Machida out - Belfort in against Jones.

[Radar]

http://www.mmafighting.com/2012/8/24...ida-turns-down

Jon Jones will not be facing Lyoto Machida at UFC 152 after all.

Instead, Vitor Belfort will fight Jones for the UFC light heavyweight title on Sept. 22 in Toronto. UFC president Dana White confirmed the change with MMAFighting.com late Thursday night.

According to White, Machida turned down the title shot on Thursday. At some point during the day, Belfort volunteered to fight Jones on one month's notice, and after Machida declined to fight Jones, Belfort was granted the title shot by the promotion.
Belfort was originally scheduled to face Alan Belcher at UFC 153 in October. White said he hasn't decided who will fight Belcher instead.

White added since Machida turned down the title shot, he will most likely have to fight another top contender before he gets an opportunity to fight for the title again.

well then.

[wimmer]

BREAKING NEWS..... Jon Jones refuses to fight Vitor Belfort..... UFC 152 cancelled. Jones to fight Mickey Rourke at 153.

[ninjabag]

at least there hasn't been any drama this week in MMA!

[ferg[adr]]

machida turned it down? wtf? i guess he thinks it's just not enough time, which i kind of agree with. very different from jones turning down a fight with a middleweight who will get no training time in, while jones has been training full-time already for hendo.

[ferg[adr]]

either this is not true, or the UFC has not updated the website yet. it shows jones vs. machida for 152.

[D-Gonza]

Saw this coming. White was jumping the gun again. He even admitted on the press conference that Machida was in the air and he hadn't agreed to the title fight on 9/22. White must be freaking out, he can't get a fight made right now.

Vitor has about as much of a chance as anyone else at 205 right now, so props to him for throwing the dice and taking a crack at the title at 205. That said, Vitor will get injured in training camp and the fight will get called off.

[Dert McGert]

See, Vitor tried to replace Barnett. Now he is trying to replace Hendo......this is not looking good.

[Narbegesicht]

why vitor? why not shogun or sonnen?

[Radar]

BREAKING NEWS..... Jon Jones refuses to fight Vitor Belfort..... UFC 152 cancelled. Jones to fight Mickey Rourke at 153.

Jones will get injured and then it's Rourke vs Chuck Zito for the interim belt

[ItBurnzWhenIP]

why vitor? why not shogun or sonnen?

Vitor knows this is his last hurrah. Hopefully he comes out hyper aggressive and just brings it at this big bitch.

[Narbegesicht]

if you're gonna have a MW fight jones why one that has no interest at fighting at 205 over a guy who is making a run at 205 already?

[killemall]

Steven seagal just now took credit for cancelling UFC 151

[Manfred]

You must spread some Reputation around before giving it to killemall again.

Damn it

[Snake]

They should do Judo Gene vs Steven Seagal as the main event.

[nakedrear]

What? Why all the gay matches? Can we just do what this event should have been anyway:

Anderson vs Jones, make the prima donnas fight each other right now, or get bent and fuck off to M-1 or something.

[ItBurnzWhenIP]

Supposedly Jones respects Anderson too much to fight him lol

[Beanflicker]

Jesus Christ what happened to the days when being champion of the world actually meant something? To me, Machida is a faggot for turning this down. You won't take a fight with the champ on a month's notice? Christ, this sport is going down the tubes.

Vitor is a REAL fighter. If you guys don't remember, he also volunteered to fight Fedor on a few days notice after Josh Barnett tested positive and killed Affliction. What happened to real fighters like Vitor?

[killemall]

Same thing that's happening to young people all over the world. This new generation of youngsters are a bunch of coddled brats.

[Crunchie]

Dana White States Anderson Silva Offered To Save UFC 151 And Fight On Eight Days Notice

[kurleedaddee]

Chris Weidman also offered to go up to LHW and fight Jones. As did Belcher. And you gave Vitor of all people a shot.

With two champions (MW and LHW) and too many challengers to list in each category, the only possible scenario to give an equal chance is a TOURNAMENT. I have been saying it for months. Relive the days of old. Not in one night per-se, but over months time like Bellator does.