[JayMillz]

Henderson got injured so Sonnen threw his hat in the ring, but Jones said no. Anderson Silva even tried to salvage the event but it will be cancelled instead.

http://sports.yahoo.com/news/mma--jon-jo...-boss.html

"Dana White said Jones' decision cost the UFC "millions and millions of dollars" and said it would have far-reaching implications."

[Kitsune]

This sort of stuff makes me glad I got to watch Pride while it was still around. I can understand everyone's point of view in this situation, but I sure do miss the days of Open Weight GP's, people taking fights out of the blue and fighters who actually seem to want to fight.

Oh, and I'd love to see Belfort get the win, preferably by KO. What a story that would be.

[Newb#3]

Pride was an organization that valued fighters who gave them exciting fights and events over wins and losses. The UFC is different.

Jon Jones did the right thing. He had nothing to gain, and a shitload to lose.

[JayMillz]

(08-24-2012 08:46 AM)Kitsune Wrote:  

This sort of stuff makes me glad I got to watch Pride while it was still around. I can understand everyone's point of view in this situation, but I sure do miss the days of Open Weight GP's, people taking fights out of the blue and fighters who actually seem to want to fight.

Agree 100% about Pride. I still watch some of the old fights on Youtube and was thinking about purchasing some DVDs of the old fights because they were that good. The overall atmosphere was bananas and the Japanese fight fans are very sophisticated.

Also, let's not forget that the old, pre-Dana White UFC was pretty good as well.

[jerome]

Sometimes you have to be selfish to be successful.

Jones live for himself, and that is why he is the champ.

On the other hand...I still hate him....never like his cockiness and how he treated his friend Rashad.

[tomtud]

(08-24-2012 09:43 AM)Newb#3 Wrote:  

Pride was an organization that valued fighters who gave them exciting fights and events over wins and losses. The UFC is different.

Jon Jones did the right thing. He had nothing to gain, and a shitload to lose.

If fighters act like this then they become phoney champs like boxing. See where boxing is today. If you are a fighter you fight everybody. Champions will fight on all comers. True champions that is.

[teh_skeeze]

I can't stand Dana White. He's crying about UFC losing millions and millions of dollars. My question is, how much of that money was going to wind up in Jones' pocket? My understanding is that White really puts the screws to his fighters when it comes to compensation. I don't blame Jones one bit. I bet these "far reaching" implications that White speaks of are fighters hand picking their opponents leading to them picking how much they want to get paid for it.

[JayMillz]

(08-24-2012 01:13 PM)teh_skeeze Wrote:  

I can't stand Dana White. He's crying about UFC losing millions and millions of dollars. My question is, how much of that money was going to wind up in Jones' pocket?

Good point. Also, I kinda blame Dana for putting together a card so weak it depends on 1 fighter.

Someone mentioned Pride already and the thing I liked was the tournament format and cards with multiple good and hungry fighters. UFC has become too much of a Twitter and reality show-driven business rather than a fight sport.

[UgSlayer]

Unfortunate situation. But the guy doesn't really have much to lose. Even if he had lost to Sonnen, there would be an immediate rematch.

[OGNorCal707]

I think Anderson Silva needs to step it up to light heavy weight to fight jones, Silva could easily bulk up to make weight, that would probably be the most compelling fight the UFC has ever seen and both guys could negotiate a fat payout, plus solidify their legend status for whoever wins. GSP vs. Silva is a less interesting fight to me, mainly because I think Silva is a better match for Jones as far as height, size, body type, and fighting styles are concerned.

Also, I think it's almost time for Jon Jones to step up to heavy weight, just like Silva could easily step up to light heavy weight, Jones is almost 6 ft 5 in. and could easily bulk up to make heavy weight. Jones vs. dos Santos would also be an epic fight.

[Newb#3]

No, Jones had a shitload to lose if he lost to Chael.

He's in the top three pound for pound, and many are putting him at #2 ahead of GSP at this point.

He's being hyped as having the potential to be the Michael Jordan of MMA.

Chael will no doubt talk a lot and do a good enough job of it that people will wonder if Jones is overrated.

And if he loses, it's to a true middleweight who was not training for a fight and effectively entered the fight on 3 days notice.

And he'll be losing to a guy that couldn't beat Silva at a division 20lbs lighter than Jones'. Which will kill his chances at being ranked #1 pound for pound for a while.

...

Meanwhile if Chael loses a fight he took on 3 days notice, to a the guy that has destroyed 4 of the greatest fighters in his division all time, who is oversized against natural light heavyweights, let alone middleweight Sonnen, I think the fans will be forgiving. Not to mention the good will he gets from agreeing to take the fight.

[Newb#3]

(08-25-2012 05:57 PM)OGNorCal707 Wrote:  

I think Anderson Silva needs to step it up to light heavy weight to fight jones, Silva could easily bulk up to make weight, that would probably be the most compelling fight the UFC has ever seen and both guys could negotiate a fat payout, plus solidify their legend status for whoever wins. GSP vs. Silva is a less interesting fight to me, mainly because I think Silva is a better match for Jones as far as height, size, body type, and fighting styles are concerned.

Also, I think it's almost time for Jon Jones to step up to heavy weight, just like Silva could easily step up to light heavy weight, Jones is almost 6 ft 5 in. and could easily bulk up to make heavy weight. Jones vs. dos Santos would also be an epic fight.

Silva won't fight Jones. The official reason is they are friends, but I think Silva knows he'll get beat pretty bad. Silva's a big middleweight but a small light heavyweight.

And Jon Jones is the largest light heavyweight probably ever. And he's one of the best wrestlers in MMA, which is Anderson's one weakness.

GSP vs. Silva should have happened years ago, but I think it's a closer and therefore more compelling matchup.

[joehoya]

I completely understand the decision. Guys are talking about how if he was a real fighter he would fight everybody. Hell, I used to feel the same way about Fedor refusing to come over to the UFC to fight the best, instead choosing to stay with smaller organizations where he was destroying everyone. At the same time, we have another thread about how the owners of the UFC are making tens of millions of dollars off of the blood, sweat, and tears of these fighters.

Jones is a PROFESSIONAL fighter, emphasis on PROFESSIONAL. This is his career. This is how he feeds his family (if he has one) and builds a future for them. EVERY decision he makes about his fights needs to keep that in mind. I know the fans are disappointed, but you know what? Fuck'em. If Jones becomes a has-been I wonder where those fans will be. Will they make his mortgage payment for him when he can no longer fight? Will they pay his kid's tuition when he is no longer physically able to entertain them by putting his body, health, and life on the line?

I would have loved to see a Jones/Sonnen fight. A Jones/Silva or Silva/GSP fight would be even bettter. But if the dude doesn't think that a fight like that would be in his best interest financially, I completely understand.

[Kitsune]

(08-25-2012 06:20 PM)joehoya Wrote:  

I completely understand the decision. Guys are talking about how if he was a real fighter he would fight everybody. Hell, I used to feel the same way about Fedor refusing to come over to the UFC to fight the best, instead choosing to stay with smaller organizations where he was destroying everyone.

I know it is besides the point, but this only really happened according to Dana White.

Since the fall of Pride, Fedor fought Arlovski and Silvia who were UFC champions, he also almost fought Barnett (and Belfort) and tried to get a fight with Couture. Considering at the time, around 2006-2008, those were the top of the pack in the UFC, I don't think there was anyone else to fight that would have had the combined rankings of the people above; especially when you consider that Nog and Cro-Cop were two of the other top contenders of the time.

In strikeforce, he fought Rogers (Who was ranked) Werdum, Silva and Henderson - who are all in the mix. If the GP had have gone differently, he could have fought Barnett, Overeem, Kharitonov etc.

When Dana White was saying 'Fedor should fight the best,' the UFC had Lesnar vs. Carwin, which is one of the worst excuses for a fight I've ever seen. One guy who couldn't stand up for more than five minutes versus a guy who was scared of being punched.

Mir is the only contender that is contemporary of Fedor that he didn't fight or almost fight, and he made his name from beating Silvia and Nog.

(To get more on point, Fedor fought at a weight class above Jones with a much shorter height, reach and weight. Jones is massive for a LHW, which is why it is bizarre that he didn't want Chael, a MW, after a full camp of preparing for Henderson who is better in every single way than Sonnen.)

[Newb#3]

Yeah, don't let Dana fool you. Fedor is the greatest MMA fighter of all time (although Anderson Silva is as close as one can get to taking that title from him).

Fedor was beating the best HW's in the world in while the UFC's HW division was a joke. The HW division at the UFC only recently became somewhat good, so he really wasn;t missing a lot by not fighting in the UFC.

The whole criticism of Fedor is just Dana and the UFC are trashing a fighter who didn't submit to their demands. Kind of like what they are doing to Jones, blaming him when they put out a card so shitty there was only really one fight to look forward to. Maybe they should have had better supporting fights?

Most notable pro fighters will either say Silva or Fedor is the GOAT. It doesn't matter what the UFC marketing machine says.

Didn't Dana once say that Randy Couture was overrated when they were in the middle of a contract dispute? lol...