Before we start let's not forget that MMA is not concidered a legitimate sport around the world yet, not even in all of the U.S. This in not NBA. The UFC has spent millions of dollars to legitimize the sport and in doing so they got a TV deal with the obligation to provide prelim content from it's PPVs to FX. With so many cards it is difficult to find worthy replacements each time a main event fighter is injured. The fighters need to step up and if they want to continue to make that kind of money, they have to protect the UFC,

Now, regarding Jones - Henderson-Sonnen here are some thoughts. First of all a fighter should not spar hard 15 days before the fight. Shadowboxing, drills and fitness exercises are ok if performed in a safe manner but no hard sparring. What are you going to gain? Bruised shins and damaged knees and broken thumbs. That is the only think to gain. That is the reason we see so many injuries.

The UFC has given everything to Jon Jones. It was his time to give back and he failed. The only acceptable reason you turn down a main event fight in the UFC is if you are injured. End of story. If you are main event material then you are obliged to take the fight. Put yourselves in UFC's position regarding Jon Jones for a second. Why would you spend millions promoting Jon Jones again when you know that if his opponent gets injured then you will have to cancel the whole event?

I used to like Jon Jones. What made me change my opinion is the Machida fight. He is a good fighter but he is not Fedor or Henderson. He wins because of his reach and his wrestling. He was losing the first round to Machida and during the break Greg Jackson told him :"He was sick two weeks ago". You can hear it in the fight audio. That's how he found the heart to win. If he was the same size as his opponents he would not be so successful because he does not have the heart. And let's not mention Jackson's "Go get some fans" advice at the end.