Media Arman Tsarukyan turned down offer for Islam Makhachev rematch

[fortheo]

Why do you think they specifically jumped Alvarez when asking who to face Islam?

Alvarez was ranked #15 up until a week or two ago, so he's probably still higher on the list than Bobby Green.

Bobby green is a bigger name, and maybe they don't want to give Alvarez the chance since he missed weight twice.

 

[campbecc]

Take him down make him tired and make him tap

while that is possible; I'd make Oliveira a favorite. Oliveira is more well rounded and Islam would have to beat Oliveira in grappling by enough to overcome the fact Oliveira would win the stand up convincingly.

 

[moosaev]

I get where he's coming from but the UFC holds grudges against up and coming fighters who turn down fights unfortunately. It might come back to bite him in the ass.

Don’t think they’ll be too pissed at him because he’s fighting this weekend. I bet they’re probably relieved they got Bobby instead

 

[moosaev]

Do you know if they asked Alvarez to fight Islam?

@Busgosu you got any insight? I think it would have been a huge opportunity for Alvarez, but i suspect it wasn't offered to him.

Keep in mind Alvarez has trouble making weight, some times he misses by a lot. I suspect they didn’t wanna risk the main card on a fighter who hasn’t shown consistency in making weight.

 

[fortheo]

Keep in mind Alvarez has trouble making weight, some times he misses by a lot. I suspect they didn’t wanna risk the main card on a fighter who hasn’t shown consistency in making weight.

Yeah, i just said the same thing. The poster I tagged tends to have more info on Alvarez, so I was wondering if he could confirm whether or not the fight was offered. I'm guessing it wasn't

 

[Ackmed]

while that is possible; I'd make Oliveira a favorite. Oliveira is more well rounded and Islam would have to beat Oliveira in grappling by enough to overcome the fact Oliveira would win the stand up convincingly.

Have we seen Oliveira fight off his back against an elite grappler?

Fighter Kevin Lee had a lot of ground control time before Charles was able to sub a gassed version of him in round 3

Not saying it's an easy win for Islam, Oliveira's awesome but I don't see him as a favorite against Islam

 

[pv3Hpv3p]

That quote is straight truth.

It's less about turning down a fight, but more about an athlete that comes to terms with and analyzes his possible downfalls.

Coupled with the poise, intelligence & patience to admit ones' own faults.

 

[BsBan_Account#2]

I'm confused, how does islam beat oliveira?? I see islam beating everyone else in the division, but dont see a path to victory for him against oliveira

how can you not see a path to victory for that? These are two of the best lw’s in the world, if you’ve seen them fight it shouldn’t be that hard to figure out unless you’ve only seen their most recent fights where they’re just rolling through everyone. Only paths to victory I have a hard time seeing is Olivera wrestlefucking Islam or Islam knocking Olivera clean out in the feet but nothing else would really surprise me.

I think Olivera could Islam him or even get tapped in late rounds if he can’t get him out early. Love this matchup because the style play is the best test for both of them, don’t think it’s easy to predict at all

 

[moosaev]

while that is possible; I'd make Oliveira a favorite. Oliveira is more well rounded and Islam would have to beat Oliveira in grappling by enough to overcome the fact Oliveira would win the stand up convincingly.

Why would Oliveira win the stand up convincingly? Islam has among the best striking defense in LW history statistically, you can look that up, the guy barely gets touched. Oliveira on the other hand has terrible defense and gets dropped almost every fight. So who really has the striking advantage?

 

[VinceArch]

Don’t think they’ll be too pissed at him because he’s fighting this weekend. I bet they’re probably relieved they got Bobby instead

Time will tell.

 

[campbecc]

Why would Oliveira win the stand up convincingly? Islam has among the best striking defense in LW history statistically, you can look that up, the guy barely gets touched. Oliveira on the other hand has terrible defense and gets dropped almost every fight. So who really has the striking advantage?

Oliveira has fought so much better competition it's not even close, you can't compare them by looking at statistics.

 

[BsBan_Account#2]

@Ackmed Oloveria is a phenomenal grappler though, with great cardio and submissions to go with it. Idk, I dont see it.

we’ve literally never seen Olivera in championship rounds. Obviously his cardio is great but we have no idea he can keep up that pace in 4 and 5 if he can’t get a finish.

I think Olivera is possibly the most talented pure submission (not grappling) artist in MMA I’ve ever seen but he can still be outgrappled and tapped himself because of his style. I’m guessing you haven’t seen any of Olivera losses but take a look sometime and tell me you really can’t envision a way Islam wins. Wasn’t that long ago that Paul fielder sat in his guard and just pounded his face in. Oli is a new fighter for sure but we’ve seen his faults a million times in the octagon and pretty much every submission loss he has is by a lesser submission artist or grappler.

 

[NoSmilez]

Arman shouldn't take this fight. He takes it and loses on a short notice. There is no point of him trying to contend for a title. Islam is already training and I can understand people not wanting a short notice fight because they aren't in camp.

 

[campbecc]

Have we seen Oliveira fight off his back against an elite grappler?

Fighter Kevin Lee had a lot of ground control time before Charles was able to sub a gassed version of him in round 3

Not saying it's an easy win for Islam, Oliveira's awesome but I don't see him as a favorite against Islam

We also haven't seen Islam versus a grappler as good as Oliveira. Islam is kind of an unknown due to the level of competition he has fought; so if I have to pick a favorite I'm going with Oliveira. I wouldn't be shocked if I were wrong.

 

[moosaev]

Oliveira has fought so much better competition it's not even close, you can't compare them by looking at statistics.

Yes, you actually can. Oliveira has objectively bad striking defense, it’s always been his Achilles heel. You think he’s been fighting Poirier his entire career? The issue here is when people talk about who’s a better striker they’re almost always talking about who the better offensive striker is, it’s a fundamental misunderstanding of striking where defense is actually more important (and more difficult) than offense. In grappling it’s the other way around, offense is more important (and more difficult) than defense. Anyway, you can argue that Oliveira has an edge in striking (I’d disagree) but imo given how terrible his defense is it makes no sense to say he has a massive edge over Islam in striking. I’d personally give the edge to Islam because of his superb defense.

 

[campbecc]

Yes, you actually can. Oliveira has objectively bad striking defense, it’s always been his Achilles heel. You think he’s been fighting Poirier his entire career? The issue here is when people talk about who’s a better striker they’re almost always talking about who the better offensive striker is, it’s a fundamental misunderstanding of striking where defense is actually more important (and more difficult) than offense. In grappling it’s the other way around, offense is more important (and more difficult) than defense. Anyway, you can argue that Oliveira has an edge in striking (I’d disagree) but imo given how terrible his defense is it makes no sense to say he has a massive edge over Islam in striking. I’d personally give the edge to Islam because of his superb defense.

Islam does not have the offensive striking skill of those who hurt Oliveira.

 

[mikesparrow]

@Ackmed Oloveria is a phenomenal grappler though, with great cardio and submissions to go with it. Idk, I dont see it.

He is a good grappler, he is by no means a phenomenal grappler. He was submitted 3 times. He also had Tony's arm fully extended in an armbar and couldn't tap him with plenty of time. Islam will easily outgrapple him..

 

[BsBan_Account#2]

Have we seen Oliveira fight off his back against an elite grappler?

Fighter Kevin Lee had a lot of ground control time before Charles was able to sub a gassed version of him in round 3

Not saying it's an easy win for Islam, Oliveira's awesome but I don't see him as a favorite against Islam

Hioki was an elite grappler I would argue (some of the best guard passing we’ve ever seen in MMA imo) but completely different style than Islam. He ended up getting tapped by Oliviera but he had some success on the ground and passed his guard a couple times if I remember right and had a close sub himself.

I think it’s likely that Islam can control oliviera on the ground, especially in late rounds. But not doubting Olivieras ability to just jump on someone’s back and choke em early or catch something in transition.

the scrambles in this fight would be a joy to watch.

 

[moosaev]

Islam does not have the offensive striking skill of those who hurt Oliveira.

And those who hurt Oliveira didn’t have the takedown threat of Islam, which imo will make Oliveira’s suspect striking defense even more suspect.

 

[campbecc]

And those who hurt Oliveira didn’t have the takedown threat of Islam, which imo will make Oliveira’s suspect striking defense even more suspect.

I can see that, it's not like grappling is Oliveira's strength; he'll be so scared to grapple he will get destroyed in standup.

If Islam beats Oliveira it will not be in striking, it will be by going strength vs strength and winning by grappling.