He can't fight in other orgs. At least not in the US nor US based, and none that want to have any relationship with the UFC. Contract. Fighting cans while avoiding top competition doesn't look good.
That zero only counts if he's put together a string of top wins. His best are RDA, McGregor and Barboza. Tony has RDA and Barboza, plus Pettis and Lee. If he were to win the title and defend once he'd have more top wins and a longer UFC streak. No losses is incredibly hard to maintain, but when you look at his record, like 10 of those are nothing wins.
Him ducking out early can be perceived as him avoiding top competition. Whether that's true or not wont matter if the UFC keep offering fights (that they need to offer him every few months to keep the contract valid) and he keeps turning them down.
GOAT isn't just how many wins. It's about strength of schedule. Consistently beating top guys.
