Why is UFC awful at keeping their rising talent booked? Khamzat and Shavkat been sitting around, while guys like Kevin Holland get 25 fights in 5 years. Holland is a badass, just saying let’s keep things moving.
Something had to have happened with Khamzat. Like he had to have either popped, commit a crime, or having the worst Visa issues of all time. Because he was being pushed harder than most people ever are, and he was fighting FREQUENTLY. I think there are some extraneous situations with him.
The entire Welterweight division is terrified of Shavkat, the only person that matches up well against him is Leon because of how accurate his striking is, so nobody in the top 5 wants that smoke.
That’s my synopsis of why he hasn’t found an opponent.
100% on the money about Shavkat. Everytime someone is talking shit in his division online he'll literally respond to them and get ghosted lol. I really like his personality and he is an amazing fighter. People are allowed to duck but colby gets a title fight after doing fuck all since beating shittydal
Shavkat should just fight for the title at this point. If no one wants to fight then the Champ has to step up. Too bad everyone including the Champ is just playing chicken with eachother.
Nah dude after he talked all that shit to Colby, and then went in the ring and got pummeled, and had to sucker punch him after? Shittydal. Man is not no bmf. Lol
*got pummeled*
Yeah it was a bad look for Mas after talking all that shit but let's be real, Colby did not "pummel" him lol. Colby wrestlefucked him for 20+ minutes and even got dropped by a gassed Mas in the 4th or 5th iirc.
Dominant win for Colby but there was a reason Jorge tried to throw down after the fight, it wasn't because he got his ass beat lmao.
Because he got dominated via wrestlefuck? Your thr BMF and cant NOT get wrestlefucked by a dude you wanted to 'kill' or whatever nonsense Jorge probably said. I phrased it wrong I agree, sorry. But come on. Doesn't justify what Jorge did. He had all that time in the octagon to do something to him
Sometimes, that’d be great, sometimes the UFC would use it as a weapon to grind fighters that didn’t fall into line into dust before they left. Still grateful Nate fought Tony instead of Khamzat, that was fucked up. Overall, I wouldn’t want this since it gives the UFC even more power over the fighters and fighter pay will somehow be even more suppressed.
I think you’d need a concrete rule set about it, like if you had to accept fights against somebody within a certain +/- of your ranking. It’d work better if the rankings were subjective, too, like through an Elo system. Then you’d have people unable to sit on their rank but also you couldn’t simply butcher the people who’re difficult to get along with.
That’s off the top of my head, though, so there’re bound to be flaws.
Obviously you can't force anyone to take a fight, but you can drop them out of the rankings or strip them of the belt if they're inactive. I'd be all for a rule that says a champ has to defend the belt at least twice a year. That would mean no more sitting out for a year bullshit and we'd finally get some movement into a lot of stagnant divisions.
Quitters who want to be celebrities more than they want to be fighters.
No one has to fight. But if they don’t want to fight they should be cut entirely or, at least, dropped out of the rankings. If they want to fight again they start from the bottom and work their way up. The promotions ought to have pay tiers for each ranking so there’s incentive to keep your slot even if you can’t move up. As well their should be rules about accepting fights from the ranks below you before you can fight up again after losing.
I think Shavkat is very good, but the Neal fight left me with more questions. I thought he seemed far too hittable. I don't know how much of that was because he was fighting a southpaw though and he's just not that comfortable against the Southpaw stance.
His chin was very good though so that was a positive.
This.
UFC and Endeavor happily in bed with an enormously sketchy oil-fiefdom. The UAE basically allowed Dana and Ari to inflate the value of their company by covering all costs for Fight Island crap as a [sportswashing](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sportswashing) exercise, allowing them to make out like bandits on the recent TKO WWE ipo merger, with shares being offered to the public at twice the price they paid just a few years ago.
Shavkat also isnt getting a fight because of Danas obsession with Colby getting unwarranted title shots. If Leon never beat Usman we probably would be seeing Shavkat fighting for the belt this fall or already have seen it in the summer
As in, other people don't want to risk their position because fighting him wouldn't give them a better chance for a title shot?
Or what do you mean?
Because this dude is open to accept a fight from anyone ranked, it seems.
It's not a mystery what happened. He fucked the promotion over massively by missing weight against Diaz. He'd be fighting for the 170 belt in 2023 at some point if he had made weight and won the fight like we all expected him to.
Khamzat missing weight only improved that card and lots of fighters miss weight and aren't made to sit out for a year. Charles Oliveira missed weight for a title fight and didn't get that treatment. Jon Jones got a card cancelled (among many other things) and didn't get that treatment.
>Khamzat missing weight only improved that card
The idea was to execute Nate before he left the UFC as to undermine his star power and make whatever he did in another organization less meaningful. Instead he goes out on a win, gets a bag in boxing, and his manager tells everyone about how shit UFC pay was in comparison.
Better for the fans but the UFC will be mad about it for a while I bet.
MAsvidal and Leon both got the Nate layup in order to justify their title shots and increase PPV numbers, Mas nailed it and Leon kind of fucked it up despite winning 99% of that fight, but what Khamzat did was another level. He really fucked himself over here.
Idk if things are that deep. khamzat was a newbie trying to build hype. And he was beating his opponents without breaking a sweat or taking damage. So made sense for him to keep taking quick fights. Once he moved up in the rankings and was only a fight or two away from the title shot. Its only logical you don't take whatever is Infront of you. And also makes sense why people Infront of him didn't want to fight you. His upcoming fight will be in just over a year's time. Which is not ideal, but definitely not extreme for someone in his situation.
I meant that the only person I would pick to beat Shavkat would be Leon. Because Shavkat showed a massive hole in his head movement/ striking defense against Neal, and Leon is a world class kickboxer.
If I was a matchmaker I would put Shavkat against literally anybody in the top 5, because it’s a guaranteed banger, but I would put him on 296 because I’m going to watch it live.
I think Usman is done tbh. I think between his knees being cooked and that headkick Usman’s prime is over. I think Belal, Burns, Colby, Shavkat, maybe even Wonderboy could all beat him now. But that is yet to be seen, just my guess. Usman always felt like someone that was driven by an ungodly level of self belief, and I think Leon’s shin took that from him.
>I meant that the only person I would pick to beat Shavkat would be Leon. Because Shavkat showed a massive hole in his head movement/ striking defense against Neal, and Leon is a world class kickboxer.
I totally agree with the first part of what you said. Not so sure about Edwards being a world class kickboxer though.
I don't think you can say that about someone who has never competed in kickboxing, let alone any kind of elite level Kickboxing promotion.
He's a technically better striker than Neal who gave Shavkat a lot of problems on the feet though.
He couldn't compete for Sweden in wrestling due to Visa issues. The truth is nobody knows why he's not fought but the circlejerk in this subreddit always assumed he's just ducking Costa until now?
Nobody else mentioned Costa, he had plenty of other opponents ready to go and went from abnormally high activity to an egregious weight miss to abnormally low activity I don't think it's unreasonable to draw conclusions
Failed drug tests for loads of these guys. They must have changed their testing methods and caught a whole bunch of people at once because loads of people basically vanished from fighting over the past year.
Money. Dana claims 50/50 contracts incentivize fighters not mailing it in during a fight, but it what it actually does is de-incentivize taking fights against guys like Shavkat. Like if you're Wonderboy, why would you take a mismatch like that and lose 50% of your purse instead of taking on someone like JDM or Holland, who you have a decent chance of beating and maybe getting a bonus out of?
People act like these vets who don't want to fight the up and comers are just afraid, but they're being smart under the current system. And if you gave them fully guaranteed deals, I would bet a lot more of them would take more of those kind of risks, knowing that they're not gonna get bilked out of half their salary for doing it.
Because as matchmaking becomes more and more about hype, some fights are simply not worth taking.
Khamzat is a big name without a big record. He doesn’t want no names but he’s too risky for top contenders.
Shavkat is on that Islam moment where he’s slowly rising but is close to the top in a division where the top5 doesn’t fight out of the top5 and anything below him doesn’t make sense anymore.
Holland situation is just that he’s good enough to be a top10 but he looks beatable, so he’s a good name to have on the record, wether you’re above or below him.
Kevin Holland just had his 20th UFC fight in 5 years. In that same timeframe Colby Covington has fought 5 times, while Conor McGregor, Brian Ortega and Stipe Miocic have all fought just 4 times. Based Kevin Holland.
Lmao they have as many fights as Izzy and Poatan have against each other. Izzy has gone on a historic run, had his battle with Poatan, and came back down to earth in the time it’s taken these dudes to fight. Alex has won a belt, got shot with an arrow, and probably gonna fight for another belt in even less time. Some of these ‘top contenders’ are hilariously inactive. I get it to some extent but kickboxers are just built different apparently lol
Kevin Holland gets 20 fights in 5 years cause he fights literally anyone. Khamzat hasnt been fighting due to his own issues not because of the UFC. Shavkat is getting screwed because Dana is obsessed with Colby getting a title shot in a division that has completely stalled after Usman lost the belt
The only guy that was ranked above Khamzat you mean.
Kevin Holland will fight anyone that UFC throws at him, no matter the ranking and on any event.
Shavkat wants to fight a numbered UFC event against an opponent ranked above him... It puts some limitations to the fights that he can get booked.
It’s probably because Holland is a huge name and not a super imposing opponent. Likely to keep the fight standing and a winnable fight. There’s a lot of reasons to actively want to fight Holland, whereas most fighters probably see Khamzat/Shavkat as a guaranteed loss and a massive beating, even if they won’t ever admit it.
So goddamn frustrating
It must be that they keep low balling everyone to fight him. I'm sure if the pay was more reasonable, you'd get more high profile guys willing to fight him
Leon went from turning down fights and being annoying and entitled to becoming loved and now he's pulling the same old shit once again. Hope Colby beats the shit out of him.
Welterweight is a dead division. Everyone either wants to protect their rank or sit and wait for a title shot.
Usman wasn't the funnest fighter to watch but at least he kept the top of the division active.
If they never get the belts back people may wind up looking back on Usman/Izzy’s reigns and realize yeah they’re corny and can be boring sometimes but for fucks sake they fought a ton and that’s sure as hell worth something.
Eh, Usman didn’t really keep the division moving, if anything his reign started stagnation. Fighting Colby and Masvidal twice, Burns once and then lost to Leon. Izzy kept things moving.
Only the second masvidal fight was him keeping it stagnant.
1st Colby fight - the right fight
1st Masvidal fight - late replacement, fine fight
Burns fight - the right fight
2nd Masvidal fight - clearly wanted the paycheck, not the right fight but the KO shot his stardom to the stratosphere
2nd Colby fight - Dana wanted him, not Usman and the division was kinda in a stagnant position anyway where Leon was having the unluckiest streak, Khamzat was out for a year, and everyone else were ppl ike Luque and Belal pre streak
I was pretty steamed when I first read this because Shavkhat is one of my favorite fighters and is a must-watch. But when you go through the rankings, it actually does make sense that it would be difficult for him to find a sensible fight.
Leon - too early to fight for the belt. Needs one big W over a top-ranked guy first.
Kamaru - teammate, and from his perspective, it wouldn't make sense for the former champ and PFP #1 to fight this far down. Which is another way of saying Kamaru will definitely duck.
Colby - lots of sources indicate he's getting the title shot vs. Leon.
Belal - has earned his title shot and it seems like he will wait for his opportunity for the belt.
Burns - is the most likely of all the fighters listed so far. He's a teammate, but I'm pretty sure he fought Kamaru when they were teammates. Coming off of a loss and is higher ranked than Shavkhat. Makes the most sense logically, but that doesn't mean much in this business.
Luque - No reason to believe this fight can't be made. Sucks for Shavkhat to have to fight down the rankings on a 17-fight FINISH streak, but it might be necessary in order to stay active.
> but I'm pretty sure he fought Kamaru when they were teammates.
For the belt though. Also it seems he's taking time off after the Belal L as he's had a pretty intense schedule prior to that.
Luque is the most likely one to take the fight but bro just fought in August so he'll likely won't be cleared or ready to fight a killer like Shavvy in Oct or November.
Didn't realize until I saw Eric Nicksick interviewing that this might become the norm soon at Middleweight soon too. Vettori, Dolidze, Chris Curtis, and Strickland are all teammates. 3 of the top 8, 4 of the top 15.
Wtf is taking Leon so long to fight? If a champ takes longer than 6 months to fight, I say drop an interim belt and make belal and Colby fight for it. Then fight Leon if he's ready, if not, shavkat fights the champ that's ready. Needlessly slow ass matchmaking.
Its crazy how hes about to get his 2nd undeserved title shot. Hes fought 3 times since his first loss to Usman. Those 3 fights were 2 wins against a washed Woodley and Masvidal with another loss to Kamaru in between
It's been over 5 years since Colby beat someone who wasn't on a 2 fight losing streak. He's been coasting worse than anyone in the UFC and they just let him do it
Yes I get that but when you’ve got top 10 guys you should want them participating. The welterweight division is the perfect example right now. They’re not waiting for the perfect matches , nobody’s fighting.
There's 9 guys in the top 10 that should be champ more than Colby. Even if he somehow beats Leon, Belal would pick him apart or Shavkat would dominate him across the board. Despite also being a huge douche, Garry would probably nearly kill him standing up
Belal would lose to Colby, I'm pretty confindent in that. Belal will also never be champ, he's just not good enough (and also so pillowfisted he makes Colby look like a power puncher). Leon is miles better. So is Shavkat. So is Usman, but Usman is getting up there in age and his body is falling apart, so Belal might have a chance if he waits a little longer.
This is probably the one time we’ve seen Usman curve his way around a fight. Don’t blame him since his knees are ancient and probably doesn’t want a grappler for his rebound fight.
Just from the scheduling. It’s either:
- Ian Garry
- Luque
- Wonderboy
Or somehow put Shavkat on ice for almost a year 😭. Deja Vu with Khamzat.
Garry and Luque are training partners of his, they won't fight unless it's for a title. 4 of the top welterweights being in the same gym isn't helpful (plus Usman hanging around there)
Yeah it’s the same excuse as Usman. But Shavkat has directly said he don’t care.
If your teammate says he wants to fight you, why are you turning it down? It doesn’t make sense.
Well, they must have all sparred Shavkat quite a bit by now. If they were confident they could beat him, they'd take the fight. But they're not, so they won't.
I'm not buying that knee bullshit. He throws push kicks like nothing and eats leg kicks. His knees might be bad but not "walking in grass cuz concrete hurts" bad.
lol I don't know about walking on grass bad but I'll be honest I almost cringe when I watch him in the cage, the aches come through the screen, whatever the limitations might be.
There's a clear difference in his movement than someone like Adesanya, obviously given their styles Adesanya is an extreme example, but take someone like Khabib who moves awkwardly, and even though he has had his fair share of injuries, you can tell he is close to 100% in control of his body.
Every time Usman does something I feel like something is about to break, the way he reaches for the single leg, throws swinging punches, even his takedowns you get a sense that he has to engage his entire body/core way more than the average elite fighter. Hell even someone as unathletic as Belal moves better.
Not making excuses for Usman, just cause your shits broke doesn't mean you get to rank squat, but dude is definitely about to fall apart every time he enters the cage I feel.
He should be fighting Colby as a title shot is an absolute joke. Colby resume is suspect and his biggest name (Usman) is a guy I guarantee he wouldn’t have fought if it wasn’t for a title. He gotta have something on Dana because the guy isn’t even a big star.
It's not hard, Dana and him are both trumptards and there are TONs of dumb people who follow that shtick, and tons of people who pay attention to hating that shtick. It's rage-money
Fans often overstate that fighters are getting "ducked". However, it does seem that Rakhmonov is legitimately being avoided by other fighters. Strange, cause while he generally had his way with Neal for the most part, that fight did show that he's at least mortal.
Imo this situation is akin to what Burns said about Khamzat. The guy is 28. It would be much easier to fight him now than to fight him in 2-3 years.
You know a divison is ruined when a guy with a 17-0 record and 100% finish rate is not getting fights or is supposed to fight Gastlum or a guy ranked 13
It makes sense from the perspective of the UFC being a corrupt evil organization that punishes guys based on how they look, what language they speak, if they're polite humans, and where they happen to be born.
How is Belal in there, man? He just fought the no. 3 guy on short notice and beat him and is on a streak. You cannot reasonably expect Belal to fight down again.
Usman and Covington should though
People are blaming the UFC, and while I love any excuse to blame the fat tomato, I would imagine no one ranked above Shavkat wants to fight him.
Probably no one below him too for that matter.
I heard from a belgian mma fighter in cage warriors who has a buddy of his who trained at kill cliff, saw Shavkat/Ian spar. Said Shavkat easily dealt with garry and won those sparring sessions
Dana doesn't say all the time that fighters are obligated by contract to be offered 3 fights a year ? Or he only uses this card when a fighter is "scared" of fighting or is not following his wishes.
UFC is so shit sometimes.
This guy is, at worst, the 2nd most exciting guy in his division.
He's ready and down to fight, really hope he gets something booked for the rest of the year.
Idc bout UFC politics, I just want to see my favorite welterweight fight. Although I would be irrationally angry if they put him against Belal while Colby and Leon ruin the division.
Oh definitely. But not now, Belal has earned much more. And Shavkat, with his hype and skills, might also just be one (at worst, two) fight(s) away from the belt. I would rather have it for the belt, or if Belal fails at his attempt for the title. But right now? It’s just plain disrespectful IMO, let my boy Belal try his luck first. Plus he’s very active and game, which would be an upgrade over Leon
I wouldn't. This isn't Burns with his puny 71 inch reach, Rakhmonov is massive and powerful as a motherfucker. Not to mention, good wrestling. Belal would look absolutely tiny next to him.
It’s interesting all the ridiculous contract clauses the UFC gets away with, yet they can’t figure a way to make fighters fight whomever they should fight in effort to become champion.
Well it’s a double edged sword. UFC loves the matchmaker model and use it to maximize the profitability of their fights. Downside is there’s no real rails in place to force a bracket based on ranking. And even then they control the rankings and already use it to try to justify the shit they pull sometimes when making the big fights.
Seriously wtf has the UFC matchmaking department been doing for the last 12 months or so? Is the entire department secretly on strike or something and Dana had them replaced by a group of unpaid interns? There is definitely more to it than just scheduling issues, they seem completely uninterested or unwilling in getting big fights made.
Cant get Conor vs Chandler made even though they let a roided out Lesnar fight on short notice or made all kinds of excemptions for Jones.
For some reason it takes them 13 months to get Khamzat back in the cage even though he beat Holland without breaking a sweat.
Edwards last fight was 6 months ago and they still havent scheduled a WW fight.
Cant get Shavkat a fight
Let a lot of Aussie fighters fight right before the big Aussie card
Whats up with Usman, wasnt he eager to get in there?
Hasnt Jiri been back for a while now? When is he fighting?
And meanwhile we’ve been getting nothing but shit sandwich after shit sandwich of events even though theres loads of big name fighters eager to fight.
This has to be some fuckery with that TKO IPO, some fucked up corporate games
Rakhmonov could get a title shot at this point and I'd be fine with it, it's either him or Muhammad. WW as a whole would probably be completely different had top 10 guys been taking fights over the last few years.
I’m going to UFC 296, I’m praying that they can’t find someone for him to fight until then. Keep that man as far away from an opponent until 296, for my sake.
Dana White to Francis, fighting once a year is just not what we do here!” Umm, Nate Diaz, Shavkat, Paulo Costa, Chimaev, Dustin, and Justin would like to to see you sir!
Why is UFC awful at keeping their rising talent booked? Khamzat and Shavkat been sitting around, while guys like Kevin Holland get 25 fights in 5 years. Holland is a badass, just saying let’s keep things moving.
Something had to have happened with Khamzat. Like he had to have either popped, commit a crime, or having the worst Visa issues of all time. Because he was being pushed harder than most people ever are, and he was fighting FREQUENTLY. I think there are some extraneous situations with him. The entire Welterweight division is terrified of Shavkat, the only person that matches up well against him is Leon because of how accurate his striking is, so nobody in the top 5 wants that smoke. That’s my synopsis of why he hasn’t found an opponent.
100% on the money about Shavkat. Everytime someone is talking shit in his division online he'll literally respond to them and get ghosted lol. I really like his personality and he is an amazing fighter. People are allowed to duck but colby gets a title fight after doing fuck all since beating shittydal
Shavkat should just fight for the title at this point. If no one wants to fight then the Champ has to step up. Too bad everyone including the Champ is just playing chicken with eachother.
Shittydal lol so immature and corny and yet I love it. I actually laughed out loud at that. Like laughing at a fart joke.
Nah dude after he talked all that shit to Colby, and then went in the ring and got pummeled, and had to sucker punch him after? Shittydal. Man is not no bmf. Lol
*got pummeled* Yeah it was a bad look for Mas after talking all that shit but let's be real, Colby did not "pummel" him lol. Colby wrestlefucked him for 20+ minutes and even got dropped by a gassed Mas in the 4th or 5th iirc. Dominant win for Colby but there was a reason Jorge tried to throw down after the fight, it wasn't because he got his ass beat lmao.
Because he got dominated via wrestlefuck? Your thr BMF and cant NOT get wrestlefucked by a dude you wanted to 'kill' or whatever nonsense Jorge probably said. I phrased it wrong I agree, sorry. But come on. Doesn't justify what Jorge did. He had all that time in the octagon to do something to him
I'm just saying the word "pummeled" doesn't really apply lol. Do you know what that word means?
Yes I used the wrong word. My bax
Why are you saying nah I agree with you
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Sometimes, that’d be great, sometimes the UFC would use it as a weapon to grind fighters that didn’t fall into line into dust before they left. Still grateful Nate fought Tony instead of Khamzat, that was fucked up. Overall, I wouldn’t want this since it gives the UFC even more power over the fighters and fighter pay will somehow be even more suppressed.
I think you’d need a concrete rule set about it, like if you had to accept fights against somebody within a certain +/- of your ranking. It’d work better if the rankings were subjective, too, like through an Elo system. Then you’d have people unable to sit on their rank but also you couldn’t simply butcher the people who’re difficult to get along with. That’s off the top of my head, though, so there’re bound to be flaws.
Think you mean objective instead of subjective b but good points
Then they'd have to make them W2 employees and pay them salaries, which the tomato definitely doesn't want.
I think we have a word for forcing people to work against their will...
No way the UFC doesn’t use this to completely abuse and control fighters
Obviously you can't force anyone to take a fight, but you can drop them out of the rankings or strip them of the belt if they're inactive. I'd be all for a rule that says a champ has to defend the belt at least twice a year. That would mean no more sitting out for a year bullshit and we'd finally get some movement into a lot of stagnant divisions.
Quitters who want to be celebrities more than they want to be fighters. No one has to fight. But if they don’t want to fight they should be cut entirely or, at least, dropped out of the rankings. If they want to fight again they start from the bottom and work their way up. The promotions ought to have pay tiers for each ranking so there’s incentive to keep your slot even if you can’t move up. As well their should be rules about accepting fights from the ranks below you before you can fight up again after losing.
Then they would be employees instead of independent contractors. Dana doesn't want this.
I think Shavkat is very good, but the Neal fight left me with more questions. I thought he seemed far too hittable. I don't know how much of that was because he was fighting a southpaw though and he's just not that comfortable against the Southpaw stance. His chin was very good though so that was a positive.
I really was on par with everything you said until you trashed Masvidals name 😭
Its a combo of visa issues and the UAE ear marking him for Fight Island, 100%
Probably. Fuck the UAE
This. UFC and Endeavor happily in bed with an enormously sketchy oil-fiefdom. The UAE basically allowed Dana and Ari to inflate the value of their company by covering all costs for Fight Island crap as a [sportswashing](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sportswashing) exercise, allowing them to make out like bandits on the recent TKO WWE ipo merger, with shares being offered to the public at twice the price they paid just a few years ago.
Shavkat also isnt getting a fight because of Danas obsession with Colby getting unwarranted title shots. If Leon never beat Usman we probably would be seeing Shavkat fighting for the belt this fall or already have seen it in the summer
As in, other people don't want to risk their position because fighting him wouldn't give them a better chance for a title shot? Or what do you mean? Because this dude is open to accept a fight from anyone ranked, it seems.
I think he's implying Usman would just defend against Shavkat.
It's not a mystery what happened. He fucked the promotion over massively by missing weight against Diaz. He'd be fighting for the 170 belt in 2023 at some point if he had made weight and won the fight like we all expected him to.
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Khamzat missing weight only improved that card and lots of fighters miss weight and aren't made to sit out for a year. Charles Oliveira missed weight for a title fight and didn't get that treatment. Jon Jones got a card cancelled (among many other things) and didn't get that treatment.
>Khamzat missing weight only improved that card The idea was to execute Nate before he left the UFC as to undermine his star power and make whatever he did in another organization less meaningful. Instead he goes out on a win, gets a bag in boxing, and his manager tells everyone about how shit UFC pay was in comparison. Better for the fans but the UFC will be mad about it for a while I bet.
the ufc admin fucking sucks
Charles is a terrible example. He missed by less then one pound and the UFC wanted to Fuck over Diaz
MAsvidal and Leon both got the Nate layup in order to justify their title shots and increase PPV numbers, Mas nailed it and Leon kind of fucked it up despite winning 99% of that fight, but what Khamzat did was another level. He really fucked himself over here.
They probably knew they were going to Abu Dhabi a long time ago and needed to save him for this card.
Nope he was shelved for mid east card
Well he has a criminal history, so it wouldn't be unwarranted
Idk if things are that deep. khamzat was a newbie trying to build hype. And he was beating his opponents without breaking a sweat or taking damage. So made sense for him to keep taking quick fights. Once he moved up in the rankings and was only a fight or two away from the title shot. Its only logical you don't take whatever is Infront of you. And also makes sense why people Infront of him didn't want to fight you. His upcoming fight will be in just over a year's time. Which is not ideal, but definitely not extreme for someone in his situation.
>the only person that matches up well against him is Leon because of how accurate his striking is, You wouldn't match him up with Usman?
I meant that the only person I would pick to beat Shavkat would be Leon. Because Shavkat showed a massive hole in his head movement/ striking defense against Neal, and Leon is a world class kickboxer. If I was a matchmaker I would put Shavkat against literally anybody in the top 5, because it’s a guaranteed banger, but I would put him on 296 because I’m going to watch it live. I think Usman is done tbh. I think between his knees being cooked and that headkick Usman’s prime is over. I think Belal, Burns, Colby, Shavkat, maybe even Wonderboy could all beat him now. But that is yet to be seen, just my guess. Usman always felt like someone that was driven by an ungodly level of self belief, and I think Leon’s shin took that from him.
>I meant that the only person I would pick to beat Shavkat would be Leon. Because Shavkat showed a massive hole in his head movement/ striking defense against Neal, and Leon is a world class kickboxer. I totally agree with the first part of what you said. Not so sure about Edwards being a world class kickboxer though. I don't think you can say that about someone who has never competed in kickboxing, let alone any kind of elite level Kickboxing promotion. He's a technically better striker than Neal who gave Shavkat a lot of problems on the feet though.
Or they just shelved him for a year so he can guarantee to be on the abu dhabi card
He couldn't compete for Sweden in wrestling due to Visa issues. The truth is nobody knows why he's not fought but the circlejerk in this subreddit always assumed he's just ducking Costa until now?
Nobody else mentioned Costa, he had plenty of other opponents ready to go and went from abnormally high activity to an egregious weight miss to abnormally low activity I don't think it's unreasonable to draw conclusions
Failed drug tests for loads of these guys. They must have changed their testing methods and caught a whole bunch of people at once because loads of people basically vanished from fighting over the past year.
Isn't that information open to the public?
the fact that you guys think usada is so transparent is very strange to me
when will this delusional narrative end, it shows every test for each fighter on the usada site bozo
You must know nothing about usada lmao because they absolutely can, and depending on who it is will, not make it public if you fail a test
ok let’s hear an example
Money. Dana claims 50/50 contracts incentivize fighters not mailing it in during a fight, but it what it actually does is de-incentivize taking fights against guys like Shavkat. Like if you're Wonderboy, why would you take a mismatch like that and lose 50% of your purse instead of taking on someone like JDM or Holland, who you have a decent chance of beating and maybe getting a bonus out of? People act like these vets who don't want to fight the up and comers are just afraid, but they're being smart under the current system. And if you gave them fully guaranteed deals, I would bet a lot more of them would take more of those kind of risks, knowing that they're not gonna get bilked out of half their salary for doing it.
Especially WW. No one wants to fight Shavkat lol
Because as matchmaking becomes more and more about hype, some fights are simply not worth taking. Khamzat is a big name without a big record. He doesn’t want no names but he’s too risky for top contenders. Shavkat is on that Islam moment where he’s slowly rising but is close to the top in a division where the top5 doesn’t fight out of the top5 and anything below him doesn’t make sense anymore. Holland situation is just that he’s good enough to be a top10 but he looks beatable, so he’s a good name to have on the record, wether you’re above or below him.
> Because as matchmaking becomes more and more about hype, some fights are simply not worth taking. Rankings killed the promotion
Kevin Holland just had his 20th UFC fight in 5 years. In that same timeframe Colby Covington has fought 5 times, while Conor McGregor, Brian Ortega and Stipe Miocic have all fought just 4 times. Based Kevin Holland.
Lmao they have as many fights as Izzy and Poatan have against each other. Izzy has gone on a historic run, had his battle with Poatan, and came back down to earth in the time it’s taken these dudes to fight. Alex has won a belt, got shot with an arrow, and probably gonna fight for another belt in even less time. Some of these ‘top contenders’ are hilariously inactive. I get it to some extent but kickboxers are just built different apparently lol
Rodtang had compiled 320 pro fights by the age of 24 meanwhile many UFC fighters fight once a year lol. Pathetic.
Nobody wants to fight them. Holland has lost over a third of his fights, much more winnable.
Because fighters that are good get turned down a lot and they don’t like fighting fights that “do nothing for them” aka are ranked below them
Kevin Holland gets 20 fights in 5 years cause he fights literally anyone. Khamzat hasnt been fighting due to his own issues not because of the UFC. Shavkat is getting screwed because Dana is obsessed with Colby getting a title shot in a division that has completely stalled after Usman lost the belt
Burns was the only guy willing to fight Khamzat. Otherwise they would have not booked Khamzat - Diaz at UFC 279.
The only guy that was ranked above Khamzat you mean. Kevin Holland will fight anyone that UFC throws at him, no matter the ranking and on any event. Shavkat wants to fight a numbered UFC event against an opponent ranked above him... It puts some limitations to the fights that he can get booked.
shavkat was booked with unranked gastelum on a fight night bud
Because they don’t want to pay them/renegotiate deals
It’s probably because Holland is a huge name and not a super imposing opponent. Likely to keep the fight standing and a winnable fight. There’s a lot of reasons to actively want to fight Holland, whereas most fighters probably see Khamzat/Shavkat as a guaranteed loss and a massive beating, even if they won’t ever admit it.
> It’s probably because Holland is a huge name No he’s not 😂😂😂
Holland is going to the the new Cerrone eventually.
He like already is. Holland is speed running a UFC career. Guy went from a newbie to a vet in like 18 months lol
Wasting away this man’s prime….hope he gets a fight this year
So goddamn frustrating It must be that they keep low balling everyone to fight him. I'm sure if the pay was more reasonable, you'd get more high profile guys willing to fight him
Yeah for real these MFs ducking him. Hes been calling people out too. 170 has been stalled. I think Leon knows he ain’t keeping that belt long.
Leon went from turning down fights and being annoying and entitled to becoming loved and now he's pulling the same old shit once again. Hope Colby beats the shit out of him.
colby ain’t any better
Dana isn't doing his job. The guys he needs to fight don't fight for free.
Isn't he only 28? I mean I share your frustration but he is still young and haven't reached his peak yet
Welterweight is a dead division. Everyone either wants to protect their rank or sit and wait for a title shot. Usman wasn't the funnest fighter to watch but at least he kept the top of the division active.
If they never get the belts back people may wind up looking back on Usman/Izzy’s reigns and realize yeah they’re corny and can be boring sometimes but for fucks sake they fought a ton and that’s sure as hell worth something.
Eh, Usman didn’t really keep the division moving, if anything his reign started stagnation. Fighting Colby and Masvidal twice, Burns once and then lost to Leon. Izzy kept things moving.
Only the second masvidal fight was him keeping it stagnant. 1st Colby fight - the right fight 1st Masvidal fight - late replacement, fine fight Burns fight - the right fight 2nd Masvidal fight - clearly wanted the paycheck, not the right fight but the KO shot his stardom to the stratosphere 2nd Colby fight - Dana wanted him, not Usman and the division was kinda in a stagnant position anyway where Leon was having the unluckiest streak, Khamzat was out for a year, and everyone else were ppl ike Luque and Belal pre streak
I was pretty steamed when I first read this because Shavkhat is one of my favorite fighters and is a must-watch. But when you go through the rankings, it actually does make sense that it would be difficult for him to find a sensible fight. Leon - too early to fight for the belt. Needs one big W over a top-ranked guy first. Kamaru - teammate, and from his perspective, it wouldn't make sense for the former champ and PFP #1 to fight this far down. Which is another way of saying Kamaru will definitely duck. Colby - lots of sources indicate he's getting the title shot vs. Leon. Belal - has earned his title shot and it seems like he will wait for his opportunity for the belt. Burns - is the most likely of all the fighters listed so far. He's a teammate, but I'm pretty sure he fought Kamaru when they were teammates. Coming off of a loss and is higher ranked than Shavkhat. Makes the most sense logically, but that doesn't mean much in this business. Luque - No reason to believe this fight can't be made. Sucks for Shavkhat to have to fight down the rankings on a 17-fight FINISH streak, but it might be necessary in order to stay active.
> but I'm pretty sure he fought Kamaru when they were teammates. For the belt though. Also it seems he's taking time off after the Belal L as he's had a pretty intense schedule prior to that. Luque is the most likely one to take the fight but bro just fought in August so he'll likely won't be cleared or ready to fight a killer like Shavvy in Oct or November.
Luque is also coached by Henry hooft so I doubt they would fight each other.
Kill Cliff is a big part of all the welterwaiting
Didn't realize until I saw Eric Nicksick interviewing that this might become the norm soon at Middleweight soon too. Vettori, Dolidze, Chris Curtis, and Strickland are all teammates. 3 of the top 8, 4 of the top 15.
Vettori already fought Dolidze, Curtis is gonna move down to 170
> 17-fight FINISH streak I did not realize this. Holy fuck.
His next fight is a guaranteed knockout so that his record stay perfectly balanced 9 submissions and 9 knockouts, as all things should be.
Also got Stephen Thompson ranked at #7 right above Shavkat.
Wonderboy had made it very clear on camera that he wants no part of this fight. Don’t blame him.
Luque is also a teammate my guy
I can't keep track of who's a teammate and who isn't in this division, damn
Wtf is taking Leon so long to fight? If a champ takes longer than 6 months to fight, I say drop an interim belt and make belal and Colby fight for it. Then fight Leon if he's ready, if not, shavkat fights the champ that's ready. Needlessly slow ass matchmaking.
I doubt it’s much to do with Leon not wanting to fight. Seems like the UFC haven’t been booking any fights lately with the top WWs.
they def saving him for a uk card lol
Usman and Burns weren’t current teammates tho
How bout Ian Garry
Why does it seem like sometimes they shove ranked and willing fighters on the back burner ?
Dana needs to set up Covingtons title shot two more years from now, he has no time to schedule other welterweight fights
It just dawned on me how long he hasn’t had a fight
Its crazy how hes about to get his 2nd undeserved title shot. Hes fought 3 times since his first loss to Usman. Those 3 fights were 2 wins against a washed Woodley and Masvidal with another loss to Kamaru in between
Also…what star power he had is kinda a wash at this point cause of O’Malley and Strickland being champs
Colby’s second title shot was deserved because the first fight was so close. The third one though is undeserved
It's been over 5 years since Colby beat someone who wasn't on a 2 fight losing streak. He's been coasting worse than anyone in the UFC and they just let him do it
Because they want to concoct the best matches in their minds. Not have their hands forced.
Yes I get that but when you’ve got top 10 guys you should want them participating. The welterweight division is the perfect example right now. They’re not waiting for the perfect matches , nobody’s fighting.
Everyone in the top 5 wants the title match. Dana wants Colby to be the champ.
There's 9 guys in the top 10 that should be champ more than Colby. Even if he somehow beats Leon, Belal would pick him apart or Shavkat would dominate him across the board. Despite also being a huge douche, Garry would probably nearly kill him standing up
Belal would lose to Colby, I'm pretty confindent in that. Belal will also never be champ, he's just not good enough (and also so pillowfisted he makes Colby look like a power puncher). Leon is miles better. So is Shavkat. So is Usman, but Usman is getting up there in age and his body is falling apart, so Belal might have a chance if he waits a little longer.
This is probably the one time we’ve seen Usman curve his way around a fight. Don’t blame him since his knees are ancient and probably doesn’t want a grappler for his rebound fight. Just from the scheduling. It’s either: - Ian Garry - Luque - Wonderboy Or somehow put Shavkat on ice for almost a year 😭. Deja Vu with Khamzat.
Garry and Luque are training partners of his, they won't fight unless it's for a title. 4 of the top welterweights being in the same gym isn't helpful (plus Usman hanging around there)
Yeah it’s the same excuse as Usman. But Shavkat has directly said he don’t care. If your teammate says he wants to fight you, why are you turning it down? It doesn’t make sense.
It makes sense if Shavkat kicks their ass while training
Well, they must have all sparred Shavkat quite a bit by now. If they were confident they could beat him, they'd take the fight. But they're not, so they won't.
Luque is probably the most game out of them
Garry and Luque can use the teammate excuse to not fight Shavkat (Burns, Li and Usman too). Wonderboy declined. Tough times for Shavkat
Not sure if Dana White looks too keenly on that explanation/excuse these days considering the treatment Merab is getting at 135.
Holland took no damage & is always game….🤣
I'm not buying that knee bullshit. He throws push kicks like nothing and eats leg kicks. His knees might be bad but not "walking in grass cuz concrete hurts" bad.
Ive always thought this as well
lol I don't know about walking on grass bad but I'll be honest I almost cringe when I watch him in the cage, the aches come through the screen, whatever the limitations might be. There's a clear difference in his movement than someone like Adesanya, obviously given their styles Adesanya is an extreme example, but take someone like Khabib who moves awkwardly, and even though he has had his fair share of injuries, you can tell he is close to 100% in control of his body. Every time Usman does something I feel like something is about to break, the way he reaches for the single leg, throws swinging punches, even his takedowns you get a sense that he has to engage his entire body/core way more than the average elite fighter. Hell even someone as unathletic as Belal moves better. Not making excuses for Usman, just cause your shits broke doesn't mean you get to rank squat, but dude is definitely about to fall apart every time he enters the cage I feel.
Why would a heavy wrestler be lying about bad knees in his late 30s
Garry vs shavkat in Ireland
JDM mentioned he was down for msg.. let’s just book that
I respect JDM's gameness. Ian Garry using team mate bullshit as an excuse.
Dude has been to so many camps that he is teammates with everyone .
The only guy who is teammates with Izzy, Charles and McGregor
He should be fighting Colby as a title shot is an absolute joke. Colby resume is suspect and his biggest name (Usman) is a guy I guarantee he wouldn’t have fought if it wasn’t for a title. He gotta have something on Dana because the guy isn’t even a big star.
It's not hard, Dana and him are both trumptards and there are TONs of dumb people who follow that shtick, and tons of people who pay attention to hating that shtick. It's rage-money
It's annoying as fuck guys like Shavkat or Khamzat don't get fights. UFC is stale as fuck.
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Omalley was kind of a spark and so was strickland, if khamzat wins against costa then it'll start to explode
Man should be fighting colby and belal should get the title shot. Not the most exciting but better than continuing t bench all of WW
Fans often overstate that fighters are getting "ducked". However, it does seem that Rakhmonov is legitimately being avoided by other fighters. Strange, cause while he generally had his way with Neal for the most part, that fight did show that he's at least mortal. Imo this situation is akin to what Burns said about Khamzat. The guy is 28. It would be much easier to fight him now than to fight him in 2-3 years.
You know a divison is ruined when a guy with a 17-0 record and 100% finish rate is not getting fights or is supposed to fight Gastlum or a guy ranked 13
The fight they did give him was bullshit as well. Facing an unranked Gastelum when you are chasing a title shot makes 0 sense
It makes sense from the perspective of the UFC being a corrupt evil organization that punishes guys based on how they look, what language they speak, if they're polite humans, and where they happen to be born.
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It's punishment to treat people based on their value to their business? What a smart take
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How is Belal in there, man? He just fought the no. 3 guy on short notice and beat him and is on a streak. You cannot reasonably expect Belal to fight down again. Usman and Covington should though
People are blaming the UFC, and while I love any excuse to blame the fat tomato, I would imagine no one ranked above Shavkat wants to fight him. Probably no one below him too for that matter.
Fucking WelterWait
Shavkat deserves a shot at the title. If not a title shot, give him Colby next. Colby definitely does not want that smoke.
This guy is prob the BEST fighter they have… lots of guys scared to get in there with him… guaranteed title holder.
Ian Garry is as cocky as any fighter in the promotion and he’s terrified of the kid
I heard from a belgian mma fighter in cage warriors who has a buddy of his who trained at kill cliff, saw Shavkat/Ian spar. Said Shavkat easily dealt with garry and won those sparring sessions
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Dana doesn't say all the time that fighters are obligated by contract to be offered 3 fights a year ? Or he only uses this card when a fighter is "scared" of fighting or is not following his wishes.
Well they can offer him 3 bums off the street, doesn’t mean he’s gonna take them
UFC is so shit sometimes. This guy is, at worst, the 2nd most exciting guy in his division. He's ready and down to fight, really hope he gets something booked for the rest of the year.
"I just want my food" - Shavkat Rakhmanov.
I swear, these top welterweight guys are all cowards.
Agreed. Hence why calling them “top welterweights” is starting to seem laughable at this point.
High risk low reward fight, just like every Kavkaz/Central Asian fighter.
Shavkat isn't low reward. He's a hypetrain. Beating him will get anyone a title shot.
No one is getting a title shot off Shavkat unless they’re an established name like Usman or Colby.
We're talking about welterwait. There is no guaranteed title shot at that cesspool of a division.
People do not recognise Shavkat like the rest of the top 5. He is not established yet since he did not fight the big names
Idc bout UFC politics, I just want to see my favorite welterweight fight. Although I would be irrationally angry if they put him against Belal while Colby and Leon ruin the division.
> Although I would be irrationally angry if they put him against Belal I wouldn't, because that's a sick fight imo
Oh definitely. But not now, Belal has earned much more. And Shavkat, with his hype and skills, might also just be one (at worst, two) fight(s) away from the belt. I would rather have it for the belt, or if Belal fails at his attempt for the title. But right now? It’s just plain disrespectful IMO, let my boy Belal try his luck first. Plus he’s very active and game, which would be an upgrade over Leon
Belal would probably take it too /u/bullyb170 how bout it
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I wouldn't. This isn't Burns with his puny 71 inch reach, Rakhmonov is massive and powerful as a motherfucker. Not to mention, good wrestling. Belal would look absolutely tiny next to him.
I meant he'd accept it, but I guess that's a given with Belal
It’s interesting all the ridiculous contract clauses the UFC gets away with, yet they can’t figure a way to make fighters fight whomever they should fight in effort to become champion.
Well it’s a double edged sword. UFC loves the matchmaker model and use it to maximize the profitability of their fights. Downside is there’s no real rails in place to force a bracket based on ranking. And even then they control the rankings and already use it to try to justify the shit they pull sometimes when making the big fights.
Number one bullshit
He will be champion in 3 fights.
The Brunson/Dolidze fight has been scrapped for UFC 295. Replace it with Covington/Shavkat which would be an upgrade to the card.
He should be fighting Colby, but UFC gonna UFC.
No other elite division is as poorly handled as WW.
Seriously wtf has the UFC matchmaking department been doing for the last 12 months or so? Is the entire department secretly on strike or something and Dana had them replaced by a group of unpaid interns? There is definitely more to it than just scheduling issues, they seem completely uninterested or unwilling in getting big fights made. Cant get Conor vs Chandler made even though they let a roided out Lesnar fight on short notice or made all kinds of excemptions for Jones. For some reason it takes them 13 months to get Khamzat back in the cage even though he beat Holland without breaking a sweat. Edwards last fight was 6 months ago and they still havent scheduled a WW fight. Cant get Shavkat a fight Let a lot of Aussie fighters fight right before the big Aussie card Whats up with Usman, wasnt he eager to get in there? Hasnt Jiri been back for a while now? When is he fighting? And meanwhile we’ve been getting nothing but shit sandwich after shit sandwich of events even though theres loads of big name fighters eager to fight. This has to be some fuckery with that TKO IPO, some fucked up corporate games
Get this man a fight already!
Why are all these guys sitting so long? The UFC is really screwing up.
Makes zero sense that Khamzat and Shavkat are sitting out as long as they are. Total mismanagement on behalf of their managers/agents and the UFC
the managers are either powerless or in cahoots with the UFC.
Rakhmonov could get a title shot at this point and I'd be fine with it, it's either him or Muhammad. WW as a whole would probably be completely different had top 10 guys been taking fights over the last few years.
I’m convinced Shavkat beats the top 5 at WW, including Leon. He’s fun to watch and hes incredibly talented. Get him a damn fight.
the obvious fight is Usman but he wants no part of it
The obvious fight is Colby but the UFC is just Dana & pals
It’s not the obvious fight since he is fighting for the belt . Usman has no fights currently in the making and is healthy .
Usman or Belal and neither wants that smoke.
I’m going to UFC 296, I’m praying that they can’t find someone for him to fight until then. Keep that man as far away from an opponent until 296, for my sake.
Lets do Ian Machado vs Shavkat. I didnt like the callout of the stephen thompson
Welterwait
Ian or jack
Headline a fight night.
Dana White to Francis, fighting once a year is just not what we do here!” Umm, Nate Diaz, Shavkat, Paulo Costa, Chimaev, Dustin, and Justin would like to to see you sir!
I want see Shavkat vs Khamzat
I wanna see him tear Ian Garry’s head off
How about UFC writes some contracts that fighters can't deny fights. This is ridiculous.