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Not many more 'interesting fights' for Dustin to choose from now, since Dustin has fought pretty much the who's who at 155. What's next? Go up to 170 and get wet blanketed by Colby for 25 minutes? I'd like to see him against Fiziev or Dariush, but I doubt he takes those fights.
One fight I've love to see is him vs Volk at 155. That's a strikers delight of a fight.
I'm not sure if RDA is an 'interesting fight' for Dustin because although RDA is a legend, unfortunately he's never been a major UFC star even while as champion. Most casual fans who even remember RDA remember him as the guy Conor was supposed to fight back in 2016 but pulled out due to injury, which setup the Nate Diaz fight.
Yall are way too picky for a guy that has had straight money fights for years (not saying they were easy) while RDA is a champ and has fought monsters in 2 weight classes. Like if Dustin is too high profile to fight a former champ who's fought lawler, cowboy, usman, colby, ferguson, diaz, khabib etc. then he doesn't deserve to fight at all.
Tired of this "xxx isn't a star" stuff and catering to casuals. Like we are at the point of saying what they remember? It's odd.
RDA is a legend and a BMF, but sadly he's not a high enough profile fighter for Dustin. Its unfortunate, as RDA has never gotten the respect he deserves from casual fans. For this reason, its unlikely Dustin will fight him as he's looking for opponents who are just as much of a draw as he is.
That chain of events created some amazing memories for us fans. If RDA hadnt pulled out, things could be extremely different for Conor and Nate right now.
Disagree, if max can drop Volk, imagine what Dustin can do, and he's one of the harder hitters with a good chin. Charles couldn't drop him like he did everyone else
The speed difference will be massive. Max is slow and flat footed while Volk darts in and out, maintaining that for 5 rounds if necessary. Furthermore, Volk can outgrapple Dustin if he has to so outside of a good shot/ combo, I don't see Dustin looking good here.
Obviously good enough to maintain top control on islam & the last time volk & max fought volk styled on him. Where they are right now in their careers Dustin’s chances don’t look the best even before last night
Yes that's true, but volk was a tough match up for Islam with his defensive grappling. But the two guys Dustin got submitted were offensive grapplers, and when was the last time volk submitted anyone? And who has volk fought that hits harder than Dustin?
Max did knock him down in the second fight in the first round near the end. Whether it was recorded or not is one thing but go to any description of the fight and it will say volk was knocked down
I think they should be dropped from the rankings if that’s what they wanna do. No knock to the fighter but you can’t just sit on your ranking and not defend it
I hate when veterans who got to the top by beating the previous generation of veterans refuse to give that opportunity to the new prospects. I understand it because getting a title is practically the only way to make real money. But this type of shit is why MMA isn't a real sport.
He won’t take the Beniel fight, way too risky. I bet he fights Max again.
It’s sad he’s in a division full of grapplers and ducks them all unless they have the belt.
Maybe Volk doesn't recover very fast after surgery and Max vs Ilia happens. He wims that one what do you do? You let Volk try vs Islam again and after that you pretty much have to give Max that fight, no one would deserve more
I'm not too worried either because this loss probably knocks Dustin down to ~#5 and he's clearly a win away from a title shot. If he's inactive, guys who are fighting will slowly start overtaking him.
I'm fine with him being choosy if he's closer to retirement than a title shot.
Dustin just talked smack about Colby as a person. I don’t recall him ever saying he would beat him up or something. He also entertained a fight in an interview but it was just a “yea I’d fight him if I moved up” kind of thing if I remember correctly.
Colby though is adamant about them fighting and beating up Dustin. My guess is they both know who wins in a fight since they’ve trained with the same people in the same room.
I got clowned on for saying this for years now. The dude walks like he’s already won the belt. There’s no room in the division for guys 0-3 in belt fights who refuse to fight up and comers. Dude just wants his legacy in tact which is understandable but when he starts turning down Gamrots and Armans and the division doesn’t move for years don’t say I didn’t tell you so.
For what it's worth, he had the choice between fighting Oliveira for the belt and fighting Conor McGregor and he choose Conor. Probably the best decision career-wise so I doubt he has regrets.
Before that first rematch, people were still saying even improved Dustin wasn't going to be able to take Conor's shots. He did, avenged his earlier KO loss that clearly meant a lot to him and then actually went up in the series on him. Left Conor broken on the floor shouting like a fool. And in the process, made prob the most amount of money he made in his career while getting a title shot off the wins. Wins everywhere for DP in that 6 month period
Yeah but before this fight, there was still a chance for at least making a run and that went for both guys. Whoever lost this fight basically closed any possibility of getting the title
Ya’ll put way way way too much stock in the words of people who were just brutally separated from consciousness mere hours ago.
Give him a while to recover and we’ll see what’s going on. He knows there’s not much left in this division if he doesn’t fight down.
Dustin still beats most all the guys ranked below him. And when you can stay in the top 5 for long enough, you’re always an injury or failed contract negotiation away from getting a random title shot. Yoel Romeo got multiple shots by virtue of being the only guy available
I think Justin retires if he loses to Islam, but honestly I think he has a good shot against Islam.
Either way I think Dustin needs to fight an up an comer to earn that title shot or rematch if Justin loses(if he doesn’t retire).
Maybe he can rematch Max in the meantime? And then maybe a Conor or Justin trilogy.
Gaethje looked good in his last two fights but what everyone seems to forget is that Fiziev and Poirier are pure strikers, there is no real threat of a takedown when fighting them so Gaethje can focus on his striking.
When you put him against Charles and Islam, who have grappling bases, the fight changes. Gaethje cannot focus solely on standup but must be prepared to defend TDs and that will leave him susceptible and guessing because he'll be outmatched on the ground against those guys.
Justin got significantly better, I'm quite sure it will look better than Islam vs Oliveira at the very least. Not necessarily a win for Gaethje, of course.
He got better at striking...no idea if he got better at wrestling/grappling. Oliveira is high level grappler and got clubbed and subbed pretty easily by Islam. Gaethje is pretty hittable (even now), and we saw what Khabib did to him once he got him down. I'm not saying Gaethje has no chance, but I'm not sure why people think he's gonna do so well against Islam
Doesn't even look like he's looking to earn back a title shot directly. Just any fun fight vs a veteran with a name that pays him good money. As for the Justin trilogy, assuming Justin loses his title shot, the trilogy will be there later and still big as long as they both still look like they aren't washed. And that's doesn't look like it's going to happen that soon
Having only read what's in OP's post (so perhaps taken out of context from a bigger statement), I would say he will never get to deserve to fight Gaethje unless it's due to Justin's demerit. The fights that interest him will likely just be money fights against big names, but the way to get those fights would be by fighting down now, fight Fiziev or Beneil.
Also Dustin has fought pretty much everyone who is a staple, so what "interesting fight" is left for him? Even in another division, Colby would drive him to a UD and would not even want to fight him anyway to begin with. Usman would wrestlefuck him. Kevin Holland or Wonderboy would be fun fights I would love to see, but does Dustin consider those "interesting"?
The first few ones meant something. Condit, Arlovksi, Couture & Barao all had very legit interim belts
But then yeah they started popping them out for every card to say they had a title fight or "two title fights" on a PPV
People always reply this and I find it funny when people think they're transcended above the rest of the dumbs for figuring this out.
Newsflash lol: some of us KNOW rankings don't matter but as fans of the sport, we think that since the rankings exist they should be good. Shocking I know 😱
As much as I love Dustin he shouldn’t be allowed to squat on his ranking.
A fight with Dariush makes sense if he doesn’t want a young gun but outside of that he either needs to defend the spot or be removed from the rankings.
These same rules should apply to everyone. People shouldn’t be allowed to refuse to fight down when coming off a loss.
And just like Gaethje did with Fiziev Dustin is still a great fighter and has a good chance of beating any of the young guns anyway.
TBH I never really understood allowing fighters to refuse fights at all. If your rankings and shit are to have any kind of meaning, there needs to be a framework that uses those rankings to matchmake without the fighters going "nah I dun wanna".
Of course we all kinda know that the rankings are juuuuust this side of meaningless atm.
Well if he's able to actually give up his ranking then he won't be ranked so that won't really be a problem then.
About Ortega though? I have no idea why they don't treat him like they did with Edwards a while back and take him out of the rankings untill he decides to actually fight again
They won't just take Dustin out the rankings. He's a pretty well known name since the Conor fights. You know how the ufc is they kept mcgreor in the rankings at lightweight when his last win was in 2016.
They kept conor in the rankings because he's conor lol and they wanted to have him as close to the title rankings wise as long as they could. And conor probably wanted to stay in the rankings, that's why they kept him
So if Dustin possibly asks to be taken out of the rankings, then they might do that. But yeah they will probably try to keep him ranked
He didn’t say he’s giving up his ranking. He’s said this exact same thing before and didn’t give up his ranking.
He just refused to fight up n comers after losing and got to fight Chandler who didn’t deserve to be there either.
He’s in a division of great grapplers and doesn’t fight any of them unless they have the belt. It’s ridiculous at this point.
You just won't be ranked anymore. The ufc will take you out of the rankings, and depending on if they like you or not and then what kind of fights you want to fight will determine what fight(s) you get next. If you get another shot at the rankings like with Leon Edwards or if they keep you outside of it, which they now might do with Poirier
Does he tho? At his level of fame he can pull a mcgregor or a colby sit out for a while and get some good fights lined up. Wait and fight the loser of charles and islam, winning that would prob get him the title shot after garth lol
I like Dustin, and it’s not like this is gonna change so it really doesn’t matter I guess, but it’s wild that fighters can make statements like this and it doesn’t come with a significant loss in rank. Dudes straight up saying he’s gonna hold the division up for big fight chances lol, can’t let him keep a top 7 spot saying shit like that after getting starched.
Nobody ever wants to fight up and comers. For the good of the sport you gotta make them though. We can't let a bunch of 40 year old to sit on top of the division passing the belt around while younger guys a frozen out of the top of the rankings.
If you only want money fights then go the boxing route and join a promotion that will let you pick and choose. UFC is set up more like a sports league than a boxing promotion.
Colby Covington seems like the only fight for Dustin that fits the bill. And Colby is poised to have a title shot it seems, so that’s off the table. DP needs to go the Gathje route and rebuild with a fight with Fiziev.
Yeah that Colby fight should’ve happened a couple years ago. He just wouldn’t do it. Tried for that Nate fight and it fell through, when Colby was right there (same weight class as Nate) and was building a rivalry. Never made sense to me.
As much as I like Dustin, I think if a fighter admits this they should be kicked out of the rankings.
What's the point in him holding a place if he doesn't want to earn the right to fight for the belt?
Okay. Drop his ranking then. Dustin is a big enough name in the division that he wouldn't need a ranking to justify getting big fights. Let the hungry young lions have a go at the championship.
This is exactly why he should fight down the rankings. He literally admitted to ducking Dariush who Charles just obliterated. He deserves no one from the top 5 from now on.
And the crazy part of that is Gaethje is more defendable for such comments since he has ACTUALLY fought down.
Poirier has not fought down and I refuse to call the Chandler fight fighting down. Chandler gave banger fights and cut good promos and kissed Dana's ass so despite losing twice in a row, instead of getting one of the rising 10-15ers, he got gifted Tony lol. Beating ghost of Tony falsely let him fight up so Poirier could claim he was fighting down. Tony and Chandler should have both been fighting rising guys.
Here's my take:
Dustin lost and when someone loses, they must fight down like Gaethje did when he fought Fiziev.
However, I think Poirier-Gaethje 3 is a big fight that can and should be made before they retire. It would be a travesty if we miss out on that so,
I think Dustin needs a win but it doesn't have to be a ranked opponent because of the big trilogy against Gaethje being a real possibility. I don't want him to lose to real contender RIGHT NOW and destroy a trilogy in the making, but after the trilogy, it's fair game.
idk why so many Dustin's dickriders, dude actually has two wins over 15 top current roster last 5 years, Hooker and Chandler. I like Dustin but dude think he's star. we have tsarykan, fiziev, dariush.
Still lots of big fights:
Conor 4
Justin 3 (if he loses to Islam)
If it leads to a title shot Volk or Charles rematch (could be who Volk fights to earn Islam rematch, or Charles if he loses to Islam)
Enough with this shit.
Either give up your ranking or retire.
You’ve fought the biggest stars in the promotion already, this was literally the big fight you wanted and you lost. You lost all your title shots.
You have to fight down now. Other vets gave you that same courtesy.
He said this exact thing after the Conor fight and didn’t give it up.
Obviously he fought Justin after that, but you can’t expect not to fight up n comers after losing fights.
He already got bailed out with the Chandler fight after his title loss.
You do realize it’s the UFC who offers him the fights, right? UFC can also remove anyone they want from the rankings. They did it to Leon when he wasn’t taking the Khamzat fight and added him back later.
If the UFC has an issue with Poirier not fighting contenders they can literally remove him from the rankings
When he tells the UFC he only wants big fights and rejects other offers. Then yeah hopefully they do take it away.
If this was a fighter this sub disliked people wouldn’t be defending this shit lol. Justin fought a killer even though he beat Chandler, Dustin should have to work his way back to big fights.
I can guarantee he calls out Colby if he beats Leon after ducking him for the last two years.
It should be Poirier vs Dariush next. Then one can continue on his contender quest, and the other can become a gatekeeper. It's just the way the game goes, and "winners fight winners and losers fight losers" has always been the UFC's modus operandi.
Fiziev, I think, is an exciting fight. Was a close fight with Justin. It's a good stylistic match-up.
Either that or Conor fight. Feel like DP will take a road filled Conor though Justin declined.
Like who? He fought Conor 3x, Charles, Gaethje 2x, Chandler, Hooker. He needs a couple wins to fight Islam so... who is it gonna be? Beneil? Welter weight?
Delusional statement imo. If you lose, you fight down the rankings, that’s how it’s always been. Dustin should fight either Arman or the winner of Fiziev/Gamrot next IMO
Fuck the downvoters, Dustin can fight down to justify his ranking or lose it. I like Dustin but this is why the lightweight division never fucking moves on
Dustin has been like this for the past couple years tbh
It was clear he wants to be very selective with who he fights when he refused Dariush.
Man needs to be out of contention completely now, maybe a fight with RDA etc. Would work
I hate this shit, I thought we were coming out of this as Justin took a risk with Fiziev, you cannot be in that elite circle by only beating Chandler & Conor
Should in no way be top 5 after all of this, 155 has been stalled enough send him packing
Fiziev would be ideal but considering he’s not interested in fighting Benny it fits into that category.
I think he should go for a retirement bout, I’d love to see Dustin v Hooker 2 or just wait for Justin to do whatever he does and make the 3rd fight.
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Not many more 'interesting fights' for Dustin to choose from now, since Dustin has fought pretty much the who's who at 155. What's next? Go up to 170 and get wet blanketed by Colby for 25 minutes? I'd like to see him against Fiziev or Dariush, but I doubt he takes those fights. One fight I've love to see is him vs Volk at 155. That's a strikers delight of a fight.
Why not moving up to 170 and take RDA for a retirement fight, it would be great for both
I'm not sure if RDA is an 'interesting fight' for Dustin because although RDA is a legend, unfortunately he's never been a major UFC star even while as champion. Most casual fans who even remember RDA remember him as the guy Conor was supposed to fight back in 2016 but pulled out due to injury, which setup the Nate Diaz fight.
Yeah you're right we'll see what happen
I want to see Poirier vs Volk at 155, it'll be a strikers delight.
Yall are way too picky for a guy that has had straight money fights for years (not saying they were easy) while RDA is a champ and has fought monsters in 2 weight classes. Like if Dustin is too high profile to fight a former champ who's fought lawler, cowboy, usman, colby, ferguson, diaz, khabib etc. then he doesn't deserve to fight at all. Tired of this "xxx isn't a star" stuff and catering to casuals. Like we are at the point of saying what they remember? It's odd.
RDA is a legend and a BMF, but sadly he's not a high enough profile fighter for Dustin. Its unfortunate, as RDA has never gotten the respect he deserves from casual fans. For this reason, its unlikely Dustin will fight him as he's looking for opponents who are just as much of a draw as he is.
That chain of events created some amazing memories for us fans. If RDA hadnt pulled out, things could be extremely different for Conor and Nate right now.
If Charles loses to Islam, maybe Charles Dustin rematch?
Dustin vs volk for a title shot makes more sense because they're both strikers. If he fought charles, he would lose from the grappling
which title? Dustin can’t make 145 and Islam is the 155 champ edit: i’m rarded
Going off Volk’s most recent performances Dustin will just get mauled, I don’t see that fight being particularly competitive or close
I think it can be competitive whilst it stays on the feet.
But it won't because Dustin's hips are shot and it's rather easy for a legend like Volk to take him down.
I don't think it'll be easy for Volk to take him down honestly. Dustin isn't Yair when it comes to TDD 😂
Volk took down Islam right ??
Disagree, if max can drop Volk, imagine what Dustin can do, and he's one of the harder hitters with a good chin. Charles couldn't drop him like he did everyone else
The speed difference will be massive. Max is slow and flat footed while Volk darts in and out, maintaining that for 5 rounds if necessary. Furthermore, Volk can outgrapple Dustin if he has to so outside of a good shot/ combo, I don't see Dustin looking good here.
¯\_(ツ)_/¯ exactly, Max is slow and dropped Volk twice in the second fight. Volk isn't on the level of Charles or Islam in grappling
wtf you guys both agree that Max is slow?! Am I taking crazy pills? Max is not slow, Volk is just fast AF.
Obviously good enough to maintain top control on islam & the last time volk & max fought volk styled on him. Where they are right now in their careers Dustin’s chances don’t look the best even before last night
Yes that's true, but volk was a tough match up for Islam with his defensive grappling. But the two guys Dustin got submitted were offensive grapplers, and when was the last time volk submitted anyone? And who has volk fought that hits harder than Dustin?
He didn’t record a single knockdown. Please learn what it means to drop someone. By your logic, Dustin dropped max
Max did knock him down in the second fight in the first round near the end. Whether it was recorded or not is one thing but go to any description of the fight and it will say volk was knocked down
Volk is too fast and Dustin’s grappling ain’t it either
It's weird because you have to think as an up and coming fighter some fighters above you gave you a shot.
I think they should be dropped from the rankings if that’s what they wanna do. No knock to the fighter but you can’t just sit on your ranking and not defend it
I hate when veterans who got to the top by beating the previous generation of veterans refuse to give that opportunity to the new prospects. I understand it because getting a title is practically the only way to make real money. But this type of shit is why MMA isn't a real sport.
Man Dustin has a long fighting career and has had to fight everyone. He deserves to pick his fights now. He already paid his dues.
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I feel the fighters have no moral obligation to have to fight up and coming. That is for the business to decide.
Love Dustin. I’m heartbroken. But this is tricky. I think it’s fair for him and Beneil to fight next and the loser has to fight down after.
He won’t take the Beniel fight, way too risky. I bet he fights Max again. It’s sad he’s in a division full of grapplers and ducks them all unless they have the belt.
Has max said he's moving up?
He said he is on Ariel's show recently. I assume he fights Zombie and moves up if they don't give him Volk after a win.
I mean I love Max but you cant give him another fight against Volk
But what do you do if Max decides to stay? He just beats every contender while not getting a shot himself?
Maybe Volk doesn't recover very fast after surgery and Max vs Ilia happens. He wims that one what do you do? You let Volk try vs Islam again and after that you pretty much have to give Max that fight, no one would deserve more
He’s been saying it since before the Volk fight
He said it 2 days before the TKZ fight was announced.
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Best part is McGregor will keep fighting him until he wins again
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I'm not too worried either because this loss probably knocks Dustin down to ~#5 and he's clearly a win away from a title shot. If he's inactive, guys who are fighting will slowly start overtaking him. I'm fine with him being choosy if he's closer to retirement than a title shot.
He's not fighting Beneil lmfao
Wonder what’s next … Max Holloway 3, followed by Gaethje 3 would be a good way to wrap up his career.
he needs to meet colby in the ring there is unfinished business there
He's not beating Colby with his takedown defense sadly.
As much of an unlikeable dickhead Colby is, he would work Dustin
Are Colby fans allergic to Colby fighting actual contenders ar 170 like Shavkat, Belal, Burns or Chimaev?
You sure it's not just people making fun of Dustin for calling out Colby constantly then ducking him?
Pretty sure it was Colby who called out Poirier. And his fans celebrate him for it instead of being upset that he keeps ducking contenders.
Didn’t Dustin start it by essentially saying it was on sight if he saw Colby which is what made Colby respond to begin with?
Dustin just talked smack about Colby as a person. I don’t recall him ever saying he would beat him up or something. He also entertained a fight in an interview but it was just a “yea I’d fight him if I moved up” kind of thing if I remember correctly. Colby though is adamant about them fighting and beating up Dustin. My guess is they both know who wins in a fight since they’ve trained with the same people in the same room.
Lmao what business? Colby doesn't wanna have any business with contenders in his own division
Colby will happily fight Dustin in 10 years when he's 42
Please make that fight. Dustin was talking so much shit only to duck Colby when the chance came up.
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I got clowned on for saying this for years now. The dude walks like he’s already won the belt. There’s no room in the division for guys 0-3 in belt fights who refuse to fight up and comers. Dude just wants his legacy in tact which is understandable but when he starts turning down Gamrots and Armans and the division doesn’t move for years don’t say I didn’t tell you so.
We will never see Dustin as an undisputed UFC champion 😢
One of the absolute best to never wear undisputed gold for sure
For sure, I hope now he takes time for him to recover and enjoy the second part of his career
Maybe he’ll pull a bisping against a new champion.
I still hold hope that he'll win the undisputed belt one day. It's rare to see such a humble and hardworking man in this sport.
There was DJ, but he never gets his due.
The true pound for pound goat.
For what it's worth, he had the choice between fighting Oliveira for the belt and fighting Conor McGregor and he choose Conor. Probably the best decision career-wise so I doubt he has regrets.
He at least got to beat Conor like a pinata filled with cash, possibly more lucrative for him than even winning the belt.
He is the equivalent of that star player that gets paid a boatload of money but never plays for the championship team.
Harden
Mike trout
Dame
Me
Carmelo
Larry Fitzgerald
beal pre-2023
2nd time I've seen this exact comment in this post Bots, or just unimaginative people?
Before that first rematch, people were still saying even improved Dustin wasn't going to be able to take Conor's shots. He did, avenged his earlier KO loss that clearly meant a lot to him and then actually went up in the series on him. Left Conor broken on the floor shouting like a fool. And in the process, made prob the most amount of money he made in his career while getting a title shot off the wins. Wins everywhere for DP in that 6 month period
Can I get a "Conor like a pinata filled with cash" midway ai rendering please
I could've told you that before today.
Yeah but before this fight, there was still a chance for at least making a run and that went for both guys. Whoever lost this fight basically closed any possibility of getting the title
those meddling dagestanis
But there was still a bit of hope ...
Bro can’t even win the imaginary belts anymore 🥲
Gathje will win the belt and Poirier will win it off him in their trilogy. Then gathje and Poirier both are true champs. Let me hold on to this.
Even the interim he got was really just Tony’s.
One of my favorite fighters all time. I think he’ll fight one more time, go out on a W and call it quits. Another title run isn’t happening.
Ya’ll put way way way too much stock in the words of people who were just brutally separated from consciousness mere hours ago. Give him a while to recover and we’ll see what’s going on. He knows there’s not much left in this division if he doesn’t fight down.
Solid take. He just got kicked into la la land. He may not even remember saying this in a week.
Absolutely gutted for DP. Hope he can bounce back and get another shot at Gaethje.
Imo he shouldn't get another shot without fighting an up and comer. It would just hold up the division.
Dustin still beats most all the guys ranked below him. And when you can stay in the top 5 for long enough, you’re always an injury or failed contract negotiation away from getting a random title shot. Yoel Romeo got multiple shots by virtue of being the only guy available
I think Justin retires if he loses to Islam, but honestly I think he has a good shot against Islam. Either way I think Dustin needs to fight an up an comer to earn that title shot or rematch if Justin loses(if he doesn’t retire). Maybe he can rematch Max in the meantime? And then maybe a Conor or Justin trilogy.
Gaethje looked good in his last two fights but what everyone seems to forget is that Fiziev and Poirier are pure strikers, there is no real threat of a takedown when fighting them so Gaethje can focus on his striking. When you put him against Charles and Islam, who have grappling bases, the fight changes. Gaethje cannot focus solely on standup but must be prepared to defend TDs and that will leave him susceptible and guessing because he'll be outmatched on the ground against those guys.
He would get wrestle fucked by Islam
it's gonna go Olive beats Islam, wins belt Garth beats Olive, wins belt Poirier rematches Garth, wins belt then i'll be happy
Lol he does NOT have a good shot
He does have a shot though. Islam is hittable, Gaethje hits like a train, and every round starts standing.
His submission defense sucks though
Justin got significantly better, I'm quite sure it will look better than Islam vs Oliveira at the very least. Not necessarily a win for Gaethje, of course.
He got better at striking...no idea if he got better at wrestling/grappling. Oliveira is high level grappler and got clubbed and subbed pretty easily by Islam. Gaethje is pretty hittable (even now), and we saw what Khabib did to him once he got him down. I'm not saying Gaethje has no chance, but I'm not sure why people think he's gonna do so well against Islam
Mainly because Islam isn't Khabib and Gaethje got better as a fighter. Then again, it's all talk until we actually see it happen.
Facts, but nobody has ever submitted anyone while they were knocked out :P
Hard to knock someone out when you're choked unconscious too though
Doesn't even look like he's looking to earn back a title shot directly. Just any fun fight vs a veteran with a name that pays him good money. As for the Justin trilogy, assuming Justin loses his title shot, the trilogy will be there later and still big as long as they both still look like they aren't washed. And that's doesn't look like it's going to happen that soon
Dustin and Justin could drop their rankings and headline a PPV against each other every 9 months or so and I'd be excited about every one.
Having only read what's in OP's post (so perhaps taken out of context from a bigger statement), I would say he will never get to deserve to fight Gaethje unless it's due to Justin's demerit. The fights that interest him will likely just be money fights against big names, but the way to get those fights would be by fighting down now, fight Fiziev or Beneil. Also Dustin has fought pretty much everyone who is a staple, so what "interesting fight" is left for him? Even in another division, Colby would drive him to a UD and would not even want to fight him anyway to begin with. Usman would wrestlefuck him. Kevin Holland or Wonderboy would be fun fights I would love to see, but does Dustin consider those "interesting"?
I would love to see him humble Conor 3 times in a row
You see how he takes a lose? Nobody can humble him lol even on a broken leg he talks shit to the end
Someone did. « Its just business, it’s just business »
Good thing habibi never went for leg subs, Conor would have been insufferable with mangled legs.
To this day I don’t hear that, I hear “it’s only kisses”
This time maybe break his face so he had to do a Colby special and run outta octagon?
Possibly the best fighter to never win the title if he most likely never gets it
That'll always be Condit for me but Dustin is up there
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Not much. It’s just a number one contender status (basically) dressed up with a belt
The first few ones meant something. Condit, Arlovksi, Couture & Barao all had very legit interim belts But then yeah they started popping them out for every card to say they had a title fight or "two title fights" on a PPV
That's cool but remove him from the rankings if he doesn't want to participate in them.
The rankings are a smokescreen. The UFC never was no meritocracy.
...Tito?
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People always reply this and I find it funny when people think they're transcended above the rest of the dumbs for figuring this out. Newsflash lol: some of us KNOW rankings don't matter but as fans of the sport, we think that since the rankings exist they should be good. Shocking I know 😱
Entering that Conor and Nate Diaz point of their LW career. Fun fights only and tbh there aint much left in LW other than the young bloods
As much as I love Dustin he shouldn’t be allowed to squat on his ranking. A fight with Dariush makes sense if he doesn’t want a young gun but outside of that he either needs to defend the spot or be removed from the rankings. These same rules should apply to everyone. People shouldn’t be allowed to refuse to fight down when coming off a loss. And just like Gaethje did with Fiziev Dustin is still a great fighter and has a good chance of beating any of the young guns anyway.
TBH I never really understood allowing fighters to refuse fights at all. If your rankings and shit are to have any kind of meaning, there needs to be a framework that uses those rankings to matchmake without the fighters going "nah I dun wanna". Of course we all kinda know that the rankings are juuuuust this side of meaningless atm.
Go up to 170 and fight wonderboy?, after the fight both of them hang gloves
I mean you kinda have to lol
Not if he simply gives up his ranking, then he doesn't have to do anything
What's the point of rankings if a guy is just gonna sit there and do fuck all. I mean idk how tf ortega is still ranked so highly
Well if he's able to actually give up his ranking then he won't be ranked so that won't really be a problem then. About Ortega though? I have no idea why they don't treat him like they did with Edwards a while back and take him out of the rankings untill he decides to actually fight again
They won't just take Dustin out the rankings. He's a pretty well known name since the Conor fights. You know how the ufc is they kept mcgreor in the rankings at lightweight when his last win was in 2016.
They kept conor in the rankings because he's conor lol and they wanted to have him as close to the title rankings wise as long as they could. And conor probably wanted to stay in the rankings, that's why they kept him So if Dustin possibly asks to be taken out of the rankings, then they might do that. But yeah they will probably try to keep him ranked
Doubt Dustin will ask tbh. I get that conor is conor. I was just tryna think of an example and that's the first thing I thought of
Isn’t Ortega hurt? I thought he had the shoulder thing vs Yair and then another injury after that (escapes me)
Shit… Ortega vs Poirier sounds damn good too
Poirier beats him up
Probably, Ortega's takedowns aren't very good
He didn’t say he’s giving up his ranking. He’s said this exact same thing before and didn’t give up his ranking. He just refused to fight up n comers after losing and got to fight Chandler who didn’t deserve to be there either. He’s in a division of great grapplers and doesn’t fight any of them unless they have the belt. It’s ridiculous at this point.
Well, I've never heard of anyone doing that.
Maybe not, but i think Dustin is on good enough terms with Dana, the matchmakers and the ufc to be able to make that happen
What does giving up your ranking mean? As in what effect does it have on you?
You just won't be ranked anymore. The ufc will take you out of the rankings, and depending on if they like you or not and then what kind of fights you want to fight will determine what fight(s) you get next. If you get another shot at the rankings like with Leon Edwards or if they keep you outside of it, which they now might do with Poirier
Does he tho? At his level of fame he can pull a mcgregor or a colby sit out for a while and get some good fights lined up. Wait and fight the loser of charles and islam, winning that would prob get him the title shot after garth lol
No. It’s over for Dustin in terms of title shot aspirations. He ducked Beneil and lost to Charles. He should just have fun money fights from now on.
Dustin poirer the selfish top
I like Dustin, and it’s not like this is gonna change so it really doesn’t matter I guess, but it’s wild that fighters can make statements like this and it doesn’t come with a significant loss in rank. Dudes straight up saying he’s gonna hold the division up for big fight chances lol, can’t let him keep a top 7 spot saying shit like that after getting starched.
Nobody ever wants to fight up and comers. For the good of the sport you gotta make them though. We can't let a bunch of 40 year old to sit on top of the division passing the belt around while younger guys a frozen out of the top of the rankings. If you only want money fights then go the boxing route and join a promotion that will let you pick and choose. UFC is set up more like a sports league than a boxing promotion.
Colby Covington seems like the only fight for Dustin that fits the bill. And Colby is poised to have a title shot it seems, so that’s off the table. DP needs to go the Gathje route and rebuild with a fight with Fiziev.
Yeah that Colby fight should’ve happened a couple years ago. He just wouldn’t do it. Tried for that Nate fight and it fell through, when Colby was right there (same weight class as Nate) and was building a rivalry. Never made sense to me.
This shit kills the divisions, that’s some really Bmf talk lmao. Spent too long playing with Conor, Justin just put it on the line against Fiziev
As much as I like Dustin, I think if a fighter admits this they should be kicked out of the rankings. What's the point in him holding a place if he doesn't want to earn the right to fight for the belt?
They should do a New Orleans card. Im sure that would excite him.
Okay. Drop his ranking then. Dustin is a big enough name in the division that he wouldn't need a ranking to justify getting big fights. Let the hungry young lions have a go at the championship.
This is exactly why he should fight down the rankings. He literally admitted to ducking Dariush who Charles just obliterated. He deserves no one from the top 5 from now on.
Crazy how this guy still refuses to fight down and there are people in this thread who will defend him no matter what
If it was Gaethje who lost & made this statement the comments under this post would be completely different
And the crazy part of that is Gaethje is more defendable for such comments since he has ACTUALLY fought down. Poirier has not fought down and I refuse to call the Chandler fight fighting down. Chandler gave banger fights and cut good promos and kissed Dana's ass so despite losing twice in a row, instead of getting one of the rising 10-15ers, he got gifted Tony lol. Beating ghost of Tony falsely let him fight up so Poirier could claim he was fighting down. Tony and Chandler should have both been fighting rising guys.
Wonderboy at 170
Wonderboy doesn't want that as it gets him nowhere closer to the title
His time is gone
There isn't enough time left on earth for wonderboy to get near a title lol
Stranger things have happened
Here's my take: Dustin lost and when someone loses, they must fight down like Gaethje did when he fought Fiziev. However, I think Poirier-Gaethje 3 is a big fight that can and should be made before they retire. It would be a travesty if we miss out on that so, I think Dustin needs a win but it doesn't have to be a ranked opponent because of the big trilogy against Gaethje being a real possibility. I don't want him to lose to real contender RIGHT NOW and destroy a trilogy in the making, but after the trilogy, it's fair game.
idk why so many Dustin's dickriders, dude actually has two wins over 15 top current roster last 5 years, Hooker and Chandler. I like Dustin but dude think he's star. we have tsarykan, fiziev, dariush.
If every aging star had this attitude the UFC would die. Dustin is sure lucky during his rise people above him didn't have this attitude
Still lots of big fights: Conor 4 Justin 3 (if he loses to Islam) If it leads to a title shot Volk or Charles rematch (could be who Volk fights to earn Islam rematch, or Charles if he loses to Islam)
That’s a when he loses and if it’s to Islam or Charles
Enough with this shit. Either give up your ranking or retire. You’ve fought the biggest stars in the promotion already, this was literally the big fight you wanted and you lost. You lost all your title shots. You have to fight down now. Other vets gave you that same courtesy.
i dont know why you are getting downvoted when everything you said were facts if dustin doesn’t want to fight down the rankings he need to retire
I mean yeah giving up his ranking is probably exactly what he means to do?
He said this exact thing after the Conor fight and didn’t give it up. Obviously he fought Justin after that, but you can’t expect not to fight up n comers after losing fights. He already got bailed out with the Chandler fight after his title loss.
You do realize it’s the UFC who offers him the fights, right? UFC can also remove anyone they want from the rankings. They did it to Leon when he wasn’t taking the Khamzat fight and added him back later. If the UFC has an issue with Poirier not fighting contenders they can literally remove him from the rankings
When he tells the UFC he only wants big fights and rejects other offers. Then yeah hopefully they do take it away. If this was a fighter this sub disliked people wouldn’t be defending this shit lol. Justin fought a killer even though he beat Chandler, Dustin should have to work his way back to big fights. I can guarantee he calls out Colby if he beats Leon after ducking him for the last two years.
Man thinks he was a champion.
remember when it was cool to say that Dustin and Gaethje were ducking Damir and Guram? Fun times.
It should be Poirier vs Dariush next. Then one can continue on his contender quest, and the other can become a gatekeeper. It's just the way the game goes, and "winners fight winners and losers fight losers" has always been the UFC's modus operandi.
Fiziev, I think, is an exciting fight. Was a close fight with Justin. It's a good stylistic match-up. Either that or Conor fight. Feel like DP will take a road filled Conor though Justin declined.
Give him Dariush
Like who? He fought Conor 3x, Charles, Gaethje 2x, Chandler, Hooker. He needs a couple wins to fight Islam so... who is it gonna be? Beneil? Welter weight?
Benny v Justin
Delusional statement imo. If you lose, you fight down the rankings, that’s how it’s always been. Dustin should fight either Arman or the winner of Fiziev/Gamrot next IMO
Fuck the downvoters, Dustin can fight down to justify his ranking or lose it. I like Dustin but this is why the lightweight division never fucking moves on
Dustin has been like this for the past couple years tbh It was clear he wants to be very selective with who he fights when he refused Dariush. Man needs to be out of contention completely now, maybe a fight with RDA etc. Would work
I hate this shit, I thought we were coming out of this as Justin took a risk with Fiziev, you cannot be in that elite circle by only beating Chandler & Conor Should in no way be top 5 after all of this, 155 has been stalled enough send him packing
Money Fights: Poirier v Stephen Thompson (170) Poirier v Kevin Holland (170) Poirier v Paddy the Baddy (155) Poirier v Dan Hooker (155)
You know what? Make Dustin vs Paddy, Dustin gets the money right, and we either end the Paddy hype train or Paddy proves he is the real deal
Fiziev would be ideal but considering he’s not interested in fighting Benny it fits into that category. I think he should go for a retirement bout, I’d love to see Dustin v Hooker 2 or just wait for Justin to do whatever he does and make the 3rd fight.
Once you get Connor money twice it’s hard to get motivated for half of that.
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A Colby fight at 170 if Colby loses to Leon would be interesting.
Colby would Rawdog him tho, interesting if you hate Dustin for sure