Dominick Cruz - Wins a razor thin split decision vs TJ Dillashaw. That fight was very close, but since TJ's reputation was so tarnished at the time due to McGregor's shit talk, nobody wanted TJ to win. Knowing that TJ is very unpopular with the fans, Dominick avoided a rematch with TJ for 2 years.
Instead he fought Grandpa Faber, and then the #8 ranked Cody Garbrandt. At the time, nobody was giving Garbrandt anything more than a puncher's chance vs Cruz. We hadn't seen the full extent of Cody's abilities yet, and the majority of people were assuming that Cruz was going to make easy work of him and dance around him for 5 rounds, including Cruz himself.
Luckily, this easy defense grab by Cruz backfired and he got smacked around the cage for 5 rounds instead.
Michael Bisping - Wins the title from Luke Rockhold on short notice. While there are plenty of contenders for him to fight, like Yoel and Jacare, he opted to fight Dinosaur Dan instead. Even though Dan wad literally a 45 year old man, he almost KO'd Bisping 2x and arguably won that fight. Truly a disgraceful performance all around for Bisping.
After that, even though there is a CLEAR contender, Bisping opts to fight GSP instead. Even though Georges is a great fighter, he hasn't fought in 4 years and looked bad in his last showing before retiring. Not to mention, he is naturally from a smaller weight class.
This money grab also luckily backfired on Bisping, and he got choked the fuck out for trying to get an easy defense and a big payday whole ducking Whittaker.
And lastly, the biggest ducker of them all...
Conor McGregor. This man fought Aldo and KO'd him in spectacular fashion. One of the most impressive wins we have ever seen inside the octagon. However, many people would argue that after such a dominant reign over the division, and because of the way he went out, Aldo deserved an instant rematch.
Instead, Conor got to fight for the LW belt. When RDA pulled, Conor chose to fight Nate Diaz (even though Cerrone and Pettis were also options, and were in camp at the time, Conor chose Diaz because he knew that he was out of shape.) Conor thought he could smack Nate around quickly and be right back in contention for a LW title shot, but the middle of the pack LW choked him out in the 2nd round.
Somehow, Conor was granted an instant rematch for this bullshit fight, instead of being sent back to defend his belt. (Even though Aldo, the reigning champ with multiple defenses was never granted one. Funny how that works. Anyway...)
Conor barely scraped by a decision in this fight, and then was immediately granted a LW title shot against the weakest LW champion ever. Even though he had just went 1-1 with a LW gatekeeper.
Conor dispatched of Alvarez and rode off into the sunset, never to be seen in the cage again. Now Tony Ferguson looms around the corner, but it seems to have been confirmed that Conor will never fight him. That is why they are looking to book Ferguson vs Khabib again.
Who are some other opportunistic, champions "notorious" for ducking opponents in the UFC? Guys who refuse to fight the #1 contender no matter what?
I think these 3 are probably the biggest ducks in the sport.
Instead he fought Grandpa Faber, and then the #8 ranked Cody Garbrandt. At the time, nobody was giving Garbrandt anything more than a puncher's chance vs Cruz. We hadn't seen the full extent of Cody's abilities yet, and the majority of people were assuming that Cruz was going to make easy work of him and dance around him for 5 rounds, including Cruz himself.
Luckily, this easy defense grab by Cruz backfired and he got smacked around the cage for 5 rounds instead.
Michael Bisping - Wins the title from Luke Rockhold on short notice. While there are plenty of contenders for him to fight, like Yoel and Jacare, he opted to fight Dinosaur Dan instead. Even though Dan wad literally a 45 year old man, he almost KO'd Bisping 2x and arguably won that fight. Truly a disgraceful performance all around for Bisping.
After that, even though there is a CLEAR contender, Bisping opts to fight GSP instead. Even though Georges is a great fighter, he hasn't fought in 4 years and looked bad in his last showing before retiring. Not to mention, he is naturally from a smaller weight class.
This money grab also luckily backfired on Bisping, and he got choked the fuck out for trying to get an easy defense and a big payday whole ducking Whittaker.
And lastly, the biggest ducker of them all...
Conor McGregor. This man fought Aldo and KO'd him in spectacular fashion. One of the most impressive wins we have ever seen inside the octagon. However, many people would argue that after such a dominant reign over the division, and because of the way he went out, Aldo deserved an instant rematch.
Instead, Conor got to fight for the LW belt. When RDA pulled, Conor chose to fight Nate Diaz (even though Cerrone and Pettis were also options, and were in camp at the time, Conor chose Diaz because he knew that he was out of shape.) Conor thought he could smack Nate around quickly and be right back in contention for a LW title shot, but the middle of the pack LW choked him out in the 2nd round.
Somehow, Conor was granted an instant rematch for this bullshit fight, instead of being sent back to defend his belt. (Even though Aldo, the reigning champ with multiple defenses was never granted one. Funny how that works. Anyway...)
Conor barely scraped by a decision in this fight, and then was immediately granted a LW title shot against the weakest LW champion ever. Even though he had just went 1-1 with a LW gatekeeper.
Conor dispatched of Alvarez and rode off into the sunset, never to be seen in the cage again. Now Tony Ferguson looms around the corner, but it seems to have been confirmed that Conor will never fight him. That is why they are looking to book Ferguson vs Khabib again.
Who are some other opportunistic, champions "notorious" for ducking opponents in the UFC? Guys who refuse to fight the #1 contender no matter what?
I think these 3 are probably the biggest ducks in the sport.
