Ok.
I don't have much time, but I like you and your posts (despite our obvious disagreements), so I will take a stab at it.
Sorry if it sound harsh or bad, but I really am rushing it. so forgive me for that
No, McGregor had a title shot to lose. Had Mendes won the fight, Mendes would have had the interim title and as such would have been next in line to fight Aldo. This is obvious. The same is true now. McGregor was scheduled to fight RDA for the lightweight title. If he loses the replacement fight, he loses that opportunity.
That's where you are wrong.
Conor was alrady leapfrogging the real contenders.
Conor should have fought them before his title shot anyway.
And yet they picked the easiest win for him. A guy who was out hunting, instead of the guy who was at the gym.
These are facts. They contacted both fighters and then chose the one who was out hunting.
He was. But he was injured slightly enough that he was willing to fight clear up until it was clear that he would fight a replacement rather than Cain. It's not a perfect comparison to McGregor's situation, but it's not irrelevant either. I'm not calling Werdum a coward or any such nonsense. I think he's a very tough and very smart fighter. But if guys as good as Jones and Werdum are wary of last minute replacement fights, and they have shown that they are, then that tells us that McGregor is going above and beyond what can be reasonably expected of top fighters in this type of situation.
Another key difference between Werdum's situation is that his replacement was a top contender in the division, and McGregor's isn't. I think this is readily explained by the fact that Werdum is the champ, so he always ought to fight the top contender available in his division. At LW, McGregor is not the champ, so if his title shot is delayed because the champ pulls out, it doesn't necessarily follow that his title shot ought to be replaced by a fight with another top contender. Such a policy would have the effect of punishing contenders for the champ's injury, and give the champ incentive to feign injury to avoid contenders. (At least two contenders who earned title shots with Aldo never received them after Aldo pulled out of their fights with injuries. I am not suggesting Aldo purposely ducked them, but when it happens more than once, it raises the question.)
Again, this is NOTHING like Werdum situation. Werdum was injured. pulled out because of that.
He already accepted fighting Stipe once healed.
And no. this does not make them duck opponents. Because Zuffa also checks fighters with their own doctors. SO they can't simply claim they are hurt. They have to prove it (it would be highly stupid of Zuffa to simply accept a fighter's word).
So your little theory does not work
Jones did get a lot of flak for refusing a replacement. How does that justify McGregor getting flak from the likes of you for accepting a replacement? If someone is being asinine here, it isn't me.
Neither here nor there. I don't commend fighters for accepting fights. It's their job.
FIghter who was supposed to fight will ALWAYS have the advantage of a full training camp. So I don't think we need an ode to their bravery for accepting to fight someone with shorter/no camp.
If Khabib is the number one contender, then why is he scheduled for a contender eliminator fight with Ferguson, in which it was understood that the winner would fight the winner of RDA/McGregor? Khabib was the number one contender two years ago, but the title landscape has changed radically in that time. He needs a good win to show where he is after being on the shelf for two years.
Now Khabib does require a bit of thought here, because in all likelihood he will fight for a LW title sooner rather than later, and in all likelihood he will be a terrible match up for McGregor. I think if McGregor were to somehow win the LW title and then avoid Khabib, he would be wide open to accusations of ducking. But that isn't yet where we are.
Khabib is fighting as a CONTENDER eliminator. That alone says he is a contender.
And you can try as you may, Khabib is #2 in UFC's own rankings. With Eddie (not Tony) as #1.
This is but a tune up fight before his long awaited title shot.
Can you show that Mcgregor picked and chose an opponent. All reports I ave heard suggest he was willing to take all comers, and his track record of fighting Mendes as a late replacement, who on paper is a terrible match up for him, earns him the benefit of the doubt. Add in the additional fact that as a FW champ moving up to fight a heavier champ, he is now at the last minute moving up yet another weight division. His new opponent will have a substantial weight advantage over him. Most FWs don't pick and choose to fight at WW.
Yes, reports show that... and history/facts shows he rather pick on someone who was not in a training camp, or someone who is a high level grappler/wrestler.
Fact: he picked Mendes (who was hunting) instead of Frankie (who was in the gym, training).
Fact: he picked RDA instead of Frankie.
Fact: he picked Diaz instead of Khabib.
So far, the only terrible matchup he took was one that, although you are right in the style, you forget he was hunting, out of shape, and the other choice was someone as bad, but in-shape...
