Media Islam Makhachaev interview with ESPN ( Cliffs)

[Habib The Eagle]

● Islam didn't want to fight October 30, Ali had to convince him to fight in Abu Dhabi. Islam wanted to rest and fight end of the year

● Islam thinks maybe the reason RDA couldn't make it to the fight is the long travel between USA-Abu Dhabi

●Islam only wanting to fight top ranked opponent when the RDA fight fell out. Tony/Hooker.

● Thinks the Ferguson fight is more interesting because of the history with Khabib. He also said if he beats Ferguson the fans will say hes to old.

● Thinks Hooker is a high level striker and have fought great fighters. After he beats Hooker , he will be ranked 3-4.

● Thinks Hooker took the fight for the money and because it was on short notice. He will take "skinny Hooker" down whenever he wants.

● Thinks hes very close to the titel with a win over Hooker but he honestly says that UFC will give him on more. Maybe the loser of Oliveira/Poirier

●Thinks Poirier will beat Oliveira, more experience and he will make him tired because when its a hard fight Oliveira tends to give up.

●If Chandler wins against Gaethje he will not get a TS because he just got one.

 

[Nada.]

Nice interview, Khamzat is a future GOAT.

 

[killer spider]

boring

 

[ryun253]

If Islam can destroy Hooker in Rd 1, no way he doesn't get a title shot. Courtesy of his manager & Khabib connections

 

[HockeyBjj]

Isla wanted to wait even more months? Good job Ali getting him to actually get into the cage and fight.

 

[Willie]

Isla wanted to wait even more months? Good job Ali getting him to actually get into the cage and fight.

He already fought twice this year and he wanted to fight more like in November or December. I am not sure what the gripe is.

 

[EYEKICKFACES]

He already fought twice this year and he wanted to fight more like in November or December. I am not sure what the gripe is.

You are either slow or haven't been paying attention. He constantly whines about not being ranked higher and not getting a title shot and how people are ducking him. Then he gets offered a high ranked opponent and responds with "nah, I think ill sit this one out." Do you get it now?

 

[SalvadorAllende]

If Islam can destroy Hooker in Rd 1, no way he doesn't get a title shot. Courtesy of his manager & Khabib connections

Courtesy on him having a 9 fight winning streak. Give the guy some merit.

 

[Luckyme]

You are either slow or haven't been paying attention. He constantly whines about not being ranked higher and not getting a title shot and how people are ducking him. Then he gets offered a high ranked opponent and responds with "nah, I think ill sit this one out." Do you get it now?

What are you talking about? I watched the interview and he said he wasn’t planning to fight until Nov/Dec but accepted when they gave him a ranked opponent. He literally did the opposite of what you’re accusing him of.

 

[Willie]

You are either slow or haven't been paying attention. He constantly whines about not being ranked higher and not getting a title shot and how people are ducking him. Then he gets offered a high ranked opponent and responds with "nah, I think ill sit this one out." Do you get it now?

I get that you are just shitting on a guy for no reasons. He's ranked 5 now perfect placement to get fights, not sure why you are getting your knickers in a twist. He never said he was going to sit that one out. He said if you have nobody interesting to give me, after RDA pulled out 'ie, not another non ranked bum' I would sit that one. Then they came with Hooker and ferguson, Hooker accepted, Islam said Ok let's go.

You' re the one who seem pretty slow to understand things.

 

[accolyte1022]

Are you allowed to start Islam threads?

 

[Captain Insano]

He already fought twice this year and he wanted to fight more like in November or December. I am not sure what the gripe is.

The gripe is that we want to see if the hype train is real or not.

 

[Young Calf Kick]

You are either slow or haven't been paying attention. He constantly whines about not being ranked higher and not getting a title shot and how people are ducking him. Then he gets offered a high ranked opponent and responds with "nah, I think ill sit this one out." Do you get it now?

Which didn't happen, btw. You would know this if you watched the video.

Decent attempt at randomly calling people out on the interwebs, too bad you're just a dummy.

 

[CJrider]

You are either slow or haven't been paying attention. He constantly whines about not being ranked higher and not getting a title shot and how people are ducking him. Then he gets offered a high ranked opponent and responds with "nah, I think ill sit this one out." Do you get it now?

He literally said after his last fight that for his 3rd fight this year he wanted it to be in November/December, closer to the end of the year. He said he agreed only because they finally gave him a top ranked opponent.

I don't think you bothered to watch the interview and are posting passionately with your own opinion while ignoring what he actually said.

 

[Ackmed]

Thanks for the Cliffs @Habib The Eagle

On the RDA part, I understood it as - at first when he heard the RDA bout fell through he thought it was due to the distant location but after hearing of RDAs injury he said he wishes RDA a speedy recovery.

He also said UFC brought up Tony and Hooker as two potential options then told him that they can't get a hold of Tony.

 

[TempleoftheDog]

I have nothing against him personally. There’s the whole gifted his rank argument. But, that can be countered by the ranked fighters wouldn’t fight him argument. So they pretty much cancel eachother out.

I wish Hooker had more time in between fights, and time for a proper training camp. But, it is what it is. But, I don’t think this should be a number 1 contender fight either. Will Hooker get the next TS if he wins? And we’ve got Justin, and Chandler fighting soon as well. I don’t think Islam should leapfrog the winner of that fight. They are both ranked higher.

But, I guess timing may play a big role in the next TS. And the fact that the UFC loves Khabib’s fanbase. But, Ideally I’d like to see the winner of Justin/Chandler face the winner of this Islam/Hooker fight for the next shot. But, the timeframe may be too long.

Whatever, either the guy is actually the real deal or not. But, I want to see people actually earn their shots. You can’t acknowledge Islam’s streak, while ignoring Edwards’ streak at WW.

I think Islam wins this fight, though. There’s just a little too much working against Hooker right now. I can’t see him being in the best shape for this fight.

 

[Fesaine]

Islam deserve a title shot if he beats hooker.

 

[Frank McEdgar]

The GOAT will be in attendance for this fight also

 

[Benoitthegr8]

● Islam didn't want to fight October 30, Ali had to convince him to fight in Abu Dhabi. Islam wanted to rest and fight end of the year

Islam realistically just Isn’t looking forward to doing that brutally rough weight cut more than once every 6-8 months (don’t blame him)

● Thinks the Ferguson fight is more interesting because of the history with Khabib. He also said if he beats Ferguson the fans will day hes to old.

He’s absolutely correct here, Tony wouldn’t and shouldn’t be considered a top win with him being 0-3 and absolutely a shadow of his former self, it would have been a great fight a few years ago.

● Thinks Hooker is a high level striker and have fought great fighters. After he beats Hooker , he will be ranked 3-4.

In all honesty Islam is probably juicing at the mouth with this stylistic matchup, Hooker is a tailor made dominant win waiting to happen... providing he doesn’t stand and bang too long.

● Thinks hes very close to the titel with a win over Hooker but he honestly says that UFC will give him on more. Maybe the loser of Oliveira/Poirier

While I mostly agree, There have been multiple guys who have beaten Hooker and had that win translate into the TS. I’m sure that depends on what happens between Gaethje and Chandler, also Benny being in the mix

●Thinks Poirier will beat Oliveira, more experience and he will make him tired because when its a hard fight Oliveira tends to give up.

conventional wisdom would suggest this, but I dunno... something tells me that you have to strike while the irons hot, and Poirier waiting on the TS in lieu of the McGregor money fights will come back and bite him in the arse.

 

[Ackmed]

Dan said he got better wrestling trainers in Vegas than at his camps in New Zealand.

He also had a camp just prior to this and Islam is also taking a stylistically different opponent on short notice. Also I don't believe Islam trained at AKA for this camp.

I'm not saying Dan's camp was ideal but it's not like Dan has much worse circumstances than Islam.