Jones and Sonnen to coach the next TUF

http://www.latimes.com/sports/sportsnow/la-sp-sn-ufc-jon-jones-chael-sonnen-ultimate-fighter-20121016,0,1269872.story

Looks like they will fight on April 27th

* Edited at 10.16.2012, 3:24 PM ET *

^bieber is right **** this fight!

These automatic titleshots for guy just entering (or re-entering) divisions is ridiculous, Vitor, Edgar was gonna get one (which was the least bad matches made outta the bunch, but still) and now Sonnen. What's next if Condit loses to GSP can he move up to MW and claim his shot?

Maia was actually 1-1 leading into UFC 112...having just beat Dan Miller in not the greatest of performances by him and getting KTFO by Nate the Great 21 seconds into the fight...don't call that earning the shot...This fight/coach pairing is a cash grab by the UFC and there is nothing wrong with that...Hardcore fans might ***** about deserving title shots, but the casual fan (who the UFC is really after) will just say hey that guy that talks all that trash is fighting some guy that is being hyped as the greatest fighter on the planet on Saturday lets watch it

^Maia was 6-1 in the UFC going into his title shot, you mean he was only on a 1 fight win streak perhaps?

Sonnen's last PPV earned 1 million buys, he and Jones are top 5 draws. Just a month ago everyone on Tapology was saying Jones was a ************* and that Sonnen was the only guy with balls big enough to fight Jones on short notice. Now everyone is killing Sonnen for getting a title shot? Does he deserve it based on his record at 205? He'll no. Does anyone not rumored to have a fight, machida/hendo, Guss/Rua have any more of a chance to beat Jones than Sonnen? 1million buys can't be a bad business decision. I think Jones will win easily, but tough ratings and PPV buys will be up.

If this is a legitimate sport, then your ranking and proximity to a championship should depend on your record, not your ppv drawing ability. 

Not a fan of Sonnen's, or of unearned title shots.  But I can live with both.  We are quite spoiled in MMA in that the most deserving challengers always get title fights.  Hopefully it stays that way.  

I don't see too much to complain about here, as Henderson, the only challenger currently deserving a title shot(that Jones has not already beaten anyway) is already scheduled to fight Machida.  It's not as though someone else is losing their opportunity because of Sonnen.

Don't get me wrong, he doesn't deserve another title shot at a weight he hasn't competed in for many years.  But neither did Belfort.  Sometimes circumstances dictate **** like that.  

@buffalo ben This isn't a legitimate sport. Combat sports will never work like that.

Wonder where it will be?

I will almost certainly be in the Greater NY/NJ area on that weekend.

Maybe the Prudential Center in Newark - where not for nothing Jones beat Shogun to win the belt?

It'll most likely be at the Prudential Center in Newark or the Izod Center in East Rutherford. 

I think that Sonnen "deserving" an immediate title at LHW is exactly the same as Edgar's claim to an immediate shot at FW, yet everyone's mouth was watering when that fight was setup (myself included).

Did they care that Koch was promised the fight and injured and now would have to wait (the same as Dan Henderson)? Did they care that there already was a line of deserving contenders ahead of him (Zombie for instance)? No. Everyone wanted to see Aldo vs. Edgar. Edgar who hasn't ever fought in FW and had just lost two title fights, while not losing to anyone that isn't champion in his former division for a long time (remind you of someone? *cough* Sonnen *cough*).

The ONLY differences are, first, that Edgar is the LW former champ. But, since that's FORMER I don't think it should come into consideration and second, that people actually give Edgar a chance to win the fight as opposed to Chael.

The truth of the matter is that after UFC 151 cancellation, Dana already said that Hendo's going to have to fight Machida, Rua is already fighting Gustafsson, Jones is out (so why not save TUF while he's injured instead of him being completely "inactive") and who better than Chael Sonnen to coach against him to make this season epic?

It just makes sense.

Now, if Chael was a total crap (pardon my french) fighter, then maybe the outrage would be justified, but the fact is, that Chael most likely beats Rua and Hendo (in my opinion of course - if Jake Shields took Hendo down at will, think of what Chael would do to him, plus Chael's cardio vs. Hendo's lack thereof takes the cake) and I'm not 100% sure he loses to Machida and Rashad (though I'd probably bet against him in those fights) which makes him a legitimate contender. Not a "deserving" one, but a legitimate one. Add that to the fact that all of the above have lost badly to Jones (except for Hendo who is injured) and you now have an interesting TUF season, great build-up to the fight and a fresh face for Jones to pound (But hey, who cares about that? Let's focus on the negative and cry about it). To top it all, this is exactly the fight everyone was blasting Jones for not taking and were all asking for right until ... well, until they actually got it. That's MMA fans for you now, isn't it? I mean, Jones said he's not going to let Sonnen talk his way into a fight, EVERYONE said he's a b**tch, scared of Sonnen, blah blah blah ... Now Sonnen gets the fight and those SAME PEOPLE are saying that Sonnen doesn't deserve the fight and has talked himself into a title shot!!! So tell me, is there ANY way to do right by MMA fans? Me thinks not.

I actually like it and the rest of the contenders haven't REALLY done enough to be crying, none of them have REALLY been amazing of late, so they'll just need to wait a few months and they'll all get their chance if they earn it.

Now as for the whole "deserving" a shot thing ... tell me now, who in LHW REALLY deserves a shot?

Rashad? Just lost to Jones.
Machida? One win against Ryan "The Greates Fighter on Earth" Bader removed from being dropped like a lifeless corpse by Jones. Mind=Blown (<- sarcasm)
Rua? Lost his last fight to Hendo. Lost badly to Jones when they were both younger, he was better and Jones wasn't as good as he is now.
Hendo? He hasn't even recovered from his injury yet!!
Gustafsson? He needs to beat Rua first.
Glover? Well, sure, beat Kingsbu and Maldonado - get a title shot. That makes sense. (<- sarcasm)

The truth of the matter is, no, Chael doesn't deserve the shot, but taking all things into consideration, it's not such a bad idea and it doesn't "turn the UFC into the WWE" or any other sort of rubbish I've been reading everywhere.

* Edited at 10.18.2012, 1:09 PM ET *

It is turning into WWE, because by doing this. Dana basically wants people to watch because of some body that can talk ****, and not about the people that put in hard for to get a title shot. 

Like I said, that would be true if Chael was total crap. He isn't and you know it.

The reason he's even considered were his marketability AND 5 (4 1/2 in the first fight and 1 in the second) amazing rounds against the GOAT who's also the guy everyone wants to see against ... you guessed right ... the same Jon Jones (this doesn't mean I think this means he'll dominate Jones the same way, just saying that if many think Silva can beat Jones and Chael dominated Silva you have to agree that Sonnen/Jones isn't totally left-field).

Once again, I'm not saying he's the deserving #1 contender, I'm just saying that taking into consideration EVERYTHING that's going on, it's not such a preposterous idea and it doesn't de-legitimize anything.

* Edited at 10.18.2012, 1:20 PM ET *

You keep holding on to the first Silva fight like one day its gonna **** out golden egss or something. Chael was at 17:1, and Silva had a rib injury, what happened the second fight. Chael couldnt make it to the 3rd round without the re showing mercy for his safety. Bones is 10 times the better wrrestler, and has 10x the better GnP. Chael is gonna get put on his back, and pounded out via TKO, or tapped out. You want better TU ratings, he would have had Bones and Hendo coach. After the first episode or 2, people will get tired of hearing Chael say the same **** over, and over. 

Jones has beaten every top 10 LHW besides Hendo, Gus, Davis, and Glover. I think he soundly beats those 4 guys, but I would rather see any of them get a crack at the title rather than Sonnen. We have 6 months until the Jones vs. Sonnen bout, add another 3 months for Jones to prep for another fight after Sonnen and that gives the UFC LHW divison 9 months to get **** worked out and provide a clear cut #1 and #2 contender for a title shot. I'm bummed Hendo and Machida are missing out on promised title shots just as much as anyone else, but this is not the end of the world situation some people are making it out to be. There was an 11 month period from the first Silva/Sonnen fight until the Silva/Okami fight, this kind of **** happens when a champ clears out a division.

So UFC 151 was cancelled for no reason.

I really dont understand why people are so upset about this fight when just 2 months ago everyone was asking for it and *****ing about Jones not taking the sonnen fight. So when the UFC sets it up along with a way to make some money and help Tuff people lose their ****. I agree that Sonnen should not get a title fight right away but the UFC needs big name coaches so who else could they get.

@rowlison, I think it's safe to say we're all just butthurt that Machida isn't on TUF because we really wanted to see Steven Seagal as part of his coaching staff =(

My problem is that Jones is a champ and should defend it against anyone the UFC puts in front of him and he had a whole training camp. The problem now is that this is a planned title shot with Sonnen who doesn't deserve it when other people like Machida and Hendo are in line. Plus they are holding up the LHW division when there are 2 number 1 contenders. 

@CarlosDelRey well when you put it that way I can see why everyone is upset. It would be funny to see Seagal as a coach on the show it would get more people to watch

@Condit729 I agree with you Machida and Hendo are in line and should get the shot over Sonnen but the UFC is not going to put in Machida as a coach vs Jones, right now I think its all about saving the show and making money. With them as coaches it should make for great TV