Do you actually believe Umar will not become BW champ at some point?

[MarioLemieux]

18-1

Close match against a freak of nature and broke his hand in the first round, but took no real damage. Did better against Merab than anyone esle during his run.

Umar is not thirty yet has yet to hit his prime.

Merab is almost 35.

I mean the possibility exists that he won't, but he already dominated Corey, and Umar is a much better grappler than Yan, Figgy, Henry and can strike as well. Look how much better he did against Merab than Henry (olympic gold medalist).

The future of the division, just like his brother Usman at LW.

 

[HNIC215]

People like to pretend that fighting with a broken hand against a game champion is easy.

Umar was easily outpointing and grappling Merab early on.

Even Merab's takedowns didn't amount to anything meaningful, and his face remained untouched. In fact, Merab had more bruises by the end.

Umar just gassed and obviously tired from fighting for a few rounds with one good hand.

Those boys in Dagestan will not let him forget and will make sure he is 1000% ready next time they meet.

 

[Sean Chowdhury]

definitely will be a champ at some point, already had a close fight with merab and is young with time to improve. I think umar should fight omalley, Merab fights yan, and assuming umar beats sean and merab beats yan then we will get a rematch.

 

[jeskola]

So his heart was in his hand?

 

[Lycandroid]

If he won a few more exchanges and had better cardio he could have easily won that fight, round 5 was pretty close compared to 3 and 4

 

[Preston broadus]

He could have been champ with a different strategy. Work on takedown counters

 

[Luthien]

Broken hand was not father's plan

 

[AbominableJoman]

Never champ. Wasn’t really good to begin with. Time to drop the gloves

 

[Meathead Jock]

Probably becomes a champ at some point but I'm not confident he would beat Yan who is only 23 months older than him.

Yan got screwed more times than just about anyone, he is an elite fighter still.

 

[clackers]

There’s no guarantees and remember Umar is not Khabib or Islam and is not as good as either of them.

Umar may never hold the belt. Time will tell, I could see O’Malley cracking Umar if the fight stayed on the feet.

I don’t see Umar beating Merab anytime soon
Maybe in 3 plus years time if Merab slows down.

 

[Meathead Jock]

Probably becomes a champ at some point but I'm not confident he would beat Yan who is only 23 months older than him.

There’s no guarantees and remember Umar is not Khabib or Islam and is not as good as either of them.

Umar may never hold the belt. Time will tell, I could see O’Malley cracking Umar if the fight stayed on the feet.

I don’t see Umar beating Merab anytime soon
Maybe in 3 plus years time if Merab slows down.

No way Merab can keep this pace 3 years from not at 38, enjoy it while we can, because it could disappear real fast at this point.

 

[sdpdude9]

I think he and Merab could definitely cross paths again in the near future. I think a few tweaks to the gameplan and more 5 round experience could very well make for a different fight.

 

[clackers]

Probably becomes a champ at some point but I'm not confident he would beat Yan who is only 23 months older than him.

No way Merab can keep this pace 3 years from not at 38, enjoy it while we can, because it could disappear real fast at this point.

Time will tell but fighting is his life and he puts in the work and he looks hungry in his fights.

Right now there no one that can beat him at bantam weight.

He just spanked Umar who was supposed to be his toughest test.

 

[Meathead Jock]

Time will tell but fighting is his life and he puts in the work and he looks hungry in his fights.

Right now there no one that can beat him at bantam weight.

He just spanked Umar who was supposed to be his toughest test.

I'm a big Merab fan. I actually bet on him to win and said that I expect him to in another thread. I just don't think you can keep going in a lighter weight class past 35 for long depending on world class stamina. Hope he proves me wrong though, but I could see a Colby fall from grace happen due to old age in a year or two

 

[MarioLemieux]

Once Merab gets clipped, and he almost got dropped by Umar, he won't be the same past 35. Cardio is one of the first things to go as well as his knees.

He is at the end of his prime and Umar has yet to enter his.

Peak MMA years these days are 30-34.

 

[NoSmilez]

I don't know. His hairline might not hold up before he can capture the belt.

 

[clackers]

I'm a big Merab fan. I actually bet on him to win and said that I expect him to in another thread. I just don't think you can keep going in a lighter weight class past 35 for long depending on world class stamina. Hope he proves me wrong though, but I could see a Colby fall from grace happen due to old age in a year or two

Time will tell.

If he stays hungry and looks after himself doesn’t fight too much he can keep going. Jon Jones has been going strong for a long time now. It’s about the preparation for each fight.

Colby is not really a comparison as Merab is levels above Colby. If you look at who Merab has beaten to get get where he is you would know this. Colby hasn’t beaten anyone.

 

[Hymen Crusher]

I think at this point it's merab vs time. He can lose but until his chin goes it won't happen. His cardio is never going to be less then his opponent.

 

[Meathead Jock]

Time will tell.

If he stays hungry and looks after himself doesn’t fight too much he can keep going. Jon Jones has been going strong for a long time now. It’s about the preparation for each fight.

Colby is not really a comparison as Merab is levels above Colby. If you look at who Merab has beaten to get get where he is you would know this. Colby hasn’t beaten anyone.

I agree he is better than Colby ever was. Just saying that Colby was a fighter whose best attribute was cardio and he went from good to bad real quick. Merab is even better and has better cardio but his whole fight style still depends on his cardio not taking a sharpe decline on him.

 

[contrail]

He'll almost certainly be champ in the future barring some freak injury. He has all the talent and is still very young. I hope Patchy Mix comes over to the UFC as well - I think he has a damn good chance of beating Merab.