Dan Henderson: Jon Jones vs. Chael Sonnen matchup loses integrity for the sport of MMA

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Is the booking of Jon Jones vs. Chael Sonnen bad for the sport of MMA? Dan Henderson seems to think so. When Dan Henderson lost his opportunity to face current Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) Light Heavyweight champion Jon Jones at UFC 151 due to injury, many expected "Hendo" to be next on deck as soon as he was healthy and ready to go.

But that was simply not the case.

After "Bones" defeated Vitor Belfort at UFC 152, UFC President Dana White dropped the shocking announcement that Jones would next face Chael Sonnen, Dan's friend and former training partner, for the title after their coaching stint on season 17 of The Ultimate Fighter (TUF).

Like most of the mixed martial arts (MMA) community, Henderson was a
bit surprised at the move, taking to his Twitter account to say he
should just quit training for fights and enroll to "shit talking school" in order to earn his shot at UFC gold.

Not that he's upset at Chael, far from it, if anything, he commends
"The American Gangster" for stepping up and taking the fight when
seemingly no one, who wasn't injured, would take the bout.

The thing that has the former PRIDE multi-division champion upset is the matchmaking by Zuffa.

"Hendo" appeared on "The MMA Hour"
today (Oct. 31, 2012) and said though he understands Dana is doing what
he has to do to salvage the struggling TUF series, the booking of
Sonnen vs. Jones hurts the sport:

"I absolutely think it was a bad decision for the sport. It just
makes the sport lose a little bit of integrity. I understand that [Dana
White] does what he does for the UFC and always has, first and foremost.
He tries to accommodate the fighters as he can, but it's more about
saving the ratings on The Ultimate Fighter show, and I understand that."

Not one to sit and sulk, Henderson is now setting his sights on
another opponent as he is expected to face former 205-pound champion Lyoto Machida, who also lost his opportunity at a rematch against Jones, passing on his chance a few months ago citing timing issues, sometime in 2013.

Though not confirmed, the light heavyweight collision is expected to take place on Feb. 2, 2013 at UFC 156 at the promotions annual Super Bowl weekend event in Las Vegas, Nevada which currently features a headlining bout between UFC Featherweight champion Jose Aldo taking on former 155-pound champion, Frankie Edgar.

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So what do you guys think? Will this fight cause MMA to lose some integrity?

its not irreversible, but if it continues with shenanigans like this, ufc will lose respect of hard core fans quickly.

I hate to say it but yes it does. hasnt had any fights at 205 and he gets a crack at the title. I can only imagine the moral with other top 205'ers who are getting screwed on this. there are guys who are much,much more deserving than him. machida,Davis,Henderson,gustafsson.....hell even A. Silva has more right to that title match than Sonnen does.

If i was any of those guys i would be pissed!!!!

The reality of it is, every single fighter in the UFC that fights at 205 is more deserving.... and I'm a Chael fan.

These kinds of things don't bother me if the division is totally cleaned out. And I would say he is a Dan Henderson win away from doing so. The only other guy in my personal top 10 who may have a somewhat of an argument would be Phil Davis. Everyone else Jones has destroyed.

However, I do think it's pretty shitty of Dana to promise the fight to Machida or Rua if they perform well. They both performed well, and neither getting the next shot now.

I don't know...I voted no. I don't think it's bad for the sport perse, but I also don't think Chael is deserving of a title shot. When it comes down to it, people want to see Chael get beaten up and Jones will beat him up, so I see why they're fighting.

I don't think it's bad for the sport, but only because I still think the majority of the fan base for mma are casual watchers. The guys like us are in the minority, so honestly most people who watch will just buy into whatever is being sold.

It's bad for the sport, sure. But in all honesty, even though Chael doesn't deserve this fight, I understand why he's getting it. Machida and Shogun and all of those other guys have no right to bitch about this because they were offered the fight and said no, while Chael said yes. I still think that after the dust settled and Jones was rescheduled to fight at a later date that one of those guys should have been offered the fight instead of Chael, but like I said, they have no right to bitch about it.

It looks bad on the surface to have Chael in this fight, but if we're talking about integrity, Chael is more deserving of this fight than any other contender, because he agreed to do his job when they didn't.

Fights are fights... Sonnen stood up to the plate when TRT Henderson got his over-training boo boo and bowed out. He was ready to fight then how can Dana not let him fight now?

The only lack of integrity going on here is TRT Henderson over-training his old used up body while juiced on Testosterone hurting himself and having an ego too big to let his employer know he would not be able to fight.

Heh ... I'll pay $50 bucks to see Sonnen get beat like a Tranny at a Stag party.