News Islam Makhachev vacates Lightweight title to challenge Jack Della Maddalena for the Welterweight Championship, location TBA

[hbombbisping]

So much for "im not vacating the LW belt", smh, LW record is set at 4...had the chance to make history taking it further, dumb move.

PS: So is the UFC not allowing champ champs anymore?

Uhhhh... that means he already made history. Becoming a double champ brings him closer to overall GOAT. He now also has one of the longest winstreaks in UFC history.

 

[Rektkid]

Somebody said "No you will NOT keep the 155 belt we need it defended at 317". Also Islam probably can't make weight again of he fights at 170

War Do Bronx but I'm very concerned about the speed of Tops hands

Islam can't rush Jack or call the shots. Jack just went to WAR and his face got messed up. I sympathize for Garry, Brady, Shavkat, Morales, Buckley, etc. Even Usman and Edwards to some extent. Islam came out of nowhere and just hopped all of them

Islam moving up wasn't even a secret lol. He deserved a crack at the 170 more than Ilia did at the 155 belt.

 

[CroCopsLHK]

Islam moving up wasn't even a secret lol. He deserved a crack at the 170 more than Ilia did at the 155 belt.

Yes we've known about it for weeks

 

[mogul]

Islam will lose

 

[Ramon Antonio]

Islam is a great sportsman in every way.

Unlike Jon Jones - a fraud, who never fights to defend his title and refuses to vacate it at the same time.

Lol a fraud?

Jones fought Bader, Shogun, Rampage and Machida in a single year. That’s bigger than anything Islam has done.

He’s just at the tail end of his career. It’s UFC’s fault for not stripping him.

 

[Ramon Antonio]

Islam is gonna get knocked out. Then he moves down to face ilia and he will get knocked out again.

 

[Doctor Grudge]

I was pretty close to booking a flight to Australia this year, now I have to hold off to see if they go to Perth.

Though, I reckon the tickets will be stupid expensive.

 

[pamirec]

Islam’s the man. He is definitely not afraid of challenging himself. JDM’s tdd looks good, but Islam will take him down.
A ww Islam will be different animal too.

 

[vivi]

I don’t like the line skipping but if Shavkat really is injured then fuck it this is a fun fight.

 

[pamirec]

Is this Islam’s first fight at WW? Many people were saying that ilia needed to win at LW first before getting a title shot. Are they okay with Islam getting a title shot in his first fight at WW? Whole things kind of a mess but this makes some sense, although Charles shouldn’t get a title shot lol. This is all Armans fault.

Ilia’s whole MMA record is 16-0, UFC record being 8-0. Islam’s 16-1 in teh UFC alone. 27-1 overall MMA record.
Ilia has only 1 title defense, Islam has 4.
I don’t know why people act like Ilia has done so fucking good that he deserves to move up and face the best p4p in the world.

 

[vivi]

I don’t like the line skipping but if Shavkat really is injured then fuck it this is a fun fight.

 

[pamirec]

I find it hilarious you guys are apparently completely unaware that Jones vacated his LHW belt when he moved up to HW.

It took Jon three years to move up. Lol.

 

[pamirec]

To be honest this more or less kills 2 birds with one stone. Imagine if both Ilia and Islam kept both of their belts while each chasing another. That's a log jam in 4 fucking divisions.

It’s different. Ilia vacated because he probably can’t cut to fw anymore. Otherwise he’d be dumb not to solidify his legacy as a fw before making risky decisions. Islam struggles, but there is no sign that he can’t make weight.

 

[Rapa]

Least he's not holding up the division

Nah ufc forced him to vacate

 

[The_Renaissance]

Gotta give Islam his dues, and I'm kinda pleased as he'd cleaned out the division. Think he wins this, he's a far greater grappling threat than Belal.

 

[Rapa]

Gotta give Islam his dues, and I'm kinda pleased as he'd cleaned out the division. Think he wins this, he's a far greater grappling threat than Belal.

Cleaned division? When?
He has 2 top 5 wins
1.oliveria
2. Old porier
Others are
1. bobby "nobody" green
2.dan hooker (lol)
3.drew dobber
4.moicano yeah yeah yeah

 

[Unheralded Truth]

I'm pretty sure that Islam has been the guy winning in his and Belal's sparring sessions.

They seem pretty confident in that Islam has what it would take to get Giacomo out of there.

 

[usernamee]

Islam is gonna get knocked out. Then he moves down to face ilia and he will get knocked out again.

Sucks for Ilia if that's the case because it wont be as big of an accomplishment if it happens that way. Even him winning the LW title against Olives wont feel that crazy because it's a long in the tooth Olives he's fighting who has been beaten many times.

 

[FrappeDuRocma]

He's gonna be ducking in hopes Jacky Boy doesn't rearrange his face the way he did his buddy...I already forgot his name.

If he loses to JDM I bet we see Islam vs Topuria for the LW title sometime in 2026.

Islam went up at the cost of his LW belt to fight a more dangerous fighter and you are talking about ducking ? Topuria may not even win against Oliveira, it would be hilarious if he loses, just to see how people will cope.

 

[NoSmilez]

Australia if they want the big ticket sales.