Is it just me or did Islam not fight a single legitimate lightweight contender during his title reign??

[pamirec]

Moicano was training for Dariush, another grappler, so he definitely wasn't coming off the couch.

Porier had a full camp with Gamrot teaching him TDD.

Sure, Volk was a late minute replacement but he had the advantage of already having spent 25 minutes with Islam and a training camp specifically tailored to Islam's grappling.

And let's not forget Islam didn't prep for any of his replacements either. I think it says more about Islam that he was able to dominate guys that were thrown at him last minute.

This. You don’t always do well against short notice guy. Cabo Diaz vs Conor is a great example.

 

[Dirty Frank]

He fought Volk twice a 145 or moving up the second time on 10 days notice

He fought Dustin on a one fight win streak. Only because Arman wouldn’t do it.

And then he fought Renato as a last no replacement


He never fought an actual deserving lightweight contender. Am I the only one who thinks this is ridiculous

Circumstances beyond his control.
A true champ fights whoever is put in front of him
And damn if he didn't obliterate everyone in his path.

What a champ. On the way to all-time status - certainly has an argument as LW GOAT already.

Feel blessed we're living in a time where Islam Makhachev is champ, you plebes.

 

[Dirty Frank]

I just think it highlights the tendency of fans to nitpick with islam. He didn’t get a chance to prepare for Moicano either, but instead of crediting him for putting away a very good LW in less than a round and on one day notice with virtually no preparation, the most negative spin is always dished out. At some point we have to acknowledge that there is a deep bias against Khabib’s team and it’s leading to some overly harsh conclusions on their legacy. The way some people talk now you’d think Khabib is basically a bum who only fought hotdog vendors lol.

I pity fools who continue to seethe and writhe at Team Khabib's greatness.
A pathetic, pointless exercise.

 

[Pious Augustus]

So who else was there for him to fight?

Gaethje? No BJJ, would have gotten subbed easier than Moicano.

Chandler? Washed up.

Gamrot would have been interesting but lost to Dariush.

He beat Oliveira handily to win the title and accepted rematches with both him and Armen only for them to pull out last minute. Not his fault that those fights fell through.

Volk was the P4P #1 fighter when he fought Islam and arguably gave him a tougher fight than anyone else in the LW top 5 could have.

This also validates Islam's reason for not fighting Topuria. If he won, people would scoff at him beating yet another FW.

Gamrot lost to Hooker as well, very far from a legit contenders if #4 Dustin isn't one.

 

[Rampage_Jackson]

as someone who hasn't been around much in recent years the Sherdog Islam hate is fucking corny lol. If this is you, you are a dweeb.

 

[Pequeño Corey]

He smoked Olives which was a good win at that time.

 

[Lee Danger]

So who else was there for him to fight?

Gaethje? No BJJ, would have gotten subbed easier than Moicano.

Chandler? Washed up.

Gamrot would have been interesting but lost to Dariush.

He beat Oliveira handily to win the title and accepted rematches with both him and Armen only for them to pull out last minute. Not his fault that those fights fell through.

Volk was the P4P #1 fighter when he fought Islam and arguably gave him a tougher fight than anyone else in the LW top 5 could have.

This also validates Islam's reason for not fighting Topuria. If he won, people would scoff at him beating yet another FW.

the mental gymnastyc to rationalize the Islam' situation is crazy: basically they'd have just gifted him of all those defences the day he become champs, since on paper he'd have won...

guys. it's not his fault but his resume as a champion is still: a fighter on a 1 win streak with a foot already out of the sport, a fw, the same fw he already beat but this time on short notice, a top 15 guy on a couple days notice.

from whatever angle you look at it the substance does not change: this is not the resume of the best lw of all time, you can only play the "4 defences" without delving deeper, like the "who" he fought don't matter.

 

[nostradumbass]

I'm claiming that having the luxury of having more time to prepare is better than having less. What you're claiming is that, based off the fights that were in islam's favor from the beginning, you can judge completely and impartially that preparation time is a non factor. As I said, fighters get their entire confidence from prep. It is very obvious that prep matters, and that's the reason why you will NEVER EVER see a fight where the roles are reversed and it is Islam who is the one who had less prep than his opponent.

You know this. Let it go. Islam went into several key fights with more prep than his opponent. It is fine. He is still awesome.

You already gave multiple examples where it wasn't even the case, and you still haven't answered whether it's fitness or gameplanning that you think they were deprived of because you can't answer. You can't claim it's gameplanning because Islam takes opponent switches every fight and finds out the same time they do, and you can't claim fitness in fights where someone got mowed down in 2 minutes where nobody even had a chance to gas.

 

[moosaev]

This. You don’t always do well against short notice guy. Cabo Diaz vs Conor is a great example.

Khabib didn’t struggle with Iaquinta, but you could tell the lack of preparation bothered him and made him fight more conservatively. Meanwhile islam is just going in there and blasting fools. His finishing ability is not appreciated enough, subbing professional top flight mma fighters like Moicano, hooker, etc in less than a round is no easy task.

 

[Dorkman]

He fought charles, signed on to fight charles again, signed on to fight arman again. Both of whom pulled out. And fought Dustin Poirier. He also went into enemy territory to defend against Volk who everyone claimed deserved his shot. Moicano may not have been the rightful next challenger. But was a solidified top 10 guy on a strong run, and he choked him out in under a round. And any argument for his resume before coming champion, 95% of the division refused to fight him because they knew it was an L that would halt their own title shot aspirations. And the solid ones he did fight like Hooker, he absolutely trounced them. Trying to put any of this on islam is grasping at straws.

 

[BowserJr]

Honestly I'm glad he's vacated because at least we get some real fights now.

What do you mean?

 

[RockyLockridge]

What do you mean?

instead of stay busy interim title fights we get 2 legit full fledged title fights

 

[BowserJr]

instead of stay busy interim title fights we get 2 legit full fledged title fights

Oh gotcha... for me I dont even care about the belts so much anymore cuz its such a mess at all times and almost meaningless with who ends up getting title shots.

I just want to see intriguing matchups and IMO Arman was the only interesting one at LW for Islam

 

[RemyR]

I hate this place

 

[RockyLockridge]

I hate this place

 

[gentel]

he had the chance to fight Gamrot, who was ready and instead CHOSE the FW coming off the couch. so really, there is zero reason why he shouldn't fight Topuria. he CHOSE to fight a FW TWICE. one time OVER AN ACTUAL LW WHO HAD A CAMP.

That incident was ultra BS, though personally I blame Dana more than I blame Islam, just making the fight that would sell the most PPVs

 

[markg171]

People are really trying to argue "No" because Islam ALMOST had a 50% rate of decent title defences???

 

[Hog-train]

Not only has Islam beat everybody you put in front of him, he beat them with ease. Destroyed Charles, KO-ed Volk, destroyed Poirier, etc.

 

[14 division]

All my boys love Islam, y’all will miss him when he is gone.

 

[Cameron]

He fought Volk twice a 145 or moving up the second time on 10 days notice

He fought Dustin on a one fight win streak. Only because Arman wouldn’t do it.

And then he fought Renato as a last no replacement


He never fought an actual deserving lightweight contender. Am I the only one who thinks this is ridiculous

Volk was the number 1 p4p at the time of the first fight. The way Volk fought Islam, I would favor him over all the light weight division.

The second Volk fight also not Islams fault.

Dustin was a bit of a gimme fight.

Renato wasn't his fault Arman is a clown.

Who has he ducked?

who is he not the favorite against?