Not a fan of Kabib but I do have respect for his father. Very intelligent man in the fight game.
Yes he ducked Poirier, this is a free world and you can believe what you want. Baldy Diana had promised a TITLE SHOT to the winner of the interim belt between Poirier and Tony Ferguson. Khabib could not fight earlier because of his suspension for 9 or so months. Tony Ferguson refused to fight Poirier for the INTERIM BELT and the chance to fight Khabib.
As Tony ducked Poirier (yes this was damned stupid because he would have face Khabib by now, win or lose). So yes Tony ducked Poirier. Maybe he felt he didn't need to risk his unbeaten record or what.
Good thread, as always. Thanks.
Tony ducked Poirier so hard and this is not even debatable. As you even said, he would be fighting for the title much earlier, not only now. And he will pay the price, will lose easily.
We'll see, bro. I sure hope you are right. I would like to see Tony win. That said, I have my serious doubts based on styles. Tony is not exactly hard to take down and we have seen what happens when he faces wrestlers like Castillo and 1 round Lee. I just hope the fight materializes this time more than anything.
I agree with what you're saying, that would have definitely been the sensible thing. Yes Duck is the wrong word, because it's implying he was afraid, that would never ever be the case. Sleazeball Baldy decided to punish Tony for not accepting the fight with Dustin. It was vindictiveness.Okay we don't really disagree too much then, but I think the word "ducking" is just wrong here, that's all.
Here's the real thing though: Khabib couldn't fight. Fine. But this wasn't an injury situation where he was out an indefinite amount of time. They KNEW he was back in September, right? Why the need for an interim belt at all? They didn't strip Khabib, so aside from $$ what was the point of the interim title in this situation. If it was based on merit, why would you not just say "The guy who's won 11 in a row will fight the champ in the fall once the suspension is up." Tony would have waited, obviously. Dustin could have fought Max and headlined a card still (maybe not a ppv with no fake belt on the line, but a big ESPN card for sure) and the winner of that fight would have faced the winner of Tony vs Khabib.
That's why Tony turned it down, he was calling BS on what the UFC was doing. Then they told him "Too bad, this is how we operate, deal with it." He fights for a living and they made him a good financial offer to fight Cowboy on that big Chicago card, so he took it.
Conor rematch 2021
I agree with what you're saying, that would have definitely been the sensible thing. Yes Duck is the wrong word, because it's implying he was afraid, that would never ever be the case. Sleazeball Baldy decided to punish Tony for not accepting the fight with Dustin. It was vindictiveness.
That said I couldn't argue with Dustin Poirier getting his title shot either. The guy had been on a tear since moving up to LW. He whooped 3 former World champions (1 existing at the time at FW) to get to his title shot and made Gaedje look human by knocking him out. Dustin had been making all the noises about the interim until Khabib's suspension ended.
Baldy hasn't become a billionaire from being nice, he's a cunning two face sleazeball of the highest order. He absolutely does not give a shit at how fighters risk their lives and health to earn a living (most apart from the champions).I don't blame Dustin either. I agree, he'd been on a great run. And as a fighter he SHOULD advocate for himself.
The issue is just...you have a guy who'd won 11 in a row (with 8 of them by finish!) and you tell him with a straight face "Hey, we need you to go ahead and win yet ANOTHER fight and then we PROMISE you'll get the shot at Khabib..." That's just ridiculous.
Baldy hasn't become a billionaire from being nice, he's a cunning two face sleazeball of the highest order. He absolutely does not give a shit at how fighters risk their lives and health to earn a living (most apart from the champions).
About Khabib fighting in Russia
- Khabib will probably not fight in Russia because of PPV.
- It would take a huge amount of money from private sponsors to bring a Khabib card to Russia
Okay we don't really disagree too much then, but I think the word "ducking" is just wrong here, that's all.
Here's the real thing though: Khabib couldn't fight. Fine. But this wasn't an injury situation where he was out an indefinite amount of time. They KNEW he was back in September, right? Why the need for an interim belt at all? They didn't strip Khabib, so aside from $$ what was the point of the interim title in this situation. If it was based on merit, why would you not just say "The guy who's won 11 in a row will fight the champ in the fall once the suspension is up." Tony would have waited, obviously. Dustin could have fought Max and headlined a card still (maybe not a ppv with no fake belt on the line, but a big ESPN card for sure) and the winner of that fight would have faced the winner of Tony vs Khabib.
That's why Tony turned it down, he was calling BS on what the UFC was doing. Then they told him "Too bad, this is how we operate, deal with it." He fights for a living and they made him a good financial offer to fight Cowboy on that big Chicago card, so he took it.
Do you believe Tony refusing the Poirier fight had nothing to do with risk of losing? It was just because of negative feelings towards the "interim" label?
He accepted a fight with Donald Cerrone. So if, hypothetically, Dana had offered Tony an interim match against Donald he would have refused due to the "interim" stigma?
And if instead Dana offered Tony the Dustin match, not as an interim title shot but just as a fight like the Donald match, Tony would have accepted?
Tony's definitely the #1 contender but to say his decision to fight Donald instead of Dustin had nothing to do with risk/reward is naive IMO.