Throwback Illia topuria killing people

[moosaev]

I don't care about any excuse a fighter gives for why he won't take a fight that's objectively riskier. Angling to fight someone who he has beaten before, or someone who already is 0-2 in title fights and who happen to be a very favorable stylistic matchup is just bad, no matter what excuse he can think of.

We're not talking about some random FW here. Undefeated, 28 years old, 16-0, strong grappling base combined with KO-power, just coming off KOing two all-time greats.

Why should Islam care about what random people on the internet say?

We have Khamzat, undefeated, just finished Rob in round 1, yet some people call it a fluke because Whittaker had a weak jaw.
He gets underrated before every fight and his wins get downplayed after he wins, what can he do about it, except keep winning every fight?

People will talk shit on the internet, I'm sure he never cared about it before.

From Islam’s perspective I don’t think he wants to take the fight because he thinks it’s unfair that FWs have now been given the opportunity to get second belts 3x against him and yet he has never gotten that opportunity. Nobody can deny that Islam is more deserving a second belt opportunity than Topuria, so it doesn’t sit well with his camp to constantly fight FWs while he hasn’t gotten his chance at legacy yet. Fans are complaining because they want to see an awesome fight, but look at it from Islam’s perspective, he has his own legacy to think of in terms of getting a second belt.

 

[188912345]

I think you’re missing the point, Islam didn’t get credit for beating Volk because a sizable part of the fanbase simply didn’t want to give him credit. And that remains true to this day. Ultimately they will look for excuses to diminish what he does, and Ilia’s size will be that excuse. Mark my words.

And there's no way to get around that.
You think there will be a ton of credit if he instead fights Gaethje, Arman, or Charles again? While ducking Topuria?

Especially if he then moves up and Topuria wins the vacant belt and defends 3-4 times before retiring. That would also age very bad for Islams "legacy".

There's risk in every decision in life.

Lower risk, less reward. Higher risk, higher reward.

There's literally nothing that's enough to please every fan, there will always be criticism.

 

[moosaev]

The first time he struggled in the 5th against Volk …..2nd time he fought Volk off the couch

See this is exactly what I’m talking about LOL, thanks for proving my point. There is literally no way Islam can win against a FW unless he blows them out. Why should he take a fight that has virtually no upside?

 

[RockyLockridge]

From Islam’s perspective I don’t think he wants to take the fight because he thinks it’s unfair that FWs have now been given the opportunity to get second belts 3x

Volk wasn't given that fight against him, it wasn't "earned" in the traditional sense like his first fight was. was a late notice replacement islam agreed to

See this is exactly what I’m talking about LOL, thanks for proving my point. There is literally no way Islam can win against a FW unless he blows them out. Why should he take a fight that has virtually no upside?

you have a point here but we know as mma fans when you apply context to illa we know he'd slaughter charles or gaethje just the same as islam. it's a foregone conclusion, we can just skip to the good part

 

[moosaev]

And there's no way to get around that.
You think there will be a ton of credit if he instead fights Gaethje, Arman, or Charles again? While ducking Topuria?

Especially if he then moves up and Topuria wins the vacant belt and defends 3-4 times before retiring. That would also age very bad for Islams "legacy".

There's risk in every decision in life.

Lower risk, less reward. Higher risk, higher reward.

There's literally nothing that's enough to please every fan, there will always be criticism.

There is a way to get around that, fight a legit LW then move up to WW. If Islam gets a second belt nobody will be able to poke any holes in his resume.

 

[188912345]

See this is exactly what I’m talking about LOL, thanks for proving my point. There is literally no way Islam can win against a FW unless he blows them out. Why should he take a fight that has virtually no upside?

Because not taking it is way, way worse.

I do agree with your point that he should be allowed to challenge for the WW-belt, he's earned that.

But I don't agree with him fighting another guy at LW who is not Ilia Topuria.

 

[moosaev]

Volk wasn't given that fight against him, it wasn't "earned" in the traditional sense like his first fight was. was a late notice replacement islam agreed to

Regardless of the circumstances Islam will be in a position of giving FWs 3 cracks at his belt while he’s never been given the opportunity at a second belt. Of all the current champs the one that deserves a second belt opportunity the most is Islam, that can’t be denied.

 

[moosaev]

Because not taking it is way, way worse.

I do agree with your point that he should be allowed to challenge for the WW-belt, he's earned that.

But I don't agree with him fighting another guy at LW who is not Ilia Topuria.

Arman deserves it more than ilia. I don’t think anyone can argue otherwise.

 

[Aurelian]

I think you’re missing the point, Islam didn’t get credit for beating Volk because a sizable part of the fanbase simply didn’t want to give him credit. And that remains true to this day. It’s the same part of the fanbase who ran with the “Merab embarrassed Umar!” storyline even though it was a very close fight. Ultimately they will look for excuses to diminish what he does, and Ilia’s size will be that excuse. Mark my words.

Those people will find reasons to diminish wins over everybody, hell they'll find reasons to diminish a win over JDM too if Islam done that. Just ignore those people. The non-Islam haters want to see this fight here.

 

[RockyLockridge]

Regardless of the circumstances Islam will be in a position of giving FWs 3 cracks at his belt while he’s never been given the opportunity at a second belt. Of all the current champs the one that deserves a second belt opportunity the most is Islam, that can’t be denied.

The second one he wasn't obliged to, that was his decision. he could have fought gamrot but didn't this is on him and him alone(or dominance mma). Topuria is in a position where he's relinquished his title he cant be treated as a FW anymore, he's not doing what volk did. islam is fighting a LW now a fully departed FW not giving double champ. I assume islam wants double champ? I dont think he deserves it. but if he wants to relinquish his title and move up? then give him the shot that's fine.

 

[Alpha_T83]

So if he becomes one of the best fighters ever you'll acknowledge he's kinda decent? Lol


I don't think he's as good as some people are acting like though. Bryce Mitchell took him down a few times. He's been dropped by mid fighters. I think Islam would destroy him fairly easily by 1st round sub. Don't think he'll even get by Charles, Arman, or Paddy to be honest.

No, if he becomes one of the best fighters ever I'll acknowledge him as such.

The problem is people are labeling him the GOAT at 145 already and the dude has 1 title defense.

 

[188912345]

Arman deserves it more than ilia. I don’t think anyone can argue otherwise.

Yeah, but Arman was the one who pulled out the night before his title fight.
Now he's on Dana's shit list.

Had Arman not pulled out, there wouldn't be much talking about Islam having any other option at LW except Topuria.

From Topurias perspective, why should he need to take a contenders fight because of Armans pullout? When UFC already has promised him the LW title fight.

 

[moosaev]

From Topurias perspective, why should he need to take a contenders fight because of Armans pullout? When UFC already has promised him the LW title fight.

I don’t believe that the UFC promised him. If you listen to Ilia’s words carefully he never says that, he implies it but when Joe asked him point blank his response was basically “everyone else got that chance why not me?” The only source for this claim is Ilia himself, it’s weird how people just take it as fact lol.

 

[moosaev]

The second one he wasn't obliged to, that was his decision. he could have fought gamrot but didn't this is on him and him alone(or dominance mma). Topuria is in a position where he's relinquished his title he cant be treated as a FW anymore, he's not doing what volk did. islam is fighting a LW now a fully departed FW not giving double champ. I assume islam wants double champ? I dont think he deserves it. but if he wants to relinquish his title and move up? then give him the shot that's fine.

Islam deserves double champ if he wants. Agree to disagree here. I think it’s pretty disingenuous how people claim Ilia deserves this or that but you can’t escape the fact that Islam is far more accomplished than ilia and deserves way more. Not to mention it’s HIS belt that’s being discussed. The type of entitlement from ilia and his fans is crazy lol.

 

[188912345]

I don’t believe that the UFC promised him. If you listen to Ilia’s words carefully he never says that, he implies it but when Joe asked him point blank his response was basically “everyone else got that chance why not me?” The only source for this claim is Ilia himself, it’s weird how people just take it as fact lol.

He stated it before his appearance on Joe Rogan. What he said on Joe Rogan doesn't contradict that.

I think I would also try to get a Gaethje-fight if I was a family member or manager of Islam, someone with an emotional investment in Islam getting a fight with a higher probability of winning. His team and manager also have financial interest in him getting an easier fight.

As a fan it seems weird to me. It's like Jones fans defending Jones not fighting Aspinall because he lacked the star power and resume of Stipe.

As a sports fan, shouldn't you just want to see the best and most exciting fight?

 

[Fury]

I'm still not sold on Topuria. I'm getting Cody Garbrandt vibes from when Cody won the belt.

If I see him win 4-5 championship fights knocking people out, then maybe I'll believe he's more like Anderson Silva. But until proven otherwise, he's another flash in the pan.

I would look at his wins vs older guys (I'll include Max because of the miles), guys coming off of losses or Bryce who's not as good as his undefeated record at the time suggested and say.... He is no doubt a hell of a fighter but I'm not putting him with the greats with zero title defenses.

I'm interested to see what happens at 155 for him. Not a lot of easy fights there

 

[Pancake Sprawl]

I think you’re missing the point, Islam didn’t get credit for beating Volk because a sizable part of the fanbase simply didn’t want to give him credit. And that remains true to this day. It’s the same part of the fanbase who ran with the “Merab embarrassed Umar!” storyline even though it was a very close fight. Ultimately they will look for excuses to diminish what he does, and Ilia’s size will be that excuse. Mark my words.

yeah but what i'm saying is, no matter WHAT Islam does, those people are going to discredit him regardless. he can't allow the haters to dictate his career moves. you don't think people are going to criticize him if he fights at WW because JDM beats Belal? of course people will say "see, he waited for a guy who has a shit ground game before moving up" you can't please everyone.

 

[moosaev]

He stated it before his appearance on Joe Rogan. What he said on Joe Rogan doesn't contradict that.

I think I would also try to get a Gaethje-fight if I was a family member or manager of Islam, someone with an emotional investment in Islam getting a fight with a higher probability of winning. His team and manager also have financial interest in him getting an easier fight.

As a fan it seems weird to me. It's like Jones fans defending Jones not fighting Aspinall because he lacked the star power and resume of Stipe.

As a sports fan, shouldn't you just want to see the best and most exciting fight?

I have no idea why you’re taking ilia’s word for it when he clearly has an agenda to corner the UFC into making this fight lol. Fans are accepting what ilia is saying as fact because they badly want it to be true, but I don’t buy it at all. When somebody tells you something it’s always smart to consider what their motivation is and that factors into how credible the information is.

As far as wanting to see ilia vs Islam from a competitive standpoint, I agree it’s a great fight but as a fan of Islam I also want him to do what’s right for his career, because there are a bunch of haters who’re praying on his downfall and are looking for ways to discredit his career purely due to his identity, so I don’t want his haters to win. The ilia vs Islam fight is a win-win for the Islam haters, if Islam beats ilia he only beat a FW, if he wins in a very very close fight they’ll say it’s a robbery and he struggled against a FW, if he loses then he lost to a FW! That’s why they want this fight so badly, it’s not only because it’s a good fight.

 

[Fukkup]

I think topuria is gonna get ktfo soon

 

[ElLunico]

It's a valid comparison. Cody looked unbeatable until he got matched up with Dillashaw's juiced up ass. We've seen him look pretty human in three of his last four fights. They look good on paper and had nasty finishes, but he is far from a can or an indestructible juggernaut.

If you cant tell how vastly superior Ilia is to fucking Cody Garbrandt you're dumb as rocks and should stick to watching NBA or something.

This dude just picked a fighter that had hype to Ilia because they look similar LMAO. Cody has ZERO fighting IQ, he was dumb as rocks and got by thru pure athleticism. Ilia is an assassin with elite hands and fight IQ.