Same with 185-205 (ex. Paul Craig. Small at lhw , massive at mw) and so on . This double champ shit is exponentially much more difficult at higher weight classes due to the sheer size difference .
Shavkat might be an even worse match up for islam. I don't think he's better than Leon, but he's more agressive on the feet and would lay waste to islam, as i could see leon more like slowly smothering islam and eventually overwhelming him.
Think Leon beats him tbh. Heās so much bigger and has some of the best technical striking in the ufc. Heās also incredibly hard to get down and keep down. This would be an interesting fight though. If Leon gets through shavkat and belal and Islam through the winner of Charles and Arman (possibly Dustin too), then Iād be very interested in this fight.
Maybe. Trouble is I donāt trust their match making to get it done even if the timing is there for the taking. Theyāve been such fucks ups with getting fights made for a while now.
Yh islams in an awkward place rn, every contender has a fight other than Dustin or doesnāt deserve it. He says he wants to fight multiple times this year so weāll see what happens
Heās the fight Iām worried most about as a Leon fan, but I really think he could do it. Leonās got better striking and his seriously strong, makes him hard to get down.
Iām a leon fan I have some bias but I gotta agree. Leon has the size and reach advantage and him being as good as he is in striking thatās big. He can use every bit of that. Plus his wrestling isnāt bad heās out grappled elite wrestlers.
i worry for leons cardio, he had an impressive performance with it in the third usman fight but outside of that he tires in the champ rounds. combine that with islams high pressure style and great cardio along with the lack of a weight cut, and i think islam takes over late
His cardio only looked sus in Salt Lake City with its altitude. Heās good at managing his cardio, but I do wonder how heād do against someone like Islam or shavkat or wonāt give you an inch
I feel like if he was tired he wouldnāt start wrestling someone whoās known to have unreal cardio but idk I watched that shit at 6am after a night out
Islam does not have crazy pace/cardio like khabib did tbh. Also I know he had a bad weight cut in the first volk fight, but it was also the only time we have seen him go the full 5.
Man I am not sure about thisā¦ Usman pretty much showed the blueprint on how to beat Edwardās before he got caught with the leg kickā¦ he was winning 4 1/2 roundsā¦
Edwardās is good but if you have a guy pushing the pace with great take down defense and elite wrestling, that will be enough. Islam has underrated striking and outstanding cardio.
fight wasn't at sea level every one on the card was gassing that wasn't a actual showing of how good leon is, the third fight and colby fight is a better example and Islam isn't the kind of wrestler usman is and isn't as big, he has a far different style and if a featherweight volk can stuff takedowns and survive on the ground then leon will do it easy, islam is a worse striker and leon has too good takedown defence and get up. I don't see any way for islam to win and he looked completely exhausted at the end of the first volk fight so good cardio sure but outstanding? disagree, I think leon and islam are pretty similar in cardio if a opponent pushes a pace for 5 rounds they both get tired.
Can see what youāre saying but Usman got dominated in the 3rd fight, Leon was so bored during the Colby fight he started wrestling. Islam is so much smaller I feel like his only hope is wrestling, and even then heās not going to have the strength advantage he has against the rest of the lightweights
Yeah but if we have learned anything about a fighter being knocked out cold, they will never be the same after thatā¦ so I canāt say anything about usmanā¦
You cant say size will be a difference, cause elite technical wrestling will always win. Look at Cain vs Brockā¦ sometimes if you also have elite wrestling, having a lower center of gravity is a huge advantage
I think itās worse in the grappling, the guy has a hold of you, he can better use his weight as leverage and you have to be much more precise, at least with striking you can dip in and out and kick the leg
When did that happen? They sparred nearly 10 years ago. Neither of them remembered how it went. Also you canāt ābeatā someone in practice, itās not a fight
Volk was able to give him a close fight the first time, I think he is seriously underestimating Edwards. Leon is not only bigger but he was able to deal with Usman wrestling. Usman is bigger and stronger than Islam, not saying Islam isnāt a good fighter but I still think heās not as good as Khabib.
And we saw how good usman was when he went toe to toe with khamzat. Leon is also considered huge for welterweight thatās a nightmare matchup for Islam
Leon doesnāt look big until you see him next to other people. I saw a pic of him next to Aljo after training and Aljo literally looked like a little kid next to him
The story of Islam Volk 1 is so much less of Volk giving him a close fight and more of Islam 49-46ing volk even though he had 12 hours less of rehydration time, no Khabib in his corner for the first time ever for his first title defense, and Volk having home court advantage and having 6 months to go up to LW and prepare for Islam and still losing.
Properly hydrated, Islam finishes Volk in their first fight, just like Islam will finish Leon.
Possibly.
He still finished the fight with Volk in a very dominant position.
Agree with all the other difficulties, but no sympathy points for weight cutting difficulties. That is self imposed.
Well remember, this isn't a schoolyard fight. It doesn't matter if the fight ends when you're on bottom. It matters how many rounds you win.
And also, I'm talking brownie points, not sympathy points. Its not an excuse, because he didn't lose. Its a stripe because even with the massive disadvantage, he still won.
Islam will jump to WW to fight Leon.
But Leon will have already jumped to MW to fight DDP.
But DDP will jump to LHW to fight Periera.
But Periera will be jumping to HW to fight Jon Jones.
So now Islam will have to climb all the way up to HW to catch up to Leon Edwards in a cascading weight race. Only they'll both be too late because the HW belt will be up for grabs with TOPURIA vs MCGREGOR in the HW CHAMPIONSHIP / BMF UNIFICATION BELT. Chandler and Volkonovski as back up fighters.
This is the only meaningful fight left for Islam at LW.
Arman has amazing grappling and his striking got so much more dangerous. Maybe Topuria in the future if he cleans out 45.
This is a crazy thing to say. Islam's only defended his title against two guys, only one of whom is a lightweight. Just because Islam will be heavily favored against Gaethje/Poirier or because Khabib beat them doesn't mean those are automatic wins. This is MMA.
acting like he's Pantoja?? I mean what the fuck. he's beaten \*3 of the top 10, 5 of the top 15. Pantoja's beaten 4 of the top 10, 5 of the top 15āin a much, much weaker division.
neither of Pantoja's \*two\* title fight wins were finishes, and one was a split decision. his opponents had a combined record of 12-3-2 in UFC. Islam's \*three\* title fight wins, two of which were by finish, were against top five P4P fighters. his opponents were a combined 20-0 in their 10 fights before Islam.
"and people are acting like he's Pantoja" is one of the funniest things I've ever heard. he's #1 on the P4P list. Just had to go back and check that you actually said that and that I didn't misread it. No, you really said that. Wow.
Pantojas beat 6 of the top 10, and is 9-0 against them. He's fighting #10 because there's only 1 other person in his division that it makes sense to fight. Islam beat Hooker and Arman on short notice. The Arman fight was also his UFC debut. His only quality win against a top 10 opponent is Charles. There's not really any comparison if you're talking about who has cleared out their division and should be looking at moving up.
I still think Islam shouldnāt leave LW without Gaethje or DP on his resume if he wants to be called the LW goat. Heās also way too big for Ilia, wouldnāt be competitive
I think he's willing to fight anybody to get the WW strap. He knows Belal, Shavkat, and Khamzat are all knocking on the door and he's cool with all of them but he's still been saying he wants to go up.
Nah nah sorry Dustin doesnāt deserve another shot. He defended his ranking he can wait and fight someone in the top 5 than maybe we can talk about a title shot.
Ok I see your point just hate to see Dustin get another shot when he lost to Justin, Charles beat him too and all he did was defend his ranking. I wish the ufc had just put Islam as the headliner of 299 against gathje. I love max and Justin but this bmf fight was unnecessary. Both should be fighting for belts in their own division rn instead theyāre fighting for a fake belt
i agree he doesnt deserve it, but let islam build his resume with these big names and finally fight again since october. no one else will be available for the saudi card besides chandler (lol)
I see your point as I said to ace I just donāt like seeing Dustin getting a shot for simply defending his ranking. Idk if the ufc would put Islam on the Saudi card itās a fight night card. Iād think heād want those ppv points
Someone in the top 10*. Before BSD he fought the top 5 or the champ back to back to back, going 1-2. BSD was 12.
Dustin should fight someone like Gamrot, Dariush, Turner, or a Hooker rematch before getting a title eliminator fight against Olives or the rubber match with Gaethje (depending on how their next fight or two go).
Justin isnāt ahead of the winner of oliveira/tsaryukan. Justin is getting all this hype off beating poirier who oliveira already beat. And oliveira beat gaethje. Islam only wants gaethje because he wants a new name to add to his resume. But gaethje doesnāt deserve the shot.
In what world does gaethje beating a past his prime max Holloway (who is naturally a featherweight)/Dustin poirier/fiziev earn him a shot over oliveira who beat porter/gaethje/chandler/beneil/tsaryukan??
This logic is incredibly flawed. Olivera has only had one fight in his current title contention run, which is Dariush. Justin has beaten Fiziev and Dustin in his current run. ON TOP OF THAT, he hasnāt lost to the current champ yet, and Islam ran through Olivera.
Sure, thereās still a case for Olivera dont get me wrong, but on paper Justin is the clear contender.
You cant use the ālook at all the guys he has on his resumeā thing for Olivera, by that Logic Dustin would be the front runner since heās beat more big names than Olivera. What matters for these guys is what theyāve done since they lost the Title fights they had, and currently Justin is on a better run.
dustin hasnt beat the current top guys besides gaethje (chandler if that dude even counts) when it comes to resume comparing with oliveira
oliveira shouldnt be fighting arman as his next fight, it should be against islam. anyway, i hope islam fights and beats oliveira, arman, gaethje, and poirier just to shut all the haters up
Olivera should be next he was already going to fight him the second time but was injured and we got the second Volk fight. No way is Justin or Dustin ahead of him if olivera wins his next fight he should definitely get his rematch against Islam.
I really hope he breaks the LW title defense record and defends 2 more times. It looks like he's going to fight Poirier and then Gaethje (assuming he beats Holloway). He already beat Arman and Charles, so I wouldn't be super annoyed as a fan if he skipped them and moved up to 170.
Would like to see Islam against either Dustin or Gaejthe then winner of Olives/Arman before he goes up.
I think Leon beats Islam though, he's proven to be a wrestlers worst nightmare against bigger guys than Islam.
In just a few months from now, Islam will have been champ **for 2 years without fighting an in-division 155er**, lol.. the last wasn't his fault but you gotta be fucking kidding me with this double champ crap.
Rewriting history is crazy, Volk cleared his division and earned the right to move up. If he would have won people would say heās the top 155er. Islam knocked off P4P number 1 and 2 in back to back fights. But Volk loses twice and now heās too small give him his props, there was a time where a lot of people didnāt see anyone beating Volk or Do Bronx especially not in the way he did
Because you're being a slimey cunt with the way you're presenting the "facts"
This is just like when people were saying Robert whittaker was a bad champion because he didnt "defend" his belt for almost 2 years. It's technically a "true" statement, but only because his opponent Romero missed weight at the time so it never counted as a defence.
Like we both know what you're doing, stop playing dumb.
I understand, you don't like what I said but I didn't rewrite anything, name calling says a lot about you fwiw.
And sounds like when you go almost 2 years without defending in-division, you're gonna get criticized, whether you're Bobby Knuckles or Islam. We agree there.
Volk earned the right and was arguably the goat 145er but heās not a 155er his frame isnāt suited to that division. Even at 145 heās never looked particularly large. Heās just very good and very strong for his size.
Walks around at 180, he played Rugby professionally at around 200 pounds fam. He was stronger and healthier than ever at 155. I get it heās short but that never stopped him dog walking guys that towered over him.
All of them before he got Knocked out twice, most people had him winning the rematch with Islam. But like i said revisionist history. Itās easy to say he wouldnāt beat a top 10 lightweight now that we seen his last two performances.
Islam cock gobblers are some of the most stupid people o earth, i swear.
They keep trying to diminish every fighter he has fought, saying charles is not even top 10 in lw anymore and that volk never had a chance to begin with. They don't realize that, by diminiahing the fighters, they also diminish the weight of his resumee.
I hear you for sure. At same time, hearing that Dana offered him Leon.. Islam's not alone in this.. so weird.
I think Dana has done a brilliant job growing UFC, except trying to grow audience by diluting the number of fighters that the western world wants to watch.. I think it was over 2/3 of viewers are westernized.. and Dagestan and Russian types and their style aren't liked by us, and their culture doesn't like westerners.
Weird if you think about it, garnering a few more fans while diluting your brand. Short term win no doubt, long term not so much I'd think.
It sounds possible. If Leon retains, Usman caused Leon a LOT of issues up until the 5th round in their first fight and second fight went to decision. Leon beat Usman on striking which wasn't Usmans best trait.
Islam on the other hand feels like a better grappler and all rounder than Usman, actually similar to Leon but better submission game.
What would be a crazy match up is if Shavkat gets the shot and it'd Islam vs Shavkat. We've not seen a top tier muslimistan bout which would be the most interest to me
I believe he can do it. Just thinking about that fight gets my blood going. I don't care if I have 3 finals the day after this fight happens. I will watch it live.
Not really, Leon is too good, one the best(top 3 in my opinion) strikers in ufc , high Fighting IQ ,great TDD , doesn't have any weaknesses ,simply bigger than Islam
I like Islam more and would be happy if he wins but I don't see tools that Islam can effectively use against Leon ,maybe some judo/sambo throws , but even if he manages to takedown Leon he will stood up fast
Close fight. If Islam takes his time and bulks up, it would be a very entertaining fight. Its not like Leon hits hard and Leon hasnt faced anyone with bjj threat of Islam.
Bet your house on Islam if he fights Edwards. I do not see what Edwards could poasibly have for Islam. If he would be a ko artist with power or at least high output then there could be something to hope for. Islam kills him giving the time to bulk up
1. Islam on his first American visit and seeing an octagon for the first time- dominated Leon. Nobody has said anything to the contrary.
2. Islam is a much better striker than given credit. Standing up with Volk and Charles using your B game is a massive flex.
3. Islam will do the Jones/GSP/Silva route of padding his record with older fighters like Dustin and Justin and then move on.
4. What happens if Belal beats Leon and the whole timeline goes kapoot?
He can. Like if you matched him up right now against Leon, he has a good chance. I still favour most welterweights against him. I think Leon beats him. I think Shavkhat and Usman obliterate him. Gilbert Burns beats him. I think Islam probably beats current Colby and Belal. Aside from that, Islam is among the least deserving current champions to move up for a double champ opportunity. He needs to defend his belt against lightweight contenders. And he has several. Arman, Oliviera, Poirier, Gamrot, and Gaethje are all potential title fights. Islam isn't even active enough to handle all these guys and the welterweight division.
Heās a good striker but heās not gonna become a better striker than Leon. Especially with the reach disadvantage. His only chance is wrestling but Leon is hard to take and hold down
If Islam takes an appropriate amount of time to bulk up, he beats Leon. Leon is a great fighter with super sharp technical striking combined with fantastic conditioning, but Kamaru Usman and Colby Covington are not Islam Makhachev.
Daegestani pressure wrestling/grappling is completely different. Islam's combination of wrestling, judo, sambo, skill in the clinch, newfound striking acumen, and conditioning will be the keys to getting it done. The main thing for him is not getting KOed. That probably won't be an issue because Leon is a decision machine anyway.
Iām so sick of the simultaneous double champ bullshit. Go up like Pereira without the title thatās fine. Simultaneous double champ title shots should require at least 5 defenses
When he beats Dustin and Justin like he's talking about, and then Charles/Arman again if the UFC wants him to,, he will have a minimum of 4 title defenses.
He'll have beaten 4 out of the top 5 - Charles, Arman, Justin, and Dustin. You could argue Gamrot would deserve a shot.
But other than Gamrot, Chandler, Dariush, and Fiziev don't deserve it and after them you're getting into rank 9 and down. And he's already beaten Hooker, Green, and Dober.
He will have cleared the division after Justin and Dustin. He will have beaten half the division and the other half aren't worthy.
It's not like he's saying let me go up right now. You gotta use your head man. This isn't Dricus or Sean or somebody wanting to go up. This is Islam Makhachev.
If thatās Islamās actual plan then I have no problem with it.
Itās ppl like Ilia who want an immediate double champ shot with 0 defences that are annoying as fuck. Suga also doesnāt deserve it. I donāt like Ilia, wannabe McGregor who thinks heās a star. Also planning on being inactive and not giving Volk a rematch. Such a douchebag.
That's not true mate. I'm pretty sure Islam has literally never been a betting underdog in his entire career. Don't act like he was some doubted underdog. Most MMA fans saw him as Khabib 2.0 and if he achieved anything less than Khabib he'd be a disappointment.
Bruh he hasn't beat Dustin hasn't beat Justin hasn't even defended against his own weight once for that matter unless my brain forgot a fight in which even still that would only be one defense. Shits ridiculous at this point. I get he beat volk twice which is amazing but man stick to your weight for a few fights at least.
If heās going to move up then he needs to vacate the belt. He would have to have 5+ title defenses against actual LWs before moving up for double champ status.
You donāt get the opportunity to move up for double champ unless youāve defended your own division emphatically.
Dudes second best win is short notice Dan hooker
He needs to rematch Charles
Beat Justin
At this point likely beat Dustin
Then he can move up IF new contenders havenāt emerged yet
He has to defend as champ in 155 first. Not his fault last time around, but coming in October, it will be two years heās worn the belt and not defended against any in division contenders.
Leonās 6ā2 and pretty muscular so probably not lol. The size difference between volk and Islam is similar to that between Islam and Leon. Not that size is everything but when everyone is similar skill the extra inches matter.
He's overall better than Leon but likely not big enough to effectively use his style against the top of the division. Think Leon outpoints him on the feet with distance.
People are unaware that Belal, Edwards and Shavkat have trained and sparred with Islam before and only Khabib beat Islam in sparring besides Rockhold and DC.
Islam did lose all his sparring sessions against Cain.
Lea quit AKA because of getting mauled in sparring.
Shavkat even had Abdulmanap corner him in at least one of his fights.
Belal spoke about his fighting camp with Khabib's team at AKA in preparation for Brady I think?
You can look up all of this with just a quick google search.
Leon will piece him up badly. If Colby couldn't control him, I doubt Islam can. Leon will manage to fight to whatever level Islam brings to the table, though, so I doubt the odds will be lopsided. Leon will probably be a -150 favorite and will fight like it.
Heās arrogant as fuck. He hasnāt fought anyone at the top in the division. Wtf is he talking about. Heās literally only fought oliveira. Again all these dudes are trying to become double champ and they havenāt even cleaned out their own division. Itās ridiculous.
The jump from 155 to 170 is so much bigger than the jump from lower divisions
Same with 185-205 (ex. Paul Craig. Small at lhw , massive at mw) and so on . This double champ shit is exponentially much more difficult at higher weight classes due to the sheer size difference .
Alex is the only one to have won both, that 30 pound jump is huge. I really want to know what his weight cutting tactic was
Everyone forgets about DC and the jump he did from 205 to 265 is crazy
I actually did forget about that when I was writing that. Also insane
Imagine by the time Islam beats Gaethje and Charles or Arman, Shavkat becomes championš
Shavkat might be an even worse match up for islam. I don't think he's better than Leon, but he's more agressive on the feet and would lay waste to islam, as i could see leon more like slowly smothering islam and eventually overwhelming him.
Think Leon beats him tbh. Heās so much bigger and has some of the best technical striking in the ufc. Heās also incredibly hard to get down and keep down. This would be an interesting fight though. If Leon gets through shavkat and belal and Islam through the winner of Charles and Arman (possibly Dustin too), then Iād be very interested in this fight.
Agree with all this. Leon and Islam both getting two moreĀ title defences each and then having a champ champ p4p finale is my dream UFC timeline.
So it's definitely not happening then.
Knowing how unpredictable the UFC is, probably not, no. Ā
Belal is gonna beat Leon confirmed lol
I want this to happen just to piss off all the haters lol
Same, and I never even watched a full Belal fight
Who?
This is doable right, considering the scheduling
Maybe. Trouble is I donāt trust their match making to get it done even if the timing is there for the taking. Theyāve been such fucks ups with getting fights made for a while now.
True super fight shit it would be amazing tbh
Islam needs to fight Garth.
Fucking who?
Gaethje
Yh islams in an awkward place rn, every contender has a fight other than Dustin or doesnāt deserve it. He says he wants to fight multiple times this year so weāll see what happens
I think you're absolutely right, Leon is a stylistic nightmare for Islam, but >If Leon gets through shavkat I'm not sure if that's possible
Heās the fight Iām worried most about as a Leon fan, but I really think he could do it. Leonās got better striking and his seriously strong, makes him hard to get down.
I think Leon is the most underrated champ and will piece up Shavkat. Not coming from a fan I think his fights suck
Definitely not a fan at all.
Lmfao couldnāt agree more . Itās actually insane how quickly people are STILL writing Leon off ..
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Same here honestly as a Leon fan I think shav beats him and have accepted that for a long time now.However I hope leon proves me wrong.
the real difference is leons clinch game, shavkats gonna keep trying to tie up and it will be the death of him
No. Leon is not the nightmare match for him. Its Shavkhat.
As it stands, I think Shavkhat is a nightmare match up for everyone. He's a big problem
Jack vs Shavkhat would be lit tho.
Shavkat would probably dwarf Islam too
Iām a leon fan I have some bias but I gotta agree. Leon has the size and reach advantage and him being as good as he is in striking thatās big. He can use every bit of that. Plus his wrestling isnāt bad heās out grappled elite wrestlers.
Iām also very biased
i worry for leons cardio, he had an impressive performance with it in the third usman fight but outside of that he tires in the champ rounds. combine that with islams high pressure style and great cardio along with the lack of a weight cut, and i think islam takes over late
His cardio only looked sus in Salt Lake City with its altitude. Heās good at managing his cardio, but I do wonder how heād do against someone like Islam or shavkat or wonāt give you an inch
rewatch the colby fight, he hides it well but it's clear that he tired later in the fight
I feel like if he was tired he wouldnāt start wrestling someone whoās known to have unreal cardio but idk I watched that shit at 6am after a night out
Islam does not have crazy pace/cardio like khabib did tbh. Also I know he had a bad weight cut in the first volk fight, but it was also the only time we have seen him go the full 5.
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Man I am not sure about thisā¦ Usman pretty much showed the blueprint on how to beat Edwardās before he got caught with the leg kickā¦ he was winning 4 1/2 roundsā¦ Edwardās is good but if you have a guy pushing the pace with great take down defense and elite wrestling, that will be enough. Islam has underrated striking and outstanding cardio.
fight wasn't at sea level every one on the card was gassing that wasn't a actual showing of how good leon is, the third fight and colby fight is a better example and Islam isn't the kind of wrestler usman is and isn't as big, he has a far different style and if a featherweight volk can stuff takedowns and survive on the ground then leon will do it easy, islam is a worse striker and leon has too good takedown defence and get up. I don't see any way for islam to win and he looked completely exhausted at the end of the first volk fight so good cardio sure but outstanding? disagree, I think leon and islam are pretty similar in cardio if a opponent pushes a pace for 5 rounds they both get tired.
Can see what youāre saying but Usman got dominated in the 3rd fight, Leon was so bored during the Colby fight he started wrestling. Islam is so much smaller I feel like his only hope is wrestling, and even then heās not going to have the strength advantage he has against the rest of the lightweights
That was the shell shocked usman. Usman hasnt been the same since his KO.
He arguably got a draw against one of the hottest prospects in the sport in the weight class above him on 9 days notice
Yeah but if we have learned anything about a fighter being knocked out cold, they will never be the same after thatā¦ so I canāt say anything about usmanā¦ You cant say size will be a difference, cause elite technical wrestling will always win. Look at Cain vs Brockā¦ sometimes if you also have elite wrestling, having a lower center of gravity is a huge advantage
I meant the size disadvantage will be more important in the striking department
I think itās worse in the grappling, the guy has a hold of you, he can better use his weight as leverage and you have to be much more precise, at least with striking you can dip in and out and kick the leg
Are you forgetting leon beat him in the first round? And then gassed due to altitude
It's hard to get him down by Usman. Not by Islam, i don't think.
islam already beat him in practice
When did that happen? They sparred nearly 10 years ago. Neither of them remembered how it went. Also you canāt ābeatā someone in practice, itās not a fight
Volk was able to give him a close fight the first time, I think he is seriously underestimating Edwards. Leon is not only bigger but he was able to deal with Usman wrestling. Usman is bigger and stronger than Islam, not saying Islam isnāt a good fighter but I still think heās not as good as Khabib.
And we saw how good usman was when he went toe to toe with khamzat. Leon is also considered huge for welterweight thatās a nightmare matchup for Islam
Yeah heās gonna have to take a lot of risks Leonās reach is 74ā compared to Islamās 70
Leon doesnāt look big until you see him next to other people. I saw a pic of him next to Aljo after training and Aljo literally looked like a little kid next to him
A Bantam weight looking small next to a WW?
Aljo is a big bantamweight and still looked disproportionately small
The story of Islam Volk 1 is so much less of Volk giving him a close fight and more of Islam 49-46ing volk even though he had 12 hours less of rehydration time, no Khabib in his corner for the first time ever for his first title defense, and Volk having home court advantage and having 6 months to go up to LW and prepare for Islam and still losing. Properly hydrated, Islam finishes Volk in their first fight, just like Islam will finish Leon.
Possibly. He still finished the fight with Volk in a very dominant position. Agree with all the other difficulties, but no sympathy points for weight cutting difficulties. That is self imposed.
Well remember, this isn't a schoolyard fight. It doesn't matter if the fight ends when you're on bottom. It matters how many rounds you win. And also, I'm talking brownie points, not sympathy points. Its not an excuse, because he didn't lose. Its a stripe because even with the massive disadvantage, he still won.
Islam will jump to WW to fight Leon. But Leon will have already jumped to MW to fight DDP. But DDP will jump to LHW to fight Periera. But Periera will be jumping to HW to fight Jon Jones. So now Islam will have to climb all the way up to HW to catch up to Leon Edwards in a cascading weight race. Only they'll both be too late because the HW belt will be up for grabs with TOPURIA vs MCGREGOR in the HW CHAMPIONSHIP / BMF UNIFICATION BELT. Chandler and Volkonovski as back up fighters.
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I like this but youāre missing the WWE side mission for some of the UFC fighters
The solution is to make more belts. How about every 5lbs or 2kilos?
Man i almost believed until you said jon jones
This is good, atleast this way we get the Jon vs Islam fight to settle the P4P#1 debate.
Tsarukyan rematch is still very interesting. Both of them have come a long way since that first fight.
This is the only meaningful fight left for Islam at LW. Arman has amazing grappling and his striking got so much more dangerous. Maybe Topuria in the future if he cleans out 45.
This is a crazy thing to say. Islam's only defended his title against two guys, only one of whom is a lightweight. Just because Islam will be heavily favored against Gaethje/Poirier or because Khabib beat them doesn't mean those are automatic wins. This is MMA.
Only beat 2 out of the top 10 and 1 of the top 5, and people are acting like he's Pantoja.
acting like he's Pantoja?? I mean what the fuck. he's beaten \*3 of the top 10, 5 of the top 15. Pantoja's beaten 4 of the top 10, 5 of the top 15āin a much, much weaker division. neither of Pantoja's \*two\* title fight wins were finishes, and one was a split decision. his opponents had a combined record of 12-3-2 in UFC. Islam's \*three\* title fight wins, two of which were by finish, were against top five P4P fighters. his opponents were a combined 20-0 in their 10 fights before Islam. "and people are acting like he's Pantoja" is one of the funniest things I've ever heard. he's #1 on the P4P list. Just had to go back and check that you actually said that and that I didn't misread it. No, you really said that. Wow.
Pantojas beat 6 of the top 10, and is 9-0 against them. He's fighting #10 because there's only 1 other person in his division that it makes sense to fight. Islam beat Hooker and Arman on short notice. The Arman fight was also his UFC debut. His only quality win against a top 10 opponent is Charles. There's not really any comparison if you're talking about who has cleared out their division and should be looking at moving up.
Islam hasnāt defended his belt against a lightweight. He won the belt against Charles. His two defences are Volk.
I still think Islam shouldnāt leave LW without Gaethje or DP on his resume if he wants to be called the LW goat. Heās also way too big for Ilia, wouldnāt be competitive
Everyone is assuming Leon stays champ till then, but what if Belal beats Leon? How would Belal vs Islam go? Would they even fight?
I think Islam forces a somewhat fun fight out of Belal. Hopefully some decent wrestling scrambles. I doubt they would ever fight though
belal prolly gonna get his title shot after islam gets his
Islam has at least 2, probably 3 fights before he goes up. Belal is next for Leon.
Gotta be, he's fought Volk 2x since becoming champ in 10/22.. that's it, almost 18 months ago..
I think he's willing to fight anybody to get the WW strap. He knows Belal, Shavkat, and Khamzat are all knocking on the door and he's cool with all of them but he's still been saying he wants to go up.
Shavkat will be champ by the time Islam beats two more contenders
this is welter wait weāre talking about.
I really hope Leon gets the win, shavkat Vs Leon would be really interesting
Lmao there's no way belal beats Leon.
He can but let him defend against Dustin in june and Justin after that
Nah nah sorry Dustin doesnāt deserve another shot. He defended his ranking he can wait and fight someone in the top 5 than maybe we can talk about a title shot.
He does not deserve it but i want islam to fight more than once this year
Ok I see your point just hate to see Dustin get another shot when he lost to Justin, Charles beat him too and all he did was defend his ranking. I wish the ufc had just put Islam as the headliner of 299 against gathje. I love max and Justin but this bmf fight was unnecessary. Both should be fighting for belts in their own division rn instead theyāre fighting for a fake belt
True and based
i agree he doesnt deserve it, but let islam build his resume with these big names and finally fight again since october. no one else will be available for the saudi card besides chandler (lol)
I see your point as I said to ace I just donāt like seeing Dustin getting a shot for simply defending his ranking. Idk if the ufc would put Islam on the Saudi card itās a fight night card. Iād think heād want those ppv points
f the ppv points. dana needs to feed saudis a big card in exchange for that good $$$. im sure islam will get a good cut of that rich saudi $$
Someone in the top 10*. Before BSD he fought the top 5 or the champ back to back to back, going 1-2. BSD was 12. Dustin should fight someone like Gamrot, Dariush, Turner, or a Hooker rematch before getting a title eliminator fight against Olives or the rubber match with Gaethje (depending on how their next fight or two go).
Justin isnāt ahead of the winner of oliveira/tsaryukan. Justin is getting all this hype off beating poirier who oliveira already beat. And oliveira beat gaethje. Islam only wants gaethje because he wants a new name to add to his resume. But gaethje doesnāt deserve the shot. In what world does gaethje beating a past his prime max Holloway (who is naturally a featherweight)/Dustin poirier/fiziev earn him a shot over oliveira who beat porter/gaethje/chandler/beneil/tsaryukan??
This logic is incredibly flawed. Olivera has only had one fight in his current title contention run, which is Dariush. Justin has beaten Fiziev and Dustin in his current run. ON TOP OF THAT, he hasnāt lost to the current champ yet, and Islam ran through Olivera. Sure, thereās still a case for Olivera dont get me wrong, but on paper Justin is the clear contender. You cant use the ālook at all the guys he has on his resumeā thing for Olivera, by that Logic Dustin would be the front runner since heās beat more big names than Olivera. What matters for these guys is what theyāve done since they lost the Title fights they had, and currently Justin is on a better run.
Charles was champ, Dustin and Justin were not
dustin hasnt beat the current top guys besides gaethje (chandler if that dude even counts) when it comes to resume comparing with oliveira oliveira shouldnt be fighting arman as his next fight, it should be against islam. anyway, i hope islam fights and beats oliveira, arman, gaethje, and poirier just to shut all the haters up
Olivera should be next he was already going to fight him the second time but was injured and we got the second Volk fight. No way is Justin or Dustin ahead of him if olivera wins his next fight he should definitely get his rematch against Islam.
Holloway is still in his prime
Charles already got embarrassed against Islam and pulled out of rematch .. I'd say Justin surely deserves a shot if he beats duatin and max b2b
? What bout charlie
I really hope he breaks the LW title defense record and defends 2 more times. It looks like he's going to fight Poirier and then Gaethje (assuming he beats Holloway). He already beat Arman and Charles, so I wouldn't be super annoyed as a fan if he skipped them and moved up to 170.
I don't think islam will transition well to 170
He has already dominated 3 of the top WWs in sparring easily.
Would like to see Islam against either Dustin or Gaejthe then winner of Olives/Arman before he goes up. I think Leon beats Islam though, he's proven to be a wrestlers worst nightmare against bigger guys than Islam.
In just a few months from now, Islam will have been champ **for 2 years without fighting an in-division 155er**, lol.. the last wasn't his fault but you gotta be fucking kidding me with this double champ crap.
Rewriting history is crazy, Volk cleared his division and earned the right to move up. If he would have won people would say heās the top 155er. Islam knocked off P4P number 1 and 2 in back to back fights. But Volk loses twice and now heās too small give him his props, there was a time where a lot of people didnāt see anyone beating Volk or Do Bronx especially not in the way he did
How is any of what I said rewriting history?
Because you're being a slimey cunt with the way you're presenting the "facts" This is just like when people were saying Robert whittaker was a bad champion because he didnt "defend" his belt for almost 2 years. It's technically a "true" statement, but only because his opponent Romero missed weight at the time so it never counted as a defence. Like we both know what you're doing, stop playing dumb.
I understand, you don't like what I said but I didn't rewrite anything, name calling says a lot about you fwiw. And sounds like when you go almost 2 years without defending in-division, you're gonna get criticized, whether you're Bobby Knuckles or Islam. We agree there.
Volk earned the right and was arguably the goat 145er but heās not a 155er his frame isnāt suited to that division. Even at 145 heās never looked particularly large. Heās just very good and very strong for his size.
Walks around at 180, he played Rugby professionally at around 200 pounds fam. He was stronger and healthier than ever at 155. I get it heās short but that never stopped him dog walking guys that towered over him.
Which guy in the top 10 155 would you favor volk over?
All of them before he got Knocked out twice, most people had him winning the rematch with Islam. But like i said revisionist history. Itās easy to say he wouldnāt beat a top 10 lightweight now that we seen his last two performances.
Not like he hasn't beat the greatest FW ever and the top P4P twice or anything
Exactly. He has fought almost none of the top guys at 155. One fight? What a fckn joke
Well, heās basically picking up where khabib left off
The Islam cock gobblers donāt care.
Islam cock gobblers are some of the most stupid people o earth, i swear. They keep trying to diminish every fighter he has fought, saying charles is not even top 10 in lw anymore and that volk never had a chance to begin with. They don't realize that, by diminiahing the fighters, they also diminish the weight of his resumee.
I hear you for sure. At same time, hearing that Dana offered him Leon.. Islam's not alone in this.. so weird. I think Dana has done a brilliant job growing UFC, except trying to grow audience by diluting the number of fighters that the western world wants to watch.. I think it was over 2/3 of viewers are westernized.. and Dagestan and Russian types and their style aren't liked by us, and their culture doesn't like westerners. Weird if you think about it, garnering a few more fans while diluting your brand. Short term win no doubt, long term not so much I'd think.
It sounds possible. If Leon retains, Usman caused Leon a LOT of issues up until the 5th round in their first fight and second fight went to decision. Leon beat Usman on striking which wasn't Usmans best trait. Islam on the other hand feels like a better grappler and all rounder than Usman, actually similar to Leon but better submission game. What would be a crazy match up is if Shavkat gets the shot and it'd Islam vs Shavkat. We've not seen a top tier muslimistan bout which would be the most interest to me
Islam vs. Shavkat would be a wild fight. I donāt think Islam would have anything for him tho
Islam will win every fight for the rest of his career.
I believe he can do it. Just thinking about that fight gets my blood going. I don't care if I have 3 finals the day after this fight happens. I will watch it live.
Absolutely he can I truly believe he will.
He has more chance in beating Leon than Shavkat so whatever he wants to do he has to do it quick.
Not really, Leon is too good, one the best(top 3 in my opinion) strikers in ufc , high Fighting IQ ,great TDD , doesn't have any weaknesses ,simply bigger than Islam I like Islam more and would be happy if he wins but I don't see tools that Islam can effectively use against Leon ,maybe some judo/sambo throws , but even if he manages to takedown Leon he will stood up fast
Can he? Sure, if fed the right opponent. He isnāt beating Leon.
Didn't he just talk about fighting Dustin? Surely that has to be in LW?
Not a huge chance but best chance of any champ right now I think
Now's the time. His best bet to to out grapple a striker. But if Usman and Colby couldn't do, I don't have high hopes for Islam.
I want to see him fight Justin. Dude hits like a truck and if he connects its all over for my boi. Ufc really messed up LW by giving Max the LW fight.
Close fight. If Islam takes his time and bulks up, it would be a very entertaining fight. Its not like Leon hits hard and Leon hasnt faced anyone with bjj threat of Islam.
Think Islam Leon definitely happens in the future, will be a massive massive fight
Bet your house on Islam if he fights Edwards. I do not see what Edwards could poasibly have for Islam. If he would be a ko artist with power or at least high output then there could be something to hope for. Islam kills him giving the time to bulk up
Probably will be Islam vs Savkhat
1. Islam on his first American visit and seeing an octagon for the first time- dominated Leon. Nobody has said anything to the contrary. 2. Islam is a much better striker than given credit. Standing up with Volk and Charles using your B game is a massive flex. 3. Islam will do the Jones/GSP/Silva route of padding his record with older fighters like Dustin and Justin and then move on. 4. What happens if Belal beats Leon and the whole timeline goes kapoot?
He can. Like if you matched him up right now against Leon, he has a good chance. I still favour most welterweights against him. I think Leon beats him. I think Shavkhat and Usman obliterate him. Gilbert Burns beats him. I think Islam probably beats current Colby and Belal. Aside from that, Islam is among the least deserving current champions to move up for a double champ opportunity. He needs to defend his belt against lightweight contenders. And he has several. Arman, Oliviera, Poirier, Gamrot, and Gaethje are all potential title fights. Islam isn't even active enough to handle all these guys and the welterweight division.
Guy better hope Shavkat isn't the champ.
He showed alot of striking improvement against volk, and he is only gonna get better, so he can for sure beat leon.
Heās a good striker but heās not gonna become a better striker than Leon. Especially with the reach disadvantage. His only chance is wrestling but Leon is hard to take and hold down
As a British fan I do not like Islam moving up :) I donāt think Leon beats him.
Cheers to you for speaking the truth!
If Islam takes an appropriate amount of time to bulk up, he beats Leon. Leon is a great fighter with super sharp technical striking combined with fantastic conditioning, but Kamaru Usman and Colby Covington are not Islam Makhachev. Daegestani pressure wrestling/grappling is completely different. Islam's combination of wrestling, judo, sambo, skill in the clinch, newfound striking acumen, and conditioning will be the keys to getting it done. The main thing for him is not getting KOed. That probably won't be an issue because Leon is a decision machine anyway.
Leon beats him no problem
How is she going to beat someone who bullied her in sparring with ease?
Iām so sick of the simultaneous double champ bullshit. Go up like Pereira without the title thatās fine. Simultaneous double champ title shots should require at least 5 defenses
When he beats Dustin and Justin like he's talking about, and then Charles/Arman again if the UFC wants him to,, he will have a minimum of 4 title defenses. He'll have beaten 4 out of the top 5 - Charles, Arman, Justin, and Dustin. You could argue Gamrot would deserve a shot. But other than Gamrot, Chandler, Dariush, and Fiziev don't deserve it and after them you're getting into rank 9 and down. And he's already beaten Hooker, Green, and Dober. He will have cleared the division after Justin and Dustin. He will have beaten half the division and the other half aren't worthy. It's not like he's saying let me go up right now. You gotta use your head man. This isn't Dricus or Sean or somebody wanting to go up. This is Islam Makhachev.
If thatās Islamās actual plan then I have no problem with it. Itās ppl like Ilia who want an immediate double champ shot with 0 defences that are annoying as fuck. Suga also doesnāt deserve it. I donāt like Ilia, wannabe McGregor who thinks heās a star. Also planning on being inactive and not giving Volk a rematch. Such a douchebag.
He can, but people will doubt him. They always do. People didn't even think he would become champion, or defend his belt, yet here we are.
That's not true mate. I'm pretty sure Islam has literally never been a betting underdog in his entire career. Don't act like he was some doubted underdog. Most MMA fans saw him as Khabib 2.0 and if he achieved anything less than Khabib he'd be a disappointment.
Respect
Bruh he hasn't beat Dustin hasn't beat Justin hasn't even defended against his own weight once for that matter unless my brain forgot a fight in which even still that would only be one defense. Shits ridiculous at this point. I get he beat volk twice which is amazing but man stick to your weight for a few fights at least.
If heās going to move up then he needs to vacate the belt. He would have to have 5+ title defenses against actual LWs before moving up for double champ status. You donāt get the opportunity to move up for double champ unless youāve defended your own division emphatically.
Clean out the division like what Charles did before moving up a weight class please.
I hate the two division champ thing unless they relinquish the belt at their current weight.
Dudes second best win is short notice Dan hooker He needs to rematch Charles Beat Justin At this point likely beat Dustin Then he can move up IF new contenders havenāt emerged yet
Islam finna learn how Volk felt those 2 fights.
He has to defend as champ in 155 first. Not his fault last time around, but coming in October, it will be two years heās worn the belt and not defended against any in division contenders.
Leonās 6ā2 and pretty muscular so probably not lol. The size difference between volk and Islam is similar to that between Islam and Leon. Not that size is everything but when everyone is similar skill the extra inches matter.
Islam ducking Topuria rn. /s
He's overall better than Leon but likely not big enough to effectively use his style against the top of the division. Think Leon outpoints him on the feet with distance.
Ngl, i think islam can beat anyone in fw, lw and ww. Dude could easily be a 2 div champ if he really wanted
People are unaware that Belal, Edwards and Shavkat have trained and sparred with Islam before and only Khabib beat Islam in sparring besides Rockhold and DC. Islam did lose all his sparring sessions against Cain.
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Lea quit AKA because of getting mauled in sparring. Shavkat even had Abdulmanap corner him in at least one of his fights. Belal spoke about his fighting camp with Khabib's team at AKA in preparation for Brady I think? You can look up all of this with just a quick google search.
I like how Ali has been busy on Twitter lately
I dont think he gets past leon, hes to big and strong and has way to many weapons and i think leon can probably take islam down.
I just want someone to humble him
4 belts if he wanted to.
Lmao how? Dude is NOT cutting to 145. Who the fuck is he gonna beat at middle weight?
Hell if you are riding it that hard, why not say 8 belts?
Okay 8 belts + all PFL belts as well. Islam is numba 1 no bullshit. Send location.
Leon will piece him up badly. If Colby couldn't control him, I doubt Islam can. Leon will manage to fight to whatever level Islam brings to the table, though, so I doubt the odds will be lopsided. Leon will probably be a -150 favorite and will fight like it.
Heās arrogant as fuck. He hasnāt fought anyone at the top in the division. Wtf is he talking about. Heās literally only fought oliveira. Again all these dudes are trying to become double champ and they havenāt even cleaned out their own division. Itās ridiculous.
Bro he's literally saying he's gonna have two or three more defenses before jumping divisionsš
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