Well then, I humbly take that question back.

the casual fan will be more interested in seeing mcgregor vs aldo II rather than mcgregor vs frankie who?

mcgregor aldo is an easy sell. challenger who taunted and verbally abused best p4p fighter in the world for over a year, knocks him out in one punch and now aldo wants revenge and to restore a legacy that was destroyed in 13 seconds.

it's the easiest sell in the world.

In the run up to his titles he was a finishing machine though.

Some good discussion going on recently.

I got Conor as the #2 MMA draw of all time behind Lesnar. Might have to revise that depending on what the PPV numbers for this event end up being.

RE: a lot of the talking points in the last 100 posts - the money makers get to do what they want. Conor has spent two fight camps in a row prepping for Aldo and I doubt he wants to do it a third time in a row. Most dominant champs get an immediate rematch, but Conor is a huge draw and the UFC caters to the money makers. If Conor doesn't want to fight Aldo yet he won't. It's not because Dana is evil - this has been going on literally as long as the sport has existed, from UFC 1 (and probably even before if you look at shooto/pancrase stuff).

The UFC is actually BETTER about this than boxing, at least they force their champs to fight on a regular schedule against good opponents. If you are a boxing PPV draw, you can literally handpick every single opponent you fight. The UFC might let Conor fight someone else first, but they'll almost certainly make him rematch Aldo within a year or two.

Think conor has proved himself. At some point the cliche haters gonna hate really does apply

there's no justification for not giving aldo a rematch. he deserves it more than any other champion simply for his 6 year reign, and even more so for the unsatisfactory way the fight ended.

rousey has far, far less chance of beating holly holm at ufc 200. holly holm will be a massive favorite going into that fight.

Conor predicts the future

I'd like to see him tested and overcome. That is proof. Until then he is Rousey who was not exposed until she met someone who lasted long enough and had the one skill to do it. I don't hate her either, but she was not the greatest fighter ever like her fans thought. I actually hope he is the real deal. I would like to see his most difficult fight be more challenging than a short notice Chad, which exposed a big hole in his game, and winning one exchange with Adlo. I don't really doubt he could win tough fights, but until I see it I don't know if he is really the best. Neither do you.

The funny thing is even Conor alluded to wishing the Aldo fight went longer so he could prove himself.

If you want to see Conor tested the Aldo fight isn't even the best fight for him at 145.

I don't agree with any of this. Fighting Aldo again is pointless as far as proving anything goes. Frankie is the best test for him at 145 and always has been. Weidman beat AS convincingly two times It wasn't a fluke KO.

Johnny Truant with some serious wanting if he's seriously calling Conor untested/unproven.

And the comparison to Ronda is just lol. seriously. The level of competition Ronda was fighting... not good at all. Even top ten level female fighters these days can be pretty weak. There are a few strong fighters, but the division is not yet good at all. Betch Correia or however it's spelled was laughably awful.

By comparison, Conor just KTFO'd a top 5 all time MMA fighter. yeah, totally the same thing. 145 is a deep, talented division and Conor has faced a lot of very legit fighters.

The Weidman rematch with AS was kind of pointless too. It was clear that Weidman was better everywhere in the 1st fight.

So if Conor loses to Aldo they rematch again and he does 4 straight training camps for Aldo? If he beats Aldo people like JT still won't be satisfied...

Conor can fight the 155 champ or he can fight Frankie with Aldo Holloway on the same card.

I don't really care much either way. A Frankie Edgar fight or a move up to 155 are both really good fights.

Edgar is an interesting matchup in that he is like Mendes but better. He'd actually have a chance to wrestle-hump McGregor and win some rounds. He's very hard to knock out, as Gray Maynard showed us. He's got great cardio and high evasiveness on the feet. It's completely conceivable that he could hold his own standing for short periods of time, get some takedowns, win some rounds, and keep that energy for five straight rounds.

At 155 it barely matters who the champ is at that point, because it's historic either way. Only BJ Penn and Randy Couture have ever won UFC titles in multiple weight classes.

I guess you could also count Vitor as a two division champ - He was LHW champ after UFC46 and he also won a HW tournament all the way back at UFC 12.

You have been a fan longer than I have and have a deeper understanding of the history of the sport than I do. I don't remember things being this way before though. It marks a change as I see it. Sure the money was always important. Lesnar got the same cristisism as Conor for a fast rise because he was a draw, maybe more.

But when has A champ been denied a rematch? Hell, if anything I think the ufc has been rematch and trilogy happy lots of times, especially with fighters who are past their prime. I just don't recall it being new champs choice ever. The draws get preference, I get that and get why. Can you give me some examples of anything close to Aldo being denied a rematch though? Even remotely close?

Thanks.

Has a long time reigning champ ever been knocked out in 13sec?

this would be great

with Holloway thinking he'd get a shot at conor if he beat aldo. which probably isnt the case even in a universe that Holloway beats aldo.

Both winners could face off for the next 145 title fight. Holloway Conor is probably the least intriguing but I would think them both winning is pretty unlikely.

Let's be real tho. Conor is more than likely going for a 155 title shot before he defends vs Frankie.

The closest was silva/weidman and GSP/sera that I can recall. I didn't hear any talk of no rematch at all from anyone, even fans who loved the winners and hated the losers.

We have a difference of opinion on whether 13 seconds proves more or less in terms of skill differential is suppose. To me it is less significant of a fight than a longer display. To you it means conor is clearly better?

JT are you trolling?

beating edgar kinda cleans up featherweight and he doesnt really have to go back.

FW is so weird if he moves up now. Holloway stuck in the loop while edgar rematches aldo?

Not his problem of course.

Nope. Strange as it seems we are not just seeing eye to eye on this. I'm really trying to understand your point of view better. I think the difference is how much of a fan people are of fighters or fights. Conor fans are happy with that 13 second fight because it gave them the outcome they hoped for. It was hugely disappointing to me, not because of the outcome but because I wanted to see more than one mistake and one great punch.

If you think that is hating or trolling then I invite you to understand that for others there is more to the sport than supporting your favorite personality and rooting for individuals like its a home team in football or an android/Apple debate.