Why the Featherweight belt shouldn't be vacated.

[Ceez]

Nah, not really. Maybe a big fuck you to Frankie, but Aldo pulling out of fights and robbing guys of their opportunities at title shots was a bigger fuck you to the division.

McGregor haters need to chill. Just root for him to lose like any sane fan. But hoping for him to be stripped this soon after he legit won the belt is lame.

So Aldo was purposely pulling out then? I'm confused because if he was then I agree but if he had legit reasons (injuries) and he still fought in his division what you're saying is basically liable. He never left the division with the 145 belt so comparing the 2 is completely preposterous.

 

[Humbaba the Terrible]

So Aldo was purposely pulling out then? I'm confused because if he was then I agree but if he had legit reasons (injuries) and he still fought in his division what you're saying is basically liable. He never left the division with the 145 belt so comparing the 2 is completely preposterous.

I bet if you ask Erik Koch or Josh Grispi, both of whom missed out on title shots because Aldo pulled out, they don't really care whether or not it was purposeful. They still got fucked by Aldo.

 

[The Schmoop]

You have a champion who is ready to fight, twice, but won't fight and defend his belt.

It is a big fuck you to the entire featherweight division

Basically this. However, since I haven't seen Diaz as his confirmed opponent for 200 then I'll remain silent. Two consecutive fights outside of FW, regardless of who is opponent is, should result in a vacated title. If you're able and have contenders healthy and waiting then you, as champion, should be defending the title you're freezing. I agree. It's fucking the rest of the division over.

 

[JayElectra]

I don't think he should have to vacate yet seeing as he won it not too long ago, but if I had to guess, I don't think he'll ever be able to get back down to 145 to defend it. Either he'll vacate the belt, or he'll lose it on the scales.

 

[Grenz]

No, because if you read the whole thread you'll realise the point you tried to make against me is in fact the point I was kinda making myself )))))))

Not quite. The point I was making that this situation would be fine had he actually gotten the LW belt. If that were the case, by all means, keep the FW strap and defend them alternately in both divisions. The problem is that not only did he not win the belt, he got beat by a contender. He should move back down to defend the belt, instead of fucking around at LW. He gets to have the best of both worlds right now, but after a loss, that special treatment should be limited. That was my point, whereas yours is he should keep the belt and be allowed to fight at LW as long as he defends by end of this year. I would only agree with that had he actually beaten RDA. Of course he didn't, so what's the point of these LW fights? If he's going for a belt, than he should do it the same way as everyone else, i.e. make a permanent move into that division.

 

[The Schmoop]

Defending the belt once a year isn't the norm. You made a generalization based on literally the two most injury prone champions of the last ten years. Two defenses per year is normal, 3 is not unheard of.

Anyway, if Conor actually had won the LW title, this would all be fine. Keep the FW belt, keep switching between defending it and the LW belt. The problem is that he doesn't have the LW belt, worse actually, he got his ass handed to him at LW. If he chooses to keep fighting at LW, he should vacate, since it's not fair to the rest of the FWs. What's the plan here? Beat Diaz, then fight RDA? K, that'll take up to a year. Let's say he'll defend the FW belt after that, so let's say 16 months from now. Do you think it's good for the division and the sport as a whole when a belt goes undefended for almost two years?

The special treatment right now needs to be limited. We all get he's still a huge draw, so he gets perks others don't. That's fine. But being allowed to leave an entire division in limbo is ridiculous, especially when there's not even a clear path. The question right now should be: 'is Conor defending against Aldo or Frankie', not 'in what division will Conor fight in next?'. We already saw how that turned out, if he wants to prove redeem himself at LW he should put everything into it and move to LW permanently.

He lost at WW to a lightweight but that kind of furthers your point. I agree. The FW division shouldnt be frozen while conor is off getting his kicked at welterweight by a lightweight. It seriously makes zero sense.

 

[Grenz]

He lost at WW to a lightweight but that kind of furthers your point. I agree. The FW division should be frozen while conor is off getting his kicked at welterweight by a lightweight. It seriously makes zero sense.

Yup. It was fine when he was moving up for a title fight. That's a super fight and we all want to see that and obviously, it wouldn't be a super fight unless he has the FW belt. But now the superfight aura is gone since he lost a LW contender (fought at WW but whatever) so what's the point of this division hopping? He wants to avenge his loss, I get it, but do it on your own time (i.e. make a permanent move to LW) instead of stalling an entire division for what can now be considered purely egotistical exploits.

 

[ColdSierra]

If you're saying after the 2nd fight he could be out for more than 3 to 6 months then wouldn't that be because of injuries?! Because if not, he won't be out 3-6 months or more but fight withing 3 months which would be less than a year sincee his title win.

Let us put this way, if Aldo had negated Conor his fight for the belt because he wanted to fight in LW (the first one, that he pulled out), you might say OK, the guy has been the champ for years and wanna test himself on another division.
Now, Aldo goes up and loses, not to the Champion of LW but to a top 5, you might think it's time for Aldo to return to his division, where he is the champion and defend his belt, but no, Aldo is gonna go up again, putting Conor and others fighters on hold, so he can get a rematch in LW.

If Aldo loses again, and now by KO, being barred from fighting (or even training) for another, let's say, 4 months, adding that to the time he last fought in FW till the fight, plus the 3 months of his camp, he might add more than one year before defending again.

Would you believe Aldo should not be able to get his rematch at LW, at least not until he defends his FW title again? or it's all cool?

Now see on Conor's case, it's actually his 1st defense of the title, he has not cleaned his division, he might (will) take longer than the last Champion to his 1st defense (the one he complained about not defending often) and here you are, saying there's no case to ask for him being stripped.

 

[King Joffery]

Fake injuries?

Yes, if you believe every fighter who pulls out of a fight is genuinely injured then you are a bit innocent tbh. Aldo's track record is very suspect to say the least.

 

[Ceez]

I bet if you ask Erik Koch or Josh Grispi, both of whom missed out on title shots because Aldo pulled out, they don't really care whether or not it was purposeful. They still got fucked by Aldo.

LOL they didn't get fucked, shit happens and it's not intentional. The way you're trying to rationalize you're argument is pathetic. On one hand you have a guy who gets hurt and can't fight on the other hand you have a guy who isn't hurt but won't take a fight in the division that he holds the belt in. Hmm....Even a monkey could figure this shit out

 

[King Joffery]

I disagree..

Injuries happen, you shouldn't be stripped and have to win YOUR belt back because you got hurt

Yea if you're going to be out like Cruz was for 3 years then they should strip you to keep it moving, but not a matter of months or even a year imo

Fighters like Cowboy & Conor have casuals thinking belts should be defended every month or you should be fighting every 2 weeks, not realizing how long we used to have to wait lmao

Sounds fine in theory but in practice it just allows fighters to abuse the system by pulling out with suspect injuries. The easiest way to remedy this situation is just to have a predefined time period in which you must defend the belt, hell in pretty much every other sport you don't get to delay a game because you are injured. What is even worse is fighters refusing to defend the belt to a late opponent change, the fact that the likes of Werdum was allowed to avoid fighting Stipe despite being injury free is a joke.

 

[Humbaba the Terrible]

LOL they didn't get fucked, shit happens and it's not intentional. The way you're trying to rationalize you're argument is pathetic. On one hand you have a guy who gets hurt and can't fight on the other hand you have a guy who isn't hurt but won't take a fight in the division that he holds the belt in. Hmm....Even a monkey could figure this shit out

No, they did get fucked. They earned a fight with the champ but never got it.

McGregor has been an active fighter, so it's easy to see why he gets leeway on this issue. He'll have to go back down and defend his belt after fighting Diaz again. If he doesn't, then complaints that he should vacate the belt will be justified. Until then, it's just Conor haters whining.

 

[DaveHilly]

The difference is that Conor can defend it and is choosing not to. Cain and Aldo got injured a lot.

 

[Cat Biscuits]

He already got his chance to fight at a different weight and got his ass kicked. It's time to go back and defend now instead of getting an immediate rematch that he most certainly does not deserve.

 

[Fizzee Water]

I wouldn't care as much if Conor was off getting his ass kicked in a higher weight class if we didn't have clear cut #1 contender waiting for a title fight. But we do.

 

[deadbeatdaddy]

I think we should start a petition to have McGregor vacate his belt

 

[johncola]

At this point, the only reason to vacate the title would be if Conor wants to because he can no longer make 145. He's not been nearly inactive enough for it to be vacated, and that's including a projected lack of a defense through summer 2016.

I don't mind an interim title though. There's 2 clear fighters vying for that spot in Edgar and Aldo, with Holloway close behind. And if Conor fights Nate at 200, that'll be 2 fights he'll have taken without defending his belt, creating cause for an interim champ.

 

[deadbeatdaddy]

conor is so scared of Frankie

 

[Shaddows]

I bet if you ask Erik Koch or Josh Grispi, both of whom missed out on title shots because Aldo pulled out, they don't really care whether or not it was purposeful. They still got fucked by Aldo.

dude, get a grip!
Aldo getting injured is not in the same dimension as Conor refusing to fight at FW while fighting at another division!

Fighters can get frustrated by someone else getting injured, but it happens.
It is an entirely different thing if the fighter is HEALTHY and simply chooses to fight somewhere else!!

 

[Humbaba the Terrible]

dude, get a grip!
Aldo getting injured is not in the same dimension as Conor refusing to fight at FW while fighting at another division!

Fighters can get frustrated by someone else getting injured, but it happens.
It is an entirely different thing if the fighter is HEALTHY and simply chooses to fight somewhere else!!

Dude, I have a grip. Lol?

Also, I understand the difference between an injury and waiting for a fight. Just pointing out that long wait times and even missing earned title shots entirely have been par for the course over Aldo's tenure. People getting bent out of shape about Conor seem to lack perspective. He's rematching Diaz because the UFC wants a big fight for UFC 200. We all get that right? Afterwards he'll defend or vacate the FW belt. In the meantime, the constant whining of Conor haters is annoying.