Dana White relayed to MMAfighting’s Ariel Helwani of an interesting message he received from Anderson’s Silva’s manager, Ed Sours.
Apparently Silva offered to step in on short notice and fight a light heavy weight competitor to save the UFC 151 card.
Does this mean the entire MMA community would have been given eight days’ notice to the biggest super fight of our generation?
Well if Jon Jone’s didn’t feel prepared to fight Chael Sonnen on short notice, I doubt he would have jumped at the chance to fight the greatest fighter of all time in “The Spider” Silva. Yet the UFC had already decided to scratch the event and therefore had to turn down Silva’s offer.
I understand Zuffa has a business to run but how hard would it be to reinstate the card and allow arguably their most compelling draw to take the stage in a just a week’s time?
Watch the video below as Dana White answers questions about Jon Jones and Anderson Silva’s careers and possible clash in the future.
VIDEO COURTESY OF WORLDOFMMA.COM AND THE UFC..
I guess it doesn’t matter at this point, but at least there are high level fighters in MMA who are still willing to put their personal concerns and agendas aside for the sport and the fans and it doesn’t get any more elite than Anderson Silva these days.
Jon Jones chose to protect his own interest, and there shouldn’t be anything wrong with that. He’s carried fight cards before and has been an amazing asset to the UFC and MMA in general.
He may have decided he wasn’t ready to fight Sonnen but don’t forget his decision while still in the cage from his last fight to take on former champ Maricio “Shogun” Rua in his prime on short notice as well.
What made the UFC great in the beginning was its mission to give fans exciting fights at all costs. These days the dynamics may have changed with the success of MMA in mainstream culture but it’s still far away from becoming the bloated and selfish organization that boxing has evolved in to.
UFC officials have stated they are trying to reschedule the same fights now orphaned by the UFC 151 card according to MMAfighting. Nothing has been said about any fighters receiving recompenses for missing out on earning their fight purses next weekend. Apparently after eight hours from the surprise cancelation of the fight card, four out of the ten fights had already been rescheduled.
What’s important is that the UFC will continue putting on good fights and even if its super stars don’t make decisions to benefit the majority at times, expect to see more highlight reels of Jonny “Bones” Jones as he smashes and slams his way in to the mixed martial arts history books and highlight reels to come.