Where was this same energy for Francis to be stripped when he was out for nearly a year?

[CatchtheseHands]

Francis was out 10 months before he fought again and no one was campaigning to get him stripped during this time. Mean while the moment Jon got injured and the fight was called off people were already calling for him to get stripped. I'm looking forward to see the mental gymnastics ya'll come up with to defend the bias here.

Edit: Very valid points most bring up in this thread that make me reassess how I feel about this whole thing. However, the UFC seemed very adamant about making JJ vs Stipe, why would Tom bother to fight for this interim belt in the first place when there was no guarantee he would fight Jon anway? and why wouldn't the UFC just scrap the Sergei vs Tom fight as back up if they had no intentions of winner fighting Jon next and unifying? This whole thing seems like it could have been avoided by just scrapping the interim fight altogether.

 

[DecisionSplit]

Because Francis was a lineal champion. Jones's belt is a paper belt. He won a vacant belt against Cyril Gane when he should have been fighting Aspinall or Pavlovich in the first place. Now he's refusing to unify the belt against Aspinall and fighting Stipe. Not that hard to understand why people are criticizing him.

 

[BowserJr]

Maybe .05% were saying that if any at all.

People are calling for him being stripped cuz there is an interim champ he's refusing to fight.

There is a clear challenge of an opponent and it's not Stipe.

Even the fight with Gane was a bit of a joke but that's a different story

Now either stop playing stupid or STFU

 

[CatchtheseHands]

Because Francis was a lineal champion. Jones's belt is a paper belt. He won a vacant belt against Cyril Gane when he should have been fighting Aspinall or Pavlovich in the first place. Now he's refusing to unify the belt against Aspinall and fighting Stipe. Not that hard to understand why people are criticizing him.

So then how is Tom the "real HW champ" if the belt he should be fighting for is paper? at least try to have consistency in your reasoning. Gane was #1 ranked at the time. Should the number 1 ranked not fight for the belt? You get mad that Stipe is jumping line to fight Jon yet you would have been fine for Aspinall or Pav to jump line and fight Jon of Gane. At least pretend not to be bias if you gonna act is if you aren't lol..

Maybe .05% were saying that if any at all.

People are calling for him being stripped cuz there is an interim champ he's refusing to fight.

There is a clear challenge of an opponent and it's not Stipe.

Even the fight with Gane was a bit of a joke but that's a different story

Now either stop playing stupid or STFU

Lol do you really think the UFC doesn't have a part in pushing the Stipe fight themselves? Dana and the UFC has been very adamant about how much they want this fight to happen. I doubt they would make the tom fight over Stipe at this point even if Jon changed his mind today.

 

[Pancake Sprawl]

So then how is Tom the "real HW champ" if the belt he should be fighting for is paper?

because Tom is how the belt becomes LEGITIMATE.

 

[Jfreemandrums]

Is nearly a year more, or less than a year?

 

[Neck&Neck]

Shit hot takes and anime avs, name a more iconic duo

 

[TempleoftheDog]

Francis was out 10 months before he fought again and no one was campaigning to get him stripped during this time. Mean while the moment Jon got injured and the fight was called off people were already calling for him to get stripped. I'm looking forward to see the mental gymnastics ya'll come up with to defend the bias here.

I seem to remember more than just a few people shitting on Ngannou when an Interim Title was made with Gane/Lewis, because Ngannou ducked Lewis.

The same shit happened here. Except Ngannou was healthy when he ducked Lewis. The only man other than Stipe to beat him in the UFC. And he flat out ducked him.

And the problem now is that Jones refuses to fight the Interim Champion. Ngannou did actually fight the Interim Champion.

 

[nostradumbass]

They made an interim title just over 4 months Francis won the title, and then they announced the unification fight with the interim champ 3 months later. They made an interim title 8 months after Jon's last fight, and it's now 6 months later(14 months since Jon's last fight), Jon isn't even injured anymore, and he is refusing to unify the title.

If he gets injured and they have to delay a fight, ok that sucks but whatever. If you flat out refuse to unify the title when you're not even injured anymore and make him defend an interim title, then you should be stripped and that should be for the real belt while you take your seniors tour opponents.

 

[ipowerslapmywife]

Jones is a cherry picking paper champ and steroid cheat. He’s not fighting a heavyweight unless he has some advantage, someone with no ground game or an old washed up guy

 

[Morning Star]

Jones has been out over 14 months already and is saying he's not going to fight for another 6. That's double the time Francis was out. Added to the fact he never beat the previous HW champ to get the belt and is refusing to fight the interim champ to become undisputed.

 

[Chael_Sonnen]

Lmao, the difference is is that Francis was happy to fight the interim champ when he returned. No one is shitting on Jones for having an injury. We are shitting on him because he is refusing to fight the true contender.

 

[CatchtheseHands]

I seem to remember more than just a few people shitting on Ngannou when an Interim Title was made with Gane/Lewis, because Ngannou ducked Lewis.

The same shit happened here. Except Ngannou was healthy when he ducked Lewis. The only man other than Stipe to beat him in the UFC. And he flat out ducked him.

And the problem now is that Jones refuses to fight the Interim Champion. Ngannou did actually fight the Interim Champion.

My thing though is the UFC was ready to skip over Gane to make the Jon Jones fight happen just as they're skipping over tom now to make the JJ and Stipe fight. How do we know that Francis wouldn't have refused to unify as well if it meant being able to fight Jon Jones for more money?

Lmao, the difference is is that Francis was happy to fight the interim champ when he returned. No one is shitting on Jones for having an injury. We are shitting on him because he is refusing to fight the true contender.

He was happy to fight him because the Jon Jones fight was not an option anymore. If you really think Francis wouldn't have done what Jon did if he could fight Jon for a bigger bag you're out of your mind.

 

[Hdfi]

Should the number 1 ranked not fight for the belt?

Not when he is coming off a LOSS...

 

[nostradumbass]

My thing though is the UFC was ready to skip over Gane to make the Jon Jones fight happen just as they're skipping over tom now to make the JJ and Stipe fight. How do we know that Francis wouldn't have refused to unify as well if it meant being able to fight Jon Jones for more money?


He was happy to fight him because the Jon Jones fight was not an option anymore. If you really think Francis wouldn't have done what Jon did if he could fight Jon for a bigger bag you're out of your mind.

Because one is actually what is happening, and the other is your imaginary alternate scenario that didn't happen. If Francis had ducked the interim champ, he should have been stripped, and if your aunt had a dick she's be your uncle.

 

[dipstickjimmy]

Francis was out 10 months before he fought again and no one was campaigning to get him stripped during this time. Mean while the moment Jon got injured and the fight was called off people were already calling for him to get stripped. I'm looking forward to see the mental gymnastics ya'll come up with to defend the bias here.

The problem with your premise is it is false.
1) ten months is not outside the range for the majority of UFC title defenses.
2) No one was calling for Jon to be stripped. They were calling for him to defend against Tom. He is in fact the Interim Champion. Its the UFC's fault for not having Stipe just fight the back up fighter Pav. Why did they go to the trouble of having a back up that neither Jon or Stipe were willing to fight? Even with the insistence on still fighting Stipe its the fact that Jon won't dare speak Aspinall's name is the issue. Calling for a fight with Alex is the clearest sign that Jon isn't the real UFC HW champion and he has no intention of defending his paper title.

It has already been more then a year and if they do NY in Nov it will have been 1 year and 8 months. If he simply said he was fighting Tom next there would be no issue. Francis was out for 10 months and showed clear intent to defend.

 

[jeff7b9]

Any champ ever would get called out on trying to fight a guy in his 40s that is basically retired, hasn't won a fight in 4 years and got KTFO badly his last time out.

The whole thing is ridiculus.
And everybody knows it.

That's why the fuck fans aren't ok with this bullshit.

 

[El Fernas]

Because Francis was a lineal champion. Jones's belt is a paper belt. He won a vacant belt against Cyril Gane when he should have been fighting Aspinall or Pavlovich in the first place. Now he's refusing to unify the belt against Aspinall and fighting Stipe. Not that hard to understand why people are criticizing him.

You mention Aspinall or Pavlovich in hindsight...Jones dispatched Gane too easy but he was the #1 HW, he almost beat Ngannou, now he is a bum cause Jones beat him?

Rankings at the time of their fights:

Gane #1
Pavlovich #2
Aspinall #4

 

[jk7707]

Because Francis was a lineal champion. Jones's belt is a paper belt. He won a vacant belt against Cyril Gane when he should have been fighting Aspinall or Pavlovich in the first place. Now he's refusing to unify the belt against Aspinall and fighting Stipe. Not that hard to understand why people are criticizing him.

The first answer nailed it.

 

[CatchtheseHands]

The first answer nailed it.

Not really because Gane was #1 at the time Jon beat him. How does beating someone that is the highest ranked in the division mean you won a vacant paper belt? But if Aspinall were to beat Gane that belt would not be paper apparently. Like what?