It happening just means the champion accepted the fight. It is not evidence that the champion is required to take the fight like you guys are saying is the case.
What says 'they don't have to take the fight'.
You are looking for a pretty silly thing.
WTF is the Champions contract for if not to fight all comers in their division?
If a champ can start saying NO for any reason then they can say NO for all reasons. Oh that guys look tough, NO.
You can't pretend they can only say NO to someone moving up or down a division into their division as that is not written anywhere. You are just allowing him to make an arbitrary choice based on something you agree with. That is not a basis for any type of consistency.
They absolutely can. This happens all the time. No idea what you are talking about.
NO they cannot and it does not if that is the fight the UFC wants to put forth. They can make it difficult by saying they are taking a holiday or break or going for surgery as Anderson tried all of the above to avoid Sonnen the second time and Weidman the first time, but if the UFC is intent on saying that is your next opponent all you can do is sit out and never fight. They cannot force you to fight but they insist on who you will fight IF you fight next. Anderson found that out the hard way when he was FORCED to fight both. Jones was forced to fight both SOnnen and Belfort despite not wanting to and knowing it was no win situation in each fight.
Now most times the UFC will not force the issue though. But that is different than a Champ refusing.
Champions are only required to fight real #1 contenders and can be stripped if they don't. TJ is not in the division and is therefore not a #1 contender.
I actually wish this was true but it is false. The UFC does not follow any official rankings or agency when it comes to title fights. They loosely use their own when it suits them. I would like to see a formal ranking structure put forth so guys like Jones are not forced to fight Sonnens and Belforts.
Let's say TJ had came down and taken a top spot in the division. I bet you DJ could not refuse the fight then. That's because there is a clear difference here that you all are pretending doesn't exist.
I am not pretending that there is no difference between someone who has earned his way up in the division and those who get to Cue jump for popularity or other reasons such as being a champ in the division above or below.
I recognize the UFC has different rules and even if I would prefer other rules the UFC is consistent with their rules. They have always allowed popular fighters, particularly Champs, or former champs to jump up or down a division and into an immediate title shot without first earning their ranking in the other division.
BJ did it. Edgar did it. Couture did it. And others did it. Had Anderson in his prime said he wanted Jones at LHW or GSP at WW he would have instantly got that fight whether he was proven in that division or not. Same for GSP had he wanted to challenge Anderson for the MW belt.
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Jones was never forced to fight Sonnen. They did a show for crying out loud. Your examples are ridiculous. GSP vs. Bisping? Who was forced to fight who in that fight? No one.
Jones stated many times he did not want either the Sonnen or Belfort fights as they were no win for him. He was right. The biggest knock guys like to throw at Jones and his record was that LHW was so weak he had to beat up MW's when in fact there were LHW contenders far more worthy that were put aside to force Jones to fight those guys.
GSP V Bisping proves that it is not necessary for a fighter to first take a fight in teh division for the UFC to put him up as the next contender. So you stating that SHOULD be the case is not in fact what IS the case.
