Rumored Ilia topuria has started camp and presumably has a fight booked

[Rapa]

People laughed when he said he'd be the first to KO iron chinned Max Holloway.

"Porier and gaethjd could not knockout max how ilia can do it" its ok they will respect ilia when he dominates islam

 

[andgonsil]

Toppy vs Baddy

 

[HeadKickerV2]

Doubt its Islam... Khabib is not known to break his word but you never know

If its Charles, i think he will dominate Ilia on the ground... that spanish black belt is only a fashion accessory, and Charles is bigger

But if it doesnt go to the ground Ilia wins on the feet by tko

 

[Kal-El]

 

[hoevan]

For an unnamed opponent, on an elusive date. Thanks for the update Ilia! Hell, as a pro you should always be training.

 

[Alpha_T83]

I'm calling it right now -- unless the UFC pays Islam a shitload of money under the table, I don't think this fight happens.

Guys like Islam and Khabib don't respond to blackmail/threats. I think the UFC is trying a power play to give Islam an ultimatum to defend against Topuria @ UFC 317 or vacate the title. However, they will be hard pressed to carry through on that threat. Islam can just say "I have injuries I need to heal, and I can't fight until October." What are the UFC going to do? They can't just strip him while they refused to strip Jon Jones of the title.

Best case scenario for the UFC is that Belal loses to JDM @ welterweight, and Islam decides to move up and fight JDM. Then Islam might consider vacating the belt if he's moving divisions. Otherwise, I think the UFC is screwed. Islam's camp want to fight Arman @ 155 (the #1 contender), to honor the integrity of the 155 belt and not fight yet another 145er. They aren't going to agree to fight Topuria on short notice at UFC 317.

 

[Domitian]

I'm calling it right now -- unless the UFC pays Islam a shitload of money under the table, I don't think this fight happens.

Guys like Islam and Khabib don't respond to blackmail/threats. I think the UFC is trying a power play to give Islam an ultimatum to defend against Topuria @ UFC 317 or vacate the title. However, they will be hard pressed to carry through on that threat. Islam can just say "I have injuries I need to heal, and I can't fight until October." What are the UFC going to do? They can't just strip him while they refused to strip Jon Jones of the title.

Best case scenario for the UFC is that Belal loses to JDM @ welterweight, and Islam decides to move up and fight JDM. Then Islam might consider vacating the belt if he's moving divisions. Otherwise, I think the UFC is screwed. Islam's camp want to fight Arman @ 155 (the #1 contender), to honor the integrity of the 155 belt and not fight yet another 145er. They aren't going to agree to fight Topuria on short notice at UFC 317.

I don't think it's all that deep. Islam was saying just a few months ago he'll fight whoever the UFC wants him too. He'll honor that if he needs too.

 

[Alpha_T83]

I don't think it's all that deep. Islam was saying just a few months ago he'll fight whoever the UFC wants him too. He'll honor that if he needs too.

There's a difference between that, and Islam agreeing to fight @ UFC 317 on 2 months notice.

I agree with you that Islam will fight Topuria, but if he's forced to fight Topuria I think he does it on his timeline. Maybe he does fight at UFC 317, but he could just as easily say he needs 3-4 months to prepare. If that's the case, Islam won't fight @ UFC 317 and he won't vacate the title either.

Does Topuria agreee to fight Oliveira for an interim 155 title? I doubt it. I think the UFC is trying to strong arm Islam.

 

[Domitian]

There's a difference between that, and Islam agreeing to fight @ UFC 317 on 2 months notice.

I agree with you that Islam will fight Topuria, but if he's forced to fight Topuria I think he does it on his timeline. Maybe he does fight at UFC 317, but he could just as easily say he needs 3-4 months to prepare. If that's the case, Islam won't fight @ UFC 317 and he won't vacate the title either.

Does Topuria agreee to fight Oliveira for an interim 155 title? I doubt it. I think the UFC is trying to strong arm Islam.

It's the IFW card. It's most likely going to be Islam and not Charles. They'll just take whatever money they had allocated out to pay Jon/Tom or Khamzat/DDP and give it to Islam and Topuria. They already planned on spending a shit ton of money.

Honestly, I don't think Ilia vs Charles is big enough to headline IFW. It's almost certainly Islam.

 

[Alpha_T83]

Some dude named Alvaro who I don't know but seems to be associated with Charles Oliveira's team has leaked that Topuria might fight Oliveira at UFC 317.

I said this before in another thread, the UFC is in a bad crunch right now. UFC 317 and 318 have no main event, and only 125, 155, and HW belts are available to be defended. We all know scumbag Jon Jones won't be getting off his ass to help the UFC. That means the UFC need the 155 belt to be defended to fill these events.

It honestly seems like the UFC are trying to strong arm Islam Makhachev to fight Topuria @ UFC 317, or move up to welterweight and vacate the 155 belt. If they don't succeed, I can't see them stripping him of the title 5 months after he last defended it.

 

[Alpha_T83]

It's the IFW card. It's most likely going to be Islam and not Charles. They'll just take whatever money they had allocated out to pay Jon/Tom or Khamzat/DDP and give it to Islam and Topuria. They already planned on spending a shit ton of money.

Honestly, I don't think Ilia vs Charles is big enough to headline IFW. It's almost certainly Islam.

It doesn't sound like Islam is in training camp yet. I honestly can't see him agreeing to fight on 2 months notice. I'll be surprised if I'm wrong, but as you said they could just throw a bunch of money at Islam and he might do it.

 

[honzo]

Why would the ufc promise ilia a LW TS if he openly offered not to find at FW again? Correct me if I’m wrong but a promise is generally used to persuade someone in exchange for something.

It’s you offer a fancy dinner to a girl and then she promises to sleep with you after. Why would she promise? She already got offered for the dinner.

What if you have a massive hog?

 

[Domitian]

It doesn't sound like Islam is in training camp yet. I honestly can't see him agreeing to fight on 2 months notice. I'll be surprised if I'm wrong, but as you said they could just throw a bunch of money at Islam and he might do it.

Eh, Islam is basically the UFC's golden goose right now. He's their #1 P4P. He's arguably their biggest draw currently.

Throw him a big bag of cash, write in some guarantees for him in the future whether that relates to LW or WW, and Khabib will probably be on board and it's all good. Islam is a man of his word anyway, I believe.

 

[markg171]

I'm glad Ilia isn't playing Islam's game about waiting until May 10 for Belal/JDM to see if he suddenly needs to turn around in 6 weeks to fit Islam's schedule like Islam always does.

 

[Subline]

 

[HeadKickerV2]

This guy Álvaro Colmenero has like 9k followers

Has he ever broken a big news before? Whats his record on this?

 

[Goatenstein]

I hope Islam kicks his ass.

Still crying over Max getting his overrated ass handed to him?

 

[Sean Chowdhury]

This guy Álvaro Colmenero has like 9k followers

Has he ever broken a big news before? Whats his record on this?

on his twitter it says he is a commentator for Ilia's mma organization so he has ties to Ilia and might be hearing something from him

 

[Khaosan]

Still crying over Max getting his overrated ass handed to him?

Yes.

 

[JKS]

Topuria vs Islam is the most talked about fight after Jon vs Tom... UFC would be missing out huge to not make this happen.

They would be, but I think much like Jon vs Tom, they are trying hard but Islam and Jon holding it up looking out for their interest.