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Despite what MMA fighters say, the vast majority of them are not down to fight "anyone, anytime." That's a standard trope used by fighters and it makes sense. In a business where the competitors make money partially based on trash talk, and seeming threatening others, they have to keep up a facade that they are the toughest individual in a business full of tough individuals.
However, fighters turn down fights quite often. A lot of the time it's for a good reason, but sometimes, it isn't. There are numerous examples of fighters turning down fights throughout MMA history, and theri reason why vary.
10 Randy Couture (vs. Fedor Emelianenko)
A little-known fact is that when RIZIN convinced Fedor Emelianenko to come out of retirement to fight for them in 2015, they also tried to get another legend to put on the gloves. For years, there was talk of Randy Couture facing off against "The Last Emperor," and RIZIN gave it another go in 2015.
According to Couture, he was approached by the Japanese promotion to fight Emelianenko in 2015. Couture sadly had to turn down the bout, mainly due to the fact that he was 52-years-old at the time, and that he would need a lot of work and tune-up fights in order to do the sport justice and put on a good fight.
9 Khabib Nurmagomedov (vs. Georges St-Pierre)
Khabib Nurmagomedov and Georges St-Pierre talked about wanting to fight one another. In true UFC fashion, they shot down the massive legacy fight, mainly because the promotion didn't want to risk the possibility of Nurmagomedov losing the bout, and St-Pierre retiring and vacating the belt similar to his 2017 situation with the middleweight title.
However, following Nurmagomedov's retirement, they approached him with the St-Pierre fight. According to "The Eagle" himself, Dana White texted him saying that "Rush" wants to fight him. Nurmagomedov turned the fight down because he's happily retired.
8 Nate Diaz (vs. Khamzat Chimaev)
With Nate Diaz's UFC contract only having one fight left on it, the promotion tried to book him in a bout with rising star, Khamzat Chimaev. Despite Dana White trying his best to sell the bout, nobody, including Nate Diaz, was interested.
Nate Diaz turned the fight down very publically, saying to TMZ that it was disrespectful for the UFC to try and offer that fight because of Chimaev's lack of fights in the UFC.
7 Jon Jones (vs. Chael Sonnen)
When Dan Henderson pulled out of his UFC 151 main event against Jon Jones, the UFC tried to call Chael Sonnen on short notice to fight. Despite the UFC and Sonnen's attempts, Jones turned the bout and the pay-per-view got canceled as a result.
Jones' reasoning for turning down the bout was that his coaches recommended him to do it due to the lack of notice to prepare for Sonnen. With the coaches of "Bones" saying that him accepting the bout could be the "biggest mistake of his career."
6 Georges St-Pierre (vs. Anderson Silva)
Despite there being talk for years of UFC champions Georges St-Pierre and Anderson Silva facing off, the fight never came to fruition. The closest the fight came to happening was at UFC 186, but St-Pierre turned the it down.
According to "Rush," the bout offer came in before Silva got suspended for steroids relating to his UFC 183 drug failure. St-Pierre declined the fight because he was busy with other projects at the time, and was concerned about steroids in the sport.
5 Miesha Tate (vs. Aspen Ladd)
Miesha Tate and Aspen Ladd notably had beef last year. Following Ladd's weight miss for her fight against Macy Chiasson at UFC Vegas 38, the former UFC Bantamweight Champion was critical of Ladd, saying she was unprofessional.
Ladd called out Tate for a fight in 2022, to which Tate responded in the negative. Tate turned the fight down publically on her YouTube channel, noting that she's not going to go through an entire training camp just to have the fight possibly fall out due to Ladd's weight issues.
4 Nate Diaz (vs. Dustin Poirier)
Nate Diaz and Dustin Poirier seemingly agreed to fight each other on Twitter following the latter's loss at UFC 269. But despite the men agreeing to fight after "The Diamond" lost to Charles Oliviera, the Stockton native turned the fight down later that week.
According to Diaz on Twitter, he turned down the fight because the UFC wasn't willing to give enough money in order to make the fight. Sounds about right.
3 Germaine De Randamie (vs. Cris Cyborg)
Following Germaine De Randamie becoming the inaugural UFC Fatherweight Champion at UFC 208, the easy fight to make was against Cris Cyborg. Cyborg had been on USADA suspension when De Randamie was booked against Holly Holm at UFC 208, but once that was cleaned up, the fight had to be made.
However, De Randamie declined a fight against Cyborg almost as soon as it was offered. De Randamie cited Cyborg's previous drug test failures and recent USADA infraction as her reasoning for turning down the bout.
2 Alex Pereira (vs. Krzysztof Jotko)
Alex Pereira debuted to much fanfare at UFC 268, scoring a knockout win and becoming the talk of the UFC's middleweight division. As such, the UFC decided they wanted to match him up with a notable veteran in Krzystof Jotko.
Pereira turned the fight down, instead opting for a fight with Bruno Silva. "Po Atan" turned down the fight for a simple reason: he thinks Jotko is a boring fighter who "lays and prays." For someone who is a noted action fighter, this decline comes as no surprise.
1 Ronda Rousey (vs. Cris Cyborg)
Ronda Rousey vs. Cris Cyborg was the women's superfight for years. Their paths nearly crossed in Strikeforce, then the UFC, however, it never came to fruition. In the end, a lot of it had to do with Rousey's unwillingness to fight Cyborg for a variety of reasons.
Rousey noted that it wasn't fair for her to have to move up for the fight, given that she was the UFC Bantamweight Champion at the time, and that Cyborg should come to her. Similar to Germaine De Randamie, she also turned the fight down to Cyborg's history with steroids.