PENICK: Jon Jones, UFC 151 Cancelled, and More - A Timeline of One Crazy Day in UFC History

By: Jamie Penick, MMATorch Editor-in-Chief

Thursday may have been the most eventful 24-hours in UFC history that had nothing to do with fights actually happening in the cage. For the first time, the organization cancelled an event just over a week before it was to take place, and then they scrambled through several different options before ultimately settling on a Jon Jones vs. Vitor Belfort Title fight at UFC 152 later in the month in September. It's been a wild ride from Wednesday night on, and to give you a sense of how things played out and progressed, here's a rundown of just what went down.

Wednesday, August 22, 2012

--UFC broadcaster and former competitor Kenny Florian Tweeted the following:

"Hearing that we may have some disappointed @UFC fans soon due to some unfortunate circumstances for an upcoming card."

--Rumors begin swirling that Dan Henderson suffered a knee injury and would be forced to withdraw from UFC 151. Many begin gathering bits and pieces of information, though much of the situation is kept tight-lipped.

Thursday, August 22, 2012

--Shortly after midnight, Henderson begins throwing out some misinformation by tweeting about a great training session, which was subsequently retweeted by several of his training partners. This despite one tagged fighter, Tarec Saffiedine, having stated prior to that tweet that he hadn't seen Henderson since last Saturday night.

--A picture is posted that allegedly showed Henderson in a knee brace, though the leg in question was mostly cut off and obscured.

--Rumors persist into the morning, with it becoming clearer and clearer that Henderson would be removed from the event. The UFC then sends out a press release regarding a "special announcement" to be made by UFC President Dana White that afternoon.

--With Henderson all but confirmed as out, speculation turns to who, if anyone, the UFC will get to replace Henderson against Jon Jones. Chael Sonnen emerges as a likely candidate, and sends Tweets directed at Jones urging him to take the fight.

--White then drops the bomb, officially announcing the cancellation of UFC 151 after Jones turned down a fight with Sonnen.

--White places the blame for the cancellation squarely on Jones and Greg Jackson for not taking a last minute fight, despite the UFC ultimately making the decision to cancel the event. It's announced that Jones will then face Lyoto Machida at UFC 152 in Toronto instead.

--After the conference call, the UFC sends out an even more damning press release aimed at Jones and Jackson, with the line "UFC 151 will be remembered as the event Jon Jones and Greg Jackson murdered."

--Henderson releases a statement regarding his injury and the difficult decision to pull out of the fight.

--Greg Jackson responds to Dana White, saying he stood by his advice as Jones would have had essentially three days' notice to prepare for a different opponent.

--The UFC opts to simply skip UFC 151 as a numbered event, with the Sept. 22 card keeping the "UFC 152" moniker.

--Several undercard fighters express disappointment and outrage at Jones for not taking the fight with Sonnen, joining Dana White's crusade against the Light Heavyweight Champion and continuing to lay the blame on him.

--Sonnen takes part in several interviews, taking every jab he can take at Jones, who remained silent until the evening.

--Several fights from UFC 151 get shifted to upcoming events, simply delaying the fights for those competitors instead of scrapping them entirely.

--Jones finally speaks out on his decision to turn down the Chael Sonnen fight, and apologizes to fans and fighters who were affected by the cancellation. However, he stands by his decision, believing it to be the correct move for his own career, even if it didn't mesh with the UFC.

--In another shocking turn of events, both Lyoto Machida and Shogun Rua turn down title fights against Jones at UFC 152, leading to Vitor Belfort getting the slot and a shot at UFC gold on Sept. 22.

--Finally, to cap off one crazy day in MMA, it's revealed that Anderson Silva reached out to the UFC offering to take a fight on eight day's notice to save the UFC 151 event. Alas, it was too late to do so, but it brought an end to a crazy news day in MMA.

This is one of those situations that will be talked about, dissected, broken down, and more for years to come, and it's most certainly one of the most insane and eventful days the UFC will ever have to deal with.

Source: http://www.mmatorch.com/artman2/publish/penickstake/article_14220.shtml

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