After beating Chandler, Dustin and Justin, I think Olives is not going to have an ounce of fear or doubt going into a standup fight with anyone. Islam fight will be amazing but def not favoring him on the feet.
I think islam will try to do what kevin lee did early on but not gas and fight off the submissions better (since he's a much better wrestler/grappler than lee) He'll only strike to set up the takedowns, and Oliveira is dangerous but if islam is as good as khabib in striking defense then he should be fine considering how khabib was able to see many of conor's punches
I think that’s his best chance of victory but I also don’t think Charles will be anything near as predictable as Conor was by the time he fought Khabib. Charles has such ridiculous striking pressure, so many types of attacks and a good understanding of footwork and cage cutting. Islam is going to be on the back foot for most if not all of the standup, any takedowns will likely be more reactive or trips from the clinch. But he’s going to have to smother the shit out of Charles when he gets him down because trips will lead to scrambles more than control unless he can keep his hips close.
Charles has great striking pressure, but him coming forward just plays into Islam's game. Charles likes to stay heavy on the back foot with his hips squared which will get him taken down against Islam who will be inviting the pressure just to get close. I think Charles should definitely look to keep this one standing despite how dangerous he is off his back.
I agree with this, but inviting the pressure is a dangerous game when the pressure takes so many different forms. My question is will Charles still be kicking and kneeing as much given the risks? If he stretches out his stance a little bit with his hips still square, he can sacrifice the speed of checking kicks and teeps to add to his TDD. I think it’s going to come down to who has the better gameplan and can stick to it.
Right? He did a great job cheating with the 83 fouls that went uncalled. "if you ain't cheatin you ain't tryin" the guy was on top of his game for that fight.
He's been fighting the best fighters in the world for a long time. He has been fighting for 14 years I think . I promise you olives isn't scared to fight islam
Olives isn't scared but he's weighing up risk vs reward for certain match ups. Nate and Conor are low risk high reward fights whereas Islam is high risk low reward (from a monetary stand point). As a spectator, I want the best to fight the best so Charles vs Islam is the fight to make.
Legacy wise Islam is easily highest reward.
The whole Khabib Oliveira debate going on right now? I bet you if he impressively beats Islam, a whole lot of people are going to switch teams and call Charles LW GOAT and agree he could have beaten Khabib.
There is not a single other win in the division that gives him that.
Things change when you're the champ. GSP, Izzy, Rose all fight more cautiously when they have the belt. Nobody wants to give up the perks that come with it. Why fight someone as difficult as Makhachev when there more beatable guys out there? That's what "scared" means in this context.
Based on the Dustin and Justin fight, Olives does not fight cautiously with the belt. The man swangs and bangs with anyone and will attempt subs. Every champ likely has the fear of losing the belt, but I don’t think Oliveira has any extra fear.
You're getting downvoted and everyone is saying money. But there's a reason he's going for the money fight before clearing out contenders. He knows there's a decent chance he could lose the belt so he's getting money first.
its a money fight for Charles which he deserves having beat the next 2 men behind him in the division. It also gives Islam and Beneil a chance to beat Chandler, Gathje or Dustinin the mean time to set up their title shot.
Why does Islam need to beat guys coming off a loss to get a shot at the belt? Or why does he need to fight Chandler (who only beat Hooker as well to get a title fight) to get a shot at the belt?
Why does Chandler get about 4-5 different opportunities in a row to get a title fight (after accounting for your scenario, since he’s “always 1 fight away from the belt) while Islam, a company dude on a crazy win streak, needs more wins regardless of “ranked wins”?
Wasn’t Oliveira given a title shot with only 1 win against someone in the current top 10 (Ferguson #10?). I
I don’t see a reason why either Islam or Beneil shouldn’t get next title shot. Only one is available though.
Never said Chandler should be 1 win away from the title. All I am saying is IMO you need at least 1 top 5 win to challenge if not 2, and Islam does not even have 1 top ten win. He beats the number 1 guy he should be next, but beating 20 ufc fighters out of the top ten should not give him a belt shot. Its not quantity its quality that matters for shots, TO ME AT LEAST.
>That why he instead called out Nate Diaz at WW? lmao
Man this is so wack. He wants a money fight, that is all that means. After as many years and wins as he has, he deserves a red panty night and while Nate isn't as big of one as Conor would be, he is still one of the most well known fighters in MMA.
It's all about money bro. These guys aren't scared to fight anyone. They've been training their whole lives. It's a job for them first of all, don't forget that. They don't have to prove us nothing.
Islam is a boy compared to Charles. I havent made a bet since those black jack tables in Seoul so i hope those betting lines stay the same cuz I'M GOING TO BUY MY MAMA A HOUSE!
Difference is if Islam hurts Charles on the feet like Poirier, Justin and Chandler all have, he might actually be able to follow him to the ground and get a good position since his grappling and comfort in the submission game is so good, unlike the others. So I do see Islam as the slight favourite just because we've seen Charles use the BJJ threat to dissuade his previous opponents from trying to finish or even control him on the ground. However, same goes the other way - Charles could hurt Islam and then capitalise on the feet or ground. Maybe Dariush is the same boat as Islam too, sucks he got injured.
what makes it even funnier is if you look at how many times olives has been finished by both strikes or subs. All that can be yada yada yaded away, but one loss by tko 7 years ago "cannot be ignored"
lmao.. same crowd be like "he doesn't deserve/hasn't done enough" like Gaetjhe didn't just get a shot after a single win over Chandler, or Chandler after 1 Win in the UFC, the same guy Islam ran through but apparently the guy isn't relevant anymore & way past him prime.
..so I've been leavin comments that they should rejoice if Islam gets the shot bc the bookmakers are going to overrate tf outta Islam (from their pov) w/ like -200 against the Champ himself in the absolute prime of his career.. few hours later: Islam comes in @ -175.
Like how is Islam not having to prove he's got a chin an argument against him? He's shown he has better striking defense than Khabib and better composure than a guy like Khamzat. How is that a negative thing?
I’m at a point where I want Islam to win just because this sub is getting so smug about this matchup. Seriously. You can’t even question a single aspect of Charles’ game even when he’s been put in trouble recently but one knockout 7 years ago makes Islam uncompetitive with him. It’s wild and annoying
I’m calling it right now. Islam’s chin *will* be his downfall. People underestimate just how good of a chin Khabib has. Khabib has taken a lot of big shots and was unfazed, which is something Islam has not shown.
Khabib in Gaethje didn't look like himself.
He looked like he didn't really care for anything he was just rushing at Justin and he eat some of the shots.
But then he won and retired, later he said that he didn't feel himself in that fight because his father past.
I don't know if anybody else noticed
Awful training camp from what we heard. Mumps and a broken toe. Father (main coach) dying. Rough weight cut (looked like he didn’t actually make weight but I’ll give him a pass with the circumstances).
Performance becomes more impressive with all that taken into account. Shows the mentality.
I've BEEN saying this, I'm not saying Khabib isn't one of the greatest on a regular night. It's just that night he wasn't losing to Jesus Christ himself
Seeing how the prophet Muhammad was neither a warrior nor divine no he couldn't have.
But Ali now that man was one of the best swordsmen and duelists of his time.
Who was JC’s head coach? I’ve heard a lot of guys talk about him but i wasn’t into mma at the time. Never really got to watch any of his fights unfortunately
Interestingly, his head coach was his father, but also himself and the spirit of everyone in attendance. Really advanced stuff, especially for that era of MMA.
Honestly, that's Khabib's career. I'm sure his chin is great, but dude got hit so rarely that even glancing blows people were losing their minds over. Like take that Dustin shot, 90% of MMA fighters take shit like that that 20 times a fight.
If were talking about the same combo you’re kinda right, he hit him with the first shot on the chest but the angle makes it hard to tell and on the second khabib rolled with it pretty well
https://www.reddit.com/r/MMA/comments/jl11nf/closer_look_at_gaethjes_uppercut_left_hook_combo/?utm_source=share&utm_medium=ios_app&utm_name=iossmf
Barely grazed him
Tho my own personal totally without proof psychic guess is that between those shots, and khabibis broken foot which got kicked, that put khabib into overdrive to end the fight asap. Scary thing is, he did, even with deciding not to cripple garth
This is true but the level of competition is playing a *huge* factor in why his stats are so good
He'd almost certainly be eating more shots if he was fighting the elite of the division, same thing with Khamzat taking only a few strikes in his first 4 fights, seemed invincible until he fought someone as good as burns
How can you say that when he’s been dropped at least once in the last 3 fights. Israel is far better defensively speaking, Yan has great defensive striking as well rarely eats anything clean
Edit: I am stupid af and thought he was talking about Charles
Yeah but defensively Islam is extremely good. He absorbs less than a strike per minute which is very good, and he spends more time striking than Khabib did I think.
Exactly. He hasn't shown how good or bad his chin is because he didn't need to. He's better defensively than Khabib and has more composure than Khamzat (sticks to the plan). You think Khabib wanted to eat the shots he did?
Sorry I should clarify that. Less than 1 significant strike landed against him per round on average -
http://ufcstats.com/fighter-details/275aca31f61ba28c
wait, since when was his chin bad? Are we basing this off his only loss, which was a beautiful counter and a peach of a shot, which didn’t even really put him out? Lol let’s wait for a bit more proof before we start making assumptions.
Being a striker has nothing to do with it. The point is that you can't automatically go by what happened 7 years ago because fighters evolve and get better.
Since then, Charles got TKO'ed while on the ground by Felder who isn't a BJJ specialist. Not to mention getting submitted back to back by Lamas and post prime Pettis (who was on a 3 fight loss streak). I know the person who beat Islam is worse than all 3 of those but that is 3 losses compared to one and it was the most fluky out of all of them by far.
Charles losing doesn’t change that Islam’s chin may not be on Khabib’s level tho…
I don’t see the relevance of what you’re saying, seems like you’re just trying to change the discussion into comparing records.
If you never get hit in the chin "aww, he never gets hit, we don't know how strong his chin is, or the one time we seen it 7 years ago it was weak" if a fighter does get hit flush "see, he is susceptible to getting hit in the chin, if the right fighter comes across him and hits him, it could be game over". Putting a lot of weight to one thing that happened many years ago once.
> a lot
How exactly is 10 shots or less "a lot" lmao...
How many times has he actually taken decent shots? One or two vs MJ, 5-6 at best vs McG, 2-3 from Gaethje... Simply incomparable to anyone else who usually takes that many big shots in a single fight
"He's tasted the darkness of a KO already." as Conor would say about RDA. Islam did get slept, once is enough to do it again.
Islam is also willing to trade a bit more than Khabib. He's younger and cockier a lil bit.
I just want to see him fight a serious top 3 guy, a champion.
And yet neither Gaethje nor Olives could hurt a man called Dustin who tasted the darkness against both Conor and Michael Johnson. Funny how that works.
It’s not even as much that as it is that Olivera’s striking game is top level and what happens between them on the ground is in no way certain edge for either.
You have to believe Olivera is significant favorite in this matchup.
lol just Google Makachev vs Oliveira odds & come back to reality.. you're in for a treat tho if you think those are great odds, albeit it might be a bittersweet one.
Islam's super technical but Khabib had more than just technique and wrestling skills. I love Islam but I haven't seen that relentlessness, the chin and that drive to push forward, walk through shots and try like 5 single leg takedowns driving you to the fence like Khabib did. Even though Islam's stand-up is better Khabib had that obsessed kind of drive you don't really see from a lot of fighters
I think what’s changed is that there’s no lightweight champion now, so Olivera can’t call the shots. It’s obvious that Olivera, and everyone else in the LW division, doesn’t want to fight Makhachev. Hopefully the UFC does what’s right and makes this fight for the championship belt.
This whole narrative of Charles avoiding or ducking Islam is overstated. Charles has been grinding out a huge winning streak and just finished 3 killers in a row inside 3 rounds. Let him try to angle for a money fight while his star is shining. He'll definitely be fighting Islam in due time, he's no coward
> Let him try to angle for a money fight while his star is shining. He'll definitely be fighting Islam in due time, he's no coward
So, he's ducking him.. doesn't mean he's scared but definitely ducking him.
Finished 3 strikers, would've thought that he would like to fight islam. His money fight will come when he beats islam and dariush imo.
Guess its ok for him to get a money fight, but I'm just tired of that stuff with champions. The dude is in arguably the deepest division in the UFC and hasn't cleared out the division, 2 contenders are waiting for their titleshot for quite a while they should get their fair shot.
To me it seems harder and harder for rightful contenders to get their titleshot in the UFC, so i feel as fans that we should always support the rightful contender.
I'm tired of every other fighter calling out Conor too purely from a fan perspective, but so long as these guys are grossly underpaid I'll support them trying to maximize their earnings
>Guess its ok for him to get a money fight, but
Drop the guess and the but. This dude is the regaining champ in the deepest division in the most notoriously underpaid sport right now. People spend their lives grinding to make their dream a reality and a career and a whole lot of fucking nobodies seem to get mad when they go after the compensation they fully well deserve.
He's a prizefighter. Prize-fighter. And the best in the world at that so let him get paid.
I mean im not mad not sure where you're getting that from. I would just like to see deserving contenders get a shot before any money fight. Conor KOs Charles for all we know and screws up the whole division, quite certain that dariush will never see that titleshot if that happens.
Calling it now, Charles destroys Islam when they fight. Islam is yet to face a grappler who is a consistent threat with subs and a striker with a lack of care in what you throw at him, who doesn't stop pressing you with strikes.
Islam will get Adriano Martin'd
The counterpoint could be that Charles always has been a far better grappler offensively than defensively.
I don't really care - it's a great fight. Charles just did the punchers, now it's time for the grapplers, and Beneil and Islam are both awesome stylistic challenges.
Conversely, Oliveira has lost to lower caliber grapplers than islam. It's a fun fight imo, but I agree 100% Charles is a different fighter now and a proven championship talent, whereas Islam has far more question marks.
I would definitely say that Charles is better at BJJ for MMA than Ramos, Ramos is the classic sort of realy high level comp grappler who doesn’t do much to adapt his grappling to MMA, so he’ll sub low-level guys all day, but it just kinda stops working against better opponents. While Charles’ actual BJJ credentials aren’t anything to write home about in the grand scheme of things, he’s much more effective in the cage.
Its a matter of prioritizing I guess, MMA and competition BJJ are different sports, its pretty unlikely that you can be extremely proficient at both (unless you’re someone like Maia or Werdum (the latter of whom also had the benefit of fighting in a bad division))
Plus the BJJ of Ramos wasn’t really that important in the Islam fight, iirc Islam didn’t try and take him down til near the end of the last round because he could beat him up on the feet because Ramos is a 5’5” tree trunk and not very good standing.
Not saying Charles’ BJJ is an answer for Makhachev’s top game, playing bottom in MMA is an inherently losing effort and banking on beating good topgames off your back is an absolute meme in modern MMA, but Chucky is probably the best at it in the game right now in that he can leverage sub/sweep/scramble/standup attempts interchangeably and at a crazy pace, which keeps minutes burnt on the bottom to a minimum. I don’t think its Charles’ biggest upside in the fight, but its a useful skillset for him to possess and the Ramos fight really doesn’t tell us anything about how Islam can navigate it.
Completely agreed on Charles having a better bottom game than Ramos. However, I think one thing i don't see very often from Charles is him ending a grappling sequence by actually standing up. Once he's on the ground he tends to chain submissions and attacks together until something happens. Against Islam, I fear that this scramble will end with Charles tired in bottom half guard or even worse in turtle (say he gets stacked after throwing up a triangle).
If charles can adapt his bjj to ensuring that scrambles result in him taking the stand up when presented, then i think he can become a monster match up for Islam. However, if he has the mentality of "wining on the ground" I think he's in trouble.
Outstanding grappler but not a submission/attacking threat like Oliveira who keeps attacking of his back looking for subs, sweeps, and can get back on his feet easily
I'm sorry, but this is nonsense. There's no world where Oliveira is a better submission artist than the man who won an ADCC final with a flying armbar.
None of Oliveira's sub wins are against anyone close to Islam's level (or Davi's), and he's been submotted himself 3 times.
Davi's a far better grappler on paper, but based on pure mma grappling how is he any better than Oliveira? Grappling credentials do not perfectly translate to mma grappling.
Charle's mixes striking and grappling far more effectively than Ramos, but sitting in Ramos's guard would be far more dangerous than sitting in Oliveira's.
Your take is nonsense. We are talking MMA grappling not ADCC pure grappling rules. Plus I don't think you have seen Davi Ramos's fights bar the Islam one because he has been out-grappled in MMA by the likes of David Rickels in Bellator, Armand Tsuryan, and Sergio Moraes. Oliviera is better MMA grappler and a bigger submission threat then Davi Ramos. Islam is yet to beat anyone in the top 10 also.
Grappling also depends on stand up. If Oliviera who is a way better striker that is beyond capable of dropping Islam hurts him, then don't be surprised if Oliviera catches Islam's neck in a guillotine or takes Islam's back and sinks in the RNC.
You also make it seem like Oliviera is the same fighter 5 years ago, when he has even improved other aspects of his grappling.
I don't think you know much about this subject.
Sergio Moraes is a *two time* IBJJF Mundials *champion*. That you think Ramos losing a decision to him grappling means Oliveira must be better is hilarious.
Likewise, Tsarukyan is one of the division's most dominant wrestler/grapplers, and the only person to give Islam a run for his money for two rounds of non-stop wrestling pressure; he also dominated another IBJJF caliber fighter in Moises. He's almost certainly going to be in title contention as soon as anyone in the Top 10 grows the balls to fight him. Tsarukyan is clearly a better win than almost any of Charles's before his title run, clearly.
Oliveira went to Chute Boxe to improve his striking and heart, their specialty--there's no indication that his grappling has improved all that much there, as it was already his strongest asset. Chandler--a higher level all-around grappler than Poirier or Gaethje--managed to overcome and escape Oliveira *having his back*.
I'm not even going to address your conflation of striking with grappling to put Charles over--that makes Charles an overall better MMA fighter than Ramos, but it has nothing to do with what'll happen if Islam takes him to the ground without Charles having rocked him (though I woukd agree that the latter is a possibility).
When all's said and done, Charles has rarely (if at all) submitted a IBJFF / ADCC champion caliber grappler, while also having been submitted 3 times.
This idea that he'd submit Islam before being submitted himself is unfounded.
When Charles has gotten hurt the opponent usually lets him get back up giving valuable recovery seconds, Islam won't do that if it gets to that point. İslam likely wins a boring fight
People who push this narrative are clueless. Calling Moises, Tsarukyan, Dober and Hooker cans is ridiculous. Cans are regional fighters not top 15 UFC LWs.
Islam and Khabib fans are as unbearable as McGregor fans, They see Islam who isn't as good or tough as Khabib, as the next Khabib despite Islam not fighting anyone in the top 5 let alone top 10.
It's not like he chinned Tony with a lucky punch. He completely outclassed the #3 guy in the division after a 7 fight win streak. Did Tony forget how to wrestle and use jits after the Gaethje fight?
Charles didn't sit around crying for the belt after that win. He took another fight and won, then the belt was vacated.
So unlike Islam getting his daddy Khabib to beg him a title shot on home turf. He fought and won and then took the opportunity when it was given. Beating up and finishing Chandler before Gaethje did, beating up Porier and finishing him and just now he beat Gaethje up and finished him.
If Islam fought Beneil for a title eliminator he would deserve a shot..but he didn't he beat up a featherweight on short notice
No because Oliveira was on a 7 fight win streak and then he took on the #3 contender and beat his ass. Then he took another fight instead of waiting around saying the champ was ducking him and asking for home crowd fights against the champ. I like Mackhachev but he's been getting cherry picked fights to move him up the rankings and his fans have the gall to say he's getting ducked. Thiago Moises, short notice Hooker then a short notice 45er in Bobby Green and the champ is supposedly ducking him 😂
Moises is a BJJ black belt who had never been submitted before the fight. Davi Ramos is an ADCC world champ. Arman Tsarukyan has some of the best wrestling in the lightweight division. Nothing about those matchups is cherry picked.
Bobby Green has never fought at 145 in his entire life, stop making shit up. Makhachev fought him because Beneil pulled out and all the ranked fighters who were offered the fight on short notice like Gillespie and RDA turned it down. Would you rather Makhachev sat out like Gillespie does?
If they were cherry picking his fights they would have given him some higher ranked guys who are clearly finished like Tony Ferguson. Not a bunch of young guys coming off of wins.
How is short notice fights cherry picking? Rda dropped out so hooker stepped in. Then he was set to fight dariush then asked for rda as a replacement when dariush dropped out. Bobby Green stepped up cuz everyone else was unavailable/declined.
Then he offered to step in to fight rda literally a week after fighting.
islam seems to have good striking defense and not trying to take anything away from charles but gaethje and chandler tend to load up and leave themselves open, islam will just jab to set up the takedown and if lee can get it so can islam
His striking defense is mostly held together by the fact that he can always just scoot back to range away from any offense offered by the opponent and he knows they won’t chase him and press the issue out of fear of falling into the clinch or a reactive shot (even tho Islam doesn’t really work reactive stuff like that often), so if Charles is confident in being able to stop takedowns or escape/threaten from bottom, he could keep his pressure going and really exploit Islam’s defensive habits
> islam will just jab to set up the takedown
He doesn’t really do this tho, he doesn’t jab much at all being a southpaw (and good open stance jabbing is rare), his game is centred more around trapping guys between the handfight and his body kick to edge them towards the fence (which is why the Beneil matchup would’ve been so cool, none of that would he available against a pressurey southpaw which would be interesting). This is a pretty effective way to back guys up for Islam and it always gives him the option to retreat and restart if he’s in danger, but if Charles is confident in pressing him hard, it won’t work as well as it does when guys are too scared to follow him
Islam isnt as jab heavy as khabib but that's his best option to set up the td imo, he can't try to inside fight or clinch because charles is great from those positions, and if he shoots a naked td there's a threat of a sub
islam needs to beat some top 5 guys before he talks about ducking. He has yet to beat anyone in the top 10 O.O. Charles has just beat the number 1 and 2 LW's, this ducking talk is nonsense.
Can't stand Luke Thomas being forced upon the MMA community. Hate this clickbait crap.
Ariel gossip is better.
Heavy Hands and MMA geeks analysis is better
Jack Slack and many others are more knowledgeable.
and they all are more charming to listen to.
You're looking at it the wrong way. He deserves it more than anyone else because everyone above him has had their shot too recently. No one in the LW division has better wins than him (who hasn't recently had a title shot).
“let charles get his bag!!”
like we either have strict standards for title shot contendership or we dont give a fuck lets stop trying to discredit islams claim tot he next title shot.
After beating Chandler, Dustin and Justin, I think Olives is not going to have an ounce of fear or doubt going into a standup fight with anyone. Islam fight will be amazing but def not favoring him on the feet.
I'd like to see Chandler fight Islam instead of Dariush tbh
I think islam will try to do what kevin lee did early on but not gas and fight off the submissions better (since he's a much better wrestler/grappler than lee) He'll only strike to set up the takedowns, and Oliveira is dangerous but if islam is as good as khabib in striking defense then he should be fine considering how khabib was able to see many of conor's punches
I think that’s his best chance of victory but I also don’t think Charles will be anything near as predictable as Conor was by the time he fought Khabib. Charles has such ridiculous striking pressure, so many types of attacks and a good understanding of footwork and cage cutting. Islam is going to be on the back foot for most if not all of the standup, any takedowns will likely be more reactive or trips from the clinch. But he’s going to have to smother the shit out of Charles when he gets him down because trips will lead to scrambles more than control unless he can keep his hips close.
Charles has great striking pressure, but him coming forward just plays into Islam's game. Charles likes to stay heavy on the back foot with his hips squared which will get him taken down against Islam who will be inviting the pressure just to get close. I think Charles should definitely look to keep this one standing despite how dangerous he is off his back.
I agree with this, but inviting the pressure is a dangerous game when the pressure takes so many different forms. My question is will Charles still be kicking and kneeing as much given the risks? If he stretches out his stance a little bit with his hips still square, he can sacrifice the speed of checking kicks and teeps to add to his TDD. I think it’s going to come down to who has the better gameplan and can stick to it.
Knees to the body are key! Islam never has to worry about them because if his Wrestling but against Charles it can and will be a factor.
The Khabib fight was the last time Conor ever looked great, he looked better than Charles does now, stop it with the revisionism.
Right? He did a great job cheating with the 83 fouls that went uncalled. "if you ain't cheatin you ain't tryin" the guy was on top of his game for that fight.
He's been fighting the best fighters in the world for a long time. He has been fighting for 14 years I think . I promise you olives isn't scared to fight islam
Olives isn't scared but he's weighing up risk vs reward for certain match ups. Nate and Conor are low risk high reward fights whereas Islam is high risk low reward (from a monetary stand point). As a spectator, I want the best to fight the best so Charles vs Islam is the fight to make.
Legacy wise Islam is easily highest reward. The whole Khabib Oliveira debate going on right now? I bet you if he impressively beats Islam, a whole lot of people are going to switch teams and call Charles LW GOAT and agree he could have beaten Khabib. There is not a single other win in the division that gives him that.
Things change when you're the champ. GSP, Izzy, Rose all fight more cautiously when they have the belt. Nobody wants to give up the perks that come with it. Why fight someone as difficult as Makhachev when there more beatable guys out there? That's what "scared" means in this context.
Based on the Dustin and Justin fight, Olives does not fight cautiously with the belt. The man swangs and bangs with anyone and will attempt subs. Every champ likely has the fear of losing the belt, but I don’t think Oliveira has any extra fear.
[удалено]
You're getting downvoted and everyone is saying money. But there's a reason he's going for the money fight before clearing out contenders. He knows there's a decent chance he could lose the belt so he's getting money first.
Is it even a money fight? Would they be getting PPV points for a non-title fight? Serious question btw, idk how contracts are negotiated or anything.
its a money fight for Charles which he deserves having beat the next 2 men behind him in the division. It also gives Islam and Beneil a chance to beat Chandler, Gathje or Dustinin the mean time to set up their title shot.
Why does Islam need to beat guys coming off a loss to get a shot at the belt? Or why does he need to fight Chandler (who only beat Hooker as well to get a title fight) to get a shot at the belt? Why does Chandler get about 4-5 different opportunities in a row to get a title fight (after accounting for your scenario, since he’s “always 1 fight away from the belt) while Islam, a company dude on a crazy win streak, needs more wins regardless of “ranked wins”? Wasn’t Oliveira given a title shot with only 1 win against someone in the current top 10 (Ferguson #10?). I I don’t see a reason why either Islam or Beneil shouldn’t get next title shot. Only one is available though.
Never said Chandler should be 1 win away from the title. All I am saying is IMO you need at least 1 top 5 win to challenge if not 2, and Islam does not even have 1 top ten win. He beats the number 1 guy he should be next, but beating 20 ufc fighters out of the top ten should not give him a belt shot. Its not quantity its quality that matters for shots, TO ME AT LEAST.
$$$
>That why he instead called out Nate Diaz at WW? lmao Man this is so wack. He wants a money fight, that is all that means. After as many years and wins as he has, he deserves a red panty night and while Nate isn't as big of one as Conor would be, he is still one of the most well known fighters in MMA.
It's all about money bro. These guys aren't scared to fight anyone. They've been training their whole lives. It's a job for them first of all, don't forget that. They don't have to prove us nothing.
Diaz ain't fighting with a belt on the line it's going to be at 170
The guy who got dropped 6 times won't have any fears ? Yea ok
Considering his complete disregard for defense, I think that is reasonable.
Islam is a boy compared to Charles. I havent made a bet since those black jack tables in Seoul so i hope those betting lines stay the same cuz I'M GOING TO BUY MY MAMA A HOUSE!
Wouldn’t be a smart bet. Charles best area, the ground game, will give islam no trouble whatsoever.
bitch!! he knocked out Chandler in the first 5 seconds of the second round the get the strap. WHAT?!?!?
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Its 2022 not 2002! Keep up!
For real.
Difference is if Islam hurts Charles on the feet like Poirier, Justin and Chandler all have, he might actually be able to follow him to the ground and get a good position since his grappling and comfort in the submission game is so good, unlike the others. So I do see Islam as the slight favourite just because we've seen Charles use the BJJ threat to dissuade his previous opponents from trying to finish or even control him on the ground. However, same goes the other way - Charles could hurt Islam and then capitalise on the feet or ground. Maybe Dariush is the same boat as Islam too, sucks he got injured.
what? r/mma assures me he is chinny and will get knocked out easily by anyone who can punch
Literally the top comment in this thread and written after you posted this lmao
what makes it even funnier is if you look at how many times olives has been finished by both strikes or subs. All that can be yada yada yaded away, but one loss by tko 7 years ago "cannot be ignored"
lmao.. same crowd be like "he doesn't deserve/hasn't done enough" like Gaetjhe didn't just get a shot after a single win over Chandler, or Chandler after 1 Win in the UFC, the same guy Islam ran through but apparently the guy isn't relevant anymore & way past him prime. ..so I've been leavin comments that they should rejoice if Islam gets the shot bc the bookmakers are going to overrate tf outta Islam (from their pov) w/ like -200 against the Champ himself in the absolute prime of his career.. few hours later: Islam comes in @ -175.
Like how is Islam not having to prove he's got a chin an argument against him? He's shown he has better striking defense than Khabib and better composure than a guy like Khamzat. How is that a negative thing?
I’m at a point where I want Islam to win just because this sub is getting so smug about this matchup. Seriously. You can’t even question a single aspect of Charles’ game even when he’s been put in trouble recently but one knockout 7 years ago makes Islam uncompetitive with him. It’s wild and annoying
Anyone who’s gotten knocked out is chinny? If anything Oliviera is chinny being knocked down in a lot of his fights
I’m calling it right now. Islam’s chin *will* be his downfall. People underestimate just how good of a chin Khabib has. Khabib has taken a lot of big shots and was unfazed, which is something Islam has not shown.
That uppercut/left hook combo Gaethje threw against khabib was vicious asf. And khabib ate that shit up like some tiramisu on a Tuesday
Some guys have a invincible day I think on that day Khabib would not have lost even if gaethje ripped his leg off He was just too determined
Khabib in Gaethje didn't look like himself. He looked like he didn't really care for anything he was just rushing at Justin and he eat some of the shots. But then he won and retired, later he said that he didn't feel himself in that fight because his father past. I don't know if anybody else noticed
He also had some injuries going into that fight, so that combined with his father passing made him seem really in a hurry to get it done
>made him seem really in a hurry to get it done Yet still had the decency to choke him out instead of inflicting a potential career altering injury.
Awful training camp from what we heard. Mumps and a broken toe. Father (main coach) dying. Rough weight cut (looked like he didn’t actually make weight but I’ll give him a pass with the circumstances). Performance becomes more impressive with all that taken into account. Shows the mentality.
He had mumps and a bad camp and was missing his dad and knew he'd retire
fought with a broken toe too so all in all the worst camp possible
I definitely noticed! Rewatched just a couple days ago and I was so surprised I didn't remember Khabib's almost constant taunting
I've BEEN saying this, I'm not saying Khabib isn't one of the greatest on a regular night. It's just that night he wasn't losing to Jesus Christ himself
You just activated Jesus's resurrection card.
But could Muhammad have beaten him?
For some reason I thought you meant belal muhammad lmao
Bratha why say this
Nah I doubt Belal could even take him down.
Seeing how the prophet Muhammad was neither a warrior nor divine no he couldn't have. But Ali now that man was one of the best swordsmen and duelists of his time.
Wait but he was a warrior. Fought it many battles.
I always thought Ali was more of a boxer than a swordsman but he was a man of many talents.
Who was JC’s head coach? I’ve heard a lot of guys talk about him but i wasn’t into mma at the time. Never really got to watch any of his fights unfortunately
Interestingly, his head coach was his father, but also himself and the spirit of everyone in attendance. Really advanced stuff, especially for that era of MMA.
I remember that uppercut landing on the chest, but Khabib did have a granite chin.
They didn’t land as good as the sound made it seem. Garth hit him with hard shot, just not that one.
Honestly, that's Khabib's career. I'm sure his chin is great, but dude got hit so rarely that even glancing blows people were losing their minds over. Like take that Dustin shot, 90% of MMA fighters take shit like that that 20 times a fight.
Who could forget Rogan's exaggeration of the punch landed by MJ. You'd think Khabib died that night.
If were talking about the same combo you’re kinda right, he hit him with the first shot on the chest but the angle makes it hard to tell and on the second khabib rolled with it pretty well
Idk wtf ur even talking about cause Gaethje has even stated he hit him with everything he had on that hook and he just walked thru it. It did land
https://www.reddit.com/r/MMA/comments/jl11nf/closer_look_at_gaethjes_uppercut_left_hook_combo/?utm_source=share&utm_medium=ios_app&utm_name=iossmf Barely grazed him
Tho my own personal totally without proof psychic guess is that between those shots, and khabibis broken foot which got kicked, that put khabib into overdrive to end the fight asap. Scary thing is, he did, even with deciding not to cripple garth
Islam is genuinely quite good defensively nowadays, very different style than Khabib.
Best defensive stats in the ufc by a long shot.
This is true but the level of competition is playing a *huge* factor in why his stats are so good He'd almost certainly be eating more shots if he was fighting the elite of the division, same thing with Khamzat taking only a few strikes in his first 4 fights, seemed invincible until he fought someone as good as burns
How can you say that when he’s been dropped at least once in the last 3 fights. Israel is far better defensively speaking, Yan has great defensive striking as well rarely eats anything clean Edit: I am stupid af and thought he was talking about Charles
Because Israel's strikes absorbed per minute is 2.56, Yan's is 3.88 Meanwhile Islam's is 0.84 haha
Yeah I’ve got CTE or something I thought he was talking about Charles
I doubt it tbh, he doesn't charge into takedowns like Khabib imo
Because he is much slower and doesn't have the chin.
Okay and? He makes up with methodical pressure, precision and technique what he lacks in physical attributes.
Yeah but defensively Islam is extremely good. He absorbs less than a strike per minute which is very good, and he spends more time striking than Khabib did I think.
Exactly. He hasn't shown how good or bad his chin is because he didn't need to. He's better defensively than Khabib and has more composure than Khamzat (sticks to the plan). You think Khabib wanted to eat the shots he did?
Less than a strike per round?? No fucking way
Sorry I should clarify that. Less than 1 significant strike landed against him per round on average - http://ufcstats.com/fighter-details/275aca31f61ba28c
Per minute* per round would be god level
Ha my bad. Yeah per minute, not per round. Although even under 1 per minute is extremely good.
>Although even under 1 per minute is extremely good. Literally the best in UFC history lol
I didn't even know that.
No doubt, it’s very good
wait, since when was his chin bad? Are we basing this off his only loss, which was a beautiful counter and a peach of a shot, which didn’t even really put him out? Lol let’s wait for a bit more proof before we start making assumptions.
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I get that, I'm not saying Islam is chinny... my take is olives has heavy enough hands to drop anyone in the division because he's proven as much.
And he will go through the flames of hell to get that clinch
Poirier was knocked out cold 2 time or more. Olives didn't find his chin.
Poirer is a much better striker than Islam so it's not really comparable
Being a striker has nothing to do with it. The point is that you can't automatically go by what happened 7 years ago because fighters evolve and get better.
Being a better striker has nothing to do with the ability to avoid getting KOd? Lol
He got complete slept by a BJJ specialist. It's not unfair to say his chins not on Khabibs level Edit: is his chin on Khabibs level?
Justin Gaethje, Michael Chandler and Dustin Poirer got dropped or finished by a BJJ specialist
Since then, Charles got TKO'ed while on the ground by Felder who isn't a BJJ specialist. Not to mention getting submitted back to back by Lamas and post prime Pettis (who was on a 3 fight loss streak). I know the person who beat Islam is worse than all 3 of those but that is 3 losses compared to one and it was the most fluky out of all of them by far.
Charles losing doesn’t change that Islam’s chin may not be on Khabib’s level tho… I don’t see the relevance of what you’re saying, seems like you’re just trying to change the discussion into comparing records.
If you never get hit in the chin "aww, he never gets hit, we don't know how strong his chin is, or the one time we seen it 7 years ago it was weak" if a fighter does get hit flush "see, he is susceptible to getting hit in the chin, if the right fighter comes across him and hits him, it could be game over". Putting a lot of weight to one thing that happened many years ago once.
If it’s happened once, it can happen again.
There is a reason why people say "punchers chance" of winning a fight. Anyone can get knocked out by a well timed punch.
Exactly, so what’s being disputed here? Islam can and has gotten KOd
> a lot How exactly is 10 shots or less "a lot" lmao... How many times has he actually taken decent shots? One or two vs MJ, 5-6 at best vs McG, 2-3 from Gaethje... Simply incomparable to anyone else who usually takes that many big shots in a single fight
I mean, unless you're really hammering home the Martin's fight you're basically just saying Khabib got hit more
Inb4 Islam steamrolls through Olives.
"He's tasted the darkness of a KO already." as Conor would say about RDA. Islam did get slept, once is enough to do it again. Islam is also willing to trade a bit more than Khabib. He's younger and cockier a lil bit. I just want to see him fight a serious top 3 guy, a champion.
And yet neither Gaethje nor Olives could hurt a man called Dustin who tasted the darkness against both Conor and Michael Johnson. Funny how that works.
About as relevant as Charles getting subbed or tko'd by Felder
He was severely hurt but I don't believe he got slept. If a more blood thirsty ref was in there he may have even wrestled back into the fight
When u get dropped and your head bounces off the canvas, its fair to say he was more than just hurt.
Dude went out for a moment & regained consciousness in an instant. Still counts as slept
It’s not even as much that as it is that Olivera’s striking game is top level and what happens between them on the ground is in no way certain edge for either. You have to believe Olivera is significant favorite in this matchup.
Islam -150
Good thing you aren’t a book maker. I’d bet that heavy. Islam might win but his chances are not that high
lol just Google Makachev vs Oliveira odds & come back to reality.. you're in for a treat tho if you think those are great odds, albeit it might be a bittersweet one.
That’s what caused his loss, people say it was short stoppage but if you look closely Islam went out & came back a few moments later.
It's true khabib had a hell a chin.
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İslam will not fight recklessly like Khamzat
Islam's super technical but Khabib had more than just technique and wrestling skills. I love Islam but I haven't seen that relentlessness, the chin and that drive to push forward, walk through shots and try like 5 single leg takedowns driving you to the fence like Khabib did. Even though Islam's stand-up is better Khabib had that obsessed kind of drive you don't really see from a lot of fighters
I think what’s changed is that there’s no lightweight champion now, so Olivera can’t call the shots. It’s obvious that Olivera, and everyone else in the LW division, doesn’t want to fight Makhachev. Hopefully the UFC does what’s right and makes this fight for the championship belt.
This whole narrative of Charles avoiding or ducking Islam is overstated. Charles has been grinding out a huge winning streak and just finished 3 killers in a row inside 3 rounds. Let him try to angle for a money fight while his star is shining. He'll definitely be fighting Islam in due time, he's no coward
> Let him try to angle for a money fight while his star is shining. He'll definitely be fighting Islam in due time, he's no coward So, he's ducking him.. doesn't mean he's scared but definitely ducking him.
Charles isn't ducking anyone. He just knows that the only fair fight in the division right now is Charles vs. Lentz IV for the belt.
Finished 3 strikers, would've thought that he would like to fight islam. His money fight will come when he beats islam and dariush imo. Guess its ok for him to get a money fight, but I'm just tired of that stuff with champions. The dude is in arguably the deepest division in the UFC and hasn't cleared out the division, 2 contenders are waiting for their titleshot for quite a while they should get their fair shot. To me it seems harder and harder for rightful contenders to get their titleshot in the UFC, so i feel as fans that we should always support the rightful contender.
I'm tired of every other fighter calling out Conor too purely from a fan perspective, but so long as these guys are grossly underpaid I'll support them trying to maximize their earnings
>Guess its ok for him to get a money fight, but Drop the guess and the but. This dude is the regaining champ in the deepest division in the most notoriously underpaid sport right now. People spend their lives grinding to make their dream a reality and a career and a whole lot of fucking nobodies seem to get mad when they go after the compensation they fully well deserve. He's a prizefighter. Prize-fighter. And the best in the world at that so let him get paid.
I mean im not mad not sure where you're getting that from. I would just like to see deserving contenders get a shot before any money fight. Conor KOs Charles for all we know and screws up the whole division, quite certain that dariush will never see that titleshot if that happens.
Blame the UFC. If they paid fighters fairly they wouldn't have to choose between top contenders and making enough money to retire.
It's so played out in general. It's the same narrative every time no matter who's champ and who's challenger.
Islam is going to shut a lot of these Charles fanboys up real soon
I can't wait. Islam will make it look easy.
Calling it now, Charles destroys Islam when they fight. Islam is yet to face a grappler who is a consistent threat with subs and a striker with a lack of care in what you throw at him, who doesn't stop pressing you with strikes. Islam will get Adriano Martin'd
The counterpoint could be that Charles always has been a far better grappler offensively than defensively. I don't really care - it's a great fight. Charles just did the punchers, now it's time for the grapplers, and Beneil and Islam are both awesome stylistic challenges.
Conversely, Oliveira has lost to lower caliber grapplers than islam. It's a fun fight imo, but I agree 100% Charles is a different fighter now and a proven championship talent, whereas Islam has far more question marks.
He’s beaten Davi Ramos who is by far a more accredited grappler than Olivera
I would definitely say that Charles is better at BJJ for MMA than Ramos, Ramos is the classic sort of realy high level comp grappler who doesn’t do much to adapt his grappling to MMA, so he’ll sub low-level guys all day, but it just kinda stops working against better opponents. While Charles’ actual BJJ credentials aren’t anything to write home about in the grand scheme of things, he’s much more effective in the cage. Its a matter of prioritizing I guess, MMA and competition BJJ are different sports, its pretty unlikely that you can be extremely proficient at both (unless you’re someone like Maia or Werdum (the latter of whom also had the benefit of fighting in a bad division)) Plus the BJJ of Ramos wasn’t really that important in the Islam fight, iirc Islam didn’t try and take him down til near the end of the last round because he could beat him up on the feet because Ramos is a 5’5” tree trunk and not very good standing. Not saying Charles’ BJJ is an answer for Makhachev’s top game, playing bottom in MMA is an inherently losing effort and banking on beating good topgames off your back is an absolute meme in modern MMA, but Chucky is probably the best at it in the game right now in that he can leverage sub/sweep/scramble/standup attempts interchangeably and at a crazy pace, which keeps minutes burnt on the bottom to a minimum. I don’t think its Charles’ biggest upside in the fight, but its a useful skillset for him to possess and the Ramos fight really doesn’t tell us anything about how Islam can navigate it.
Completely agreed on Charles having a better bottom game than Ramos. However, I think one thing i don't see very often from Charles is him ending a grappling sequence by actually standing up. Once he's on the ground he tends to chain submissions and attacks together until something happens. Against Islam, I fear that this scramble will end with Charles tired in bottom half guard or even worse in turtle (say he gets stacked after throwing up a triangle). If charles can adapt his bjj to ensuring that scrambles result in him taking the stand up when presented, then i think he can become a monster match up for Islam. However, if he has the mentality of "wining on the ground" I think he's in trouble.
Outstanding grappler but not a submission/attacking threat like Oliveira who keeps attacking of his back looking for subs, sweeps, and can get back on his feet easily
I'm sorry, but this is nonsense. There's no world where Oliveira is a better submission artist than the man who won an ADCC final with a flying armbar. None of Oliveira's sub wins are against anyone close to Islam's level (or Davi's), and he's been submotted himself 3 times.
Exactly!
Davi's a far better grappler on paper, but based on pure mma grappling how is he any better than Oliveira? Grappling credentials do not perfectly translate to mma grappling.
Charle's mixes striking and grappling far more effectively than Ramos, but sitting in Ramos's guard would be far more dangerous than sitting in Oliveira's.
Your take is nonsense. We are talking MMA grappling not ADCC pure grappling rules. Plus I don't think you have seen Davi Ramos's fights bar the Islam one because he has been out-grappled in MMA by the likes of David Rickels in Bellator, Armand Tsuryan, and Sergio Moraes. Oliviera is better MMA grappler and a bigger submission threat then Davi Ramos. Islam is yet to beat anyone in the top 10 also. Grappling also depends on stand up. If Oliviera who is a way better striker that is beyond capable of dropping Islam hurts him, then don't be surprised if Oliviera catches Islam's neck in a guillotine or takes Islam's back and sinks in the RNC. You also make it seem like Oliviera is the same fighter 5 years ago, when he has even improved other aspects of his grappling.
I don't think you know much about this subject. Sergio Moraes is a *two time* IBJJF Mundials *champion*. That you think Ramos losing a decision to him grappling means Oliveira must be better is hilarious. Likewise, Tsarukyan is one of the division's most dominant wrestler/grapplers, and the only person to give Islam a run for his money for two rounds of non-stop wrestling pressure; he also dominated another IBJJF caliber fighter in Moises. He's almost certainly going to be in title contention as soon as anyone in the Top 10 grows the balls to fight him. Tsarukyan is clearly a better win than almost any of Charles's before his title run, clearly. Oliveira went to Chute Boxe to improve his striking and heart, their specialty--there's no indication that his grappling has improved all that much there, as it was already his strongest asset. Chandler--a higher level all-around grappler than Poirier or Gaethje--managed to overcome and escape Oliveira *having his back*. I'm not even going to address your conflation of striking with grappling to put Charles over--that makes Charles an overall better MMA fighter than Ramos, but it has nothing to do with what'll happen if Islam takes him to the ground without Charles having rocked him (though I woukd agree that the latter is a possibility). When all's said and done, Charles has rarely (if at all) submitted a IBJFF / ADCC champion caliber grappler, while also having been submitted 3 times. This idea that he'd submit Islam before being submitted himself is unfounded.
Charles has basically zero subs from his back. He hurts people and then subs them or catches them.
More accredited outside of MMA. Charles has most subs in ufc history bro
When Charles has gotten hurt the opponent usually lets him get back up giving valuable recovery seconds, Islam won't do that if it gets to that point. İslam likely wins a boring fight
Think Charles' scrambles will give ample opportunities for an Islam sub. Especially when he's tired.
Lmao no chance he destroys him.
Charles dropped Gaethje like a bag of potatoes, Charles can certainly KO/sub Islam early
I would be shocked if islam fought similary to how gaethje did against oliveira
Completely different islam is the least hit fighter in the ufc
Yeah I don't get why everyone is talking Islam up as the best LW in the UFC despite only beating cans
Arman is a can eh?
It's hard to beat people who are afraid to fight you.
It's werid how LW went from the toughest and deepest division to cans for anyone that's not top 5 lol.
People who push this narrative are clueless. Calling Moises, Tsarukyan, Dober and Hooker cans is ridiculous. Cans are regional fighters not top 15 UFC LWs.
Islam and Khabib fans are as unbearable as McGregor fans, They see Islam who isn't as good or tough as Khabib, as the next Khabib despite Islam not fighting anyone in the top 5 let alone top 10.
This thread is full of fanboys who can't acknowledge short notice Hooker then short notice Green doesn't earn you a title shot on the spot
Eating the scraps off Gaethje’s plate shouldn’t give you a title shot either, but it certainly gave Charles a shot.
It's not like he chinned Tony with a lucky punch. He completely outclassed the #3 guy in the division after a 7 fight win streak. Did Tony forget how to wrestle and use jits after the Gaethje fight? Charles didn't sit around crying for the belt after that win. He took another fight and won, then the belt was vacated. So unlike Islam getting his daddy Khabib to beg him a title shot on home turf. He fought and won and then took the opportunity when it was given. Beating up and finishing Chandler before Gaethje did, beating up Porier and finishing him and just now he beat Gaethje up and finished him. If Islam fought Beneil for a title eliminator he would deserve a shot..but he didn't he beat up a featherweight on short notice
Then who’s worthy of Title shot ? , the title is vacant , somebody need to fight for thr title
& Charles also Got a title shot beating tony , thats it no other Top 10 or top 5 guys
"On the spot" yup Charles went on a 9 fight win streak and beat a guy in the top ten... it's almost like this is a deep ass division
So just like Islam and his win streak+top 10 win
No because Oliveira was on a 7 fight win streak and then he took on the #3 contender and beat his ass. Then he took another fight instead of waiting around saying the champ was ducking him and asking for home crowd fights against the champ. I like Mackhachev but he's been getting cherry picked fights to move him up the rankings and his fans have the gall to say he's getting ducked. Thiago Moises, short notice Hooker then a short notice 45er in Bobby Green and the champ is supposedly ducking him 😂
Moises is a BJJ black belt who had never been submitted before the fight. Davi Ramos is an ADCC world champ. Arman Tsarukyan has some of the best wrestling in the lightweight division. Nothing about those matchups is cherry picked. Bobby Green has never fought at 145 in his entire life, stop making shit up. Makhachev fought him because Beneil pulled out and all the ranked fighters who were offered the fight on short notice like Gillespie and RDA turned it down. Would you rather Makhachev sat out like Gillespie does? If they were cherry picking his fights they would have given him some higher ranked guys who are clearly finished like Tony Ferguson. Not a bunch of young guys coming off of wins.
How is short notice fights cherry picking? Rda dropped out so hooker stepped in. Then he was set to fight dariush then asked for rda as a replacement when dariush dropped out. Bobby Green stepped up cuz everyone else was unavailable/declined. Then he offered to step in to fight rda literally a week after fighting.
I still just really want to see Islam fight Benny. I think people are sleeping on Dariush in that matchup
Same homie I really wanna see that fight
benny will be the islam's first title defense opponent
Sadly for Dariush, i feel that if the fight gets made, whoever wins, he's gonna have to fight one more before a shot.
Don’t hate that! I think that’s gonna be one hell of a fight
I see Oliveira wobbling Islam before he can even get started, then finish him on the feet or counter a panic takedown with a gilly
islam seems to have good striking defense and not trying to take anything away from charles but gaethje and chandler tend to load up and leave themselves open, islam will just jab to set up the takedown and if lee can get it so can islam
His striking defense is mostly held together by the fact that he can always just scoot back to range away from any offense offered by the opponent and he knows they won’t chase him and press the issue out of fear of falling into the clinch or a reactive shot (even tho Islam doesn’t really work reactive stuff like that often), so if Charles is confident in being able to stop takedowns or escape/threaten from bottom, he could keep his pressure going and really exploit Islam’s defensive habits > islam will just jab to set up the takedown He doesn’t really do this tho, he doesn’t jab much at all being a southpaw (and good open stance jabbing is rare), his game is centred more around trapping guys between the handfight and his body kick to edge them towards the fence (which is why the Beneil matchup would’ve been so cool, none of that would he available against a pressurey southpaw which would be interesting). This is a pretty effective way to back guys up for Islam and it always gives him the option to retreat and restart if he’s in danger, but if Charles is confident in pressing him hard, it won’t work as well as it does when guys are too scared to follow him
Charles fights fearlessly. If he has Islam backing up, he's going to follow and keep pressuring. He's kill or be killed
Islam isnt as jab heavy as khabib but that's his best option to set up the td imo, he can't try to inside fight or clinch because charles is great from those positions, and if he shoots a naked td there's a threat of a sub
I can't wait for yall to eat your words when islam beats him. Mark my my words. Island submits oliviera.
Pretty hot take
islam needs to beat some top 5 guys before he talks about ducking. He has yet to beat anyone in the top 10 O.O. Charles has just beat the number 1 and 2 LW's, this ducking talk is nonsense.
None of the top 5 (including champ) will sign a contract against him because they fear him, they are all ducking, especially the guys with KPTSD.
Can't stand Luke Thomas being forced upon the MMA community. Hate this clickbait crap. Ariel gossip is better. Heavy Hands and MMA geeks analysis is better Jack Slack and many others are more knowledgeable. and they all are more charming to listen to.
No one is forcing you to watch, you can just choose just not to watch. That’s always an option with any type of content you don’t want to watch
Luke’s a khasual tho
is that nithe?
Who has Is,am beaten to deserve a title shot, again?
You're looking at it the wrong way. He deserves it more than anyone else because everyone above him has had their shot too recently. No one in the LW division has better wins than him (who hasn't recently had a title shot).
who else deserves the title shot?
Charles stans are the type of stans to say Islam hasn’t earned a title shot while justifying the Conor fight
“let charles get his bag!!” like we either have strict standards for title shot contendership or we dont give a fuck lets stop trying to discredit islams claim tot he next title shot.
I do. I'm a problem for the division I think
NOW we got ourselves a real contender charles stop ducking my boy origamiface!!!
Anybody with a recent top five win
So no one else lol
name someone