MMA Discussion Thread Part XV

MonkeyPrince

Agreed

I think Dana realised he was trying to sell a turd with a bow round it (I just made that up and thought it was so bad I had to write it) and so dropped the event knowing that JBJ would take most of the flak.

Apparently Anderson Silva offered to fight 'any other LHW' on short notice to save the event

repoman

I'm surprised the card couldn't be salvaged.  But I still think that Jones is a total dick and his image will never recover from this and that Greg Jackson is soon going to be the most hated man in MMA.

As for Dana not being professional, that guy is always working, always travelling.  No one has done more for MMA than him and I appreciate his honesty.

DrPhil

I don't dispute that.

I'm just saying that as MMA grows and becomes a more mainstream sport, sooner or later Dana is going to take a step too far.

repoman

you may be right, but with a sport like MMA with all it's blood, guts and heavy metal soundtrack that line is probably pretty far away.

still can't believe Jones didn't take the fight.  Such a diva.  Is this the same guy who took apart the division in 2011?

My only question is why is he being given a meaningless fight at UFC 152?  They are bringing in Belfort.  That's a nothing fight for Jones.  Belfort's getting on a bit, Jones is super unpopular right now.  Why not wait until Machida is ready.

Bit surprised that Machida didn't take the fight.  He's a bit of a bender for that.

DrPhil

He already came close to it with calling Loretta Hunt a word that starts with C and sounds like her surname, and calling fighters f****ts.  Also regularly tells fans on twitter to go F themselves etc.

He basically admitted that Lorenzo Fertitta got more involved in the running of the UFC because he is not as brash as White.

Boris360

I'm not sure what the situation is with Machida but if you're saying he was given the option to take this fight once Hendo had pulled out and Machida refused, I don't really blame him. He was promised the next crack at Jones anyway so why would he scrap that and take the fight at short notice instead? He had full prep last time and still got soundly beaten, taking it without proper notice is hardly likely to improve his chances. It's different for someone like Sonnen because it's an opportunity to jump the queue for a title shot that he may never have got otherwise.

I think the onus is on Jones here because he was scheduled to headline this event and has proper time to prepare and manage his weight etc unlike any of the people that are being asked to step in at short notice.
Obviously Chael isn't the most deserving candidate but if he's the only one willing to do it then Jones should've accepted.

I'm desperately trying to think of a way to justify what he did because I'm a big fan of his but I think he's misjudged this badly.

I don't think Dana is handling this well either.

DrPhil

I think the issue is that Machida was offered Jones at 152, not 151 next week.

Spidey987

I think there's a big difference between Jon Jones, who is now at the end of an extensive fight camp turning down a fight against an out of shape 185 pounder and Machida, who realistically has one shot at the title in the foreseeable future, turning down the fight because he wants a full camp. Machida wanted a level playing field, Jones had a huge advantage and yet still turned the fight down.

Boris360

I didn't know that. That's different then. I suppose it comes down to what incentive Machida was given to take the fight on shorter notice than he would've had and whether he though it was worth it.

I haven't been following this until this morning but it seems that Dana is blaming everyone but himself for this. He seems to be actively inciting hatred to the Jackson camp to deflect any criticism of himself. He surely has to take some of the blame for this (for the reasons milkman pointed out). I'm surprised at the lack of contingency plan.

Spidey987

When you consider that the final week before the event is a lot of promotional work, realistically you're looking at 3 weeks of training for one of the biggest matches of his career that will have huge ramifications for the level of fights he'll get in the years to come. And his last fight with Jones was only 8 months ago, if Jones continues to be a dominant champion, even if he builds an impressive record at 205 pounds, he's not getting another shot anytime soon and would probably be forced to 185.