'm in a situation where I have to do this.' If fighting gets me a Bentley and I can drive around in a Bentley, I guaran-damn-tee ya that I'll fight anyone, anywhere, any time."

-On what he would have done in the same situation:

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"If the UFC had called me up and offered me 100 grand to fight Jon Jones, I would have said 'Yes' in a heartbeat. In a heartbeat. It's so frustrating."

UFC bantamweight Jeff Hougland, who was slated to face Takeya Mizugaki on the preliminary card

-On how the decision to cancel UFC 151 affects him:

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"I need that money. I've got bills to pay and stuff. It's not my only source of income but it's definitely one of the ways that I live. I need that. I won't get any sponsorship money now. I won't get any show money. Nothing. It's hard. It's a rough spot to be in but what do I do? I'm kind of just in a weird place right now."

-On his tweet directed at Jon Jones earlier today:

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"It was a dig at Jon Jones. To say that I'm not upset about it would be a lie. Chael Sonnen offers to fight him, the dude is coming off a loss, eight days' notice, going up in weight and you're the champion. I like Chael Sonnen. I think he's cool, funny and great, but I can't see any way he beats Jon Jones. I just can't. Even if for some reason he landed a lucky punches and he beat Jon Jones, he'd get an instant rematch. People would forgive him if he fights on eight days' notice. You can't expect the greatest thing out of you. I understand he's trying to protect whatever he's got going but my daughter's gonna be fine. If I had to go get a job and flip burgers to make sure my kid was gonna be ok, that's what I am gonna do. I just wanted to let him know his decision affected a lot of other guys that are trying to get where he's getting. There was a time where Jon Jones was on the undercards and stuff like that I wonder how he would have liked it if Chuck Liddell or someone on a fight he was the undercard for said, 'Ehh, I'm not gonna fight.' It would be rough for him."

-On Jones' decision to turn down the fight:

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"I never got a choice in who I'm fighting. They call, say what's going on and the day I need to be ready and that's what's happening. I don't argue. I guess if you're champ you get some options. I wasn't aware that that was an issue. I thought everybody, UFC, Dana told you who you were fighting and that's who you're fighting. Him being UFC champ, this event is riding on you. Step up."

-On what he would have done if in Jon Jones' situation:

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"You've got everything stacked in your favor. You're bigger, [Sonnen] doesn't have time to train. He's a guy from a different weight class. It's not like he's going from Dan Henderson, the fighter with a big right hand to some other crazy striker, some completely opposite style, he's basically fighting Dan Henderson without the big right hand. I don't understand why his camp chose not to do that or why he chose not to do that. That's their issue. I don't see why it was such a big deal."

-On how the event cancellation affects his friends and family:

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"This is probably the worst part for me and I've had horrible luck with this. I wouldn't be surprised if my people don't want to go to anything I tell them to again. I had guys book tickets to go to Washington D.C. and have me fight Mike Easton and six days before, I break my hand, have surgery and have to back out. I had buddies fly from California and Washington. Then I was set to fight Renan Barao at UFC 148 and people booked tickets to see me fight, then I get pulled to fight in Virginia. A lot of those people couldn't get their money back. Now, I tell them I'm gonna fight Mizugaki at UFC 151 and they all bought tickets and hotel rooms and that's not gonna happen. I'm trying to build a fanbase and a support system and stuff but I keep screwing them over with stuff like this. The injury thing, that was my fault and nobody to blame but me. We're not baking cookies, we're fighting and that stuff happens but as far as this fight being cancelled, it's probably gonna hurt me in terms of fan support. I had about 40 people planned to come out to this last show."

-On the career implications of this fight being cancelled

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"Miguel Torres just got cut and he's a much bigger name than me. I'm coming off a loss and I'm figuring if I lose my next fight I'm getting cut. I was really trying to avoid a short notice fight. I don't want to jump out there and fight someone on a week or two, three week's notice and risk that but I guess I have to make a living too. I'll do what I have to do. I don't have much choice. If the UFC calls me, I'll fight."

The Donosaur · 08-23-2012, 08:35 PM

They are just haters.

disposableassassin · 08-23-2012, 08:38 PM

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Originally Posted by The Donosaur

They are just haters.

Ramma · 08-23-2012, 08:50 PM

I think it's hard to completely blame Jones in all of this. I mean, Jones should have taken the fight. An out of camp 185 pound fighter who is a wrestler is not harder than a battle ready fighter who is a wrestler with much better striking. Jones should have taken the fight without question, if only from a PR stand point. I don't think anyone would really expect Chael to win that fight, and you know if you did, Jones would have gotten an immediate rematch. That's reality.

At the same time, UFC is equally to blame for putting Jones in this situation. Yes, they said it on the phone conference but many of us have been saying "too many events", "the cards aren't stacked like they used to be" for over a year. UFC put Jones in this situation, forcing Jones to make a very hard decision. Jones still had plenty to gain by taking the fight though. Not taking it will hurt him more in the long run.

Sniggles · 08-23-2012, 09:30 PM

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Originally Posted by Ramma

I think it's hard to completely blame Jones in all of this. I mean, Jones should have taken the fight. An out of camp 185 pound fighter who is a wrestler is not harder than a battle ready fighter who is a wrestler with much better striking. Jones should have taken the fight without question, if only from a PR stand point. I don't think anyone would really expect Chael to win that fight, and you know if you did, Jones would have gotten an immediate rematch. That's reality.

At the same time, UFC is equally to blame for putting Jones in this situation. Yes, they said it on the phone conference but many of us have been saying "too many events", "the cards aren't stacked like they used to be" for over a year. UFC put Jones in this situation, forcing Jones to make a very hard decision. Jones still had plenty to gain by taking the fight though. Not taking it will hurt him more in the long run.

Not completely but it is not difficult to comprehend what the results of his actions are. All he had to do was show up and fight on the same day against a SMALLER opponent than he was scheduled to fight as well as an out of shape opponent. Jones had alot more to gain than he had to lose. What Jones had to gain was the respect of the fans who praised him when he took the Shogun fight and admired his dominance. Instead, Jones loses the industry's and its fans' respect by making a cowardly decision.

Renny · 08-23-2012, 09:47 PM

Jon Jones reminds me of Dwight Howard....Everybody loved him at the beginning cause he was humble, nice, and just having fun....until he showed his true colors..arrogant, cocky, me first attitude.....now people hate him.....

Ramma · 08-23-2012, 09:53 PM

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Originally Posted by Sniggles

Not completely but it is not difficult to comprehend what the results of his actions are. All he had to do was show up and fight on the same day against a SMALLER opponent than he was scheduled to fight as well as an out of shape opponent. Jones had alot more to gain than he had to lose. What Jones had to gain was the respect of the fans who praised him when he took the Shogun fight and admired his dominance. Instead, Jones loses the industry's and its fans' respect by making a cowardly decision.

Oh absolutely. I agree 100% that Jones should have taken this fight. It was an easier fight even if Chael was ready. With only 8 days to train, this fight was the easiest match Jones could ask for. All Jones did was hurt himself by not taking it. Sure, Jones risks losing the title, but he lost so much more than that. He's got his peers pissed, his bosses pissed and many fans are pissed. And, he will be known forever as "The Guy Who Let 151 Fail" whether it's really his fault or not.

This was nothing but a bad decision not to take the fight. I fully believe if he lost, which he wouldn't have, Dana would have given him an immediate rematch (as I said above).

Renny · 08-23-2012, 10:03 PM

Beat this fool with 8 days notice and you basically cement your legacy....if you lose, you have a reason/excuse as to why you lost.....by not taking the fight....you just gave sonnen ammo to throw out more WWE type promos dissing you..as well as fans and fighters that you let down....not a good move....

earle · 08-23-2012, 11:25 PM

Jones should have taken this fight IMHO. This is the stuff that makes you a legend, and gets you even more money in the long run, and he blew off the opportunity.

However, I do think he is getting some (bad?) advice from Greg Jackson. He is listening to his coaches, and doing exactly what they say. That is usually a good path to follow, but sometimes you have to make your own decisions, and just do what's right.

At the end of the day it's his body in there, and his ass on the line, noboby would have any sympathy for him if he lost to Sonnen. In fact, he would probably be ridiculed, so I can see his point of view... a little bit.

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