Rumored Ilia vs Paddy UFC 324 Paramount debut card

[Gamer007]

I've doubted Paddy because I really don't think his skills are elite, is his best win 38-year-old Bobby green, 38-year-old Chandler, or 39 year old Ferguson?


I give him credit though, sprinkle some favorable matchmaking with some fabricated beef and he's found himself with a potential title shot.


If you hate Paddy this'll be a treat, this is one of the few times I'd suggest actively ducking a guy so you can make some more money before getting exposed. At the end of the day, good on Paddy for helping create some additional entertainment in the division.

Ilia 1st round KO, unless he wants to have a little fun with the whole thing. This'll be one of the most one-sided championship beatings in the last 10 years.

 

[Karate Kid]

much better fight than with that entitled bum Gaethje.

but it wont even be close its clearly just a grudge match.

 

[mkt]

I've doubted Paddy because I really don't think his skills are elite, is his best win 38-year-old Bobby green, 38-year-old Chandler, or 39 year old Ferguson?


I give him credit though, sprinkle some favorable matchmaking with some fabricated beef and he's found himself with a potential title shot.


If you hate Paddy this'll be a treat, this is one of the few times I'd suggest actively ducking a guy so you can make some more money before getting exposed. At the end of the day, good on Paddy for helping create some additional entertainment in the division.

Ilia 1st round KO, unless he wants to have a little fun with the whole thing. This'll will be one of the most one-sided championship beatings in the last 10 years.

We'll see. Even Bryce Mitchell (who would be dwarfed by Paddy) made it to the 2nd round, got a TD and landed some decent shots on Ilia. I'm not sure it will be that one-sided.

 

[mkt]

I want to see Topuria vs Arman, but this is better than seeing Justin fight for a title.

Paddy is better than people on here give him credit for. He makes it competitive IMO.

Justin was repeatedly beaten to the punch by Max. If this was the Justin who destroyed Ferguson in 2020 it would be interesting and possibly a war. But not now.

 

[ejazahmednit]

Paddy will get under Toppy's skin and then get knocked out
It will be hilarious

 

[legedema]

this must be a joke.
very brave of Ilia to chose Paddy.
Ilia looks like on another level of ducking Arman.

anyway, hope this is just a joke

 

[mkt]

this must be a joke.
very brave of Ilia to chose Paddy.
Ilia looks like on another level of ducking Arman.

anyway, hope this is just a joke

Arman is busy with submission grappling matches against guys like the corpse of Bendo Henderson. I hear he take on BJ Penn or Royce Gracie next.

 

[TOMFDJYEDH]

much better fight than with that entitled bum Gaethje.

but it wont even be close its clearly just a grudge match.

You know what I think Paddy could suprise some people. Im not saying he'll win, most likely wont but hear me out. Paddy is a lot better than most people give him credit for.

People will talk about the losing streaks his opponents have been on and thats fair enough but he can only beat whos put in front of him and hes done it convincingly, he beat Chandler the fuck up and made it look easier than Charles did a few months before. Hes on a 7 fight UFC win streak with 5 finishes.

Hes a huge LW the size difference fight night between them would be startling. Hes improved drastically each fight in the UFC, his physique fight night his last few fights has been thick, solid, tight.

Most People honestly still dont realise how much of a beast Paddy is on the ground, hes very very good, both control and submissions wise, hes a 2nd degree black belt. His control and GNP is fantastic when he gets in a dominant posistion, if he takes your back youre in big trouble.

Striking wise id say hes got better, his stand up certainly isnt elite or pretty to look at but he uses his length well, uses a lot of teeps and calf kicks at distance, knees, elbows its quite an awkward style and maybe could take Topuria a while to work out. Hes not going to just stand in the pocket and box.

Chin Wise, granite, he took a huge shot from Chandler and barely moved. Obviously Topurias power is another level but hes far from glass jawed.

I would still fancy Topuria to win by KO but I truly believe this could turn into a great scrap.

Not to mention the build up, these 2 genuinely dislike eachother and Paddy certainly Isn't shy on the mic. Anyone that would rather see Topuria vs Mr entitled Gaethje over this is insane.

 

[legedema]

Arman is busy with submission grappling matches against guys like the corpse of Bendo Henderson. I hear he take on BJ Penn or Royce Gracie next.

don't worry, Arman is ready for Ilia but Ilia says he rather retires.
now let me see you dancing

 

[Gamer007]

We'll see. Even Bryce Mitchell (who would be dwarfed by Paddy) made it to the 2nd round, got a TD and landed some decent shots on Ilia. I'm not sure it will be that one-sided.

If he can make it competitive, I would be shocked! This is a guy who even the ghost of Ferguson was able to land 90 of his 134 strikes on less than 2 years ago.


His resume is just not impressive at all, I think he will be destroyed and dispatched with ease. I also don't think he can hold a real spot in the top 10 either.

His last 4 opponents since 2022 are Jared Gordon(34), Tony Ferguson (39), Bobby Green (38), and Michael Chandler (38). He's the one who's only fought old guys lol, and he arguably lost to Jared Gordon and was struggling big against Tony.

This will be an absolute savage beating, Paddy doesn't have the takedowns, accuracy, volume, elite kickboxing, or reach necessary to give Ilia issues at LW. He will be terrified to throw strikes about 1 minute into the fight, because the counters will come faster and more devastating than anything he's ever seen before. I don't see paddy surviving a full round, but if he did that'd be incredible. Paddy is 30 years old, he was 27-28 in his prime years struggling with far lesser fighters.

I also don't believe Bryce Mitchell is necessarily a worse fighter than Paddy, he just had to get his money the hard way, no senior citizens.

 

[pamirec]

Paddy is one of the few guys that can beat Ilia. I don’t understand why fans are writing him off. He’s young, big, strong and has decent grappling.

 

[TOMFDJYEDH]

Paddy is one of the few guys that can beat Ilia. I don’t understand why fans are writing him off. He’s young, big, strong and has decent grappling.

I agree and id argue his grappling is a lot better than just decent.

Charles although a legend fought a terrible fight. Couldn't have been more perfect for ilia.

 

[Gamer007]

I agree and id argue his grappling is a lot better than just decent.

Charles although a legend fought a terrible fight. Couldn't have been more perfect for ilia.

Paddy doesn't have the skill to fight a better fight; his footwork is very underdeveloped. His defense and counter punching is far worse than Charles, what is he supposed to do? Throw the same inside and outside low kicks until he eats a fight ending counter?

He won't be able to reliably stay at range with Ilia, Ilia will easily get him to the fence the same way Chandler did. Literally Paddy will be pressed back almost immediately. his best chance is to land a vicious knee in a reckless exchange, he's decent with those. He also has a decent roundhouse from southpaw which could be the miracle shot, but that's it.

Fighting Ilia at range is very tough and requires a high level of skill and experience, only Volk & Max were able to do it successfully and even then it didn't result in wins, and those guys have displayed far superior cardio compared to someone like Paddy. Paddy has never endured a brutal body attack the way Ilia will give him. It will get really ugly, and the size discrepancy makes it tougher for Paddy to shoot for desperation takedowns against the cage, he'd need to effectively dominate the clinch which due to the speed and stature of Ilia will make it extremely dangerous to commit to anything.

There is no route to victory, this is an execution. Charles didn't fight a bad fight against Ilia, he fought the same way he always has at LW which served him well against other great LW strikers. Tons of pressure and slowly bait them into mistakes, he did this to Dustin Poirer, Gaethje, and most everyone else. The thing about Ilia is, if you wait on the outside and don't have the elite kickboxing required, he will absolutely butcher you like he did to Josh Emmett. You have to meet fire with fire sometimes, especially when your opponent is having his debut in a higher weight class (even though he previously fought there), it was high risk but I wouldn't say it was dumb or a bad strategy from Charles, he landed a nasty elbow on Ilia early in the first 20 seconds that would've wobbled many, or it could've easily cut Ilia and changed the complexion of the fight entirely. Volk & Max are more effective long-range fighters than Charles, and they both didn't win with movement and volume.

 

[Adamant]

Imagine if Paddy actually wins.

 

[Mmmmmmma1234]

If true, UFC 324 will be overpriced.

it's free on Paramount

Truly a golden age of MMA has begun. This press conference has potential.

 

[Thy]

Just happy Justin didn't get it.

Fuck his entitled ass

Hahaha same. This gonna prolly have funnier yappin before the fight too.

 

[octagonation]

Ilia´s blatant UFC match-making protection could ruin his career example being protected by wrestlers like Arman does nothing for his career really.

Example they feed him Holloway in his first FW defense and it was only to protect him, then came Charles and now we have Paddy as another tailor made match-up.

 

[HCS]

This is a way more intriguing matchup than Gaethje. That fight had about as sure-fire of an outcome as you can possibly get in MMA. I bet Illia by KO would've been like -600.

 

[MMAProfessional]

Cannot wait to see Paddy crash and burn in horrible fashion. This is a rotten matchup for him.

I mean I was more interested in this instead of Gaethje. Paddy can at least take a shot better than Justin and will try to take it to the ground although I think Ilia is a bad matchup for everyone in the division. I don't think 1 win after getting flatlined is enough especially after threatening retirement if you don't get a shot. Promotional wise it's good too just because it's Paddy but there's bad blood too. I think people forget how good Ilia is with his grappling. I was worried for Ilia seeing how massive Charles looked when they clinched against the cage but Ilia reversed into top position where Oliveria has been very good recently taking people like Chandler and now Gamrot's back off takedowns.

 

[MMAProfessional]

This is a way more intriguing matchup than Gaethje. That fight had about as sure-fire of an outcome as you can possibly get in MMA. I bet Illia by KO would've been like -600.

Exactly. Justin has gotten better defensively so I think people forget how suspect his chin can be. I don't think anyone aside from Islam have much of a shot against Ilia but if Paddy can take shots it could get at least somewhat interesting. Emmet has a good chin and got the crap kicked out of him but he was able to withstand the shots at least. Paddy does leave his chin out too much but at least he will probably make it a little more interesting considering he will at least try to get it to the ground but I don't really see that going well for him either.