How much credibility does the LW title lose if Conor fights Diaz before Khabib/Tony?

[Deleted member 465145]

I think the title lost credibility when they handed Conor a shot against Alvarez, a man who got lucky when he beat Dos Anjos, a man McGregor likely couldn't have beaten. Now the entire situation is a joke. It is time for Tony to start defending his title so we can move on from the era of World Wrestling Federation theatrics and get back to MMA

 

[agibmxmma]

So now that Khabib/Ferguson is signed, and Nate is saying he wants to fight in May/June, its kind of obvious where this is all going.

Nate is one of my favorite fighters, but that doesn't change the fact that he hasn't won a fight at LW since 2015.

If the UFC gets this fight signed before April 7th, what do you think are the chances that fans will be turned off to the idea of a championship fight between two fighters who have become irrelevant in their division due to inactivity?

How do you think Tony and Khabib would respond?

Had Conor given Nate the 3rd fight like he promised, when he was begging for the second fight after getting finished rather easily, then the trilogy would be over already and moved on from the saga. Conor said no to Faber to fight Nate, got finished in the first fight, begged and stomped his feet for a rematch saying if he won then Nate gets a third fight before he (Conor) fights another, wins a very questionable MD in the rematch, acts like he finished Nate and says the third fight is up to him (Conor) if he wants to do it, and then fights Eddie.. Had Conor simply been a man about his word, the third fight with Nate would've been done by now. But reality is, Conor hasn't been a man about his word since he fought Chad Mendes. I was a fan of the kid before he came to the UFC, but since the Dustin fight, he has become a cringe and not what Martial Arts is about. Right now though, Nate vs Conor 3 is the only fight to make, in many dif aspects.. but in the boxing ring.

 

[Obiwan]

You guys are nuts if you think Nate can make 155. The guy must be damn near eight feet tall and 400+ pounds, after all!

 

[Myrddin Wild]

I backed Conor's Mayweather fight... & I'm cool with the division being on hold for a cool fight experiment like that. However, I really don't like Ferg defending an interim belt when Conor is healthy. (if he is) We still haven't been given any official information about why Conor isn't fighting Ferg.

A Diaz fight would be cool to finish the trilogy... but Conor gotta defend that title against Ferg or Khabib before I'd give any validity to that fight being for the title.

 

[NotoriousMillions]

It depends. Realistically, Tony isn't really the interim champion. He was given that belt, because the UFC needed a headliner. The real interim fight should have been Tony v. Khabib, so whoever wins that to me is the real interim champion. Then if they were to defend before Conor defends against a top tier contender, which Nate has been too inactive to be considered one, they would be considered the real champion.

 

[NotoriousMillions]

I backed Conor's Mayweather fight... & I'm cool with the division being on hold for a cool fight experiment like that. However, I really don't like Ferg defending an interim belt when Conor is healthy. (if he is) We still haven't been given any official information about why Conor isn't fighting Ferg.

A Diaz fight would be cool to finish the trilogy... but Conor gotta defend that title against Ferg or Khabib before I'd give any validity to that fight being for the title.

Dana says Conor doesn't want to fight, Conor says it's contractual. It's a game of he said, she said (dana). Just judging from how every other situation has turned out, including most notably the GSP one, most likely the issues are financial, and Dana is just lying to make himself and the UFC look better as per usual.

 

[franklinstower]

You guys are nuts if you think Nate can make 155. The guy must be damn near eight feet tall and 400+ pounds, after all!

That's my point. Nate is so big that the it will start to look like WWE if they make this fight again.



Oh wait Conor has already made it look like the WWE. Let him fight the giant.

 

[Pakuded]

It depends. Realistically, Tony isn't really the interim champion. He was given that belt, because the UFC needed a headliner. The real interim fight should have been Tony v. Khabib, so whoever wins that to me is the real interim champion. Then if they were to defend before Conor defends against a top tier contender, which Nate has been too inactive to be considered one, they would be considered the real champion.

Tony is the interim champion soon to be promoted Champion because Stripped-Stripped refuses to fight/defend anything.

But I gotta admit the mental gymnastics in this post to justifies Colin's action is truly....troubling

 

[BForrester]

That depends. If a belt changes hands should Nate beat Conor in that scenario, all credibility is lost as far as I'm concerned.

 

[TheNinja]

if you didnt stop caring about ufc titles when germaine de randamine got one idk what to say

I agree. I honestly don't care who the title holder technically is anymore. The UFC gives gift title shots to some people. They make up "interim" belts whenever they want. Some guys don't defend for ages. They seem to change hands every 2 fights anyway. They are pointless.

Heck, Cyborg holds a belt in which she is literally the only true female FW in the company/division.

 

[NotoriousMillions]

Tony is the interim champion soon to be promoted Champion because Stripped-Stripped refuses to fight/defend anything.

But I gotta admit the mental gymnastics in this post to justifies Colin's action is truly....troubling

They aren't mental gymnastics, it's reality. Everything I said was fact.

What's wrong with Tony having to beat a top guy to get his shot, a top guy to get his belt, and a top guy to assert his belt just like everyone else?

It's the same process everyone else goes through. It's actually dorks like you with the mental problems trying to pretend Tony's been the champ for years, or after beating Kevin Lee (LOL!)

 

[BForrester]

It would suck but we would get over it after another amazing fight with Conor finishing Diaz this time. Then Conor makes his second defence against khabib/Tony winner in July.

Fighting someone that is nowhere near title contention (Diaz) who has two wins (and three losses) at LW in the last 5 years, is not a title defense.

Olympic-level mental gymnastics will not convince me, or any other discriminating fan of the sport, otherwise.

 

[BForrester]

I backed Conor's Mayweather fight... & I'm cool with the division being on hold for a cool fight experiment like that. However, I really don't like Ferg defending an interim belt when Conor is healthy. (if he is) We still haven't been given any official information about why Conor isn't fighting Ferg.

A Diaz fight would be cool to finish the trilogy... but Conor gotta defend that title against Ferg or Khabib before I'd give any validity to that fight being for the title.

I don't know how that fight was a "cool experiment" when the outcome was about as predictable as humanly possible.

 

[HI SCOTT NEWMAN]

Nate is 13-9 in UFC and has got his ass whooped by guys like Clay Guida and Gray Maynard for God sake. He is not a top level LW and is mid tier and nothing more than that. Its a bullshit fight and Conor is clearly scared of losing against Tony and Khabib, he wants nothing to do with them. I knew it would be Nate 3, I been saying that for ages on here. Embarrassing and pathetic. Not a true champ and never has been, but UFC is also to blame a lot too for giving Conor so much power.

 

[El Fernas]

They can strip Conor and still make money with him fighting Nate, boxing does it all the time, its name value, not brand-belt what sells a fight.

 

[BForrester]

They aren't mental gymnastics, it's reality. Everything I said was fact.

What's wrong with Tony having to beat a top guy to get his shot, a top guy to get his belt, and a top guy to assert his belt just like everyone else?

It's the same process everyone else goes through. It's actually dorks like you with the mental problems trying to pretend Tony's been the champ for years, or after beating Kevin Lee (LOL!)

Jesus...Tony already has the interim belt. What more do you have to do, beyond winning 10 straight fucking fights and holding the interim title, to have a true title fight?

 

[Pakuded]

They aren't mental gymnastics, it's reality. Everything I said was fact.

What's wrong with Tony having to beat a top guy to get his shot, a top guy to get his belt, and a top guy to assert his belt just like everyone else?

It's the same process everyone else goes through. It's actually dorks like you with the mental problems trying to pretend Tony's been the champ for years, or after beating Kevin Lee (LOL!)

Tony fight all comers, it was suppose to be khabib but he flaked out. It should've McChicken but he flaked out of MMA. Tony beats everybody.

Now you want to discredit his belt because your boy doesn't not defend. How is anyone suppose claim a belt if the 'champions' never defends.

 

[Eli1015]

Fighting someone that is nowhere near title contention (Diaz) who has two wins (and three losses) at LW in the last 5 years, is not a title defense.

Olympic-level mental gymnastics will not convince me, or any other discriminating fan of the sport, otherwise.

It would be a title defence. Since Conor is the champion and Nate diaz has beat him in the past, finishing this trilogy has some Merritt. Never said it should happen though. All I said was we would get over it. Come fight week most people here would be hyped.

 

[BForrester]

It would be a title defence. Since Conor is the champion and Nate diaz has beat him in the past, finishing this trilogy has some Merritt. Never said it should happen though. All I said was we would get over it. Come fight week most people here would be hyped.

I'm not going to bother arguing with you when the whole idea of the Champ "defending" his title against a gatekeeper, while there is ALREADY AN INTERIM CHAMP, is so patently absurd as to not merit my mounting an argument.

I'm not going to put you on ignore yet...a list reserved for true jackasses like @NotoriousMillions ...but you're getting pretty close to threading that needle.

 

[asharak]

It would be a title defence. Since Conor is the champion and Nate diaz has beat him in the past, finishing this trilogy has some Merritt.

It would likely not be a title defense, since it's more likely to happen at 170 again.