The MMA world was left in shock last week when UFC President Dana White announced during a media conference call that UFC 151 was canceled due to a injury to Dan Henderson. This is the first time since Zuffa took over that the UFC has had to cancel an event on such short notice. Fans were immediately ready to lambast Jon Jones over his decision to decline a short notice fight against Chael Sonnen, but despite missing out on a fight night, the cancellation of this event will benefit fans and the UFC in the long run.
The popularity of the UFC has risen exponentially since UFC 100, and the frequency of events has increased massively to cater to the influx of new fans, but in many ways this has had the opposite effect of what the UFC had desired; while initially this marketing strategy worked great, the sheer volume of events in the last 18 months has lead to a lack of anticipation, where once, anticipation was a huge selling point for the UFC. I personally remember the excitement of watching the buildup to a fight back when there was only an event once a month.
At present there are as many as 4 or 5 cards a month, with the elite fighters spread thinly across cards. That has led to a great void in quality, on both the undercards, and in some cases, the main cards, of UFC shows. The oversaturation of PPVs has lead to a marked decline of PPV buys. For example, UFC 150 sold approximately 190,000 buys, which is less than what UFC 2 sold. Hardcore fans have became disillusioned with having to part with $60 a few times a month, and casual fans are not buying the cards simply because they have no idea who half the fighters on these events are.
Following the announcement of Jones’ withdrawal, I was inundated with calls from angry friends, asking what was going on. Their main contentions were that Jon Jones was afraid to fight Chael Sonnen, but this can be easily discredited. Jon Jones is the champion of the world at 205 pounds, and you don’t reach that level without supreme self-confidence. Greg Jackson and Maliki Kawa made a business savvy decision — they chose not to risk Jon Jones in a fight with such a high risk to reward ratio.
The other question I was presented with was how Jon Jones let down the UFC by not fighting and getting the card canceled. Yes, Jon did let the UFC down by not fighting, but in no way, shape, or form is it his fault the event was canceled. The blame lays solely with the UFC. They had a very weak card planned, with Jones vs. Henderson being the only fight that had garnered any interest. In my opinion, the card needed a extra relevant fight or two to be PPV-worthy in the first place. The co-main event was a rematch that nobody really wanted to see, and the rest of the fights were FUEL TV worthy.
Hardcore fans should overlook Jones’ decision to pull out. Initially I was against it, but in hindsight I believe he made a decision that will benefit fighters and fans alike in the long run.
Others have been quick to defend Jones on the social media front, including UFC Lightweight Champion Benson Henderson and former WEC champ Jamie Varner, and fans have pointed to the fact that facing Chael Sonnen on 8 days notice would have been a lose-lose situation for Jones, which I agree with. I also believe that if Jones truly knew the event was in jeopardy of being canceled because of his withdrawal, he would have fought, regardless of the other factors. I just believe there was a massive communication breakdown between the UFC and Jon Jones’ camp.
When UFC signed a contract with FOX last fall, the initial expectations were that the UFC would reach new levels of popularity, but so far the results have been sub par and truly disappointing. FUEL TV has yet to take off as the popular channel it had hoped to become, and in 2013 they will face serious competition from Spike TV, which has signed both Bellator Fighting Championships and K-1 to produce live events.
In my opinion, UFC 151 will provide the UFC with the shock it needed to stop them from putting on top heavy events. From now on, I predict each event will feature a solid Co- main event as a contingency plan, which will benefit us greatly as fans. The UFC will be left with no option but to sharpen up its cards, or risk being left with another public relations fiasco. So believe it or not, the fans are the winners after UFC 151’s cancellation.
Hardcore fans should overlook Jones’ decision to pull out. Initially I was against it, but in hindsight I believe he made a decision that will benefit fighters and fans alike in the long run….. Horrible journalism, if you are a title holder, you fight whomever they put in front of you. Also, Jones said it himself "He'll never turn down a fight" , if you're gonna talk the talk, walk the walk.
First of all, this is an op-ed, which has nothing to do with journalism.
Second of all, while a champion should be willing to face any challenger, that doesn't mean they must face that challenger on short notice.