UFC 151 cancelled; complete media call audio and recap

Today, the UFC held a special last minute press conference. Minute by minute details are provided:

2:00 PM: We are still waiting for additional participants to arrive. Will start shortly…

2:02 PM: One of my all-time lows being the UFC President. The event is cancelled!

2:03 PM: Chael Sonnen accepted fight with Jon Jones and agreed to come to Vegas today.

2:04 PM: Jon Jones refused to fight Chael Sonnen. Saturday, September 22nd, Jon Jones will fight Lyoto Machida.

2:06 PM: Dana White says that Greg Jackson suggested that Jon Jones not take the fight and it would be the biggest mistake of his career.

2:07 PM: Dana White says Greg Jackson is a sport killer.

2:08 PM: Dan Henderson has a torn MCL and he is not sure when he’ll be able to return.

2:10 PM: Future events will be renamed accordingly, so UFC 151 will be the September 22nd event and so on.

2:10 PM: Greg Jackson absolutely influenced Jones not to take the fight.

2:12 PM: With only eight days notice, this was the only decision available with Jones unwilling to fight Chael Sonnen.

2:14 PM: Dana White is unsure how the undercard will fall out. He is not sure if the bouts will just be moved or changed, etc.

2:14 PM: Henderson started trying to get in touch with Dana White Sunday, but was trying to tough it out. The UFC flew Henderson to Las Vegas to see a physician. He had limited lateral movement, and fighting through it was not an option.

2:20 PM: We still have big things going on. Jones vs. Machida will be the main event over the intended billing of a bantamweight title fight. It’s always the way the UFC does business, the heavier the fighters, the higher billing.

2:21 PM: Me and Lorenzo are f—in disgusted.

2:22 PM: The Chael Sonnen fight didn’t make sense as far as a title fight, but I knew people would be interested. Dana White: Tell Jon Jones there won’t be any spinning back fists in this fight, Chael Sonnen only falls down once. I don’t why a guy who’s a world champion and considered one of the pound for pound bests would fight.

2:24 PM: All the marketing has been spent. The prelims were on FX. We have billboards in Times Square. This is a massive, massive financial hit.

2:26 PM: Being a fight promoter, you can’t make someone fight. I can’t absoluetly tell someone they are fighting. Your either a fighter or not.

2:28 PM: If Jon Jones doesn’t fight Machida, we’ll have another media call today, and it won’t be good. Jon Jones is expected to return the bout agreement for Machida fight today.

2:29 PM: I have a roster full of guys that would fight at the drop of the hat. Those are the guys I respect, those are the guys that built this company.

2:34 PM: White: Good for Jon Jones. He is rich and doesnt’ need the money, but what about the other guys on the card. This is how they feed their families. They need this.

Listen to internet radio with Larry Csonka on Blog Talk Radio