Lotus wrote:1) Why has Conor been allowed to go a year without defending the Featherweight belt
Well technically its not been a year since he beat Aldo (Dec 12, 2015). Also before Aldo fought Connor he hadn't defended his belt for 14 months.
So Connor was originally scheduled to fight RDA 4 months after beating Aldo (UFC 196, March) but RDA pulled out so we got Connor v Diaz 1 as a late replacement to save the card (can hardly criticise Connor for this). By losing you could hardly put Connor in with RDA for the belt next.
In July Aldo beat Edgar to earn the interim belt.
In August Connor was ready to fight and with no legitimate featherweight challenger (Aldo obviously not available) and with Alvarez having only won the lightweight belt in July, Connor could hardly challenge him. So arguably the Diaz rematch was the only fight to make.
You could make the case at 206 Connor should of fought Aldo instead of Alvarez but in fairness - it was still less than a year since Connor so decisively beat Aldo there was little interest in the rematch compared to Connor getting the shot at the lightweight title he was originally meant to get.
Also, seeing how easily Connor beat Alvarez, do you honestly think Aldo would of stood a chance?
Will leave this here:
http://prommanow.com/2016/06/06/hit-or-miss-10-ridiculously-long-ufc-title-reigns-with-the-least-defenses/ wrote:#1 Daniel Cormier
The next big thing was supposed to be Daniel Cormier and while we will admit he is a good fighter he hasn’t defended his title like fans hoped. The light heavyweight title is one of the most coveted in the company by loyal viewers and DC has only given us 1 defense in 380 days. That’s over a year and unforgivable when you consider the champs in the past and how they actively defended it.
#2 Matt Hughes second title run
For the longest time, before Georges St. Pierre, Matt Hughes was called the greatest UFC champion to ever step in to The Octagon, but on his second reign he fell short. After losing to BJ Penn in shocking fashion, Hughes would eventually regain the belt and defend it proudly…with 2 defenses in a whopping 757 days. That’s once a year when you break it down.
#3 Matt Serra
After crushing GSP in devastating fashion we expected Serra to defend his welterweight title against all comers, but the UFC did not want it that way. Realizing that their cash cow welterweight king GSP needed to be headlining PPV’s again, and knowing he would defeat Matt, they made Serra wait for a rematch, which gave us 378 days with no defenses.
#4 Anthony Pettis
This one is ridiculous. Pettis was also the next big thing in the lightweight division, except nope. After winning the belt he held it 560 days with only one defense to his credit.
#5 Dominick Cruz first run
Look up injury prone in the dictionary and it says “See Dominick Cruz”. Mr. Cruz held the bantamweight championship for 1,117 days and only defended it twice. That’s once every eighteen months…
#6 Cain Velasquez second run
When Velasquez regained his heavyweight title he managed to defend it only twice in 896 days. That’s once every 14 months! His first run was 385 days with ZERO defenses making this entry a thorough disappointment.
#7 Rampage Jackson
Another one and done here. Quinton Rampage Jackson defeated Chuck Liddell and defended the light heavyweight championship once in 406 days translating to one of the least memorable championship reigns in light heavyweight history.
#8 Sean Sherk
Not to be outdone by Jackson, lightweight champion Sean Sherk defended his title only once in 420 days. Mix that with a failed drug test and most fans of today couldn’t tell you who he was which is a shame.
#9 Rafael Dos Anjos
RDA is the current lightweight champion and he has been the champ for 450 days with a single defense to his obligatory Wikipedia entry. Should he lose to his next opponent he may go the way of champions in the past who clung to their title without defending it as long as they could.
#10 Shogun Rua
The “greatest light heavyweight in the world” in his Pride days, according to hardcore PrideFC fans, never defended his title in almost a full year and when he did he got destroyed by Jon Jones. Rua will go down as the champ who should have been more, and given us more as fans.
Lotus wrote:2) Why has Aldo not been given a rematch.
Apart from 206 when it wasn't the money fight to make - Aldo and Connor's fight calendars didn't sync up for them to meet be it because one had just fought or Aldo needed to fight Edgar to gain any hint of legitimacy for a rematch
Lotus wrote:3) Why was Conor allowed to dick around fighting Diaz - twice - rather than defending his belt.
As explained above, at no point when Connor fought Diaz twice was there a legitimate challenger who was available to fight.
Lotus wrote:4) Why the strawberry float as Pettis and Holloway fighting for an Interim belt? Why noAs ext just the #1 contender position?
Yeah I have no idea why this is the case. The only argument for a interim belt over fighting for a no1 contender is that a interim belt feels like even more of a lock.
Connor gets far too much hate around here he entirely undeserving of. He's not ducked anybody and has legitimately won gold at two weight classes. He is significantly more active than most of the top stars in the sport (Aldo average less than 2 fights per year). Enjoy the ride, he wont be around for long.