Dana White admits offering Chael Sonnen a title shot was haste – UFC News
Probably, President of the Ultimate Fighting Championship Dana White is going through the toughest time of his career. He recently was forced to cancel the UFC 151 card, after Jon Jones’ opponent Dan Henderson suffered a leg injury and was declared unfit
for the fight.
“When things are normal and things are going the way they should go and guys aren't injured and guys are fighting, Chael Sonnen would have had to beat three nasty guys, at least, to get to Jon Jones,” said White in a press conference.
Moreover, he added, “OK, eight days' notice is going to turn into zero days' notice.”
He added, “Because the final week [before a fight], all you do is make weight and do a media tour. I never would have stepped foot in the gym. I wouldn't have got one mile, one round, one jump rope, nothing under my belt before walking into that ring.”
For now, White believes that the UFC 151 card cancellation was due to Jon Jones, as he refused to fight Chael Sonnen, former middleweight. On the other hand, Jones believes he had enough reasons to decline the fight, among which the major one was being allotted
an opponent just 8 days prior to the event.
No matter what the scenario looks like, one thing is for sure, this has been the major black spot on White’s portfolio. For the first time in his career, White had to cancel a fight card.
For now, White is getting ready for UFC 152, which takes place on September 22. In other words, UFC 151 is not rescheduled, it has been wiped off the calendar. UFC 151 will not happen and we will directly jump to UFC 152. Jon Jones will defending his light
heavyweight crown against Vitor Belfort.
Jones was earlier scheduled to defend his title against Lyoto Machida but as the latter refused to accept the showdown, White confirmed that Vitor Belfort will be the one facing Jones.
White is currently disgusted with Jones for not taking up the fight against Sonnen but he still believes Jones is one of the best fighters in the UFC.
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