Both interm champs will get starched

[Koro_11]

I think he is a better striker and harder striker than Iaquinta. I doubt their grappling is that far apart.

Still rather see Tony or JG vs Khabib but ive never underestimated Poirier. He's a great fighter.

Ya I think he's a better striker too, I think he's a great hammer just not that great at being the nail. I'm as impressed by Dustin's run as anyone, but I've seen him get his bell rung and I've seen him finished several times already, so while I know he's very capable of lighting guys up, I question how much of a beating he can take.

 

[Koro_11]

OP lives in his own, parallel MMA Salt Universe where Romero holds the strap.

Not really about who's holding the strap, but I dont think anyone who's watched that fight is being honest with themselves if they deny that Romero won it.

 

[zippo88]

Dustin hits hard but FW Max finished the fight and it was close. Gaethje hits harder than Poirier.

 

[Intermedius]

Israel seems to get a lot better every fight. I think he will win the unification bout.

I'm a Whitaker and Israel fan, but more of Whitaker's. That said. I agree. Israel uses his time in between fights wisely.

 

[ultramanhyata]

Idk why, I'm still not sold on Izzy.

Getting busted up by a munchkin is never a good look. Especially when you're supposed to be the king of distance management.

(Crazy as it seems, Dustin Poirier actually has a longer reach than Kelvin. lol)

However, in Israel's favor is the fact that Whittaker's reach only beats Kelvin's by about an inch and a half. (Whittaker stands at 6' though, so the overall range disadvantage won't be quite as pronounced.)

 

[GBJohn]

Not on paper, but if you watched his last fight you know it deep inside.

Do you mean the fight where he missed weight and lost, or some other fight I didn’t see?

 

[Koro_11]

Do you mean the fight where he missed weight and lost, or some other fight I didn’t see?

If you thought he lost then it's obviously a fight you didn't see... either that or you saw it, but are clueless to what you were watching.

 

[SKITZADACTYL]

you don't know what " starched " means, khabib doesn't " starch " anyone.


but yeah i was hoping max would win and look impressive doing it, cause i just don't buy that poirier has anything for khabib.

 

[GBJohn]

If you thought he lost then it's obviously a fight you didn't see... either that or you saw it, but are clueless to what you were watching.

I watched a great fight that could have gone either way. It wasn’t a robbery, and wouldn’t have been if Romero had gotten the nod.

Even if Romero had gotten the decision, he still wouldn’t be champ because he blew his weight cut. Before you say, “but, he didn’t get his hour!”, remember that the extra hour is optional and the commission can stop a fighter’s weight cut at any point if it’s deemed unsafe for him to continue.

 

[Koro_11]

I watched a great fight that could have gone either way. It wasn’t a robbery, and wouldn’t have been if Romero had gotten the nod.

Even if Romero had gotten the decision, he still wouldn’t be champ because he blew his weight cut. Before you say, “but, he didn’t get his hour!”, remember that the extra hour is optional and the commission can stop a fighter’s weight cut at any point if it’s deemed unsafe for him to continue.

Yeah I'm not too hung up on the belt, he was over by .2 and rules are rules so it is what it is.

That said, there is no way Whittaker won that fight.

MMA judging is stupid, Romero dropped Whittaker how many times? And they scored all the rounds 10-9?? WTF??

Just watch the Anders vs Rountree fight last night for further proof just how stupid that criteria is. Rountree absolutely dominated round 2, dropped his opponent FOUR times and outstruck him like 100 to 1, and all they gave him was a 10-8. That means if Anders had kept is somewhat close in rounds 1 and 3 where he edged out those rounds, they would have called the fight a draw. That's fucken stupid beyond stupid.

I dont care what point karate criteria says, I've watched enough fights in my life to know Whittaker got his ass kicked, and even he didn't believe he won that fight when the final bell sounded.

 

[PIИKBLIИK]

In my opinion Bobby Knuckles and Stylebender is a tough one to call. Israel beats Romero tho, with his distance, pace and decent ability to keep the fight out of the hands of the grappler I think it's a decision victory for sure.

As for Khabib, yeah Dustin doesn't have the gas tank, speed or power to last and certainly not the grappling to survive Khabib on the ground. Certainly at best a 50-45 loss, with the most likely outcome being a finish in the first half of the fight.

 

[po_thead]

Champ Romero, ha great material

 

[Koro_11]

In my opinion Bobby Knuckles and Stylebender is a tough one to call. Israel beats Romero tho, with his distance, pace and decent ability to keep the fight out of the hands of the grappler I think it's a decision victory for sure.

As for Khabib, yeah Dustin doesn't have the gas tank, speed or power to last and certainly not the grappling to survive Khabib on the ground. Certainly at best a 50-45 loss, with the most likely outcome being a finish in the first half of the fight.

Romero a grappler? LOL

 

[GBJohn]

Yeah I'm not too hung up on the belt, he was over by .2 and rules are rules so it is what it is.

That said, there is no way Whittaker won that fight.

MMA judging is stupid, Romero dropped Whittaker how many times? And they scored all the rounds 10-9?? WTF??

Just watch the Anders vs Rountree fight last night for further proof just how stupid that criteria is. Rountree absolutely dominated round 2, dropped his opponent FOUR times and outstruck him like 100 to 1, and all they gave him was a 10-8. That means if Anders had kept is somewhat close in rounds 1 and 3 where he edged out those rounds, they would have called the fight a draw. That's fucken stupid beyond stupid.

I dont care what point karate criteria says, I've watched enough fights in my life to know Whittaker got his ass kicked, and even he didn't believe he won that fight when the final bell sounded.

I definitely see where you're coming from, but to me, part of being a great fighter is understanding the rule set under which you are fighting. Point fighting is generally detested around here, and I get that, but I also appreciate fighters who adapt their tactics to make sure their hand gets raised at the end. It doesn't matter who would have won "if it was a real fight". It wasn't. It was a mixed martial arts competition, and judging is part of that, if you don't get a finish.

I also detest fighters who don't adapt to the situation. For instance, how often have we seen a fighter who's pretty obviously down two rounds come out for the third and continue to fight exactly as they had been for the first two? You need a finish! Even winning the round will do you no good at this point!

 

[GBJohn]

Romero a grappler? LOL

For Romero to have developed his striking game like he has is a testament to just how incredible of an athlete he is, both physically, and in terms of learning new techniques. Can you imagine if he had started training for MMA a bit earlier?

 

[Koro_11]

I definitely see where you're coming from, but to me, part of being a great fighter is understanding the rule set under which you are fighting. Point fighting is generally detested around here, and I get that, but I also appreciate fighters who adapt their tactics to make sure their hand gets raised at the end. It doesn't matter who would have won "if it was a real fight". It wasn't. It was a mixed martial arts competition, and judging is part of that, if you don't get a finish.

I also detest fighters who don't adapt to the situation. For instance, how often have we seen a fighter who's pretty obviously down two rounds come out for the third and continue to fight exactly as they had been for the first two? You need a finish! Even winning the round will do you no good at this point!

Sure, but half the time these judges themselves are clueless about the rule set under which they're fighting.

Another blatant example from last night, the Jouban fight. One judge has it 30-27 for him, while the other two have it 29-28 for the opponent, and this is something that happens every single event.

How can you expect a fighter to understand the criteria, when the judges themselves are all over the place in so many of these fights.

 

[sfblue]

People sleep on Poirer because they remember his losses to Conor and MJ, but we have to keep in mind how young he is. At 30 years old and still a young adult, he is really putting it together. I would still favor Khabib, but I think he is as good a challenge as there is for him.

 

[Alpha_T83]

By the true cream of the crop in their division.

Dustin hits hard but it wont help him when he's on his back with Khabib on top of him, and Tony's crazy ass probably strangles him if he cant get the job done in the standup.

Adesanya will not survive the champ Romero, or Whittaker or Jacare for that matter.

A really entertaining night of fights, but neither champ had that umph win that tells me this guy is gonna hold that belt for a while.

Delusional. Romero lost TWICE and isn't even a 185er -- accept it.

 

[PIИKBLIИK]

...

Yeah the thing is, Romero has explosive power but as both Whitaker fights have shows beyond landing big bombs or pulling something crazy out he can be given huge issues with distance.

Most of the times relying on leaving himself open running forward or chasing/plodding for a few rounds. So if he stays standing with Israel he risks the same or similar result with Whitaker and letting the fight get far out of his range while his opponent just builds up points.
As for grappling, Yoel in one of those gif against Machida tries something crazy, get's a small tag and falls back on his knee...that's insane jumping in like that...in the same fight he took Machida down and smashed him, that's where his best chance on Israel is.

On the feet it will be another decision loss in my opinion.