• UFC 151

Henderson: Jon Jones got a raw deal

ESPN staff
October 8, 2012
Ben Henderson says Jon Jones was within his rights to turn down Chael Sonnen © Getty Images
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Ben Henderson has leapt to the defence of Jon Jones, claiming the UFC light heavyweight champion had a raw deal over the controversy surrounding the cancelled UFC 151 event.

Jones was the subject of much scorn after he rejected the chance to fight Chael Sonnen after Dan Henderson pulled out with an injury - forcing the UFC to cancel the card.

UFC president Dana White was particularly scathing in his criticism of Jones, branding the decision not to take a fight as "selfish and disgusting" and blasting Jones' trainer Greg Jackson as a "f****** sport killer".

However lightweight champion Henderson, who is expected to face Nate Diaz at UFC on Fox 5 in December, believes Jones was fully within his rights to turn down Sonnen.

"Jones definitely got a raw deal," Henderson was quoted as saying by MMA Fighting. "All of the onus, all of it, was put on his shoulders. Everything.

"What about the co-main event? What about bringing in other guys? What about the guys getting injured? There was a lot. To place everything on his shoulders, I think, was very unfair.

"He's fully within his rights to turn down a fight. Would he have won? Yeah, he probably would have won. Would it have been a smart decision to make? No, probably not. So I definitely felt bad for him.

"Some guys are turning down fights, short-notice fights, two weeks' notice fights, eight days' notice fights, five weeks' notice fights because it's not enough time to fully prepare.

"It happened before Jones. It wasn't like it's all of a sudden, it just happens out of nowhere. It happened before Jones decided not to fight Chael Sonnen. There were plenty of guys who turned down fights off short notice.

"I think just the way it was played up, the way it was built in the media, and by certain people, it made it a very negative connotation, to where, 'Oh, he turned the fight down. He ruined these fighters' lives. He ruined all the fans and he screwed them over.'"

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