Much of what's being said the wake of UFC 151's cancellation will naturally center around Jon "Bones" Jones, trainer Greg Jackson and the decision to turn down a short-notice fight with Chael Sonnen that could have saved next weekend's fight card at the Mandalay Bay Events Center in Las Vegas.
Let's take a moment, however, to consider Chael Sonnen.
Sonnen, upon being informed that there was an opportunity to fight Jones, not only said he would take the fight, but said that he would fly to Las Vegas that night to challenge the UFC Light Heavyweight Champion. Hyperbole, of course, given that the UFC had a date booked in Las Vegas on September 1, but it was a point that UFC president Dana White returned to over and over on Thursday's media conference call to announce the cancellation of UFC 151.
"Chael's a lunatic," White said with a laugh. "He talks the craziest s*** I've ever seen talked in the history of this sport."
Sonnen has spent the last two weeks talking, mostly about Jones. The former No. 1 middleweight contender is scheduled to make his light heavyweight debut in December at UFC 155 against Forrest Griffin, but has saved the vast majority of his famed brand of smack talk for Jones.
The thinking appeared to be that if Sonnen ran his mouth enough, he could build enough interest in the fight to make it happen, a theory that White shot down earlier in the week. If Sonnen wanted a shot at Jon Jones, he'd have to earn it in the Octagon.
Then, Dan Henderson got hurt, and suddenly, Sonnen was the answer...or at least, the best answer that White could come up with.
"Did I think that the Chael Sonnen fight made sense as far as the title and everything else?" White said "No."
Still, there was no denying that Sonnen had done a masterful job of creating intrigue, and for whatever other issues he may have, there's no denying his fighting spirit.
"In the heat of the moment," White said, "when things are going down, this is the guy that you pick up the phone and call."
Call White did, and Sonnen answered. For a fleeting moment, the UFC 151 fight card was saved.
Then, of course, Greg Jackson convinced Jones not to take the fight, despite the fact that Sonnen would be coming in with no training camp, minimal preparation, and nothing to rely on against Jones other than his wrestling, which probably wouldn't have done much good against a fighter like Jones. The UFC Light Heavyweight Champion is larger than Sonnen, possesses a freakish reach and an unorthodox striking game that would keep Sonnen from getting inside, and has a championship-level wrestling game of his own. If Jones were to show up and face Sonnen next weekend, he would likely dispatch the "Gangster From America" inside of two rounds.
Instead, Jones has incurred the wrath of Dana White, torched his already-shaky relationship with UFC fans, and invited new levels of scrutiny that he won't be able to shake for several years. Meanwhile, Sonnen remains as the man who almost saved the day, even to those who aren't a fan of his act.
Someday, perhaps, Sonnen will have his day in the Octagon with Jon Jones. White said on Thursday that under normal circumstances, Sonnen would have had to win three tough fights at 205 pounds to get the title shot he nearly had next weekend. After he stepped up for the UFC, his wait may have gotten shorter. That remains to be seen. In the meantime, Sonnen reminded the MMA world just how good he is at making people care.
In the early days of his feud with Anderson Silva, Sonnen once said, "I'm a partner of the UFC and Anderson's an employee," referring to Silva's reticence behind the microphone. Of course, Silva doesn't need to do interviews to create excitement, as he's pointed out in his fights over the last two years, and Jon Jones should be the same way. His unique physical gifts should allow him to go down in history as the greatest light heavyweight in UFC history, and he's certainly a better fighter than Chael Sonnen.
This week, however, Sonnen has shown that he's a better "partner" for the UFC than Jones could ever hope to be.
