UFC

I think the ufc letting sonnen almost talk his way into another title fight is a joke, and i am glad it didn't happen. its a month since he got tko's in a lower weight class, if thats there best option they really are short on fighters and they need to cut back on the number of shows if they don't have a big enough roaster. The rest of the event was seriously weak, which is why they had to cancel.
Stripping their most active champion for fighting a different fighter 4 weeks later would make them look more amateur than they are making themselves look. jones should have taken the sonnen fight but blaming him for all this and making out the guy, who's wrecked nearly all the top contenders at just 25, is a coward or pussy is laughable.
Also interesting point Sonnen is a training partner of Henderson so knew he was injured 3 weeks ago, the same time he started trash talking Jon jones, coincidence?

I like the idea of putting Jones aside & letting 2 others fight for the title with Jones then fighting the winner.
I wouldn't put Chael Sonnen in there though.
Fitness depending:
Shogun v Gustafsson (Fighting at UFC on Fox 5 in December with the winner probably getting a shot)
Evans v Machida
Belfort v Rampage (If Rampage won he'd have to stay)
Or just offer it to Forrest who would run, walk, swim & crawl to the arena & still be willing to give everything for 25min.

Another thing they could have done is use the 35-40min time slot of the main event to have a sitdown interviews in the octagon with GSP about his time off injured & possible return against Carlos Condit. Also BJ Penn about his time out & return against Rory MacDonald at UFC on Fox 5 in December.
Most MMA fans would pay $50 for a bite to eat & a speech from these level of fighters, so a show full of lesser know fighters & an interview with 2 of the biggest names of the last 5 or so years would have been worth the fee.

I can't believe they haven't come up with something like this before. Get me on that billon dollar payroll!!!

Welcome to Zuffa's newest employee, our we're in the shit & need a solution to get us out of it to save the event relations officer, Mitchell

Good posts lads.

Jones Shouldn't take all the blame. He would smash Chael Sonnen to pieces in 1 or 2 rounds but he didn't have the sack to say yeah i'll fight him, anytime. He was scared of losing. As the champion most talented and dangerous fighter in the UFC he should fight whoever's put in front him and shouldn't be allowed to turn a fight down without being stripped for me. He could pretty much hand pick his opponents and never lose again. Same goes for any champion. That part of it, is his fault.

One fight shouldn't carry a whole card. They're doing it more and more over the past few years. Most of the shows i've watched this year have been poor. Dana White admitted he was embarrassed recently with the two back to back flops. They should have 5 brilliant main card fights every event, top fights we want to see, so if anything like this happens they can fill the space with another fight and get on with it. Instead they had a weak card and to try and mask it they're blaming everything on Jones. Not fair that.

Jones will take stick for not fighting Sonnen just now but i guarantee you he'll fight him in one of his next 3 fights and he'll destroy him.

(25-08-2012 11:03 )mitchell Wrote:  I like the idea of putting Jones aside & letting 2 others fight for the title with Jones then fighting the winner.

Thankyou sir! Don't know about you being on the payroll Mitchell but White's job should be mine!

I don't like Jon Jones on the basis I think his managment team are trying to market him in a Michael Jordan type way, the way Yanks like to with this all American shit for the pleasure of the American ego, either that or they want him to have a Floyd Mayweather style record & dodge any close challenges.

Give it a year & we'll see tv ads with Anderson Silva doing a front kick to the face wearing a Jon Jones high top trainer.

UFC 151 Cancelled: Fighters Speak Out on Twitter

When the news broke on Thursday that UFC 151: Jones vs. Henderson was cancelled, many of the fighters scheduled to compete on the card reacted through social media, particularly the popular website Twitter.

Most of the fighters’ initial reactions – similar to UFC president Dana White – took aim at UFC light heavyweight titleholder Jon Jones for not accepting the fight with Chael Sonnen who offered to step in and replace the injured Dan Henderson.

UFC veteran Dennis Hallman, who was scheduled to face Thiago Tavares on the main card of UFC 151, took to Twitter to voice his disapproval of Jones’ decision.

“Hey @JonnyBones thanks for being so considerate to your fellow fighters, what a model champion. I guess we can stop the Ali comparisons,” tweeted Hallman to his 11,000-plus followers.

“I must b delusional 2 think that a champ shouldn’t turn down fights. His biz is now f-ing my biz, makes me cross,” Hallman later added.

Not every fighter drives a Bentley, or has a mansion, or lucrative endorsement deals. Some fighters, most fighters, compete to make ends meet. It’s what they do to provide food and shelter for their families.

Jeff Hougland was scheduled to take on Takeya Mizugaki on the UFC 151 prelims that were supposed to air on FX. UFC 151 would have been his third fight in the organization.

“@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,” tweeted Hougland.

Charlie Brenneman was scheduled to face Kyle Noke on the UFC 151 preliminary card. He voiced concerned about the financial loss of fighters who were expecting to be receiving a paycheck next weekend, and he also took aim at Jones for the UFC 151 cancellation.

“@jonnybones u can send my check to PO box 198. EH NJ. Rent is due the first, so preferably by then. Thanks,” tweeted Brenneman. He later tweeted, “Me n @rick_story took a fight on 24 hrs notice!! Champ what?!?!”

Danny Castillo was scheduled to take on Michael Johnson on the UFC 151 prelims on FX. He too voiced financial concerns with the event cancellation.

“Who got $50 I can borrow till my next fight?” Castillo continued via Twitter, “Sallie mae just called, she said she don’t give a (expletive) #UFC151 or not my payment better not be late!”

Daron Cruickshank, who was scheduled to face Henry Martinez took a more lighthearted approach at expressing his disappointment at the UFC 151 cancellation.

“Sorry kitty only food that’s on sale for you now. That’s ok you needed
a diet anyway. RIP ufc151,” tweeted Cruickshank.

Kyle Noke expressed his sympathy for the fans who planned to attend the UFC 151 event next weekend in Las Vegas that are now out money.

“I’m no longer fighting. the whole @ufc 151 card is cancelled. Sorry to all fans who bought flight, hotel, and fight tickets. #heartbroken,” tweeted Noke

As Thursday came to a close, maybe no other fighter scheduled to fight on the UFC 151 card summed up the day better than Eddie Yagin. He was expecting to face Dennis Siver on the main card.

“Sucks for everyone else scheduled to fight,” tweeted Yagin. “Damn damn damn…”

As bad as it seemed as the sun set on Thursday, by daylight Friday many scheduled UFC 151 fighters had new dates in hand.

UFC 152 picked up Jon Jones vs. Vitor Belfort as the headliner, as well as the cancelled UFC 151 match-up between Charlie Brenneman and Kyle Noke.

Four of the UFC 151 scheduled match-ups were moved to UFC on FX 5. Jake Ellenberger vs. Jay Heiron, Michael Johnson vs. Danny Castillo, Shane Roller vs. Jacob Volkmann and Dennis Hallman vs. Thiago Tavares have been moved to the Oct. 5 event in Minneapolis.

UFC on Fuel TV 6 picked up the UFC 151 canceled match-up between Takeya Mizugaki and Jeff Hougland

Several other fighters, such as former UFC champion Frankie Edgar and current Strikeforce champion Ronda Rousey commented on the UFC 151 cancellation in various interviews.

Georges St-Pierre Receives Medical Clearance and Green Light to Compete at UFC 154

The final hurdles have been cleared for Georges St-Pierre to return to action later this year.

The UFC’s reigning welterweight champion says he has now been medically cleared to compete and aims for his return at UFC 154 in Montreal this November.

“Yesterday was the final chapter of my road to recovery, I’m now medically cleared to compete in professional mixed martial arts,” St-Pierre wrote on his Facebook page on Tuesday.

St-Pierre has been rehabbing his surgically repaired knee for the past several months after tearing his ACL (anterior cruciate ligament) last year.

The UFC has held off officially announcing St-Pierre’s next fight until he was medically cleared to return to action, but it seems like any day now GSP’s return bout against UFC interim welterweight champion Carlos Condit can be made official.

In closing, St-Pierre said, “Rendez-vous le 17 November, UFC 154 Montreal,” which, when translated, means he has an appointment on Nov. 17 at UFC 154.

St-Pierre has been out of action since April 2011 when he defeated Jake Shields in the main event of UFC 129 in Toronto. He was twice been scheduled for bouts after that date, but knee injuries sidelined him both times.

Now with his ACL surgery behind him and receiving his medical clearance, St-Pierre can return to try and cement his claim to the welterweight title he’s held and defended for the past four years.

The great man returns! Boss news. Condit then Silva super fight in 2013!

Big fight lads: Erik Koch is injured so won't be fighting Jose Aldo for Aldo's UFC Featherweight Championship at UFC 153. Now it will be Jose Aldo vs. FRANKIE EDGAR for the UFC Featherweight Championship at that event. Looking forward to that one!

Michael Bisping Considering Eventual Return to Light Heavyweight


Michael “The Count” Bisping is scheduled to face Brian Stann at UFC 152 in Toronto in hopes of moving into a contender slot in the middleweight division, but the Brit isn’t ruling out an eventual return to the light heavyweight division.

“I think about it every time I want to eat pizza and can’t,” Bisping said recently during an online chat hosted by MMAWeekly.com content partner Yahoo! Sports.

Bisping had a successful run in the 205-pound division, including winning The Ultimate Fighter 3. He’s competed most of his career as a light heavyweight, but after losing to Rashad Evans at UFC 78, he decided to make the drop to middleweight.

The outspoken Englishman feels middleweight is where he should be at this point in his career, but the thoughts of a 205-pound return remain.

“But seriously, I do think about it. I was 15-1 at 205 pounds, but 185 pounds is where I should be right now.”

I can see this happening if he loses to Brian Stann as a title shot will then probably have gone for good. That said if he wins then a title shot could be his next fight with Anderson Silva set to fight again around November time..... Ricky Hatton anyone!!!

On first thought I think Michael Bisping v Lyoto Machida would be a good fight?