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Originally Posted by Walleris
What favor by Jon Jones? His return fight vs. OSP only made 425,000 PPV buys. A 1/4 of what any McGregor PPV makes at this point. He is a non-factor. Perhaps GSP could get closer (800k-1million), but that's it. Ronda is the only one who can do over a million and it's still significantly less than Conor. 207 will be really interesting what number it makes on PPV; I expect it to be about 1.1-1.2 M. I think despite the loss, there is going to be a lot of interest in how she looks after the loss; especially in mainstream. Also, when Conor lost to Nate, his drawing power did not suffer one bit. It's not boxing, the W-L records aren't everything.
I think Conor will fight Nate next; that trilogy fight will not be available forever and is an easy cash-in. Khabib also makes sense and is a terrible stylistic matchup, but I think Khabib/Tony should be next as a title eliminator and if that happens then the 'inactive Khabib' excuse may not be relevant anymore and he could fight Conor afterwards. Personally, I'd love for Conor to go back to 145 and defend it against Dominick Cruz. I know he's a smaller guy, but when healthy the guy has been on the league of his own. And his challenges (movement, avoiding shots) to Conor would be completely different than any other possible opponent. Plus, he is very well spoken and would be able to talk proper trash and sell himself to general public. I just hope he doesn't decide to get the third belt. He had so much difficulties against Nate and he is not even a true 170. We have weight classes for a reason.
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Jon Jones has done Conor a favour by continually messing up. He had it all, size, reach, technique. Likability. His popularity has taken a huge hit these past few years. Human nature sees people move onto the next big thing. Timing was perfect. It's not a slight on Conor - he has worked extremely hard to land his position at the top of the tree.
But it's not just PPV figures. Jones got a lot of media coverage. He was considered by many to be the best UFC fighter ever. (Premature for me)
All I'm saying is there's no denying Jones' absence came at a time when the UFC was in lift off mode. Would he have rivalled Conor if things had played out differently? - maybe not.
I agree a loss doesn't spell the end of a fighter's popularity. But multiple losses can. Certainly with someone like Conor who appeals to casual fight fans. IF Diaz had beat him twice, his next fight would have been critical. A 3rd straight defeat loses you the band-wagon fan. It's how it is. Thankfully he didn't.
Dominic Cruz is a beast. That would be a very hard fight. I think 145 is less appealing for Conor these days. That weight cut is a killer.
Tyrone Woodley has already made noises about a potential match up with Conor. Please no. He's too big. And he can punch. It would be a bad idea. Stick to 155.
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