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By: Jason Amadi, MMATorch Columnist
Trevor writes: My question is quick and simple. Why couldn't the UFC have made the Jon Jones fight with Chael Sonnen and made it a non-title fight due to the extreme short notice? It would be a good way for Sonnen to see how he would fair against the top of the division and would cost Jones a loss at most.
A: I don't want to get all "Vince Russo" on you, but championship belts are just props; they, in and of themselves, have almost no value. It may be a great visual to see a few pieces of gold and leather wrapped around someone's waist after a victory, but the at the end of the day the victory is all that matters.
If Chael Sonnen had defeated Jon Jones in a non-title fight, everyone would be in the same exact same position as they would have been if the title actually changed hands. It just wouldn't have done anyone any good.
Wesley writes: I honestly can't see how Dan Henderson can call himself a true warrior and Jon Jones a fluke when he hid an injury for three weeks then released it eight days before the event.
A: Dan Henderson, much like everyone involved in the UFC 151 cancellation, was looking out for his own interests. Sure, hindsight being 20/20, it would have been great for him to have pulled out three weeks before the event so the UFC would have had time to find Jon Jones a suitable replacement.
The problem, though, was that Henderson had no way of knowing whether he'd be able to compete or not, three weeks out from the fight. Considering Dan Henderson's age and how fast things move in MMA, we could easily be looking at a scenario where he never gets another chance to compete for a UFC championship again.
Had Henderson let the UFC know that he was injured ahead of time, the UFC would have shopped around for opponents and it would have gotten out that he was injured. If he were to have healed up and was actually able to compete, there's a pretty good chance that Jon Jones and his camp would have known about his injury going in and devised a plan to exploit it. In situations like these, a fighter either has to pull out immediately or keep the injury to themselves until the very end.
Again, it's easy to play the blame game after the fact, but in the heat of things, everyone was looking out for themselves.
Brent writes: Does it really matter who the UFC puts in front Jose Aldo? I mean, how are you supposed to beat a guy that can immobilize you with 1-2 leg kicks? They are absolutely vicious. Do you really think Edgar has a chance? We all know how good Urijah Faber was at in his prime, and Aldo absolutely destroyed him.
A: I've said many times that I would favor Jose Aldo in a fight again Frankie Edgar due to his power and explosion, and Edgar's recent string of razor close title fights only strengthens that opinion. That being said, I could definitely see Frankie Edgar pulling off the upset.
While Aldo has faced a steady stream of quality opposition, Frankie Edgar is probably his best opponent to date. Edgar's boxing is crisp, his takedowns are smooth, and he adapts very well mid-fight. He's also an incredibly well conditioned fighter and is usually as fresh in the fifth round as he is in the first. The same really can't be said for the champ. Jose Aldo has gone to the championship rounds before, but never really at Frankie Edgar's pace. Even if it's unlikely that'd he'd flat out gas like he did in the Mark Hominick fight last year, he still doesn't have Edgar's gas tank.
Again, I favor Jose Aldo to win and think he'll probably do so impressively. But this is his biggest test to date. Edgar was a champion a weight class above him and deserves to be respected.
Feel free to follow me on Twitter @JasonAmadi and direct your "Ask the Torch" questions to askthetorch@gmail.com
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