Wasn't that long ago that Merab was being called the greatest BW of all time. 3 title defenses, 14 straight wins, insane strength of schedule. But just like that he tries for 4 title defenses in a calendar year and loses, and follows that up with a loss and now all that is gone. Ilia and Conor won and boom were gone. Always easier to have the "what if" conversations that actually try and win over and over again.

Look at Islam. Dude fights once every 10+ months and a big part of that is to draw out his time as the champion. Ilia won a vacant title at LW and even before the divorce was like I'm not fighting for the rest of the year which was 6 months away at the time.

Volk actually has had to win over and over again, while Conor got to win and bounce, and Ilia got to win, defend once and bounce.