I Think That Islam Will Mop the Floor With JDM, Easier Night

[Gabe]

Early not so bold prediction. Islam will love this 15 pound less cut. JDM will get ragdolled but people always think the higher weight class champ will win. Do even the biggest JDM fans/ Islam haters think otherwise?

 

[fortheo]

Islam's got some things working against him here

• He is the smaller fighter, and if you want to argue he's the same size, fine(I'd disagree), but you can't argue that he is used to fighting guys as big as Jack. He just isn't
• He is the older fighter
• He's a grappling based fighter, and weight differences affect grapplers more than anything else in my opinion.
• His biggest advantage on the feet might be his kicking game, but it's largely dependent on open stance match ups with him being southpaw and his opponents being orthodox. Against guys who fight southpaw, which Jack very often does, Islam's kicking game is almost non existent.
• His best takedowns are against the cage, but does he present a big enough threat striking to be able to reliably push jack back to the cage?

All of that said, Islam and his team are very, very clever and tend to find the right gameplan to minimize risks and optimize their success. He is one of the best for a reason and I won't at all be surprised if he can find a way to win, but personally I favor jack at the moment. I think Jack is still improving, and cross training with Volk's crew again will only help him improve even more.

 

[Only Here for Attachments]

JDM had no problem with "best wrestler" BeLOL, yet will be easy work for Islam?

 

[GolovKing]

I'm gonna put money on JDM to knock him out

 

[Gabe]

JDM had no problem with "best wrestler" BeLOL, yet will be easy work for Islam?

Islam is the best wrestler not Belal

 

[humdizzle]

very possible. its going to be interesting to see how islam looks at 170. and how his physicality matches up with JDM

JDM literally just 'got up' when belal took him down.

 

[Kratos94]

JDM surprised me, and Makhachev will get picked apart during the time the fight stays standing. JDM managed to deter Belal from shooting in, and I am confident JDM can do the same against Makhachev. I think JDM should be a slight favorite.

 

[MrBlackheart]

If Islam loses a valiant close fight, will he retain the #1P4P ranking or is that privilege just for Volk only?

 

[moosaev]

Islam's got some things working against him here

• He is the smaller fighter, and if you want to argue he's the same size, fine(I'd disagree), but you can't argue that he is used to fighting guys as big as Jack. He just isn't
• He is the older fighter
• He's a grappling based fighter, and weight differences affect grapplers more than anything else in my opinion.
• His biggest advantage on the feet might be his kicking game, but it's largely dependent on open stance match ups with him being southpaw and his opponents being orthodox. Against guys who fight southpaw, which Jack very often does, Islam's kicking game is almost non existent.
• His best takedowns are against the cage, but does he present a big enough threat striking to be able to reliably push jack back to the cage?

All of that said, Islam and his team are very, very clever and tend to find the right gameplan to minimize risks and optimize their success. He is one of the best for a reason and I won't at all be surprised if he can find a way to win, but personally I favor jack at the moment. I think Jack is still improving, and cross training with Volk's crew again will only help him improve even more.

This really all depends on how taxing the weight cuts have been on Islam, I think it really wore on him in the Volk and Poirier fights and he faded in both fights. A much stronger and more durable islam might be able to hold JDM down and keep the energy for a full 5 rounds. The other advantage Islam has is the sub threat, when JDM got up from one of Belal’s takedowns his neck was wide open. Getting up against Islam will be much trickier, and I’m not convinced JDM’s grappling is sophisticated enough to deal with it. If it is, then it’ll be a very hard night for Islam. Which he may be able to endure with the better durability that comes with an easier weight cut. There are many unknowns here.

 

[filthybliss]

The last to pull this off was BJ Penn….

 

[moosaev]

If Islam loses a valiant close fight, will he retain the #1P4P ranking or is that privilege just for Volk only?

He’ll be called a no good bum, it will prove that he was a weight bully all along lol.

 

[mkess101]

very possible. its going to be interesting to see how islam looks at 170. and how his physicality matches up with JDM

JDM literally just 'got up' when belal took him down.

There's one major difference in the grappling of Belal vs Islam. Islam is a true submission threat. To "just get up", often you have to use your arms to post, etc. Belal will look to reattach himself to drag an opponent back to the mat (which Jack countered well by breaking posture as he got up) but Islam will take the opportunity to grab a choke when the neck is exposed while someone tries to get back to their feet.

 

[Bradillac]

Belal was a tougher matchup for Jack than Islam is, and Jack really didn’t have much of a problem with Belal.

 

[flektarn]

This really all depends on how taxing the weight cuts have been on Islam, I think it really wore on him in the Volk and Poirier fights and he faded in both fights. A much stronger and more durable islam might be able to hold JDM down and keep the energy for a full 5 rounds. The other advantage Islam has is the sub threat, when JDM got up from one of Belal’s takedowns his neck was wide open. Getting up against Islam will be much trickier, and I’m not convinced JDM’s grappling is sophisticated enough to deal with it. If it is, then it’ll be a very hard night for Islam. Which he may be able to endure with the better durability that comes with an easier weight cut. There are many unknowns here.

I'd imagine JDM and his team didn't even bother training sub defense a lot since Belal presents zero threats. His next camp will be a lot different. Which might affect his getups and what his options are...

 

[agibmxmma]

JDM had no problem with "best wrestler" BeLOL, yet will be easy work for Islam?

Merab, Evloev, Islam, Khamzat, Ankalaev, all are much better MMA Wrestlers then Belal. Easy work is an injustice to a fighter, but Islam definitely is the legitimate favorite for multiple reasons.

 

[agibmxmma]

This really all depends on how taxing the weight cuts have been on Islam, I think it really wore on him in the Volk and Poirier fights and he faded in both fights. A much stronger and more durable islam might be able to hold JDM down and keep the energy for a full 5 rounds. The other advantage Islam has is the sub threat, when JDM got up from one of Belal’s takedowns his neck was wide open. Getting up against Islam will be much trickier, and I’m not convinced JDM’s grappling is sophisticated enough to deal with it. If it is, then it’ll be a very hard night for Islam. Which he may be able to endure with the better durability that comes with an easier weight cut. There are many unknowns here.

+1

 

[Only Here for Attachments]

Ankalaev

Who went 0-13 against a kickboxer?

 

[KO Shotz]

Many thought Belal would dominate JDM, but JDM pieced him up. What does Islam bring to the fight that Belal doesn't?

 

[TankAbbott4Eva]

Islam's got some things working against him here

• He is the smaller fighter, and if you want to argue he's the same size, fine(I'd disagree), but you can't argue that he is used to fighting guys as big as Jack. He just isn't
• He is the older fighter
• He's a grappling based fighter, and weight differences affect grapplers more than anything else in my opinion.
• His biggest advantage on the feet might be his kicking game, but it's largely dependent on open stance match ups with him being southpaw and his opponents being orthodox. Against guys who fight southpaw, which Jack very often does, Islam's kicking game is almost non existent.
• His best takedowns are against the cage, but does he present a big enough threat striking to be able to reliably push jack back to the cage?

All of that said, Islam and his team are very, very clever and tend to find the right gameplan to minimize risks and optimize their success. He is one of the best for a reason and I won't at all be surprised if he can find a way to win, but personally I favor jack at the moment. I think Jack is still improving, and cross training with Volk's crew again will only help him improve even more.

This is an excellent summary of the key points, well played. The only thing I would say is that Islam is not that old at 33 and hasn't taken much punishment, he might be still in his prime, though hasn't been that active lately (neither has JDM of course)

 

[moosaev]

Belal was a tougher matchup for Jack than Islam is, and Jack really didn’t have much of a problem with Belal.

Why is Belal a tougher much up? Islam has superior grappling and is a huge submission threat. He clearly presents more weapons that JDM will have to prepare for. He’ll also have the aura and mystique of fighting someone with Islam’s reputation with Khabib in his corner, which will be mentally more challenging I think. He’ll be a lot more cautious in his striking than he was against Belal’s imo.