Jon Bones took to Twitter on Saturday to apologize for the cancellation of the UFC 151 card. Jones stated that he takes “full responsibility” for how UFC 151.
Carrying the cross for my company’s decision. If someone has to take the blame, I will accept full responsibility for the way UFC 151
— Jon Bones Jones (@JonnyBones) August 25, 2012
was canceled. I want to sincerely apologize to all the other athletes/fans who’s time and money was waisted.
— Jon Bones Jones (@JonnyBones) August 25, 2012
I feel terrible about the way that was handled.
— Jon Bones Jones (@JonnyBones) August 25, 2012
Payout Perspective:
I haven’t kept up with the various reactions to Jones’ tweets but I imagine there are some that don’t believe the apology. Its usual that “falling on the sword” would be a noble thing. From a public relations perspective, admitting fault grants the admitter some level of immunity from further blame. But does it here? In this instance, it seems that Jones sent the tweet out in defense after White’s public berating of Jones for refusing to fight Chael Sonnen as a replacement.
In his tweets, he says he is “carrying the cross for his company.” An indirect comparison to Jesus? While Jones is trying to do the right thing, it seems as though he is overreaching. I’m not sure how he can take responsibility for how UFC 151 was handled. Realistically, it was White that called out Jones and Jackson. It was the UFC that decided to kill the card and name Machida as the next challenger when (as we know now) Machida had not yet accepted. It is true that he could have taken the Sonnen fight. But, would that fight have been for the title? While Jones’ decision to refuse the fight can be debated, he did what he felt was best for him.
While the UFC framed the cancellation falling squarely on Jones and Jackson, it could have focused on Henderson’s injury and being too late in the game for Jones to prepare for a new opponent. The UFC could have protected one of its top stars. It does not seem fair that one guy should be the fall guy for the entire card. Yet, White framed the issue and it has taken off.
White framing the scenario as he did really wasn’t fair to Jones in my opinion. However going forward this has sent a message to the fighters that not stepping up in a similar situation could be bad for their public image. Especially when it appears to be a very winnable fight that he turned down… not to mention it was a match-up that fans could get somewhat excited about.
So while I don’t agree with how White threw Jones under the bus I’m guessing White is willing to accept any criticism on how he handled this to know going forward every fighter will have to consider taking a hit to their reputation if a similar situation plays out with them. Meaning in the future White is less likely to have to deal with a fighter turning down a fight in the same manner Jon Jones did.
I don’t think he was thrown under the bus. Jones did something no one expects from a fighter. I have followed MMA from the start and have never seen anyone do what Jones did. Jones accepted the Shogun fight while in the cage after the Bader win that was 1 month away. Now he has let the fame go to his head and with all the advantages refused to help out the company he works for and created him. The UFC built him on slow wrestlers to showcase his skills and get easy wins. His path could have been much rougher.
Fans need to get over the idea of someone not deserving a title shot. There has never been by one standard for title shots in the UFC and that is Danas opinion. The champ fights who is put in front of him. Jeremy Horn was brought in from the minors to fight Chuck for the belt. You didn’t see Chuck claiming he doesn’t deserve it. He got in and fought like a fighter does.
I hope the UFC black balls Greg Jackson like they did Golden Glory and they should strip Jones and make him start at the bottom and work his way back up.