Islam — Put him... No, not Topuria...

[VinceArch]

I think the best case scenario is for Islam and Arman to fight while Topuria and Paddy fight. Winners fight each other while Oliveira and Holloway fight.

 

[puppybird]

Topuria wins vs Islam IMO. He’s a future GOAT

 

[JKS]

He smeshed Volk twice

Twice?? LOL, he nearly lost the first fight and was the one getting smashed in the last round. He won, but it was far from any smashing.

 

[Meathead Jock]

Islam should only fight Arman, after that move up to WW even if he has to go through Belal.

I'm telling y'all, Belal isn't one of them and that friendship is one sided. Belal is going to be butthurt when he finds out that he was never one of them.

Didn't Belal unfollow them all on Twitter about 3 months ago? Has anything ever come from that move?

 

[Urluberluu]

I feel like all categories will move forward without Ilia , he will end up in the cuck chair waiting like Chandler did for Conor

 

[humdizzle]

if ilia is confident he should fight a contender first to prove himself.

 

[Sean Chowdhury]

Didn't Belal unfollow them all on Twitter about 3 months ago? Has anything ever come from that move?

that turned out to be a instagram glitch, belal didn't actually unfollow them

 

[goOb]

We have a word for so called 'Elite Small Men' we call them Manlets. Islam will not fight men of this kind.

 

[Meathead Jock]

that turned out to be a instagram glitch, belal didn't actually unfollow them

Thanks

 

[14 division]

Islam isn’t ducking, he wants the 170 belt or a true 155 #1 contender.

 

[Meathead Jock]

I feel like all categories will move forward without Ilia , he will end up in the cuck chair waiting like Chandler did for Conor

It comes down to if he was promised the title shot or not. If the UFC promised him the title shot and he dropped the belt to cash in that promise I stead of tie up two belts... Then they have to give him the title shot.

I say that as someone who doesn't think he deserves the title shot and thinks Arman should be fighting him. But IF he was promised a shot when he dropped the belt instead of chasing Double Champ the company has to honor that word even if they should t have gave it to him.

 

[joy2day]

Charles can knock you the fuck out too. Gaethje can knock you the fuck out too. Poirier can knock you the fuqq out. Conor can knock you the f out. You get the point. This has nothing to do with that at all. There is an inherent risk in every fight. Volk was #1 in PFP list as well. Islam is not ducking anyone, however taking on a challenger from a lower weight, he has done it twice already. Does he want 60-70% of his defenses being against a champ from a lower division? Ilya is coming up to prove himself. Islam wants to move up to prove himself. Do you see the dilemma here?

Not sure I buy that explanation. The fact that "any pro fighter is a risk and can knock you out" isn't terribly relevant here; some fighters are most definitely more likely to knock you out than others, and Illia has more KO ability than the guys you listed (at last right now).

Islam still has plenty of career left, and I think this idea is yours and not his regarding fighting people "from a lower weight class." That sounds like an excuse that got shoehorned in.

I think he does see Illia as a serious threat and wants to avoid that fight for as long as he can while hoping Illia will lose before then (someone else will face the test of just how good Illia is at LW before he has to fight him). After the way Islam struggled with Volk in their only real fight when Volk actually trained, and the way Illia subsequently smashed him, I think that is giving him some pause.

If Islam is actually planning to move up, it would be reasonable to avoid Illia, but I haven't heard that is coming anytime soon.

 

[Poirierfan]

Charles can knock you the fuck out too. Gaethje can knock you the fuck out too. Poirier can knock you the fuqq out. Conor can knock you the f out. You get the point. This has nothing to do with that at all. There is an inherent risk in every fight. Volk was #1 in PFP list as well. Islam is not ducking anyone, however taking on a challenger from a lower weight, he has done it twice already. Does he want 60-70% of his defenses being against a champ from a lower division? Ilya is coming up to prove himself. Islam wants to move up to prove himself. Do you see the dilemma here?

No one you mention has the wrestling/grappling as well as power to combat Islam, he doesn't want none.

 

[Ozze]

Islam beat Volk and a lot of people discredit his win because "he beat a FW".

So his point is that for his legacy what would another FW do? Have him fight first and prove himself and LW, be a true contender, and then he can fight for the belt.

But to be honest, Topuria could beat all the LW ranked guys of the division in a row and when Islam beat him the speech would be the same "beat a FW"...

 

[Koala]

The UFC is clearly waiting for Belal vs Giacomo
If Belal wins, Islam vs Topuria and Belal vs Shavkat
If Giacomo wins, Giacomo vs Islam, Topuria vs Arman for the interim belt, and Olives vs Holloway for the BMF

 

[Vigfree]

If Islam smokes Ilia in that fight, people will bring up the "145er" thing, whereas if Ilia beats a top contender then fights Islam, even if Islam smokes him, Ilia will officially be a 155er at that point with a legit claim for the title shot.

I do think Ilia has a reasonable title shot claim now, but given Islam defended twice vs Volk & the chatter around all that - it is very understandable why Islam would want Ilia to fight someone first. And it has nothing to do with ducking. My guess is despite all that, there is some chance at this point Islam ends up fighting Ilia next. If Belal wins at 170, and Islam decides not to move up vs Belal, the UFC prob books Ilia vs Islam next.

My personal hope is Islam moves up next regardless. He's #1P4P & deserves a title shot at the higher weight class more than anyone in the UFC currently. That said, I will not be disappointed if Islam's next fight is either Ilia or Arman.

Equating this situation to Jones is laughable. I mean Tom is the interim champ who has way more fights & ranked wins at HW then Jones. He's even defended the interim belt once. If you're making a comparison here you need to pull Jon's c*** outta your mouth bc that is silly.

 

[HP_Nut]

Islam should only fight Arman, after that move up to WW even if he has to go through Belal.

I'm telling y'all, Belal isn't one of them and that friendship is one sided. Belal is going to be butthurt when he finds out that he was never one of them.

I think Islam is ok with fighting Belal for legacy purposes eg 2 division champ. But Khabib literally just said a couple days ago that Islam cannot fight Belal, that Belal is too close to them, etc. Khabib is not Islam, but Khabib saying that leads me to believe it won’t happen. Khabib has a huge influence on Islam

 

[Aurelian]

If UFC gives Ilia a contender it's going to be someone like Dan Hooker and at that point just a formality. That shit's a waste of time.

 

[OmegaRugal]

In Topuria's only lightweight fight in the UFC he got hurt bad. Also not by a top lightweight either, by a guy that was 1-2 in the UFC with the 1 win being over a guy that got finished twice in a row.

In Topuria's only lightweight fight in the UFC he got hurt bad. Also not by a top lightweight either, by a guy that was 1-2 in the UFC with the 1 win being over a guy that got finished twice in a row.

And yet still won by KO within 2 rounds.

How did Islam do vs Adriano?

 

[Mind Mine]

It's almost like refusing to fight the interim champ is different than refusing to fight a guy with no ranked wins in your division.

At what point has any fight offer been publicly disclosed? At what point has the UFC stated Jones is playing hardball? Why do you think he isn’t stripped? You haters faked an entire narrative to smear a fighter and make him matchmaker, responsible for generating dates and venues. Get a damn grip