If Islam beats Arman, does he deserved a shot at the 170 title?

[1BadMF]

After Shavkat gets his shot, then why not?

 

[fightfan70]

4 title defences and two were against a featherweight.

i agree islam is the man to beat at lightweight.

volk with a full camp nullified islams offence, dustin turned the fight into a dogfight.

to say no one beats him, or there is no challenges at lightweight, is just speculation.

styles make fights anyone can be beaten on any given day.

all it takes is one mistake at that level.

 

[_manhattan]

I'd prefer he stay at LW but yes he'll get that WW title shot if he wants it. And looking at LW another Charles fight probably doesnt interest him that much, Justin lost. Renato isnt there just yet.

In my mind if Dustin was a legit contender after beating BSD, Gaethje lost nothing losing the BMF fight and should still be thought of as a top contender.

If Moicano beats Dariush it should be him vs Ilia of Max for a number 1 contender.

Lets get some fresh blood, new matchups in this bitch

 

[VinceArch]

I hope he defends the belt a few more times. I think having the record for most defenses at 155 will weigh more than winning the welterweight belt and vacating soon after.

 

[Clark Rogers]

Tbh I would rather see a non title fight first in these scenarios just to prove they can handle the bigger competition.

 

[Cobra 03]

Jai Herbert.....some 3-4-1 can who no-ones ever heard of.

Yes, Ilia did well to survive and go on to win but if Herbert can hurt him, Islam can batter him.

You never know though, the fight game is very unpredictable. What if Topuria lands a big punch before Islam can take him down? Ilia is no joke. He KO'd Volkanowski, who I thought beat Islam in their first fight. Who thought Matt Serra would TKO GSP? Who thought A. Silva would get KO'd by Wiedman? Who thought Fedor would get finished by Bigfoot Silva? You never know.

 

[AMAZINGUFC]

Nop, we have Shavkat and Buckley first.

 

[CC27]

In my mind if Dustin was a legit contender after beating BSD, Gaethje lost nothing losing the BMF fight and should still be thought of as a top contender.

If Moicano beats Dariush it should be him vs Ilia of Max for a number 1 contender.

Lets get some fresh blood, new matchups in this bitch

Justin doesnt lose much but he lost a bit, he's gotta get a win back before talking title shot. If renato beats Dariush I think he needs one more, renato/Justin? But Islam has talked WW for a minute, double champ, its something Khabib didnt do. Its a legit challenge. Its probably gonna happen this year if he beats Arman.

 

[Ser das Trevas]

 

[Ser das Trevas]

 

[Mohawk Banditó]

I really wanna see him fight some LW's but I'm not sure who that would be. He did beat Arman already, but Arman's done enough to get the rematch. But after that? Oliveira needs to do more too, Ilia is another FW so even as a great opponent it's still not a true defense of the division, Justin and Max are off losses so they need to turn things around, Hooker isn't too far away, but Islam dominated him already and he hasn't shown enough in the meantime, imo, and then a bunch more LW's off losses.

BUT even if we do open up the door for a title shot a weight up, WW division is suffering from a large backlog already. Shavkat's next, JDM would earn a shot beating Usman, Leon is likely fighting Brady which shouldn't be too far behind, and Buckley is on the come-up.

There's just no one that I immediately want to see him against compared to other matchups we could have instead.

 

[blaseblase]

Good then. He can stay at LW and build a title defense record that won't be broken for a long time.

Yeah, we've had multiple lightweights with the potential of dominating the division for years but they all give up. BJ could have but screwed around at WW instead. Khabib retired after 3 defenses. If Islam stops at 4 he's leaving the future wide open for a generational talent to show up and surpass him.

 

[TriangleMonkey]

Belal knows he offers nothing to Islam
LoL


“I don’t know bratha, we have same manager, we figure something out”



Let Islam go up and eat, and if Topuria wants 155 smoke let him feast as well, especially with him willing to vacate FW strap to do so

 

[KO Shotz]

The only way Islam will be accepted as the GOAT over Khabib is if he goes to 170 & is successful.

 

[Trabaho]

Yes. But Shavkat is a tough fight. LW is predicatble. It's welcomed if he moves up. He for one does have a few title fights at LW. Not defend once and ask to fight up.

 

[nostradumbass]

Yeah. He's beaten 4 of the top 6, and the only 2 he hasn't are both coming off KO losses, and rematching Charles after Arman would be his 3rd rematch out of 5 defenses. Most of the Islam haters don't want him to because they believe he'd win and don't want him to have the accolade, but once you've cleared your division so much that you're down to having mostly rematches with guys you already beat convincingly as defenses, it's time to move up and maybe win the WW title, defend it once or twice then retire around 35.

It also depends on who the champ is. I think most can acknowledge that he would have likely taken the belt from Leon, I don't think he'll fight Belal, and not really sure where he'd be on fighting Shavkat.