Do you respect Usman more now that he went up weight to fight a killer like Chimaev?

[chinarice]

Instead of giving props to 1 fighter, how about we give props to all 4?

Islam, Khamzat, Usman and Volk all deserve credit. Both Islam and Khamzat IMO accepted short notice fights against tougher opponents than they were originally slated to fight.

 

[Yellowcrab]

Islam, Khamzat, Usman and Volk all deserve credit. Both Islam and Khamzat IMO accepted short notice fights against tougher opponents than they were originally slated to fight.

Stop with this nonsense, both Usman and Volk took way more risks.

Also, Volk is not a tougher opponent than Oliveira.

 

[chinarice]

Stop with this nonsense, both Usman and Volk took way more risks.

Also, Volk is not a tougher opponent than Oliveira.

Factually incorrect.

 

[Yellowcrab]

Factually incorrect.

Both Usman and Volk took the fight on a very short notice + while coming from a lower weight class. You're completely delusional.

 

[Mohawk Banditó]

Always respected him, and this made me respect him more

A welterweight champion with 5 successful title defenses is something to respect, even if they weren't the best quality opponents

That's what I was looking for. Always game, but this is game in a different way we haven't seen.
Much respect and now more respect

 

[chinarice]

Both Usman and Volk took the fight on a very short notice + while coming from a lower weight class. You're completely delusional.

Both Islam and Khamzat took the fight on short notice too Einstein and fuck right off with the lower weight class bullshit. Khamzat had 1 fight at MW and the rest were WW fighters and fights.

I don't need to entertain your stupid opinion.

 

[Yellowcrab]

Both Islam and Khamzat took the fight on short notice too Einstein and fuck right off with the lower weight class bullshit. Khamzat had 1 fight at MW and the rest were WW fighters and fights.

And you continue with your silly arguments : both Islam and Khamzat prepared their fight since a very long time for a targeted weight class, which means LW for Islam and MW for Khamzat.

Also, both had a real training camp, because both were preparing a fight since a long time.

You don't have the most basic form of logic, hence why your messages in this thread are completely useless.

 

[mjfan23]

This was the only way he would take the fight.

If he had a full camp:
He would study khamzat more in depth and realize a mauling is inevitable and pull out like Costa.

 

[HatKick]

Yup.
I've always respected him but one nitpick I've always had with Usman is that he always had a size advantage over his opponents. Certainly with Woodley, Colby, Masvidal, and Gilbert - most of them small enough to make LW while Usman could've been a decent sized MW. This time he's going up against a bigger younger guy who's had more time to adjust to MW. That's to be respected.

 

[Miokink026]

It's VERY on topic. We are giving him props for moving up to 185 when just a year ago, before the first Leon loss, he was going to move up to 205 and fight for the belt...

so he's said before that he's not afraid to move up and now he's putting his money where his mouth is. impressive.

 

[Rationality]

He might also get embarassed which would demonstrate this was just a cynical money move done before he falls off the cliff health-wise. Therefore I want to see how he fights before giving him props.

 

[Substance Abuse]

Only Suredawgers wouldn't respect a former active world champion with multiple title defenses. Their championship belts must hold more prestige. One look at it and I can see why.

 

[Mr Fahrenheit]

Always respected him, and this made me respect him more

A welterweight champion with 5 successful title defenses is something to respect, even if they weren't the best quality opponents

Agree, and there were some pretty good opponents in there. Woodley was on the downside but still dangerous. The Covington fights were outstanding. Burns was very dangerous. Masvidal wasn’t great but that was a tremendous KO. And he (mostly) looked good against Leon.

 

[AstralPanda]

 

[aali14]

I have respect for him for doing that, but let's be real, he's only doing this because he lost the belt so now he's got nothing to lose.

While he was champ he was cherry picking his title shot like crazy (Masvidal twice)

 

[HNIC215]

How can you not respect him? He was a dominant champ until Leon headshot/deadshot his ass to unconsciousness.

I think he needs this fight as a statement more than anything else to let the world know.

He's been talking about going up in weight for a while now. Now is his chance to prove it in an entirely new division.

 

[moosaev]

Usman is one of the most under appreciated champs ever. He was always professional, he was very active, and he gave everything he had in the cage. As far as respecting him more for accepting this fight....I think him and Volk are in a no lose situation. Kamaru is getting paid a shit ton of money for a fight everyone is expecting him to lose,... and he's not even paying for a camp nor is that money getting double taxed (no taxes in UAE). Also, even if he loses he will be given other opportunities out of Dana's gratitude for saving the card. And that isn't even factoring in the opportunity for glory if he somehow pulls off a win.

 

[Uber_Noober]

I think he’s doing it for a paycheck

 

[mudrubble]

very off topic but ok.

To be fair, it's also about Kamaru moving up in weight. Not totally unrelated. Demonstrates he has been thinking of heavier weight classes for some time.

 

[nostradumbass]

Yeah, it's a really tough fight when he’s coming off back to back losses. Wouldn't have blamed him at all if he wanted an easier opponent to get back in the win column. It's pretty bold, but it is a good career move with much higher reward if he wins.

It's Colby and Leon at WW with very close odds, and he's already fought both of them twice, so unlikely to fight either of them again, and the champ at MW is a guy he's beaten, so this is his pretty much his only path to ever hold a title again. He's a big underdog, but his chances are better getting Khamzat on more than a year layoff and also moving up than trying him later, and he likes his chances with Strickland if he does win.

He's getting older, so it's definitely worth the gamble of going on a 3 fight skid for the outside chance of getting the MW belt, vs getting an easier fight at WW but being further from another title. Respect for going with the bigger risk/bigger reward option vs the more likely short term win.