Once the
call completed, I started reading some of the tweets that exploded all over
Twitter. The fan and fighter anger
towards Jones was unreal. He was called
a coward. He was accused of ducking
Sonnen. He was blasted all over the
place for ripping off the undercard fighters and preventing them from making a
living. It was absolutely surreal.
Personally,
while listening to the conference call, I was disappointed. I am a Jon Jones fan and love watching this
kid fight. I was absolutely pumped to
watch him fight an all-time great in Dan Henderson, and possibly continue his
legendary run through the light heavyweight division. I’ll admit I was surprised to hear that he
turned down the fight with Sonnen. They
had been in a pretty public Twitter spat and thought this would be a more
marketable fight. I’m used to watching
someone like Chuck Liddell who never turned down a fight. It just seemed so strange.
Before
ranting and spouting off like so many did online, I wanted to take my time and
wait for the Jones camp to speak before making any kind of opinion. I know it’s strange, waiting to receive
information from both sides before making an opinion, but it’s just how I
roll. Here is what Jon Jones, himself,
said in an interview with MMAJunkie.com
about it:
“Chael
is a completely different fighter. This is war. This is strategy. You have to
go in there prepared and know that you did your homework. I wouldn't be the
same warrior if I just jumped in there blindly and was cutting weight while I
was trying to prepare for the fight. Greg
Jackson wasn't going to show up until Friday. Coach (Mike) Winkeljohn wasn't
going to be there until Wednesday or Thursday. I would have been pretty much on
my own trying to prepare for a new opponent. That's just not the best way to
prepare. If this was my first fight in the UFC and I really didn't have a
choice and they needed somebody to step in last minute, if it was that type of
scenario, then I'd probably more open to it, but I'm a UFC champion, and I need
to perform that way. If I would have taken this fight, that would have been
letting my ego get in the way and not using my intellect. This is war, and you have
to go in there prepared. The criticism does bother me, but I have to stand by
my decision. I have to be the man that I am. With such large audiences comes
great criticism. There will be a lot of scrutiny, but I've got to do what makes
me happy and feels right to me. At the end of the day, I have to make the best
choice for me and my family. This is a professional sport. It's not just a
backyard fight. You put everything on the line every time you step into the
cage, and I now have a new mission. I'm all-in now, and I won't give anything
less than my full effort."
Like it or
not, his logic makes complete and total sense.
As much as we want to believe that mixed martial arts is a solo sport,
fighters need their trainers and coaches to properly prepare for a fight. The stakes are so much higher now than they
were just a few years ago. Gone are the
days of UFC 50, when Guy Mezger can get taken to the hospital the day before
the main event fight against Tito Ortiz and be replaced at the last minute with
Patrick Cote. The sport has gotten so
much bigger now, and that doesn’t even factor in that it was a title
fight! I completely understand why Jones
decided against it. I may not like it
and can be disappointed, but seriously, he’ll be fighting in a month against
Vitor Belfort (Originally supposed to be Lyoto Machida, but he turned it down;
where’s the backlash for him?). Quite
frankly, the “fans” should be disappointed with themselves for the attacks on
Jones. It’s really easy to sit behind a
keyboard and act tough. When you’re not
the one putting your belt on the line and your health at risk, it’s really easy
to say “Take the fight”. This is about
more than the fight. It’s about your
brand. Whether we like it or not,
athletes are not just athletes. They are
companies upon themselves who need to keep winning and looking good doing
it. No one wants to sponsor the guy who
is always losing. Nike isn’t signing up
to sponsor Kenneth
Allen. They want their brand
associated with a winner like Jon Jones or Anderson Silva. The shelf life for a professional fighter is
not long, so being intelligent about fights and sponsorships is paramount to securing
a financial future for their families.
It’s so easy
for the fans to point their finger and blame Jones. The way that UFC president Dana White, a man
I am extremely fond of, painted him made it possible. However, for the full spectrum of blame to go
on Jones is both shortsighted and flat out wrong. Take this into account:
- Dan
Henderson was hurt a mere week prior to his fight. Injuries are an unfortunate part of combat
sports. He has to get a portion of the
blame, though, for being the reason Jones is not fighting.
- On the
conference call, White himself said that a few guys were offered the fight with
Jones and they turned it down. While we
don’t know who they were, or if Jones would have taken the fight, why aren’t we
mad at the guys who lacked the courage to step up to Jones? This is the UFC light heavyweight
championship of the world!! If there is
ever a time to step in on short notice, this is it. How quickly we forget that Jones himself
stepped in for an injured Rashad Evans to fight for the belt.
- The lack
of depth on this card played a major part in why it was cancelled. This isn’t Jon Jones’ fault at all. This one has to go straight to the top
brass. The UFC has a tremendous track
record of putting on shows that normally give you multiple “names” for a pay
per view card. While you may be excited
for the main event, the undercard is normally stacked with solid fighters that
can easily be upgraded to a top slot without losing too much hype. This was one of the rare cards with a
tremendous lack of depth. Hardcore fans
like me are familiar with Jay Hieron and Jake Ellenberger, but the mainstream
public won’t get excited for that in a main event. That is the key to this card getting
cancelled. They made it too much like a
boxing event, with too much focus on the main event and not enough marketable
fighters on the undercard.
While on the
topic of undercard fighters, Jones has taken such a verbal beating, blaming him
for the financial loss of the lower tier fighters on the card. This is such an uncalled for attack on
him. Read the following words very
closely…Jon Jones did not cancel the card, the UFC management cancelled the
event. Again, just so you can let it
sink in… Jon Jones did not cancel the card; the UFC management cancelled the
event. To blame Jones for this
is absolutely ridiculous. You expect him
to jeopardize his career and health for someone else? It’s not his responsibility to take care of
the entire card. His job is to make the
right choices for himself and his career.
Calling him selfish is both out of line and ridiculous. You want him to feel bad for putting himself
in a good financial position, and not needing to live fight to fight, paycheck
to paycheck. Should my doctor friends
feel bad for me because they are in a better financial position than me? Heck no!
Their choices put them in a good position, whereas I made alternate
choices that have me in a different position.
That’s called life. If you’re
going to sit and blame Jon Jones for those guys missing a paycheck, you really
need to reevaluate how you look at things.
It’s not his responsibility. Stop
playing “The Blame Game”. While I’m sure
he feels bad about being part of the reason they don’t have that check on the
first, it’s not his problem. If those
fighters blame him, they should look for a new line of work because that is not
a champion’s mentality.
I think the
real undercurrent of this entire spectacle is the growing distaste for
Jones. It seemingly came out of nowhere
after his destruction of Ryan Bader.
People seemed to dislike this kid simply based on him being successful. He is the LeBron James of the UFC. Immensely talented with no real reason to
dislike him, yet a growing (and loud) contingent of fans have turned their
backs on him. The problem is that Jon
Jones is already a winner and champion.
LeBron James was able to fix the perceived image some had of him by
having an absolutely legendary season, culminating in an NBA championship and
Olympic gold medal. Jones, already being
a champion and dominant, will have a much harder time changing his image. Success breeds contempt. It’s almost impossible to change the opinions
of the masses. It’s a sad state of
affairs when people seem to hate a young man simply because of jealousy of his
success.
The last
thing I wanted to address was the challenger that was put in front of Jones,
former middleweight contender Chael Sonnen.
Sonnen is an extremely intelligent businessman. He started a war of words on Twitter with
Jones as soon as he made the decision to move up to light heavyweight. Chael was able to talk his way into a title
shot with Anderson Silva, so why not try it with Jones too? Here’s a guy who hasn’t fought in the
division since October of 2005, which was a loss to Renato “Babalu” Sobral.
From a business
standpoint, I understand the decision to put Sonnen against Jones. He’s a marketable guy that entertains with
his crazy, WWE-inspired interviews. He’s
a guy the mainstream media is familiar with, which helps if you have to promote
a fight in only eight days. By no means
does that make you worthy, from the pure sports standpoint, of getting a title
shot against Jones.
The funny
part of this is the hypocrisy that so many are displaying online regarding
Sonnen. Just three days ago, the
internet was buzzing that Sonnen better not get a title shot if he beats
Forrest Griffin in their December fight.
“It wouldn’t be fair for him to jump everyone in the division.” “A win over Griffin shouldn’t make you the
number one contender.” It went on and
on. Fast forward to a few days later and
those same people are calling out Jones for not fighting a guy they said wasn’t
worthy of a shot? Really? You have a guy who is coming off of a loss at
middleweight and the very next fight is a light heavyweight title fight? From a pure sport perspective, that is
ridiculous.
From the
business standpoint, I think it would have been lose-lose for Jones to take
this fight on short notice. The pay per
view revenue would not have been as high as it could have been. Fighting Sonnen, with the full amount of
marketing behind it, would be a huge financial success for all involved. If they do it on short notice, it’s not going
to make as big of an impact.
Additional
what if he won against Sonnen? He was supposed
to win against a guy who hasn’t fought at that weight in seven years. If he lost?
He got beat by a middleweight and the vocal, hate filled crowd would
start calling him hype. However, if
Jones were to have lost, the rematch would have been a massive pay per
view. The storylines would be all there:
- Jones only
had three days (the other five days are weight cutting and media obligations)
to prepare for a completely different fighter.
- Sonnen is
friends and a training partner with Dan Henderson, so he knew the game plan and
how they expected to win.
- Jones has
a full camp to prepare for Sonnen, how does the former champ respond?
It would have
been fun to see.
In watching
all of this unfold, I completely understand and fully support Jon Jones’
decision to back out. He’s taking too
much of the blame for the cancellation of the card. He did not make the final decision to cancel
the card. Rumors have started to come
out that guys like Anderson Silva (at light heavyweight; not against Jones) and
Chris Weidman had offered to step up and fight that night. The UFC made the decision to cancel the card
and move the existing fights to upcoming events, which are only a few weeks away. Chael Sonnen was not deserving of a title
shot and tried talking his way into one, which Jones said last week he would
not allow him to do. I commend Jones for
not allowing Sonnen to talk his way into another title fight, and make him earn
his way there. If Sonnen and Jones ever
meet in the Octagon, that fight will do massive business now. When we look back (given Jones vs Sonnen happens),
this move by Jones will look extremely smart.
This entire
thing boils down to your personal opinion of Jon Jones. If you weren’t a fan before, nothing he does
will make you happy and you’ll blame him for whatever you feel like. If you are a fan, you’re likely disappointed
he isn’t fighting next week but stoked he is fighting in a month. Regardless of what happens, I will still be a
fan of Jon Jones. Unlike the fair-weather
fans who flip back and forth on who they like/hate, some of us stick with our
favorites. You can disagree with Jones’
decision, but that doesn’t give someone who used to be a fan the right to call
him out.
Loyalty…a
word lost on so many sports fans.
