Dana White Makes the Right Call in Canceling UFC 151

If you have yet to hear the historic news, major news has hit the MMA world. Would you like the SparkNotes version of what went down?

Dan Henderson was scheduled to meet Jon Jones in the main event of UFC 151 on September 1st. Henderson gets injured and withdraws. UFC offers Chael Sonnen opportunity to replace Henderson. Jones refuses to fight Sonnen or any other opponent. UFC moves Jones to UFC 152, and pairs him against Lyoto Machida. UFC 151 is now the first event cancelled in the history of Zuffa.

Caught up? Good! 

As much as I hate to say it, canceling the event was the right decision. The remaining card included some intriguing bouts between notables within the UFC landscape. The co-main event featured a rematch between highly-regarded welterweights Jake Ellenberger and Jay Hieron.

Hieron was a recent title contender with the Bellator organization. However, a battle with No. 5 ranked Ellenberger isn't a fight that would garner a buyrate acceptable by any standards.

Could you imagine spending $45 on a PPV that features this card:

Jake Ellenberger vs Jay Hieron
Dennis Siver vs Eddie Yagin
Dennis Hallman vs Thiago Tavares
John Lineker vs Yasuhiro Urushitani
Michael Johnson vs Danny Castillo

Me neither, and I am intrigued by all five of those fights.

With a card that features no former champions and only three men within their divisional Top 10, the remains of UFC 151 has little star power and even less relevance.

Stuck between a rock and a hard place, Dana White knew that finding a suitable replacement for the main event wouldn't be possible, and that the card in it's current form is unbuyable.

With September 1st right around the corner, canceling the event is the only decision that made any sense, regardless of the financial pill that the UFC has been forced to swallow. 

Jon Jones made a selfish decision today, but at least Dana White was smart enough to make the right one.