ESPN Sports Center: Chael Sonnen reacts to Jon Jones turning down fight at UFC 151 *VIDEO*

UFC middleweight Chael Sonnen was willing to fight UFC light heavyweight champion Jon Jones at UFC 151 next weekend after Jones’ original opponent Dan Henderson was forced to withdraw due to injury.

Jones, however, turned the bout down at the advice of his coach, citing it was too short notice to properly prepare for Sonnen.

Sonnen was a guest on ESPN’s Sports Center Thursday and gave his reaction to the news. And that reaction was imbued with heavy undertones, no doubt in reference to Jones’ recent car wreck and DWI:

“I just don’t know why he won’t fight me next Saturday. What else does he have to do? Is there like a wine-tasting at the local racetrack or something I haven’t heard about? I don’t know. Maybe Dana didn’t make it clear enough that he was willing to fly Jones out. Maybe Jon thought he had to drive.

“We’re a volunteer army. Nobody has to fight. Nobody has to go with this company, go with this line of work. But when you choose to, when you sign your name to a contract, when an industry is counting on you to honor your word, you’ve got to honor your word. Dan Henderson was on one leg and did everything he could to still make that date. Dana White flew him out, had his own doctor look at Dan’s knee and just said, ‘Look, you can’t go.’ So Dan Henderson on one leg was willing to do what Jon Jones who’s healthy wasn’t willing to do.

“Jon Jones has his own way of going about things. This guy is an entitled brat. And when you get that way and you’re surrounded with people that tell you these things, you don’t think of anybody else but yourself. You know, he’s now with Nike. Nike with Jon Jones is going to have to change their slogan to ‘Just Do Nothing.’

“All he’s doing is delaying the inevitable. … This was his opportunity to sway the scales in his favor. Now, when I come to beat him, next time I’m going to have a contract, I’ll have ninety days, I’m going to have normal training preparation.”