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One thing fans often praise the UFC for is their ability to get the fights everyone wants to see done. Unfortunately, this isn't always the case.
Over the years we've seen a handful of fighters wield such power over the UFC that they were able to leave a potential opponent waiting, sometimes for years.
On most of these occasions, the prospective fight in question never ended up happening. Whether this will be the case for the latest example remains to be seen.
Here, then, are five UFC stars who left a potential opponent hanging.
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#5. Jon Jones - UFC heavyweight champion
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Earlier this month, it was announced that current interim heavyweight champion Tom Aspinall had become the longest-reigning interim champion in UFC history.
This was not a record Aspinall would've hoped to claim. After beating Sergei Pavlovich for the interim crown in November 2023, he's been hunting for a unification fight with champion Jon Jones.
Unfortunately, 'Bones' has been happy to leave the UK native hanging, and the situation doesn't appear to be about to be resolved any time soon.
Rather than fight Aspinall last year, Jones instead continued his pursuit of a so-called 'legacy fight' with former champion Stipe Miocic, beating him via TKO in November.
Since then, he's essentially flip-flopped on the idea of facing the Brit, lurching from being seemingly willing to fight him to instead teasing retirement or calling out alternative foes.
Even accusations that 'Bones' is ducking Aspinall haven't seemed to force his hand, with the former light-heavyweight kingpin hitting back at his critics just last week.
Will Jones ever face Aspinall, then, or will he continue to leave the interim champ hanging? Given a video that recently leaked out onto X suggested Jones could be "done" with fighting, right now it feels like the latter scenario is more likely.
#4. Georges St-Pierre - former UFC welterweight champion
Widely considered the greatest fighter in MMA history, Georges St-Pierre ran roughshod over the UFC's welterweight division for the best part of a decade.
By late 2013, he'd held the 170-pound title for nearly six years, and had turned back the challenge of eight straight challengers.
When he faced Johny Hendricks, though, 'GSP' found himself in more trouble than he'd faced in years.
'Bigg Rigg' rocked him on the feet on multiple occasions and even took him down, hurting him with strikes from the top. Although St-Pierre also had success during the fight, it looked like a new champion would be crowned.
However, the judges scored the razor-close fight in favor of the Canadian, stunning both Hendricks and a number of observers.
It appeared that UFC President Dana White was one such observer. He stated that he believed Hendricks deserved the win, and went on to claim that St-Pierre "owed" both 'Bigg Rigg' and the fans a rematch.
St-Pierre, though, was non-committal, and instead suggested he needed some time to consider his future.
Despite this drawing the ire of White, the Canadian then left Hendricks hanging, but only for a month before he announced a quasi-retirement, meaning he'd be vacating his title.
Hendricks duly beat Robbie Lawler in early 2014 to become the new champion, but never did get the rematch with 'GSP' that he so desperately wanted.
#3. Tito Ortiz - former UFC light-heavyweight champion
During his reign as UFC light-heavyweight champion, Tito Ortiz was accused of attempting to duck a fight with his former friend and training partner Chuck Liddell.
Eventually, 'The Huntington Beach Bad Boy' did fight 'The Iceman', but only after losing his title to Randy Couture in 2003. Ortiz lost to Liddell via knockout, and suffered the same fate in a 2006 rematch.
By 2010, the bad blood between the two was still bubbling. When the rivals were announced as the coaches for TUF 11 - with a third fight planned at the end of the series - it felt like a chance for Ortiz to get some redemption.
Liddell seemed equally pumped up to score another win over his nemesis. What few fans expected, though, was that Ortiz would leave 'The Iceman' hanging.
Midway through the season, it was abruptly announced that 'The Huntington Beach Bad Boy' had withdrawn from the fight due to a neck injury.
To say Liddell was fuming would be an understatement. His foul-mouthed reaction was censored, and it felt like the UFC's decision to remove Ortiz from the show altogether and replace him with Rich Franklin was probably done in order to avoid a physical confrontation.
'The Iceman' later claimed that he never expected Ortiz to go through with the fight, but how true that was is hard to say.
In the end, Liddell never did get the chance at a third fight with his rival in the octagon. He retired after being knocked out by Franklin, while Ortiz returned to competition four months later.
The two men did face off in their trilogy bout in 2018, but given the advanced age of both men at that point, it was a fight worth ignoring.
#2. Henry Cejudo - former UFC bantamweight champion
It's widely believed now that former bantamweight and flyweight champion Henry Cejudo made a major mistake when he decided to head for a self-imposed hiatus in 2020.
Nobody really bought that 'Triple C' had truly retired, instead suggesting that he simply wanted to squeeze more money out of the UFC.
Sure enough, the 2008 Olympic gold medalist returned to action in 2023, but was unable to regain his bantamweight crown from Aljamain Sterling and has not won a fight since.
However, what many fans have forgotten is that Cejudo's quasi-retirement left Petr Yan hanging badly.
'No Mercy' had cut a path of destruction through the 135-pound division after his 2018 debut, and when he stopped Urijah Faber at the end of 2019, it was clear that he was ready for a title shot.
Alarm bells really should've been ringing when 'Triple C' preferred to pursue a title defense against the ageing Jose Aldo rather than face the Russian, but it still felt like Cejudo vs. Yan was the eventual destination.
Instead, when the Olympian walked away after beating Dominick Cruz - who was a late replacement for Aldo - it was hard not to feel bad for Yan.
Sure, the Russian eventually beat Aldo to claim the title vacated by Cejudo, but 'No Mercy' had still missed out on what would've been the biggest fight of his career thanks to what turned out, in hindsight, to be a short-sighted decision.
#1. Conor McGregor - former UFC lightweight champion
The best example of a UFC star who left a potential opponent hanging has to be Conor McGregor.
'The Notorious' was set to fight fellow lightweight contender Michael Chandler for what felt like forever, only for endless delays and withdrawals to plague the fight.
At the time of writing, the bout still hasn't happened, nor does it look like it will in the near future.
To look at what happened in this instance, you have to go back to the summer of 2021, when McGregor last fought inside the octagon.
The Irishman's third fight with Dustin Poirier was supposed to relaunch his career as a top-class fighter. Instead, 'The Notorious' suffered a horrific leg break during the fight, landing him on the shelf indefinitely.
By late 2022, though, rumors of his return began to surface, and soon, his next opponent was named.
Chandler - a former Bellator champion - was actually coming off a loss to Poirier himself when it was announced that he'd face McGregor next.
It seemed like the perfect pairing. 'Iron Mike' was a charismatic, exciting fighter, but would also be a potentially beatable foe for McGregor. More importantly, the two men would coach TUF 31 against one another to build their rivalry.
The reality show didn't catch on like it might've done 15 years prior, but it still saw a flashpoint in the form of a pull-apart brawl. By the time it aired in the summer of 2023, everyone wanted to see the fight.
However, numerous delays then occurred, with rumors flying around that McGregor's leg injury hadn't fully healed, or that he wasn't willing to re-enter the UFC's drug testing pool.
Eventually, the fight was announced as the headliner of UFC 303 in June 2024. Unfortunately, with just a couple of weeks to go before the event, a press conference was suddenly called off, and it was later announced that 'The Notorious' had injured his foot and was out of the fight.
By September, reports suggested that Chandler was finally willing to give up on the idea of fighting McGregor, and instead agreed to fight Charles Oliveira.
Sadly, the time that he was left hanging by 'The Notorious' appears to have affected him badly, as he was beaten by Oliveira and has since been stopped by Paddy Pimblett.
McGregor, meanwhile, appears to have become the UFC's forgotten man, and even rumors of his comeback have gone cold. For this reason, this remains the most infamous instance of a fighter leaving a potential foe hanging.
