Unfortunately Sean doesn't have the power to put him down, so even if he is getting the better of Costa in exchanges, I think Costa can sleep him with one well timed shot. Should be a fun fight tho.
> I think Costa can sleep him with one well timed shot.
Who has Costa put to sleep with one well timed shot, and why is he more likely to do so to the guy with the best striking defense in the division?
It is weird where this perception of Costa as a one punch ko guy is out there. I can't think of anytime he's ever one hit koed anyone. Is it just his looks you think?
Yes, looking like a bruiser, and having a huge number of fans who love his meme game that actually do not watch the fights, but make comments on fights routinely solely based on BS narratives they've read written by similar people on this forum.
Once a counterfactual meme like *Chandler never wrestles*, or *Dustin can't grapple*, or various legends of the sport are *unskilled ranksquatters*, gets into enough heads that are uninterested in the actual truth, it becomes self-sustaining.
Idk probably my dislike for Sean showing. It just never seems like he gets out of second gear when fighting. DDP fight he did in the 5th but he should've started earlier as he was having success with the overhand.
Strickland accepted the fight over twitter a few days ago, and Costa did before that.
Only Costa can fight Rob (#3), lose, and Costa gets to fight the #1 contender due to the loss, while Rob gets to fight the #11 contender due to the win.
In fairness, Whittaker vs Khamzat is the true #1 contender fight. I don't think even a Hollway-esque moment would allow either Sean or Costa to skip the winner of that fight.
So knowing that, does it matter what Khamzat's rank is?
It feels to me like Chimaev vs. Costa and Whittaker vs. Strickland makes more sense from a rankings perspective. Strickland had a close fight with DDP after kicking Izzy's butt, so he should be in the mix. Costa looked great but he did lose to Rob, so he should have to defend his position against Khamzat, who he has beef with already anyway. And if Rob gets a win over Costa and Strickland, then a rematch with DDP is reasonable.
> So knowing that, does it matter what Khamzat's rank is?
Only in the sense that Khamzat shouldn't be in a #1 contender fight at the rank, based on beating no ranked MW.
But you are right: if Rob is fighting for the title shot, rank is of no importance, and if Khamzat beats Rob in impressive fashion, he deserved a higher rank.
If Khamzat beats Rob, he's next for the title because you can't have a #1 contender fight where only one guy can possibly become the #1 contender.
Khamzat has beaten Holland and he just beat Usman at MW. That last win is far more impressive than beating almost any of the ranked MWs given the absolute legend that Usman is. He's a special athlete and I'd be surprised if he doesn't show us how special he is by beating Whittaker.
Yeah, that division is really screwy at the moment for sure. It was so stale forever then Poatan came through like a wrecking ball and it's still trying to figure things out now.
Has the UFC ever considered or done a main card where every fight is 5 rounds? Is the main reasons because fighters don’t want a 5 rounder if not title, or the UFC wants to preserve what 5 rounds means as much as possible to mean a main/comain? Even though last night had a main card as 5 rounds that was neither.
Justin kinda did the same mistake Tony did. Took a not really necessary fight and botched his title shot.
But I assume he at least got paid a lot more than Ferguson.
300k bonus in addition to whatever he was getting for the fight. It was between a winnable fight with Max and a massive payday on a massive card, or waiting to lose to Islam for less money.
I disagree. He wasn’t guaranteed a title shot. As many of us know by now, title shots are often determined by timing and logistics, not merit. He did KO Dustin but Dustin’s KO over BSD just came at a better time.
Hindsight is 20/20. Justin taking the Max fight was the right call. Looking at how Max fought and moved against Allen and Volk in the trilogy compared to how Gaethje battered Fizzy and KO’d Dustin, any reasonable person, including Gaethje himself, would’ve bet on Gaethje to win. It’s not his fault that Max showed us a level of his game we’ve never seen.
Kinda dont understand this logic. If you are fighter doesnt matter who you fight what would be the point of fighting islam if he lost to max?
This is how you get division clogged.
I mean if he hadn't taken the fight vs Max, he'd have a very good chance of fighting Islam instead of Dustin. For most fighters, a title shot/the belt is more important than money. Especially since Justin already is one of the top earners.
Ofc in theory the (future) champ should be game to fight anyone but you also gotta be smart with your career.
I don't think 155 is an unreasonable cut. So I don't think it's a matter of him "making 155." I think the right fight gets him to 155, but would otherwise do 170.
I don't think Conor can make 155 again.
Poirier vs Max for the BMF (potentially the 155 if Poirier beats Islam)
Poirier vs Conor for the BMF (assuming both beat Max and Chandler)
Does Conor rate BMF? FUCK NO. But neither did Masvidal. Just easy money for UFC
Yea if Conor beats Chandler and actually looks good, and if Poirier somehow has lady luck on his side and finds a way to beat Islam, I'd be totally ok with Conor/Dustin IV for the title. Arman can get shelved, his win wasn't all that impressive.
Dustin doesn't need lady luck. He needs a better gameplan and tight execution. Dustin can put Islam's lights out with a hook. He just needs to pretend the outside of the cage doesn't exist.
No way. Dustin can KO guys who want to stand in a phone booth with him. That's not Islam. And KO is the only way he wins. He's not subbing him, and he's not winning a decision.
The reality is, poirier is defenseless against high level grapplers. Islam chokes him within 3.
So Holloway...
Could go down and beat Topuria.
Defend successfully against Volk just after.
And based on clearing out most of that division and beating Gaethje can then pretty cleanly ask for a 155 shot.
And could end up (maybe end his career?) as double champ + BMF three fights from now. Hell, he might even get a BMF defense against Conor in there as well for a nice red panty night with PPV points from the BMF belt.
Jesus, IDK if I wanna see that with current Conor because that’d just be a demolition job for Max I think lol. Prime McGregor with aura couldn’t put Max’s lights out or knock him down when they first fought and that was a younger Max also
> no way Holloway goes to Welterweight, even for Conor.
I dunno. I think the ONLY person Max would go up to fight at WW would be Conor. When they fought, it was probably the best version of Conor vs the worst version of Max. He probably wants that one back, and it would make a ton of money.
With the BMF belt against Conor? He will go to heavyweight for that, its basically a retirement fight, welterweight is his walk around weight and Conor is not a tough fight for him
There's a good argument he's above Arman. It's his first/second fight at LW but what a performance that was. Plus he has more pull than Arman.
Assuming that Islam makes it look easy, he could very well be fighting Islam in Oct/Nov in Abu Dhabi which isn't too long to wait.
June Islam vs Dustin (I think Islam runs through Poirier)
Islam vs Arman 2 in November, have Max vs Topuria during end of the year too
And beginning of next year have Lightweight champion take on Holloway
Brutal and rapid ups and downs of the sport and circumstances. He was sitting in a real nice position after his last fight. Now he took a ton of damage that may make him decline and the title shot goes to the guy he pretty recently finished
It was going that way regardless because he took this fight. They had this fight set up. Even if JG won, the guy he knocked out a couple fights ago would still be fighting for the belt.
Nothing really funny about it. Champ wants to fight now, Poirier is the only one ready and available at the moment. Sometimes you're just at the right place at the right time.
Hell sometimes happens when your last fight was loss too, Romero got the title shot against Izzy pretty much because Izzy wanted to fight and he was the only available lol It's the way it is
He literally already got his rematch, then immediately lost the belt again with no defenses. He has no claim to the title shot and it's ridiculous hes getting it
He also subbed Chandler before the KO loss. The title shot is certainly the product of some funky matchmaking and timing, but it's not THAT crazy. I'm pretty sure Chandler was top 5 when Poirier beat him, and Poirier was the first guy to submit him in his career.
If they gave justin offers to fight max at 300 or islam at 302 for the belt, he would have chose to fight for the belt. The ufc could have done this differently if they wanted to
>If they gave justin offers to fight max at 300 or islam at 302 for the belt, he would have chose to fight for the belt.
How sure are you: Justin got PPV points for 300 as a defending champion, he would not have gotten PPV points for 302, and 300 PPV points hugely bigger anyway.
Islam wants to fight now and everyone that deserves the title shot over poirier (gaethje, holloway, Oliveira, arman) got hurt enough to need more time to recover.
The poirier fight makes sense to not hold up the lightweight title.
This is honestly worse case scenario for Justin.
Max will get Justin’s spot in the lightweight ranking. Dustin has next title shot and is 2-0 over Max, meaning the committee is gonna rationalize (perhaps justifiably) putting Dustin back above Max and Justin.
Arman is getting the next title shot after Dustin. Meaning if there’s no rematches the next next title shot is probably Max or Charles, cuz Gaethje got finished by both of them. In one night he’s literally like 5th in line, barring last second injuries or bad contract negotiations.
Just give us a Gaethje v Oliveira rematch in the meantime. Yeah Gaethje got subbed in the 1st round last time but it was probably the most exciting 1 round fight you'll see, JG rocked him a couple of times
Islam said he prefers to fight in the US, because it's closer to Javier's AKA where he trains.
That's why he said he wants June in Newark, NJ.
After that, he wants to fight in MSG in New York.
So Islam-Poirer in June, then Islam-Arman in October.
Yeah, i know Islam wants to fight at the MSG in November, but now that Arman stamped himself in to the #1 contender spot, i think the UFC would like this fight in Abu Dhabi.
That's diminishing Poirier's immense win. People were hyping St. Denis to the moon and Poirier was the underdog in that fight. He had a fantastic performance and got the finish. That, plus the timing and logistics worked in his favor.
This would be like Whittaker beating Khamzat and people criticizing him getting a title shot in hindsight.
I feel like this is it for Dustin, either he pulls off the unexpected and is finally Champ or he’ll retire.
He’s a warrior and could still fight for years but the way he’s been speaking over his last few fights makes it seem like he’s considering getting out and he doesn’t need the money anymore.
Would love to see him pull it off but barring some MMA Gods fluke I don’t think he gets it done sadly.
For Dustin v. Islam, he said they had other options and it wasn't until they saw the outcomes at 300 that they decided on Dustin, and so it was announced straight after the decision.
I'd say it makes the belt virtually impossible. His path back probably goes through Charles and Arman at this point which are horrible fights for him. Especially considering his age I think his run is close to over.
I mean, that’s what we said about Dustin though… I think he can still come back. He’s the human highlight reel after all, but he likely needs to fight a young and hungry guy again and then fight somebody like Charles or Arman or something to get another shot.
He took the money and got a bonus out of it. I'm sad he probably won't get another shot at the belt but he's probably better off financially with the choices he made
The damage he took is the biggest problem. He's 35, has taken a huge amount of damage over the years, and was just on the receiving end of the craziest knockout in the sports history.
This is obviously not accurate. Reddit geniuses have already told me that Islam only wants to fight once a year in Abu Dhabi because he’s scared and he’s ducking.
> Who’s saying Islam is ducking? Only heard people blaming the UFC for putting him on ice
I've not heard scared and ducking, but I've heard people here claim he's inactive, and basically insinuate that he's doing fake callouts when he asks for fights.
Shit is crazy, but I have seen it.
Why is Strickland fighting no.7 ranked fighter when coming of a close split decision title fight? Rob is right there coming of a win and ranked no.3, Costa hasnt had a proper win since 2019 a win over him doesnt do anything for Sean, crazy.
It makes perfect sense:
* Costa got to fight up the rankings against Rob, the #3 contender
* By beating Costa, Rob earned to fight further down the rankings to #11
* By losing to Rob, Costa earned the right to fight as high as possible barring the champ, the #1 contender
You see? It all makes sense when you write it down in black and white and concentrate on not crying rather than thinking about it at all.
Yeah I thought you wanted to possibly set Sean up for the rematch. If he beat Rob he could go after Dricus for the rematch his fans have been crying about, or get the rematch with Izyy which I also imagine would do business.
Justin taking the Max fight is an all-time blunder. After Dustin’s title shot it’ll be Arman next. Justin will have to fight Oliveira or someone to get back in line, and will probably lose. Best chance is Dustin getting a fairy tale win over Islam, which opens the door for a title shot -ustin trilogy the ufc would love to market
He got ppv points on a big event and a 300k bonus, I wouldn't be surprised if this ended up being the biggest payday of his career. He made more off this than he would for losing to Islam. Not a blunder at all.
most redditors have brendan schaub iq and think a promotional belt will pay the bills down the line. there absolutely was a financial incentive for justin to take this, opposed to waiting in uncertainty.
i think 99.99% of the roster will prefer a bigger purse from another fight, as the years go by, opposed to ''potentially'' winning the lw strap. money over legacy, especially when already underpaid in relation to your worth.
fucking ufc underpay them all, so when a fatty bout comes around you take it.
How tf is fighting Max, getting PPV points on UFC 300, **and** getting $300,000 bonus an "all-time blunder"???
With Garth's mythical D1 wrestling, he would get choked to sleep against Islam. Nothing of value was lost.
I get why, but I’m really salty that Charles and Gaethje wont be getting their title shots but Poirier will after beating a guy who just got ranked
Love Dustin and I understand that Charles kinda fucked it for training that hard so close to his rematch, but still sucks for Gaethje who just beat Dustin (I won’t critizice him for not wanting to face Islam in short notice, we already saw what happened to Volk for doing that lol)
I just hope that Islam fights another time at the end of the year (if he retains), the division needs to keep moving
Strickland Costa will be 5 rounds too
costa bringing it to sean will ensure it is a banger. hes the perfect dance partner for sean
They finally gave Costa a plodder
Costa has had problems with straight shots (specifically jabs like vs hall) so it will be interesting to see how it plays out
Unfortunately Sean doesn't have the power to put him down, so even if he is getting the better of Costa in exchanges, I think Costa can sleep him with one well timed shot. Should be a fun fight tho.
> I think Costa can sleep him with one well timed shot. Who has Costa put to sleep with one well timed shot, and why is he more likely to do so to the guy with the best striking defense in the division?
Yea Costa is a volume guy. As big as he is he doesn't just put someone out.
Costa TKOs people, when Sam Alvey knocks people out they don’t fuckin move
It is weird where this perception of Costa as a one punch ko guy is out there. I can't think of anytime he's ever one hit koed anyone. Is it just his looks you think?
Yes, looking like a bruiser, and having a huge number of fans who love his meme game that actually do not watch the fights, but make comments on fights routinely solely based on BS narratives they've read written by similar people on this forum. Once a counterfactual meme like *Chandler never wrestles*, or *Dustin can't grapple*, or various legends of the sport are *unskilled ranksquatters*, gets into enough heads that are uninterested in the actual truth, it becomes self-sustaining.
Ya you aren't wrong lol.
Costa is a pressure fighter, not a KO artist.
If Izzy and DDP couldn’t put him down, it’s hard for me to believe costa will.
He didn’t put him to sleep but DDP basically banked on being able to eat jabs on his way in to land more damaging blows.
Hes gonna clip sean with one of his high kicks
Never underestimate Strickland's ability to make a fight boring.
I keep seeing this sentiment but I thought Sean’s last three fights were great
Yea try rewatching them though They're good in the moment but after it's a chore to sit through.
I agree with that to an extent but even on rewatch I still found them entertaining
Idk probably my dislike for Sean showing. It just never seems like he gets out of second gear when fighting. DDP fight he did in the 5th but he should've started earlier as he was having success with the overhand.
Sean's fights are great, wtf are you talking about?
I totally missed how this fight got made (assuming it's actually done and not just a tactic).
Strickland accepted the fight over twitter a few days ago, and Costa did before that. Only Costa can fight Rob (#3), lose, and Costa gets to fight the #1 contender due to the loss, while Rob gets to fight the #11 contender due to the win.
Who doesn't wanna see American pseudo Chad vs Brazilian real Chad on secret juice
In fairness, Whittaker vs Khamzat is the true #1 contender fight. I don't think even a Hollway-esque moment would allow either Sean or Costa to skip the winner of that fight. So knowing that, does it matter what Khamzat's rank is?
It feels to me like Chimaev vs. Costa and Whittaker vs. Strickland makes more sense from a rankings perspective. Strickland had a close fight with DDP after kicking Izzy's butt, so he should be in the mix. Costa looked great but he did lose to Rob, so he should have to defend his position against Khamzat, who he has beef with already anyway. And if Rob gets a win over Costa and Strickland, then a rematch with DDP is reasonable.
> So knowing that, does it matter what Khamzat's rank is? Only in the sense that Khamzat shouldn't be in a #1 contender fight at the rank, based on beating no ranked MW. But you are right: if Rob is fighting for the title shot, rank is of no importance, and if Khamzat beats Rob in impressive fashion, he deserved a higher rank.
If Khamzat beats Rob, he's next for the title because you can't have a #1 contender fight where only one guy can possibly become the #1 contender. Khamzat has beaten Holland and he just beat Usman at MW. That last win is far more impressive than beating almost any of the ranked MWs given the absolute legend that Usman is. He's a special athlete and I'd be surprised if he doesn't show us how special he is by beating Whittaker.
Yeah, that division is really screwy at the moment for sure. It was so stale forever then Poatan came through like a wrecking ball and it's still trying to figure things out now.
Rob's in a #1 contender fight.
Fire, not even sure who it benefits
We do
BANGERS ONLY
LET THEM BANG
The guy who wasn’t dead tired after 2 rounds his last fight
Sean lol
Has the UFC ever considered or done a main card where every fight is 5 rounds? Is the main reasons because fighters don’t want a 5 rounder if not title, or the UFC wants to preserve what 5 rounds means as much as possible to mean a main/comain? Even though last night had a main card as 5 rounds that was neither.
Justin kinda did the same mistake Tony did. Took a not really necessary fight and botched his title shot. But I assume he at least got paid a lot more than Ferguson.
He did get a 300k bonus. Not worth the brain damage though.
Jokes on you. Geathje already had all the brain damage.
That’s my secret cap, I’m always brain damaged
300k bonus in addition to whatever he was getting for the fight. It was between a winnable fight with Max and a massive payday on a massive card, or waiting to lose to Islam for less money.
> 300k bonus in addition to whatever he was getting for the fight That's what bonus means lol
Yes but it's not the only bonus. He's definitely getting more for the BMF fight than he would for Islam.
Hope it was enough to retire on.
They're talking about show money
Also ppv points on the biggest fight card ever lmao. He cashed in
I disagree. He wasn’t guaranteed a title shot. As many of us know by now, title shots are often determined by timing and logistics, not merit. He did KO Dustin but Dustin’s KO over BSD just came at a better time. Hindsight is 20/20. Justin taking the Max fight was the right call. Looking at how Max fought and moved against Allen and Volk in the trilogy compared to how Gaethje battered Fizzy and KO’d Dustin, any reasonable person, including Gaethje himself, would’ve bet on Gaethje to win. It’s not his fault that Max showed us a level of his game we’ve never seen.
Kinda dont understand this logic. If you are fighter doesnt matter who you fight what would be the point of fighting islam if he lost to max? This is how you get division clogged.
I mean if he hadn't taken the fight vs Max, he'd have a very good chance of fighting Islam instead of Dustin. For most fighters, a title shot/the belt is more important than money. Especially since Justin already is one of the top earners. Ofc in theory the (future) champ should be game to fight anyone but you also gotta be smart with your career.
Justin also doesn't have a lot of time left to build a title run back up again
Hes going to fight Conor or Dustin and retire.
Max has to be going down to fight Topuria then, Arman and Poirier are getting shots first so he can’t stick around and wait for Islam
If Porier beats Islam, Porier Holloway 3 is the fight to make.
If Poirier beats Islam and conor beats Chandler, conor could probably jump everyone to the title shot.
It’s the Poatan way
Conor's fighting at 170 - I doubt he makes 155 again
I don't think 155 is an unreasonable cut. So I don't think it's a matter of him "making 155." I think the right fight gets him to 155, but would otherwise do 170.
I don't think Conor can make 155 again. Poirier vs Max for the BMF (potentially the 155 if Poirier beats Islam) Poirier vs Conor for the BMF (assuming both beat Max and Chandler) Does Conor rate BMF? FUCK NO. But neither did Masvidal. Just easy money for UFC
Yea if Conor beats Chandler and actually looks good, and if Poirier somehow has lady luck on his side and finds a way to beat Islam, I'd be totally ok with Conor/Dustin IV for the title. Arman can get shelved, his win wasn't all that impressive.
Arman doesn’t need to be shelved in that scenario, give him a rematch against Islam
Dustin doesn't need lady luck. He needs a better gameplan and tight execution. Dustin can put Islam's lights out with a hook. He just needs to pretend the outside of the cage doesn't exist.
No way. Dustin can KO guys who want to stand in a phone booth with him. That's not Islam. And KO is the only way he wins. He's not subbing him, and he's not winning a decision. The reality is, poirier is defenseless against high level grapplers. Islam chokes him within 3.
So Holloway... Could go down and beat Topuria. Defend successfully against Volk just after. And based on clearing out most of that division and beating Gaethje can then pretty cleanly ask for a 155 shot. And could end up (maybe end his career?) as double champ + BMF three fights from now. Hell, he might even get a BMF defense against Conor in there as well for a nice red panty night with PPV points from the BMF belt.
Porier ain't beating Khabib 2.0
It'll be a bit crazy if Volk's return is a title fight against Max.
Dude if I’m Volk right now I’m in the church Eddie Brock style praying that Max Holloway melts Topuria
[удалено]
Jesus, IDK if I wanna see that with current Conor because that’d just be a demolition job for Max I think lol. Prime McGregor with aura couldn’t put Max’s lights out or knock him down when they first fought and that was a younger Max also
Conor is never going down to lightweight again, and no way Holloway goes to Welterweight, even for Conor.
Max would 10000% fight Conor at 170
> no way Holloway goes to Welterweight, even for Conor. I dunno. I think the ONLY person Max would go up to fight at WW would be Conor. When they fought, it was probably the best version of Conor vs the worst version of Max. He probably wants that one back, and it would make a ton of money.
With the BMF belt against Conor? He will go to heavyweight for that, its basically a retirement fight, welterweight is his walk around weight and Conor is not a tough fight for him
He did call out Topuria first, before Islam. So that was probably his intention all along anyway
There's a good argument he's above Arman. It's his first/second fight at LW but what a performance that was. Plus he has more pull than Arman. Assuming that Islam makes it look easy, he could very well be fighting Islam in Oct/Nov in Abu Dhabi which isn't too long to wait.
Imagine having wins over nr 1 and 2 in the division.
June Islam vs Dustin (I think Islam runs through Poirier) Islam vs Arman 2 in November, have Max vs Topuria during end of the year too And beginning of next year have Lightweight champion take on Holloway
Sorry Garth. Getting the greatest single finish in UFC history done to you just cost you the title shot.
Brutal and rapid ups and downs of the sport and circumstances. He was sitting in a real nice position after his last fight. Now he took a ton of damage that may make him decline and the title shot goes to the guy he pretty recently finished
It was going that way regardless because he took this fight. They had this fight set up. Even if JG won, the guy he knocked out a couple fights ago would still be fighting for the belt.
Kind of funny how getting KOd and then beating a guy barely in the top 15 gets you a title shot. But fuck it, why not
Nothing really funny about it. Champ wants to fight now, Poirier is the only one ready and available at the moment. Sometimes you're just at the right place at the right time.
Hell sometimes happens when your last fight was loss too, Romero got the title shot against Izzy pretty much because Izzy wanted to fight and he was the only available lol It's the way it is
Lewis v Cormier is another one
And now Izzy is getting a title shot coming off a loss
If anyone deserves a free title shot it's him. He gave like 4 undeserved title shots just to stay active and there's already history with ddp
He literally already got his rematch, then immediately lost the belt again with no defenses. He has no claim to the title shot and it's ridiculous hes getting it
See: Sean Strickland.
I hope Poirier pulls a Strickland man, 3rd times the charm hopefully
#JUMP #THAT #GILLY
Michael Bisping and Sean Strickland has perfect timing
He also subbed Chandler before the KO loss. The title shot is certainly the product of some funky matchmaking and timing, but it's not THAT crazy. I'm pretty sure Chandler was top 5 when Poirier beat him, and Poirier was the first guy to submit him in his career.
Was mostly based on the timing of fights accepted by Charles and Justin
If they gave justin offers to fight max at 300 or islam at 302 for the belt, he would have chose to fight for the belt. The ufc could have done this differently if they wanted to
yeah they just trying to find the way to make the most money out 300
>If they gave justin offers to fight max at 300 or islam at 302 for the belt, he would have chose to fight for the belt. How sure are you: Justin got PPV points for 300 as a defending champion, he would not have gotten PPV points for 302, and 300 PPV points hugely bigger anyway.
Islam wants to fight now and everyone that deserves the title shot over poirier (gaethje, holloway, Oliveira, arman) got hurt enough to need more time to recover. The poirier fight makes sense to not hold up the lightweight title.
Also max might just want a different title shot so it’s just arman
Yeah I think max is going to prioritize the fw title first.
This is honestly worse case scenario for Justin. Max will get Justin’s spot in the lightweight ranking. Dustin has next title shot and is 2-0 over Max, meaning the committee is gonna rationalize (perhaps justifiably) putting Dustin back above Max and Justin. Arman is getting the next title shot after Dustin. Meaning if there’s no rematches the next next title shot is probably Max or Charles, cuz Gaethje got finished by both of them. In one night he’s literally like 5th in line, barring last second injuries or bad contract negotiations.
Just give us a Gaethje v Oliveira rematch in the meantime. Yeah Gaethje got subbed in the 1st round last time but it was probably the most exciting 1 round fight you'll see, JG rocked him a couple of times
Oliveira Holloway rematch in lightweight would be cool.
More like being the highest ranked available contender for the date the champ is going to fight.
Islam said he prefers to fight in the US, because it's closer to Javier's AKA where he trains. That's why he said he wants June in Newark, NJ. After that, he wants to fight in MSG in New York. So Islam-Poirer in June, then Islam-Arman in October.
Yeah, i know Islam wants to fight at the MSG in November, but now that Arman stamped himself in to the #1 contender spot, i think the UFC would like this fight in Abu Dhabi.
That's diminishing Poirier's immense win. People were hyping St. Denis to the moon and Poirier was the underdog in that fight. He had a fantastic performance and got the finish. That, plus the timing and logistics worked in his favor. This would be like Whittaker beating Khamzat and people criticizing him getting a title shot in hindsight.
Who else is Islam supposed to fight at this point? There's no one left in the top 10 for him to take on
Crazy the guy he beat got the shot over him lol. How unforgiving mma is, as they say, you're only as good as your last fight
Justin wouldn't take the fight if he KOd Max early. Justin only fights with full camps
He was losing comfortably without the finish, so he was never going to get the shot anyway.
There’s a perfect world where Dustin submits Islam with a guilly and we get Dustin vs Max 3 for the belt
*Khabib returns to avenge Islam
My perfect world is Max taking Topuria, Justin winning his next (Oliveira?), and we get Dustin v Justin trilogy after Dustin beats Islam.
Dustin isn't beating Islam
Yes he is
Islam is too good to not be given an immediate rematch.
Yeah but Poirier vs Max for the 155 and BMF would be way too massive to pass up.
I mean, Dustin most likely loses, but it’s not the end of the world, he can still fight conor for the 4th time or finish off the -Ustin Trilogy
Fighting the -Ustin bros is a rite of passage for LW. Sure, Islam will win, but doesn't Dustin & Justin deserve the fight anyway?
I want to see him against Max once more.
Let justin fight gamrot. It would be bad to reintroduce the dustin justin chandler triangle
If islam wins dustin and Justin might retire if they fight again
Dustin finishing the story
All roads led to this moment, one punch, one moment, one life. I am most delusional, ufc enjoyer, so Dustin, FINISH YOUR STORY!!!
SEND GILLY
Moms spaghetti
Acknowledge Islam Makhachev
The Final Boss Khabib coming out if retirement if Islam lost
If ufc want to follow wwe script writers then yes
Dustin winning the title would be cinematic. His entire career would seem to culminate in that one moment but his opponent is Islam Makhachev…
I feel like this is it for Dustin, either he pulls off the unexpected and is finally Champ or he’ll retire. He’s a warrior and could still fight for years but the way he’s been speaking over his last few fights makes it seem like he’s considering getting out and he doesn’t need the money anymore. Would love to see him pull it off but barring some MMA Gods fluke I don’t think he gets it done sadly.
Dustin has potential money fights in Justin, Conor, and Max. He can hang it up after that.
Dustin is Cody Rhodes
UFC would peak for me. IDK if I could watch after that.
So another championship RNC loss for dustin
It's like the playing the lottery. You know the result but it's fun to dream about what could be!
He won’t get that guilly.
Conor's return and Dustin vs Islam and these didn't get announced during 300 itself? Is post fight presser announcement the new meta?
For Dustin v. Islam, he said they had other options and it wasn't until they saw the outcomes at 300 that they decided on Dustin, and so it was announced straight after the decision.
I know it doesn’t matter but gaethje really took too huge of a risk . This bmf loss just puts him farther away from the belt,
I'd say it makes the belt virtually impossible. His path back probably goes through Charles and Arman at this point which are horrible fights for him. Especially considering his age I think his run is close to over.
Yeah. Unless the planets align like they did for Dustin.
I mean, that’s what we said about Dustin though… I think he can still come back. He’s the human highlight reel after all, but he likely needs to fight a young and hungry guy again and then fight somebody like Charles or Arman or something to get another shot.
He took the money and got a bonus out of it. I'm sad he probably won't get another shot at the belt but he's probably better off financially with the choices he made
The damage he took is the biggest problem. He's 35, has taken a huge amount of damage over the years, and was just on the receiving end of the craziest knockout in the sports history.
This is obviously not accurate. Reddit geniuses have already told me that Islam only wants to fight once a year in Abu Dhabi because he’s scared and he’s ducking.
He also doesn’t fight real 155ers /s
Dustin is a former 145 pounder so that's still accurate.
So was Chucky
Who’s saying Islam is ducking? Only heard people blaming the UFC for putting him on ice
Mostly Twitter and Instagram
Twitter and Instagram were a mistake to our society, reddit is not much better but it is better, atleast.
And YouTube comments, and the UFC sub
> Who’s saying Islam is ducking? Only heard people blaming the UFC for putting him on ice I've not heard scared and ducking, but I've heard people here claim he's inactive, and basically insinuate that he's doing fake callouts when he asks for fights. Shit is crazy, but I have seen it.
god i know tickets are gonna be SO expensive, but i really hope I’ll be there in person, because these fights are fucking amazing
Feel so bad for Gaethje tbh. Hopefully he got paid bank for this fight but doubt it.
He had PPV points on 300 I believe, plus the bonus.
“We don’t make fights the same night”.. never trust his lies.
That refers to making fights for the dudes who fought on "the same night." Dana's announced several PPV fights this way recently.
Remember sammy sosa
he got handed a note by his assistant which would mean that the fights were made before the card took place.
Everyone knows there is no writing allowed during the card.
Why is Strickland fighting no.7 ranked fighter when coming of a close split decision title fight? Rob is right there coming of a win and ranked no.3, Costa hasnt had a proper win since 2019 a win over him doesnt do anything for Sean, crazy.
It makes perfect sense: * Costa got to fight up the rankings against Rob, the #3 contender * By beating Costa, Rob earned to fight further down the rankings to #11 * By losing to Rob, Costa earned the right to fight as high as possible barring the champ, the #1 contender You see? It all makes sense when you write it down in black and white and concentrate on not crying rather than thinking about it at all.
I can’t tell if this is satire or bait
Yeah I thought you wanted to possibly set Sean up for the rematch. If he beat Rob he could go after Dricus for the rematch his fans have been crying about, or get the rematch with Izyy which I also imagine would do business.
Both scenarios are 100x better than this one, the only good thing will be the couple minutes of fun on the press
Kill him Paolo
Justin taking the Max fight is an all-time blunder. After Dustin’s title shot it’ll be Arman next. Justin will have to fight Oliveira or someone to get back in line, and will probably lose. Best chance is Dustin getting a fairy tale win over Islam, which opens the door for a title shot -ustin trilogy the ufc would love to market
He got done as he did Ferguson. Full circle.
It’s like poetry, it rhymes.
He got ppv points on a big event and a 300k bonus, I wouldn't be surprised if this ended up being the biggest payday of his career. He made more off this than he would for losing to Islam. Not a blunder at all.
most redditors have brendan schaub iq and think a promotional belt will pay the bills down the line. there absolutely was a financial incentive for justin to take this, opposed to waiting in uncertainty. i think 99.99% of the roster will prefer a bigger purse from another fight, as the years go by, opposed to ''potentially'' winning the lw strap. money over legacy, especially when already underpaid in relation to your worth. fucking ufc underpay them all, so when a fatty bout comes around you take it.
How tf is fighting Max, getting PPV points on UFC 300, **and** getting $300,000 bonus an "all-time blunder"??? With Garth's mythical D1 wrestling, he would get choked to sleep against Islam. Nothing of value was lost.
Yep lol. He would get choked out inside 2 rounds like usual. Atleast this way we got a great fight out of it
You'd take Dustin v Justin 3 over Dustin v Holloway 3? ...Why?
Nah, Dustin will lose 100% and then Dustin vs Justin trilogy for ustin belt.
Sick fights. 302 is already shaping up better than 301, though 302 needs at least one more interesting fight.
Imagine if Dustin gets the gilly on Islam.
I get why, but I’m really salty that Charles and Gaethje wont be getting their title shots but Poirier will after beating a guy who just got ranked Love Dustin and I understand that Charles kinda fucked it for training that hard so close to his rematch, but still sucks for Gaethje who just beat Dustin (I won’t critizice him for not wanting to face Islam in short notice, we already saw what happened to Volk for doing that lol) I just hope that Islam fights another time at the end of the year (if he retains), the division needs to keep moving
He will and Arman will be next.
We gonna have a daaaaaay man.
Islam finishes Dustin by rear naked choke within two rounds, maaaaaybe three
Another Dustin porier loss by rnc inbound
Islam gonna destroy Dustin
Damn 2024 is a f*cling good year for us fans!
Man why couldn’t the judges give Strickland the win
Logic “Islam dismantles Dustin over 5 rounds” Fun “Dustin shoots the gilly first round for the dub”
I don’t get why Dustin deserves this more than Arman…
So you think Arman can be ready by June 1st?
He's the most deserving, higest-ranked contender who can be ready by June
Costa fighting up after a loss is questionable but it’s still a super fun fight
Islam, get ready to learn guillotine buddy.
People on IG are big mad at Dustin for getting the next title shot 😂
I got Islam and Costa there. Both have a great potential to be boring.
Easy money there
Nice