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One of my heroes defends Jon Jones

4K views 47 replies 27 participants last post by  Sportsman 2.0 
#1 ·
I've had a lot of fun picking on Jon lately because,...it's a lot of fun.

But since I first met him in 1999, when Pat Militich speaks I listen carefully.

and say yes sir a lot.

“I understand the pressure that Zuffa is under with the Fox deal, FX deal, and all that stuff. By putting on a massive number of cards, I think they’ve stretched themselves a bit thin. The quality of the cards has gone down, and I think everybody has noticed that, not just myself. When you have a card that is only carried by one match, given the attrition rate in MMA, the injuries in training, they kind of set themselves up for the fall.

They need to hold themselves accountable. It’s become a bit of a habit, of late, by the leaders, to blame others for their problems, instead of letting people hold them accountable. It’s across the board in a lot of different spectrums of life right now.

I think that Jon Jones not taking a fight with a guy who’s not five foot eleven, he’s six foot two, or six foot three, whatever he is, he’s much bigger than Henderson, is ok. He’s younger and probably moves a little better. Dan, obviously can kill a bull with his right hand, but he’s a little older now, and Sonnen is a lefty, so it’s really a different fight.

I think Jon Jones had nothing to gain in that fight. Sonnen, moving to a different weight division, having not fought there for quite a long time, and competing at 185, hasn’t earned the right in the first place. I think Jon Jones was well within his rights, and I back Jackson on the decision that he made and the advice that he gave Jones to pull out of the fight. It doesn’t do the UFC any good to chop the legs out from possibly their biggest star, because he doesn’t take a last minute replacement fight. There was nothing to gain for his career. I think it’s organizational suicide to do that to your biggest star.”
http://www.bjpenn.com/mmanews/2012/...e-to-do-that-to-jon-jones-ufc-news-35493.html
 
#44 ·
I agree.

The reasons Team Jackson and Jones had were completely valid, but at the end of the day he could have stepped up to take the fight because it was very winnable and the UFC would remember that in the future.
 
#5 ·
It's funny how when Pat Miletich says this people starting applauding him. I've been saying that exact thing since day 1 and anybody who is a freethinker and doesn't buy into Dana White's narrative like a sheep can see that the reality of the situation was not the calamity it had been made out to be.

Props to Miletich, Bendo, and King Mo for keeping it real and recognizing the truth. Hopefully everybody else will slowly come to terms and stop giving Bones so much unwarranted grief.
 
#7 ·
So we either agree with you or we are sheep? No grey area?

It doesn't matter what Pat says. Bones would have been no less prepared for Sonnen as Sonnen was for Bones. If anything, he would have been more prepared. So, for all this talk about the disadvantages for Bones, what about the things going against Sonnen?

It's not Jons fault the card was a mess and was cancelled. But it still leaves the fact that he didn't think he could beat Chael. I find this attitude a bit of a let down.
 
#6 ·
Was it the worst thing ever? No.

But it isn't the way to gain fans. Or keep fans for that matter.

There have been countless guys who have taken fights on short notice at much more of a disadvantage than Jones ever would have had in a Sonnen fight. Guys used to fight twice a night.

Do I hate Jon Jones for turning down a fight? No. Perhaps he did get too much grief. But it was really a great chance to back up what he has preached. And a real great chance to prove many of his already critics wrong. And a real great chance to earn some new fans. And he just said no because he doesn't want to risk anything when the gain was FAR FAR greater.
 
#12 ·
It is a justified statement. However Miletich is an employee not an employer. He doesn't truly understand the political and business ramifications that decision carried. It essentially reverberated with profound effect. If he was an executive he would have lobbied for the fight knowing his bottomline was at risk along with the company.

As stated other organizations have completely collapsed with their main event cancelled or revised; Fedor vs Barnett and Kimbo vs Shamrock/Seth. The fact is Zuffa can absorb the loss, but if this occurred early on it would have had a detrimental effect. How many more hits like this before the consumers' lose confidence.

Each of you are looking at it from one point of view. I've already clearly stated that if Zuffa gave the ultimatum that had it been a title fight with zero pay raise then he would be in the right to pass. I'm inclined to think that Zuffa would have gave the green light to a five round non-title fight with a 50% - 100% pay increase. No doubt in my mind.
They lost millions by cancelling and even more so their reputation suffered. Money does not buy reputation.

Any champion, fighter, or human being has a freedom of speech and right to do anything within the constitution. It was likely he was not under contract to fight any last minute replacement therefore not obligated contractually to fight anyone other than Dan Henderson. Here lies the moral ambiguity of the situation.

In this unique circumstance it was about seeing the big picture. If your company goes down under who's going to pay for your mortgage. In their opinion it might not have been the best move career wise (although I think would have been) it was the right thing to do to save the event.
 
#13 ·
It doesn’t do the UFC any good to chop the legs out from possibly their biggest star, because he doesn’t take a last minute replacement fight. There was nothing to gain for his career. I think it’s organizational suicide to do that to your biggest star.”
Biggest Star, so what? UFC is all the fighters who step up for fighting, not only Champions. A couple of losses could end real quick this "Star Status". Promising athlete, great achievements so far, but still begining. Remember the Machida era? Didn't take off.
I understand Jones reasons, but those are not the reasons of a fighter, not mention a champion, even less the "biggest star", give me a break.




Sent from my iPhone using VS Free
 
#19 ·
Pat hates Chael so no surprise here. Pat Militech is so damn biased its disgusting to have him as a commentator.
 
#20 ·
Pat is speaking the truth and finally someone has the courage to step up. I started a thread pointing this out and gave clear points as to why Jones should not be held to this type of standard. Some folks took exception with it and the thread was eventually closed. Finally there is some honest dialogue going on after weeks of bitter bashing and blaming. :thumbsup:
 
#22 ·
What a moron.

Pat Miltech didnt even mention most of the key points.

Hell saying "There is nothing to gain" is ******* retarded in itself.

Getting a win Over Chael Sonnen and making millions of dollars and not letting your company and fans down. Is nothing to gain??? Oh and not behaving like a bitch.

Miltech has really made himself look stupid here. Anyone that has looked at the bigger picture and weighed the pos/cons would know that.
 
#23 ·
The problem with Miletich's reasoning is that he bases his excuse for Jones not fighting on whether taking the fight would forward Jones' career. That is however the core of the problem not the excuse. The fact that Jones' is taking the "businessman" route as opposed to the "fighter" route. I think that's why so many people are pissed at him.

I personally don't like his decision not to fight as I would have also enjoyed watching him beat sonnen.
 
#25 ·
bingo what Soojooko said regarding Sonnen.

What would Jones have lost? his belt? he is a young man, he'll have tons of title fights. And seeing how he switched opponents the last minute, I'm pretty sure Dana would offer him a rematch (should he have lost) as a "thank you" for saving the event.
 
#26 ·
Seriously...

Chael Sonnen is unlikely to ever get a title shot at MW again. If he lost to Jon Jones he would be unlikely to ever get a shot at LHW again. And there is a GOOD chance that Jon Jones would have brutalized him having everyone thinking there is no reason to have a Jones/Sonnen 2. He would pretty much have to quit MMA and move on.

on 8 days notice without any training???

And since Sonnen would not be in a "Get 1 or 2 wins for a rematch" scenario. Unless he managed to pull a Anderson/Chael 1 (Which is highly unlikely).

It would be a really big risk for Sonnen.


What would Sonnens chances to win have been anyway??? 5% maybe 10%??? Those are not odds you want to bet your career on. Not being able to beat Jones by Tko,Ko,Sub doesnt leave very many options. While Jones can easiley beat Sonnen in every single way including a decision.


I see Jones being the one that was given a low risk fight while getting another great win on your resume and making millions.
 
#31 ·
I understand why Jones did it. There was a possibility of him losing and he wanted to avoid that.

If Brock Lesnar breaks into my house, I'm going to fight the guy. He's probably going to kill me, but the dude broke into my fuking house. I'm going to do something.

Chael Sonnen clowned the shit out of Jones and Jones had the oppertunity to fight him, which he turned down. Remove the training camp, remove the weight jump, remove all that shit. The simple root of this is, Chael Sonnen called Jones out and made a fool ourt of him and Jones refused to fight him. If Chael disses the shit out of me when I'm shopping in Asda, I'm probably going to try and have a fight with the guy, and I'm not the UFC Light Heavyweight Champion.
 
#32 ·
I understand why Jones did it. There was a possibility of him losing and he wanted to avoid that.

If Brock Lesnar breaks into my house, I'm going to fight the guy. He's probably going to kill me, but the dude broke into my fuking house. I'm going to do something.

Chael Sonnen clowned the shit out of Jones and Jones had the oppertunity to fight him, which he turned down. Remove the training camp, remove the weight jump, remove all that shit. The simple root of this is, Chael Sonnen called Jones out and made a fool ourt of him and Jones refused to fight him. If Chael disses the shit out of me when I'm shopping in Asda, I'm probably going to try and have a fight with the guy, and I'm not the UFC Light Heavyweight Champion.
This is MMA and he has the chance to lose every single time he steps in to the octagon. If that wasnt the case i would bet 50k on Jones each fight and safely make money. I also probably wouldnt order the PPV since i know Jones cant lose.

But the real funny thing is that given the circumstances Jon jones would have a better chance to lose against Henderson then he ever did against Chael.
 
#34 ·
I think Jones had far more to gain than lose.

What he had to GAIN:

-respect from all fans. a respect that had dwindled for a while.

-new fans. he is a draw, but far from the biggest UFC draw. He should take new fans whenever he can get them if he is so concerned about PPV dollars.

-the chance to shut a guy up that he seems to dislike. he has called him a joke and a criminal (which Chael is) but if you feel so strongly why not fight him? wouldn't that be a fight you WANT?

-What seemed to be a rather easy title defense. A wrestler that was smaller than him. He just stuffed a more athletic wrestler in Rashad. Chael had little chance of holding him down for 5 rounds. It isn't like Jones needs to be ready for his finishing ability. Chael is all wrestling.

-The chance to get more credit as the P4P best. If he went out and just straight manhandled Sonnen, he would have beat him in a fashion that SIlva did not. Again, something to gain from a fight with Sonnen.

-He cried to Dana to shut Chael up. Well a beat down in a fight usually shuts most up. You don't hear Chael talking about Anderson much now.

-Money that he seems to desperately need. Sonnen would of done way more PPV numbers than Belfort. He may of done better PPV numbers than anyone else at 205 would. Who knows, but the numbers would have been rock solid.

What he had to LOSE:

- his belt.


(A belt that he could have won back rather quickly. A Sonnen/Bones rematch would do HUGE numbers. HUGE!. Jones is 25 years old, there is plenty of time to gain belts back. Losses make fighters grow. All the greats have had them.)

And besides...he may of lost. But he would have been a HUUUUGE favorite. And rightfully so.
 
#36 ·
I think Jones had far more to gain than lose.

edited to save space

And besides...he may of lost. But he would have been a HUUUUGE favorite. And rightfully so.
LOL - ok I'll bite - Chael manages to lay on top of Jones for 25 minutes and wins a decision - and this is supposed to ingraciate Jones to a new audience? What are you smoking? If/when Jones loses, it will be open season on the man like never before - every hater out there (and where Jones is concerned there are a ton) would be crashing this forum with their "I told you so" comments...

Time to put this episode behind us and start looking forward to 152 which is going to be a corker!
 
#35 ·
I’m a big fan of Jon Jones, but nevertheless will do my best to avoid adding to the copious hyperbole already written. Although I am always shocked and surprised at how emotionally involved people appear to be with MMA fighters in general and Jon Jones in particular…

For what it’s worth, here’s my thoughts -

o Jon Jones is a professional fighter, he gets paid a lot of money to beat people up, and although we all get to see him behind the scenes in various “All Access’ interviews and shows, it’s worth remembering – he is not your friend and probably wouldn’t stop to talk with you if you saw him in the street.
o Before Dan Henderson got injured, Sonnen announced he was moving up to 205 and intended to make a run at the title – I believe that Jones responded by stating that Sonnen would not be talking his way into a 205 title fight and would need to earn a shot a the title…
o When Henderson announced that he was unable to compete at UFC 151 the UFC tried to save the card. However, in my opinion the original UFC 151 card was one of the shallowest ever put on PPV and should have been euthanized immediately.
o Sure Jones has a responsibility to his employer, but he had contracted and been training for a particular opponent – he was (obviously) within his rights to refuse to fight Sonnen on such short notice.
o Does Jones’ refusal to fight Sonnen on eight days notice let down the UFC? Yes it does – but the fact that the UFC had no choice but to cancel the event when they were unable to provide a suitable opponent, is indicative of the fact that they were selling a show relying on a single fight – shame on them for placing 100% of the card’s responsibility on Jones’ shoulders
o Do I think that people have overreacted? Yes I do – but that, in my opinion, has everything to do with the fact that it’s Jones who for reasons unknown (to me) has polarized MMA fan community like no other fighter (that I can think of).

My take away –

o The UFC needs to stop putting out crappy cards – I watch most UFC events at home, and pay $55 every time – this year the only event I didn’t buy was Henderson Edgar II (I was out of town). But I was not looking forward to UFC 151 even though one of my favorite fighters was headlining, and was seriously considering giving it miss and following the round by round descriptions online
o UFC 152 is now looking like one of the best cards of the year – As far as I’m concerned:
o Jones just saved me $55,
o Jones made sure that Sonnen didn’t talk himself into a title fight he didn’t deserve and which wouldn’t have been competitive anyway,
o Jones hopefully showed the top brass at the UFC that they need to do better.

Thanks
 
#39 ·
For what it’s worth, here’s my thoughts -

Thanks
I will tell you what its worth +rep:thumb02:

To piggyback what you sad though, Chael is the reason why people are pissed.
As much as everyone is saying that he should have take the fight and he could have easily beat Chael...deep down the hope from them is that THEY HOPE CHAEL WINS!!!!

There is no mention that Jon would have fought anyone else on that short of notice. Which is why he is fighting on the NEXT card. Many people are just upset that their favorite (WWE STYLE) mma fighter Chael doesnt get to put on a brilliant performance (every where else but in the cage of course).

They want to fuel the hate and continue to hate Jon and this is just another way for them to keep that up. Jon had nothing to gain but money for this fight and he didnt take it. So clearly Jon's legacy is more important to him, shouldnt that be admirable...I guess any other fighter that felt that way...then it would be.
 
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