With the cancellation of UFC 151, Jon Jones has felt the lion share of the blame. After Dan Henderson injured his knee and was unable to fight, Jones turned down a fight with Chael Sonnen on short notice that would have enabled the event to continue. Not long after the event was cancelled, social media sites and blogs were abuzz with accusation of how Jones cowardly refused a fight, when he in fact said in the past that he would fight anyone at anytime.
Many people including Dana White seemed to place the blame at Greg Jackson’s feet. As Jon Jones head coach and trainer he advised the light heavyweight champion to turn down that fight, sighting the vary differences in style between Sonnen and Henderson. Although a new member of the division, a recent twitter war between Jones and Sonnen made the bout at least intriguing on the surface. However, once the fight was refused, the event was cancelled and everyone from MMA fans, to the fighters themselves looked for someone too blame, and Jones was the easy target.
On Twitter, UFC under-card fighters like Charlie Brenneman vented their frustrations about losing a pay day. With Jones being placed in the cross hairs. Even the normally reserved Dan Henderson mocked Jon Jones by offering “For a limited quantity, if you purchase the Dan Henderson shirt that would’ve been his walkout tee for UFC 151, you will receive a free Jon Jones shirt free to wash your car with!” UFC 151 fighter Jeff Hougland tweeted Jones, asking for one of his signature NIKE shirts so he could put clothes on his kids. Most of the fighters on the lost card will be out tremendous expenses, and now will not be receiving any pay for the lost event. The frustration is understandable.
It has been quite entertaining seeing all of the insults hurled at the young champion, most adhering to the twitter guideline of 140 characters or less. Now it seems, the champ has heard enough. Recently, in an interview with Neil Springer of Toronto Sun Jones lashed out at Henderson, and the UFC. “There’s some unfinished business, for sure. I don’t think Henderson handled the situation wisely, by making fun of me for not taking the fight (against Sonnen). Dude, you just dodged a bullet and you’re talking trash to me? You got injured and you’re going to talk trash that I didn’t fight Chael?” Jones said. ““He came out with this ad that said, ‘Buy a Hendo shirt and get a free Jon Jones shirt to dry your car off with.’ You’re making fun of me, yet you got hurt and dodged a bullet? You’re sitting at home with ice on your knee and I’m here doing pushups again because I thought my camp should have been over. I have stuff to do and you’re sitting around your home playing video games, or whatever you do during the day. You should shut up and be grateful you dodged a bullet.”
With Vitor Bellfort set to face off against Jon Jones and Dan Henderson waiting in the wings, the division has some exciting fights to look forward too. Up and coming contenders Alex Gustafsson (14-1 MMA) and Glover Texiera (16-2 MMA) will also look to stake their claim at a title shot although they may very well be lost behind the bravado of the very lippy self proclaimed People Champion Chael Sonnen.
THE CLINCH REPORT 