I don't look at it as ducking Khabib. It's risk vs reward and he has a lot of lucrative options that make the Khabib fight seem like a really bad idea.

Aldo is next in line for a shot if you want to go strictly by the rules

Retirement must sound real nice for Bisping right about now.

There really is a legit shot of this happening. If you swap out opponents, Conor probably KOs him in the first with the shot MJ got him with.

seems like the definition of ducking?

How much would you estimate Conor's net worth at? I follow him on Instagram and he's posted at least two purchased properties(2 mega condo in vegas and a house in vegas). Condo could have been rented. Let's assume he bought a house for his parents and siblings too. He bought a couple Rollies so all that together could be 15-20 million easy. He must have a baller house in Ireland somewhere as well.

Conor also has that ridiculous Floyd fight on the table where he could take home anywhere from 30 million plus.

UFC can block it so they'd have to get their beaks wet in a major, major way.

I'm not sure the pile of money is big enough there for all three parties. Major opportunity costs for the UFC in multiple ways.

In EDF I've compared him to a cross between Chael and Liddell for a very long time.

Here's a Chuck take that mirrors what you're saying:

http://forumserver.twoplustwo.com/sh...postcount=3120

50 million.

But that'll be a ******ed fight. Like Ali fighting Inoki in Japan.

Ugh, how dumb was it to assume that after Conor got beat up by Nate that they wouldn't do everything possible to run that back, then reschedule it when Conor didn't want the first date, then jam him in against the champ.

Missed that one...

Why do you say purchased properties if you don't know if it was rented?

How the **** does a 39 year old move like that.

I honestly have no idea. I don't know how much he makes, and his expenses are a huge wildcard. I mean, would you be shocked if you found out he spent $100,000 on hotels for family members last year? Or dropped $500,000 on a villa for his family the week after the fight?

If he's smart he's buying as much **** as he can that retains its value. Satisfy that itch without lighting money on fire. That's what usually kills guys like this. The thing I'd worry about if I were his people is how linked his persona has become with reckless spending. Think how easy it probably is for these hosts and waiters in Vegas to bait him into dropping $20,000 on what was supposed to be a quick dinner.

Diaz has been his toughest match up, and there are two elements besides size that made it so, IMO. His chin is cinderblock so he is not scared/tentative ever and he constantly moves forward even after taking Conor's big shots.

Woodley fought completely the opposite. He was tentative, hitable, affected by the punches and moved backward a lot. He didn't use his wrestling even after it worked for him in the first so even though on paper he has tools that Diaz doesn't use or have like wrestling and power, as well as a real size advantage, it may never come into play--especially if Conor touches his chin early. Plus, if Conor decides to go for that belt vs a true ww, not a beefed up lw, he can/should/likely will be abandoning making featherweight for the foreseeable future and can put on some muscle to close the gap. If Diaz was able to get up to 190 in the cage in a few months (according to Conor) there is no reason Conor can't add some significant size himself, and I still think he likely cut a few pounds to get under 170 for Diaz 2 and walked in the cage over that weight, even if he was smaller than Nate.

All of this is not that relevant. If Conor thinks he has a shot to beat woodley that fight happens. If he loses there is no downside. If he wins he is a legend and it won't be replicated. Woodley takes the fight. Dana makes it. They break all records again. But real fans want to see khabib or ferg get their shot or woodley is big so it won't happen? Those fights have less draw, big downsides, and nowhere near the upsides to his brand.

ETA: the alpha move of pushing wonderboy back in line is a factor also.

True story, Mike Tyson once spend $300,000 for a man to stand up and shout "Gorilla Warfare!!" during a press conference.

Keep in mind, that's only about $180k after taxes tho. Hardly worth it.

Fighting Aldo or Nick Diaz again would be a step backward and a waste of time, so I really hope Conor just relinquishes the featherweight belt. I'm pretty sure Diaz gets smashed at 155 as Conor wouldn't gas and I think Diaz suffers from the weight cut.

It's always been onward and upward for Conor, so I think next fight will be vs. Khabib. But really, he should try to make that Mayweather fight happen while his popularity is peaking. Conor doesn't even really need belts at this point, no matter what he does he'll get paid, and whenever he wants he'll move to the front of the line for title fights.

Another Russian trying to take down the establishment. (too soon?)

Mercenaries don't come cheap

Another way to look at it is that Tyson probably had to be paid $700,000 before taxes and various fees to net that $300k.

It's strange that people who have achieved so much can so often exhibit such brutal self-defeating behavior in a race to go broke.

Woodley is a strong welterweight. He isn't tall or anything though. More importantly he eats punches only slightly better than Brock Lesnar. If he takes Conor down he will probably brutalize him.

lol

CM won't have that reach advantage againat Woodley that he used very effectively versus Alvarez. That's going to make it a lot more difficult to land his best shots without taking a hard one in return. Woodley was able to land big shots against someone as famed for his elusiveness as Thompson.

CM may have a shot of winning in the sense that anything's possible. But what's the likelihood? I agree that none of this may have an impact on whether the fight happens as PPV considerations currently seem to be a lot more important than what makes competitive sense, but that's a different argument.

i am a full conor fan. he does something unique by hiding the fact that he outworks, out-trains, and out-thinks all his opponents beneath charisma. i think he's very like dom cruz in this aspect. this whole thing is amazing not because he's a generational talent but because he believes in his own hard work and isn't afraid to gamble with it.

that said, lol @ this whole WW vs Woodley thing.

Just re-watched the third round of the Wonderboy Woodley fight and I can't figure out why some people think Woodley won that round.