Signs point to the UFC's potential bait-and-switch trick on Khabib with Conor/Ferguson

[MMAart]

How did they help him keep two belts hostage? When he won the lw belt, they stripped him of the fw belt, and when he went to box, they stripped him of the other one.

Conor won the FW belt at UFC 194 on 12 December 2015.

The UFC allowed him to keep his FW belt without defending it, while they gave him 3 fights at LW:

1. UFC 196 on 5 March 2016
2. UFC 202 on 20 August 2016
3. UFC 205 on 12 November 2016

They only stripped him of the FW belt after allowing him to win both belts.

 

[MMAart]

UFC helped him protect the belts by not fighting for two years and stripping both titles?

Maybe I'm misunderstanding... if you build up a star you want him to fight so you can make money on it??? Not sit on the shelf while the idea of Conor does absolutely nothing for you

Well, yes, if you're a star like Jones. However, Conor apparently is a much bigger money maker than Jones, even when he is not fighting. He is such a big star now after the Mayweather fight that there is more risk to his value by having fight opponents like Khabib.

The UFC cannot protect their Irish pot of gold forever, but they can delay the inevitable and use Conor as a marketing tool for their products. The Proper 12 whiskey is a pretty clear indication.

 

[THEfightsAREfixed]

yes this is very likely, astute analysis sir

 

[pv3Hpv3p]

Well, yes, if you're a star like Jones. However, Conor apparently is a much bigger money maker than Jones, even when he is not fighting. He is such a big star now after the Mayweather fight that there is more risk to his value by having fight opponents like Khabib.

The UFC cannot protect their Irish pot of gold forever, but they can delay the inevitable and use Conor as a marketing tool for their products. The Proper 12 whiskey is a pretty clear indication.

The company protected him by giving favorable matchups while building him up, now i guarantee they would be more interested in cashing in on their cash cow a couple times a year as oppose to promoting the guys whiskey while he makes the rare bi-yearly appearance

 

[reigning terroe]

Conor won the FW belt at UFC 194 on 12 December 2015.

The UFC allowed him to keep his FW belt without defending it, while they gave him 3 fights at LW:

1. UFC 196 on 5 March 2016
2. UFC 202 on 20 August 2016
3. UFC 205 on 12 November 2016

They only stripped him of the FW belt after allowing him to win both belts.

2 fights at WW 1 fight at LW and he would’ve been stripped at UFC 196 if RDA would’ve made it to the fight and if he would’ve won. At UFC 200 Frankie and Aldo fought for the interim title so FW was still moving forward. He told the UFC he’d defend both titles then they stripped him when they realized he was full of shit. He only fought Diaz again because he got embarrassed and needed redemption then he fought Alvarez because he never got his shot at RDA. It’s the reason why they made both Diaz fights at 170, well the first one was because it was short notice second one wasn’t, because they didn’t want Conor to lose at LW so they could give him a title shot without too much backlash. Guaranteed if Conor wins October 6th and Diaz beats Poirer we’ll have Diaz vs Conor 3 for the title now Poirer would probably also get the shot if he wins since Conor creamed him already. Then after that they’ll look to book Conor against GSP or try to get GSP to get the WW title from Woodley to set up a double champ fight at WW

 

[HomerThompson]

Pettis regains former glory with a Showtime kick KO of Colin.

Benson puts the belt around his waist.

WEC Britney does the splits in the middle of the ring.

 

[wisdom blows]

Shit thread, shit poster. Wasteland.

 

[neXt leVel]

 

[Kael Rills]

That's not happening.

 

[xMaxPower]

Back in 2016, based on the UFC's past patterns of protecting certain fighters, I predicted that if McGregor wins the LW title, the UFC would help him hold 2 belts hostage:

http://forums.sherdog.com/threads/i...amp-for-a-very-long-time-here-is-why.3362947/​

Everyone saw what happened.

Now that the UFC has announced Conor's return to fight Khabib - after avoiding him like the plague for 2 years, going as far as letting his LW belt stripped - something does not seem right. There are signs* pointing to the UFC's potential bait-and-switch trick Khabib with Conor/Ferguson:

The UFC will have Conor pull out at the very last minutes and have Ferguson step in to fight Khabib.​

What are the UFC's motivations?

1. Protect Conor from his worst match-up (Khabib)
2. Use Ferguson (the worst matchup for Khabib) as a last-minute replacement to take Khabib by surprise.
Ferguson's manager (Audie Attar) is also Conor's manager! Keep this in mind!

3. If / when Ferguson wins the belt, have Conor fight him.
Stylistically, Ferguson is more of a stand-up striker, so Conor has a better chance at beating him than he is at beating Khabib.

said this couple months ago but got roasted with conspiracy memes.

 

[ImLovinIt]

6 October we will find out. 6 October.

 

[websurfer]

They'd be pissing away money if the Khabib - Conor fight doesn't happen. Much more so, than in those other cases.

 

[TheLastEmperorReurns]

You think Ferguson is an easy fight for Conor?

Are you retarded, buddeh?

I think he's an easy fight for Conor.

Might be the most hittable guy in the top 10. Gets dropped like literally every fight.

 

[MMAart]

They'd be pissing away money if the Khabib - Conor fight doesn't happen. Much more so, than in those other cases.

They wouldn't be pissing away money if they

1. Did not put money into doing world tours (check)
2. Did not make a big press conference (check)
3. Did not create any major promotional video trailers (check)

No money was wasted.

 

[XxWolfXx]

 

[websurfer]

They wouldn't be pissing away money if they

1. Did not put money into doing world tours (check)
2. Did not make a big press conference (check)
3. Did not create any major promotional video trailers (check)

No money was wasted.

They'd be pissing away the work McGregor and Khabib did in promoting their fight. Mainly with the bus - dolly incident that got world wide exposure, that the UFC is now cashing in on with this PPV Card.

 

[mxer31]

Khabib pulls out
Tony pulls out

Conor vs Pettis for the vacant LW belt

please god noooo

 

[dim_]

Tony is a harder fight for Conor than Khabib.

So no.

 

[kflo]

My prediction was that if Conor win, the UFC would help him protect his 2 belts.

Are you disputing this fact?

Also, Khabib was 24-0 with a dominating win over Johnson, who just came off a devastating KO win over Poirier. Khabib was tearing through the LW division and the worst style matchup for Conor.

Look what happened when Khabib became the #1 contender - did the UFC let Conor defend his title against Khabib?

How can they “let Conor defend his title against Khabib”??

 

[I WILL CUT YOU]

...This thread again?

Face it - Conor isn't scared of Khabib. And the UFC isn't trying to protect him. The fight will happen unless some unforseen circumstance forces one of them to pull out.

Your MMA opinion is invalid. You didn't know who Jim Miller was. Stop commenting and go watch old fights.