Any champion is expected to accept fights against the top contenders.

[Agnawedbone]

did he not defend the belt because he didnt want to lose it? or because floyd was always gonna be his next fight?

lol i dont think conor cares whether or not he was champ. he wanted the floyd fight. if its doable now, why defend in the meantime? its a waste of a camp and time. he made the floyd fight happen, hes not ducking any of the ufc lightweights.

It's the second time he's done this. Why do you think he refused to defend the fw belt over and over again last year? Because he might lose and never get to fight for the LW belt or, at least, never become two division champion. He was scared he couldn't do it legitimately so he decided to just not bother ever defending the fw belt no matter how much time had past. Like I said, keeping a belt by refusing to defend it is cowardly and no amount of dressing it up or excusemaking or shitty circular logic changes it no matter how much you people pretend otherwise. You want to argue it was the "right" decision of he's better of it then fine, cowardice can often be beneficial, but that does absolutely nothing to change what he did.

 

[Final Say]

It's the second time he's done this. Why do you think he refused to defend the fw belt over and over again last year? Because he might lose and never get to fight for the LW belt or, at least, never become two division champion. He was scared he couldn't do it legitimately so he decided to just not bother ever defending the fw belt no matter how much time had past. Like I said, keeping a belt by refusing to defend it is cowardly and no amount of dressing it up or excusemaking or shitty circular logic changes it no matter how much you people pretend otherwise. You want to argue it was the "right" decision of he's better of it then fine, cowardice can often be beneficial, but that does absolutely nothing to change what he did.

the reason its not ducking is because hes always been going for the tougher fight. he did become a two division champion legitimately, your opinion on that is irrelevant. the only reason he didnt do it back to back is because RDA pulled out and nate beat him. once he got the nate fight back, he immediately went back after the lightweight belt which was the plan from the beginning.

conor has always moved forward to a tougher, bigger fight. its been that way his entire career. he never once came off as scared, he always came off as ballsy if you ask me.

 

[Bend NvR Break]

Yes, Conor cowardly refused to defend his belt because he knew when he lost the Floyd fight would be off the table. He literally chose to keep the belt by refusing to defend it. Staying champion solely by not fighting is the very definition of cowardice, no matter how much you try to dress it up as something else.

This guy makes sense

 

[GordaoPreguico]

You mean trying to box one of the GOAT boxers for a staggering payday?

No lying to his fan base who will continue to make excuses for his not defending the belt. If he has said he was taking time off to box mayweather you would have a valid point but instead he said he wanted time off because of his child and you all lapped it up.

 

[Agnawedbone]

the reason its not ducking is because hes always been going for the tougher fight. he did become a two division champion legitimately, your opinion on that is irrelevant. the only reason he didnt do it back to back is because RDA pulled out and nate beat him. once he got the nate fight back, he immediately went back after the lightweight belt which was the plan from the beginning.

conor has always moved forward to a tougher, bigger fight. its been that way his entire career. he never once came off as scared, he always came off as ballsy if you ask me.

An insanely shitty attempt at ignoring what I just said, not to mention incredibly dismissive of all the hard work and sacrifices other fighters put in that gets squandered because of Conor's selfishness and cowardice.

And no fucking way is Eddie Alvarez a tougher fight than Edgar or Aldo or Holloway. That fight was rushed through specifically because it was such an easier match up for Conor.

If you refuse to defend the belt you aren't the champion. Period. I dont give a shit what marketing gimmick paper belt Conor had going into the Eddie fight, you want to be a gullible fool then be my guest but in no way was that a legitimate "champion" vs champion match by any real definition of the term.

 

[Final Say]

No lying to his fan base who will continue to make excuses for his not defending the belt. If he has said he was taking time off to box mayweather you would have a valid point but instead he said he wanted time off because of his child and you all lapped it up.

i lapped it up, eh? lol

did you ever stop to think that if the floyd fight fell through, he'd be defending his belt?

 

[Final Say]

And no fucking way is Eddie Alvarez a tougher fight than Edgar or Aldo. That fight was rushed through specifically because it was a such an easier match up for Conor.

If you refuse to defend the belt you aren't the champion. Period. I dont give a shit what marketing gimmick paper belt Conor had going into the Eddie fight, you want to be a gullible fool then be my guest but in no way was that a legitimate "champion" vs champion match by any real definition of the term.

this whole thing is kind of hard to argue, theres no much sense to any of it.

so a champ and non champ at 45, the champion already having been KO'd by conor, are tougher fights than a champ at the weight class up? where do you get this logic from? why did frankie move down then? why didnt aldo fight at 55 this whole time and become champ there?

and did he refuse to defend his belt? or did he take another tougher, more lucrative fight in the meantime? if the floyd fight wasnt happening, dont you think hed be defending his belt? is it conor's fault that RDA got murked by eddie? if RDA did not get murked by eddie, would RDA have magically been a tougher fight than aldo and edgar?

not much of what youre saying is making any sense.

 

[Agnawedbone]

this whole thing is kind of hard to argue, theres no much sense to any of it.

so a champ and non champ at 45, the champion already having been KO'd by conor, are tougher fights than a champ at the weight class up?

Yes.

where do you get this logic from?

I actually watch fights and understand it's more complicated than some Dbz cartoon with power levels.

why did frankie move down then? why didnt aldo fight at 55 this whole time and become champ there?

Irrelevant nonsense.

and did he refuse to defend his belt? or did he take another tougher, more lucrative fight in the meantime?

Not mutually exclusive, meaningless question.

if the floyd fight wasnt happening, dont you think hed be defending his belt?

Meaningless purely speculative fantasy.

is it conor's fault that RDA got murked by eddie? if RDA did not get murked by eddie, would RDA have magically been a tougher fight than aldo and eggar

More irrelevant nonsense that just distracts from the conversation instead of adding to it.

not much of what youre saying is making any sense.

And you have an obvious lack of critical thinking skillls and debate ability necessary for engaging in any sort of real discourse.

 

[Bluntforce420]

Conor denies other fighters from achieving their goals. Poor Tony Ferguson is 12-1 at LW in the UFC and cant get a legitimate title shot because the LW champ, whos a whopping 1-0 at LW, gets treated like Danas son

 

[JalacoJones]

Who cares If he hasn't defended. It's about the bigger picture. As far as I'm concerned he's made all the right moves.

People are actually trying to argue that he should've defended his FW title Instead of moving up, fighting nate and winning the LW title against alvarez.

Or that he should've defended his LW title Instead of fighting arguably the greatest boxer of all time and Indisputably the greatest defensive boxer of all time.

Do you understand how fucking stupid It makes people sound by arguing this ?

I do understand. We can all say what Conor should do, but only he decides. As a fan, I'd prefer to watch him fight 3-4 times a year in the UFC, but no such luck. I would go for a big pay day too, but I would also be aware some fans won't like it. Conor made it a big deal to be a champ, and two division champ, but he has never defended. MANY people say you aren't a true champion until you defend...

 

[alexxx]

 

[Final Say]

Yes.



I actually watch fights and understand it's more complicated than some Dbz cartoon with power levels.



Irrelevant nonsense.



Not mutually exclusive, meaningless question.



Meaningless purely speculative fantasy.



More irrelevant nonsense that just distracts from the conversation instead of adding to it.



And you have an obvious lack of critical thinking skillls and debate ability necessary for engaging in any sort of real discourse.

Lmao have a good one bud

Alvarez would beat them both btw

 

[Agnawedbone]

Lmao have a good one bud

Alvarez would beat them both btw

An utterly laughable statement. Aldo and Edgar and Holloway would mop the floor with Eddie. It's like you don't understand anything about MMA.

 

[Blayt7hh]

Also Bisping hasn't turned down any fights, so kindly redirect your outrage to where it belongs with the UFC

 

[laleggenda27]

so do you think he should've defended his FW title Instead of moving up In weight and taking on bigger challenges / winning the LW title?

Someone really needs to explain this logic to me.

It seems to me that winning another title In a higher weight class Is more valuable than defending a title against a weaker challenger In a lower weight class.

I'm not a Conor nuthugger by any means but I've always found things like this to be comical. It just sounds like blind hate.

I'm not a Conor hater. I generally think he's an entertaining guy and he's put on some great fights. That being said, here's the logic you're requesting:

First, not defending belts for an extended period of time is bad for the sport. It puts entire divisions in limbo. It throws off the order of things. It leads to situations like those of Max and Ferguson, where they have to keep winning fights well beyond the point at which they earned a title shot. And when the reigning champion drops the belt, it creates an entirely false narrative that the next title holder is just a paper champ.

Second, the way Conor "moved up" in weight was entirely self-serving and took the pressure off himself. By holding onto the FW title, there was simply less to lose when he went to 155. He wasn't risking his title, so he could always go back to 145 as the champion if he lost. Also, there was the built-in excuse of "fighting a bigger man" if he lost, which he and the UFC readily used to explain the Nate fight. He's consistently put himself in situations where he's not the one risking anything; he did it when he held onto the FW title, he did it when he fought Nate at 170 the second time, and he's doing it now with the LW title.

If Conor had vacated the 145 title and then moved up, I'd agree with your position a bit more. But moving up while also keeping your belt doesn't actually risk much.

As a side note, Max, Frankie, and Aldo would all likely beat Eddie at 155, so I wouldn't say that they were "weaker challengers in a lower weight class."

 

[Danespina]

I'm not a Conor hater. I generally think he's an entertaining guy and he's put on some great fights. That being said, here's the logic you're requesting:

First, not defending belts for an extended period of time is bad for the sport. It puts entire divisions in limbo. It throws off the order of things. It leads to situations like those of Max and Ferguson, where they have to keep winning fights well beyond the point at which they earned a title shot. And when the reigning champion drops the belt, it creates an entirely false narrative that the next title holder is just a paper champ.

Second, the way Conor "moved up" in weight was entirely self-serving and took the pressure off himself. By holding onto the FW title, there was simply less to lose when he went to 155. He wasn't risking his title, so he could always go back to 145 as the champion if he lost. Also, there was the built-in excuse of "fighting a bigger man" if he lost, which he and the UFC readily used to explain the Nate fight. He's consistently put himself in situations where he's not the one risking anything; he did it when he held onto the FW title, he did it when he fought Nate at 170 the second time, and he's doing it now with the LW title.

If Conor had vacated the 145 title and then moved up, I'd agree with your position a bit more. But moving up while also keeping your belt doesn't actually risk much.

As a side note, Max, Frankie, and Aldo would all likely beat Eddie at 155, so I wouldn't say that they were "weaker challengers in a lower weight class."

Conor risked tons by fighting Chad Mendes on short notice when he could have just waited to rebook Aldo. That was actually one of the riskiest movies I've ever seen considering how high profile Aldo/Conor was. Bout was completely unnecessary, but Conor took it anyway.

 

[Gilday]

Unless you're Bisping and can duck Romero.

Or Woodley and you can have a rematch instead of fight Maia.

Or you're Conor and can fight Mayweather.

Or you're Conor and can just wait until you win a 2nd title until your first is taken.

Or you're Nunes and have to fight Rousey who was coming off a brutal KO.

Or you're Mighty Mouse and have to face somebody NOT in your division.

... Thinking about it, I can see why maybe GDR thought she wouldn't get stripped now

 

[laleggenda27]

Conor risked tons by fighting Chad Mendes on short notice when he could have just waited to rebook Aldo. That was actually one of the riskiest movies I've ever seen considering how high profile Aldo/Conor was. Bout was completely unnecessary, but Conor took it anyway.

It was for an interim belt against a guy who wasn't training for a fight. Most non-champions would accept an interim title fight if they've actually had a full camp, especially when the other guy hasn't been training. Putting your title on the line is risky. This was an opportunity to wear a belt against a lesser opponent; no real risk. And they paid Conor a boatload of money to do it.

 

[Danespina]

It was for an interim belt against a guy who wasn't training for a fight. Most non-champions would accept an interim title fight if they've actually had a full camp, especially when the other guy hasn't been training. Putting your title on the line is risky. This was an opportunity to wear a belt against a lesser opponent; no real risk. And they paid Conor a boatload of money to do it.

There was a very high risk. He could have lost the massive bout against Jose Aldo. Mendes was one of the two nightmare matchups for him in that division too.

 

[VVarhead]

In fairness, Conor first won a belt in December 2015. That was 18 months ago and he still has zero title defenses.

18 months ago.....