UFC 151 Cancelled After Injury Forces Dan Henderson To Withdraw

Dan Henderson

Dan Henderson

Henderson injured, UFC 151 officially cancelled

An injury in training has forced UFC 151 headliner Dan Henderson out of his main event title fight against UFC light heavyweight champion Jon Jones, and the event, along with the match up, has been cancelled.

Jones will meet Lyoto Machida on the September 22 card, UFC 152.

Dana White revealed the news today on a media call, calling the moment “one of my all-time lows.”

“Dan Henderson has a partial tear in his MCL and couldn’t continue,” White said. “There was nothing we could do to save that fight.”

“For someone to fight Jon Jones on eight days notice is tough to do,” White continued, also saying that this was the first time the UFC ever had to cancel the event.

However, there was one individual who agreed to step up on short notice, and that man was Chael Sonnen.

“Chael Sonnen accepted the fight with Jon Jones,” White said.

But the situation transferred back to a state of hopelessness when champion Jones actually turned down the fight, which is something White said is another thing has never happened in the history of the promotion.

“Jon Jones said, ‘I’m not fighting Chael Sonnen on eight days notice,'” White went on to say.

The UFC president, who has never been one to avoid calling someone with whom he is displeased out, was not shy about going after Jones’ coach Greg Jackson, calling him “a (expletive) sport-killer.”

Jackson advised Jones to turn down the fight.

Jones last competed at UFC 145 against rival and former teammate Rashad Evans. “Bones” earned a unanimous decision victory to retain the 205 lb. title, which he earned with a technical knockout victory over Mauricio “Shogun” Rua at UFC 128.

The champion would have attempted to defend his title for the fourth time against Henderson.

Meanwhile, Henderson earned the title shot after defeating the aforementioned Rua at UFC 139 in his return to the promotion. The bout was arguably the most entertaining fight of 2011.

The longtime veteran of the sport has won four straight contests, three of which came under the Strikeforce banner. All three of those fights ended by way of knockout, including his fight against Fedor Emelianenko in July of 2011.

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