Hyden's Take
HYDEN BLOG: Dana White vs. Bob Arum on The Art of Sport
Dec 26, 2012 - 9:35:52 AM HYDEN BLOG: Dana White vs. Bob Arum on The Art of Sport

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By: Frank Hyden, MMATorch contributor

Dana White recently said that Bob Arum, current promoter of boxing's Manny Pacquiao, was a moron for booking Pacquiao against Juan Manuel Marquez. Pacquiao was 2-0-1 against Marquez, but all the fights were close. White says that Pacquiao should have fought Timothy Bradley in a rematch that Pacquiao lost by decision even though most saw it in Pacquiao's favor.

Basically, Dana is saying that Arum should have booked Pacquiao in an easier fight. I'm of two minds on this, though I do lean heavily towards one side. On the one hand, I do understand the idea of protecting and building up one of the few money draws in the boxing business. On the other hand, I think that the sports aspect should always take precedent. I'm not a fan of anyone ducking someone else. That brings to mind a situation earlier this year where Mauricio "Shogun" Rua turned down a fight with Glover Teixeira, because it would have been a tough fight with no real upside for Shogun since Teixeira is a relative unknown.

At the time I said that Shogun is within his rights to refuse the fight, but that he weakens himself when he admits to his reason. He would have been better off not saying anything. It's not as though this has stained him forever or anything like that, but anything negative is bad. The phrase "There's no such thing as bad publicity" or the variant, "Any publicity is good publicity" is a crock. It ranks right up there with, "Money can't buy you happiness" as one of the biggest lies ever said. Bad publicity isn't a good thing, and the only people who say otherwise are just plain lying. If Chael Sonnen wasn't goodtime buddies with Dana White he'd be teaching wrestling in Oregon instead of being gifted title shot after title shot in the UFC. The reason is that Sonnen brings bad publicity to the UFC. You could put up with that if he was worth the trouble, but Sonnen isn't.

This leads to the garbage side of what White said about Bob Arum. For years he has ripped boxing and Arum for not putting together the big fights that people want to see, for putting guys in fights against easier opponents for a less risky payday. Now, Dana is advocating just such a thing. This leads directly into Chael Sonnen getting a title shot against UFC Light Heavyweight Champion Jon Jones even though Sonnen hasn't competed in the division in years, and is also coming off of a trouncing at the hands of UFC Middleweight champion Anderson Silva. Giving Jones a title fight against Sonnen is the least risky of the potential options for Jones at this point. Jones has nothing to fear from Sonnen in the stand-up or submissions areas. The only thing that Sonnen does well is his wrestling, and at this point I would say that Jones even has the advantage there, given Sonnen's age.

It sounds as though White has changed his tune on Arum because the UFC has changed its tune on these kinds of fights. The bad news for us is that the Jones vs. Sonnen fight is going to do well on pay-per-view, almost entirely based on the allure of Jon Jones. Honestly, I don't think Sonnen will help the draw at all. I think you could substitute anyone else in there and achieve the same numbers or better. In fact, I think a Jones fight against Dan Henderson would do even better numbers.

This fight is bad news for several reasons, most of which I've discussed at length. It's also bad news because it will do good numbers on PPV, which will make Dana and the UFC even more bold in booking Sonnen in fights he doesn't deserve. UFC Heavyweight Champion Junior Dos Santos better watch out, Chael Sonnen will be showing up for a title shot in late 2013/early 2014.


Comments and suggestions can be e-mailed to me at hydenfrank@gmail.com