Benson Henderson: Jon Jones got a 'raw deal'

“Jones definitely got a raw deal. All of the onus, all of it, was put on his shoulders. Everything. What about the co-main event? What about bringing in other guys? What about the guys getting injured? There was a lot. To place everything on his shoulders, I think, was very unfair. He’s fully within his rights to turn down a fight. Would he have won? Yeah, he probably would have won. Would it have been a smart decision to make? No, probably not. So I definitely felt bad for him.” “Some guys are turning down fights, short-notice fights, two week’s notice fights, eight day’s notice fights, five week’s notice fights because it’s not enough time to fully prepare.

The rash of guys turning down fights. It happened before Jones. It wasn’t like it’s all of a sudden, it just happens out of nowhere. It happened before Jones decided not to fight Chael Sonnen. There were plenty of guys who turned down fights off short notice. I think just the way it was played up, the way it was built in the media, and by certain people, it made it a very negative connotation, to where, ‘Oh, he turned the fight down. He ruined these fighters’ lives. He ruined all the fans and he screwed them over.’ I don’t think that’s really so much the case. Everyone has their part to play. It’s not just Jones himself in there, all by himself. It always takes two to dance.”