UFC 151

UFC mixed martial arts event in 2012

UFC 151: Jones vs. Henderson

The poster for UFC 151: Jones vs. Henderson

Information

Promotion

Ultimate Fighting Championship

Date

September 1, 2012 (cancelled)

Venue

Mandalay Bay Events Center

City

Las Vegas, Nevada

Event chronology

UFC 150: Henderson vs. Edgar II

UFC 151: Jones vs. Henderson

UFC 152: Jones vs. Belfort

UFC 151: Jones vs. Henderson^[1] was a planned mixed martial arts event that was to be held by the Ultimate Fighting Championship on September 1, 2012, at the Mandalay Bay Events Center in Las Vegas, Nevada. It was to be headlined by a UFC Light Heavyweight Championship bout, between champion Jon Jones and former dual-division PRIDE FC and Strikeforce champion Dan Henderson. However, the event was cancelled on August 23, when the UFC announced Henderson was unable to fight due to injury, and Jones refused to take a replacement fight against longtime middleweight contender, Chael Sonnen.^[2]

Background

The fight between Thiago Tavares and Dennis Hallman was originally scheduled to take place at UFC 150, but was moved to this event on July 12, 2012.^[3]

Josh Koscheck was expected to face Jake Ellenberger, but pulled out of the bout, citing a back injury and was replaced by returning veteran Jay Hieron.^[4]

Cancellation

On August 23, Dana White announced that Henderson had sustained a partial rupture of his MCL and had withdrawn from the fight. White then announced via press conference that UFC 151 would be the first event in the organization's history to be cancelled, after Jones declined to fight Chael Sonnen, who agreed to take the fight on eight days' notice. Initially, White announced that Jones would defend his title against Lyoto Machida at UFC 152 and that UFC 151 simply would not take place.^[5] Later, it emerged that Machida declined to fight Jones on such short notice. The UFC announced that former UFC Light Heavyweight Champion Vitor Belfort would challenge Jon Jones at UFC 152.^[6]

Initial reports indicated that UFC 152, scheduled to take place three weeks later, would be renamed UFC 151. However, Zuffa announced that UFC 152 would keep its name and UFC 151 would officially be deemed a "lost show".^[7] UFC middleweight champion at the time, Anderson Silva reportedly offered to save the event by fighting any light heavyweight other than Jon Jones,^[8] and UFC middleweight contender at the time Chris Weidman also inquired about fighting Jones,^[9] but both offers arrived too late, after cancellation processes began.

Dana White blamed the cancellation on Jones and his coach Greg Jackson, who advised him that accepting the fight with Sonnen on short notice would be the "biggest mistake of [his] entire career".^[10] However, some MMA analysts see the UFC at fault for promoting thin cards.^[11] With fights occurring nearly every weekend, the pool of fighters available as substitutes when injuries occur is shallow.^[12]^[13] CBS Sports columnist Gregg Doyel argued Dana White's mishandling of UFC 151 proved that UFC competitors need a union, stating: "...fights fall through all the time – the flimsy card fell apart. This was the UFC's fault. This was UFC president Dana White's fault."^[14] Dan Henderson was also criticized when it later emerged that he had been injured three weeks prior to the announcement and kept quiet about it as he still hoped to compete.^[15]

Cancelled fight card

Main Card
Weight class				Method	Round	Time	Notes
Light Heavyweight	Jon Jones (c)	vs	Dan Henderson				^[a]
Welterweight	Jake Ellenberger	vs	Jay Hieron				^[b]
Featherweight	Dennis Siver	vs	Eddie Yagin				^[c]
Lightweight	Dennis Hallman	vs	Thiago Tavares				^[d]
Flyweight	John Lineker	vs	Yasuhiro Urushitani				^[e]
Preliminary Card (FX)
Lightweight	Michael Johnson	vs	Danny Castillo				^[f]
Bantamweight	Takeya Mizugaki	vs	Jeff Hougland				^[g]
Lightweight	Tim Means	vs	Abel Trujillo				^[h]
Lightweight	Daron Cruickshank	vs	Henry Martinez				^[i]
Preliminary Card (Facebook)
Lightweight	Shane Roller	vs	Jacob Volkmann				^[j]
Welterweight	Kyle Noke	vs	Charlie Brenneman				^[k]

^ Scrapped.
^ Moved to UFC on FX: Browne vs. Bigfoot.^[16]
^ Moved to UFC on Fox: Henderson vs. Diaz, scrapped again.^[17]
^ Moved to UFC on FX: Browne vs. Bigfoot, scrapped again.^[18]
^ Moved to UFC on Fuel TV: Franklin vs. Le^[19]
^ Moved to UFC on FX: Browne vs. Bigfoot^[20]
^ Moved to UFC on Fuel TV: Franklin vs. Le^[19]
^ Moved to UFC on Fox: Henderson vs. Diaz, scrapped again.^[21]
^ Moved to UFC on Fox: Henderson vs. Diaz^[21]
^ Moved to UFC on FX: Browne vs. Bigfoot^[20]
^ Moved to UFC 152^[22]

References

^ Al-Shatti, Shaun (2012-08-12). "Morning Report: Dana White Declares UFC 151 the 'Event Jon Jones and Greg Jackson Murdered'". MMAFighting.com. Retrieved 2012-08-24.
^ Al-Shatti, Shaun (2012-07-24). "Shane Roller vs. Jacob Volkmann Slated for UFC 151". MMAFighting.com. Retrieved 2012-07-24.
^ Marrocco, Steven (2012-07-12). "Dennis Hallman vs. Thiago Tavares moves from UFC 150 to UFC 151". MMAjunkie.com. Archived from the original on 2013-01-04. Retrieved 2012-07-12.
^ Marrocco, Steven; Stupp, Dann (2012-08-08). "Jay Hieron rejoins the UFC, meets Jake Ellenberger at UFC 151". MMAjunkie.com. Archived from the original on 2013-01-03. Retrieved 2012-08-08.
^ Staff (2012-08-23). "Dan Henderson Injured; UFC 151 Cancelled". MMAWeekly.com. Yahoo! Sports. Retrieved 2012-08-23.
^ Marrocco, Steven (2012-08-24). "Vitor Belfort replaces Lyoto Machida against champ Jon Jones at UFC 152". MMAjunkie.com. Archived from the original on 2013-01-03. Retrieved 2012-08-24.
^ Staff (2012-08-23). "UFC 152 Remains Toronto Moniker; Cancelled UFC 151 Event is the 'Lost Show'". MMAWeekly.com. Yahoo! Sports. Retrieved 2012-08-23.
^ Helwani, Ariel (2012-08-24). "Anderson Silva Offered to Save UFC 151". MMA Fighting. Retrieved 2020-04-07.
^ Helwani, Ariel (2012-08-23). "Chris Weidman Says He Volunteered to Fight Jon Jones at UFC 151". MMA Fighting. Retrieved 2020-04-07.
^ Critchfield, Tristen (2012-08-23). "Despite Dana White's Tirade, Greg Jackson Stands By Advice He Offered to Jon Jones". Sherdog. Retrieved 2012-08-24.
^ Fowlkes, Ben (2012-08-25). "A guide to playing a complex blame game in the wake of UFC 151's cancellation". MMAjunkie.com. Retrieved 2012-08-25.
^ Schmidt, Erik (2012-08-23). "No Bones About It: UFC 151 canceled after Jones declines fight with Sonnen". ProSportsBlogging.com. Retrieved 2012-08-25.
^ Braiterman, Cory (2012-08-24). "The UFC 151 Cancellation Blame List: Who You Should Be Mad At and Why". MMAmania.com. Retrieved 2012-08-25.
^ Doyel, Gregg (2012-08-27). "White's mishandling of UFC 151 proves that UFC's competitors need a union". CBSSports.com. Retrieved 2012-08-27.
^ Drahota, Mike (2012-08-25). "Dan Henderson injured 3 weeks ago, but was still willing to fight Jones". LowKick.com. Archived from the original on 2012-09-27. Retrieved 2012-08-28.
^ Leslie, Chris (2012-08-23). "UFC on FX 5 Update: Ellenberger vs. Hieron Slated for Co-Main Event". MMAFrenzy.com. Retrieved 2012-08-23.
^ Alexander, Mookie (2012-08-30). "Dennis Siver Vs. Eddie Yagin Moved To UFC On FOX 5, All UFC 151 Fights Now Rescheduled". BloodyElbow.com. Retrieved 2012-08-30.
^ Erickson, Matt (2012-08-24). "Dennis Hallman-Thiago Tavares fight moves from scrapped UFC 151 to UFC on FX 5". MMAjunkie.com. Archived from the original on 2012-08-27. Retrieved 2012-08-24.
^ ^a ^b Staff (2012-08-24). "Mizugaki-Hougland, Urushitani-Lineker move from UFC 151 to UFC on FUEL TV 6 in Macau". MMAjunkie.com. Archived from the original on 2012-08-27. Retrieved 2012-08-24.
^ ^a ^b Staff (2012-08-23). "Castillo-Johnson, Roller-Volkmann latest shifts from UFC 151 to UFC on FX 5". MMAjunkie.com. Archived from the original on 2012-08-25. Retrieved 2012-08-23.
^ ^a ^b Staff (2012-08-27). "Means-Trujillo, Cruickshank-Martinez moved from scrapped UFC 151 to UFC on FOX 5". MMAjunkie.com. Archived from the original on 2012-08-30. Retrieved 2012-08-27.
^ Staff (2012-08-23). "Noke-Brenneman moved to UFC 152 in Toronto; Miller forced out of bout with Pierson". MMAjunkie.com. Archived from the original on 2013-01-03. Retrieved 2012-08-23.