I still can't figure out where the "Islam is avoiding challenges" comes from

Rubios

Rubios

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If it was for him, he'd have already rematched Charles, Arman and probably faced JG (it's not a fight I'm very intrigued about, but before 300 he was the #1 contender, so...).
That's, literally, leaving no stone unturned @ 155.

And, in his best case scenario (he has said it many times), he would then move up to 170 to fight Shavkat for the belt. Not JDM. Friggin' Shavkat.

I get it: high risk/low reward and all that. But implying that a dude eager to enter the octagon vs Shavkat is afraid of Ilia (an opponent that deserves all respect and is a real menace, sure) seems like mental gymnastics to me.
 
Rubios said:
If it was for him, he'd have already rematched Charles, Arman and probably faced JG (it's not a fight I'm very intrigued about, but before 300 he was the #1 contender, so...).
That's, literally, leaving no stone unturned @ 155.

And, in his best case scenario (he has said it many times), he would then move up to 170 to fight Shavkat for the belt. Not JDM. Friggin' Shavkat.

I get it: high risk/low reward and all that. But implying that a dude eager to enter the octagon vs Shavkat is afraid of Ilia (an opponent that deserves all respect and is a real menace, sure) seems like mental gymnastics to me.
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You must be new…

My sources tell me he turned down the Aspinal fight.

You got Khabib fighting bears for free but this joker won’t accept a fight against a fat Brit.
 
I don't think he's ducking since what he's asking for Ilia to do(fight a contender) is reasonable but I think he should just accept the fight at this point. The UFC need a headliner for 317 and if Islam beats Ilia then he will become the biggest star in the UFC
 
Just mindless hate. Look at how people look at the Volk wins as “he beat a FW”. But when Ilia beat Volk, it’s one of the best wins in ufc history.


Correct if I’m wrong but if you weight in at 155, you’re a LW. And Fighters move around weight class all the time…Khamzat, Pereira, Whitaker. But when Volk does it vs Islam, it doesn’t count.
 
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Sean Chowdhury said:
I don't think he's ducking since what he's asking for Ilia to do(fight a contender) is reasonable but I think he should just accept the fight at this point. The UFC need a headliner for 317 and if Islam beats Ilia then he will become the biggest star in the UFC
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We don't need to infer nothing because Islam has said it himself many times.
He wants to move up. Soon. His weight cuts are getting rough, he had a very hard time making weight for Arman/Moicano.

Ilia is his biggest possible fight, money-wise? Absolutely.

But legacy-wise, or -more precisely- in order to shut the naysayers, Arman is the only fight he really needs before leaving 155.

Facing Ilia before just kind of forces him to one more 155 fight. Strictly speaking, to make 155 once again.
 
I don't see that many people saying he's ducking challenges, but I do see plenty people picking at his resume, which is pretty easy to do. Even though a lot of the issues with Islam's resume isn't his fault, it is still an easy resume to pick at and critique, regardless of whose fault it is or isn't.

the people claiming that islam is ducking are probably just Topuria fans having fun trolling sensitive Islam fans.
 
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It's frustrating that he still hasn't fought the top of the division since becoming champ, but he has tried in all fairness to him. I do think the Illia situation is a bit of ducking, but that may not matter if he is going to move up anyway.
 
Rubios said:
If it was for him, he'd have already rematched Charles, Arman and probably faced JG (it's not a fight I'm very intrigued about, but before 300 he was the #1 contender, so...).
That's, literally, leaving no stone unturned @ 155.

And, in his best case scenario (he has said it many times), he would then move up to 170 to fight Shavkat for the belt. Not JDM. Friggin' Shavkat.

I get it: high risk/low reward and all that. But implying that a dude eager to enter the octagon vs Shavkat is afraid of Ilia (an opponent that deserves all respect and is a real menace, sure) seems like mental gymnastics to me.
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Sadly there are a group of “fans” who simply can’t stand the success the Dagestanis are having. They’ve made their entire personalities around creating narratives that diminish Dagi fighters. Everyone knows these narratives are false.
 
joy2day said:
It's frustrating that he still hasn't fought the top of the division since becoming champ, but he has tried in all fairness to him. I do think the Illia situation is a bit of ducking, but that may not matter if he is going to move up anyway.
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It can’t possibly be considered a duck when you consider the context. Islam has defended his belt twice against a FW, asking him to defend against another FW puts him in a very bad situation. You can’t give someone an unfair hand and then accuse him of ducking. Islam’s concerns about fighting ilia are very reasonable. If JBJ doesn’t fight Aspinall, THAT would be text book ducking.
 
moosaev said:
It can’t possibly be considered a duck when you consider the context. Islam has defended his belt twice against a FW, asking him to defend against another FW puts him in a very bad situation. You can’t give someone an unfair hand and then accuse him of ducking. Islam’s concerns about fighting ilia are very reasonable. If JBJ doesn’t fight Aspinall, THAT would be text book ducking.
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Yeah, I'm not on board with that excuse though; I think it is a stretch to call that a "bad situation." Illia is not a FW anymore; he has officially moved up and I don't see that it would be a bad situation if Islam could beat him. I think he is more worried about the "bad situation" of losing. We will see though. If Islam doesn't move up, and Illia beats a top LW, Islam will have no choice but to fight him, and it will surely be ducking if he refuses.
 
Islam wanted to fight Arman Tsarukyan, the #1 contender at 155 (the most stacked division in the UFC). Somehow delusional Ilia Topuria fans are trying to characterize this as Islam ducking Topuria.

Even if Islam fights & beats Topuria, those same people will criticize him for beating "another 145er".
 
Of course Islam was willing to fight arman......he beat him already and gave him a (deserved) rematch. Not Islams fault that Tsarukyan pulled out last minute while the doctors cleared him to fight.

Topuria defended the feather weight belt 1 time and now wants an immediate title shot? People on here act as if it is deserved. All of these so called 'double champ ambition' fighters that dont even defend their belt or only 1 time and then want a direct shot in another division.

Volk EARNED it. If Islam moves up to welter weight than he can say the same......huge win streak and multiple title defenses (record defenses).

Topuria is new at LW after 1, yes ONE, defense. Light weight deivision is a shark tank and Islam is completely right by saying that Topuria should earn it against a top contender.
 
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