Tony has huge balls to face Pettis when he could have waited for the Conor/Khabib winner.

[revoltub]

Pettis is not a guy who is a guaranteed win. And I think he gives Tony problems stylistically.

Tony was HOURS away from a khabib title fight. Would anyone blame him for sitting out and waiting for the title shot he earned?

 

[LouisBolanos]

Waited how? There's zero guarantee that the winner of Conor vs. Khabib would fight him.

 

[tehJameson]

Wrong this is the only way he gets either fight. Still the odds are Conor fights Nate if he wins and Khabib fights gsp or tiramasu again

 

[DarkneT]

At lightweight

You better fight or you ain't eating

 

[gono btw]

Pettis is not a guy who is a guaranteed win. And I think he gives Tony problems stylistically.

Tony was HOURS away from a khabib title fight. Would anyone blame him for sitting out and waiting for the title shot he earned?

McNuggets can stay 1 yr without defending...

 

[AimedWithV]

Pettis is not a guy who is a guaranteed win. And I think he gives Tony problems stylistically.

Tony was HOURS away from a khabib title fight. Would anyone blame him for sitting out and waiting for the title shot he earned?

No one asked his opinion

 

[Arm Barbarian]

It is a high risk, low reward fight for him.

But we know the REAL reason he is taking that fight.

UFC 229.

He is anticipating one of the main carders to not make it to the cage.

INSTANT title shot.

 

[Iroh]

If he would wait the chance the UFC would screw him again would only increase. LW is too stacked and GSP might even get a TS. He knows he needs to stay fresh in the memory of the public.

 

[revoltub]

It is a high risk, low reward fight for him.

But we know the REAL reason he is taking that fight.

UFC 229.

He is anticipating one of the main carders to not make it to the cage.

INSTANT title shot.

That's what I was thinking.

And lol at people thinking either conor or khabib will duck Tony

 

[cmw43]

Waited how? There's zero guarantee that the winner of Conor vs. Khabib would fight him.

He'd still be the rightful contender, can't deny that streak.

Woodley sat out 18 months for his title shot.

 

[OnCinemaFan]

No risk at all. If nobody pulls out of the main event by fight night, he can trip going up the elevator and skip the whole thing.

 

[-Magua-]

It is a high risk, low reward fight for him.

But we know the REAL reason he is taking that fight.

UFC 229.

He is anticipating one of the main carders to not make it to the cage.

INSTANT title shot.

Yup...
Crouching Tiger, Hidden Tony... waiting in the wings.

Ironical, if Connie pulls out, and it finally happens. Otherwise if khabib fucks this up, I favor a healthy Tony over Connie, equal if not more than khabib.

 

[Blayt7hh]

Waited how? There's zero guarantee that the winner of Conor vs. Khabib would fight him.

In fact I think the winner is probably going to call out GSP and ruin Dana’s day

 

[HomeRun916]

Agreed. He’s f#ckin nuts.

 

[Silverstar17]

To be on the card was the only way to secure a chance at a shot in the near future. And that's on the same card.

Now the UFC has to officially screw him if they want Diaz to replace anyone. It keeps the pressure on them and on Conor and Khabib.

I agree though that Pettis is a possibly difficult match up for him.

It's sad that this is necessary because LW will likely not continue as a normal division unless Khabib wins and the UFC forces him to fight contenders and not GSP.

With Conor I see no chance for him within at least a year. And so much can happen in the meantime.

 

[revoltub]

Waited how? There's zero guarantee that the winner of Conor vs. Khabib would fight him.

UFC is pretty decent at giving promised title shots. That is unless you do some thing to weaken your claim, like take a fight and lose before you get it. If i were playing smart, id take the chance of them holding their promise, rather than risk it any more by taking a fight I could possibly lose and giving them more leverage to pass over me for the Nate/Porier winner.

 

[Sapp]

I didn't get the impression at all that he was going to walk into a guaranteed shot.

 

[Arrrrgh]

If either guy can't fight in the main event who do you think fills in? There is a reason they scheduled this fight and tony took it. He will get paid either way, it's a good fight, he is the defacto stand-in for the main event, and worst case he loses and faces the looser of the main event next since they will both be ready to fight at roughly the same time and it is a good fight for either to move back up the rankings. Well shit, after I typed that I remembered that if Conor loses then all bets are off as to what he would do. But still. Not a bad fight for Tony to take.

If he win's dominantly on the same night as the champ/main event, who do you think they will talk about being next in line?

 

[depassage]

Tony must proof to himself that he is 100% on top. A fight with Pettis will be determining for him.

 

[Dmurr90]

winnable fight for Pettis as Fergy's striking defense is lacking. But I'll never pick against Tony and if Tony is remotely healthy I don't see how Pettis has anything for him.