UFC cancels UFC 151, conveniently puts all blame on Jon Jones

In case you have been under a rock today, UFC 151 has been cancelled.

The short story is Dan Henderson injured his knee and couldn’t fight next Saturday, prompting the UFC to offer Jon Jones a replacement opponent of Chael Sonnen. Jones, after speaking with his team, declined to take the fight on such short notice.

So, the UFC, instead of finding a new main event, or just running with the card they setup sans the main event, decided to just axe the event altogether.

In the process, they completely threw the light heavyweight champion under the bus.

Normally, I am on Dana White’s side of things. He is a hot head, no doubt, but he usually tells it like it is.

However, blaming Jones for the canceling of an event is simply a convenient way to take the blame off of himself and the UFC.

First off, canceling an entire UFC event is a big deal. It impacts the fighters, the venue, the host city and those that would be working the event.

Many fighters rely on a small paycheck from fighting on the under card simply to make ends meet. Due to the UFC’s venom spewed at Jones, many of those fighters are now taking their anger and frustration out on the champion as well.

But, let’s all take a deep breath and take into consideration two things:

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UFC 148 Results & Recap: Anderson Silva is the best

nullNot that many needed convincing, but Anderson Silva is the best fighter in the world.

There was a little bit of doubt in the minds of some due to Silva’s performance against Chael Sonnen at UFC 117, but on Saturday at UFC 148, Silva removed all doubt.

Silva stopped Sonnen at 1:55 into the second round with a barrage of strikes that Sonnen couldn’t respond to, as he defended his UFC Middleweight Championship for the 10th time.

Sonnen won the first round, as he took Silva down quickly and held him down for five minutes, but Silva showed great takedown defense in the second and used his pinpoint accuracy with his striking to end the fight.

With Sonnen past him for good, there really is no viable challengers left to Silva. Sonnen seemed to have the best style to beat Silva, and the champ still ran through him.

Silva is now 15-0 in his UFC career and just adding to his legacy as the greatest UFC fighter of all time. Perhaps a change in weight class is in order to challenge him, or perhaps he should just retire on top of the world.

In the co-main event, Tito Ortiz saw his career come to an end in a unanimous decision loss to Forrest Griffin.

Ortiz (16-11-1) a former UFC champion and now Hall of Famer, seemed to tire early in the fight, which opened the door for Griffin to pepper him with strikes. Ortiz landed a few big punches and a few takedowns, but Griffin had a 3/1 edge on total strikes and was the more active fighter.

Ortiz is going out at the right time, as he clearly is not among the best in the division and this performance proves it. For knowing it was his last bout, he didn’t have much of a spirited effort to win. For a man of his stature and his talk about being the people’s champion, he sure didn’t go out on his sword.

Griffin didn’t look at that great either, but he was definitely looking to finish the fight at the end.

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UFC on Fox Results & Recap: Two title contenders named

Rashad Evans and Chael Sonnen were expected to win their fights at UFC on FOX 2 Saturday night, and they did just that.

Evans defeated Phil Davis by unanimous decision to become the No. 1 contender for the light heavyweight title while Sonnen defeated Michael Bisping by unanimous decision to earn a future shot at the middleweight championship.

In the main event, Evans simply out-classed Davis with his superior wrestling and striking. Davis, who was in the biggest fight in his career, seemed overwhelmed by the environment and his opponent while Evans remained calm and implemented his game plan.

Evans didn’t look overly impressive but he did enough to win and now will face Jon Jones at UFC 145 in a fight that everyone has been waiting for.

Sonnen had a much more difficult time with Bisping than what was expected. Bisping showed the ability to stay off his back, but he didn’t quite do enough in the eyes of the judges to win the striking contest.

All three rounds were razor thin and there was some debate as to who won, but ultimately the judges all scored the fight in favor of Sonnen. He will now face Anderson Silva for the second time later this year. Sonnen clearly had the best performance against Silva than anyone in the UFC, as he was an arm triangle away from pulling out a decision win over the champion.

For full results from UFC on FOX 2, check out the jump.

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UFC 136 Results: Frankie Edgar has the answer for Gray Maynard

nullFrankie Edgar was determined to prove he could beat Gray Maynard.

On Saturday night, despite all the signs pointing that he would be unable to do so, Edgar did just that, knocking out the challenger in the fourth round to retain his UFC Lightweight Championship in the main event of UFC 136.

After fighting to a 5-round draw back at UFC 125 last January, Saturday’s bout had almost an identical start. Maynard caught Edgar with a big uppercut in the middle of the first round and pummeled the champion to a near stoppage.

However, Edgar managed to stay conscious and mobile, and survived the round despite losing it 10-8 on most cards.

After a break between rounds, Edgar seemed to get his stamina back and began working his game. He used his quickness to out-box Maynard and avoid another big punch, while Maynard looked flat on his feet and simply looking for the one-punch victory.

Come the fourth round, Edgar landed a big cross that dropped Maynard. The challenger got to his feet but ate a series of punches that eventually left him face flat in the canvas.

The win solidifies Edgar as a true star in the sport and he can finally cross Maynard off his list of opponents.

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Belfort to get title shot against Silva

CHICAGO- OCTOBER 25:  Anderson Silva (R) fights Patrick Cote in the Middleweight Title Bout at UFC's Ultimate Fight Night at Allstate Arena on October 25, 2008 in Chicago, Illinois. (Photo by Tasos Katopodis/Getty Images)

According to the guys at HeavyMMA.com, Vitor Belfort will face UFC middleweight champion Anderson Silva for UFC 125, which will be held on New Year’s Day in Vegas.

Vitor Belfort is expected to face UFC middleweight champion Anderson Silva, likely in the headlining bout of UFC 125 on New Year’s Day in Las Vegas.

The change was confirmed today by UFC President Dana White.

Belfort was scheduled to face Yushin Okami in the main event of UFC 122 in November, but the Brazilian was pulled from the bout and replaced with Nate Marquardt. The winner of the Okami/Marquardt bout will get the next crack at the winner of the Silva/Belfort championship match.

Belfort takes the place of Chael Sonnen, who was scheduled to score an immediate rematch following a near-victory over Silva in August. But Sonnen tested positive for performance-enhancing drugs after the event and is currently facing a one-year suspension and $2,500 fine from the California State Athletic Commission. Sonnen is scheduled to appeal the decision on Dec. 2, but the UFC is moving forward with Belfort as the challenger.

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