Islam Makhachev's hypocrisy

[Asahi]

So if Dagestani entitlement is a thing , what does that make Ilia Topuria?

A guy that gave up his undisputed belt to fight Islam who want to keep his belt while cherrypicking JDM.

 

[markg171]

A guy that gave up his undisputed belt to fight Islam who want to keep his belt while cherrypicking JDM.

You missed that Islam also wants to first see HOW Jack beats Belal before moving up. Not Islam will simply move up regardless so long as JDM wins and is the champion in front of him. He needs to first see how JDM looked.

Which says a lot given JDM is a huge bum who's best wins have only come by behind on the cards Hail Mary KOs and was nowhere near title contention without everybody else being unavailable. Even then, Islam still wants that confirmation before agreeing to try and move up against the best case scenario.

It's beyond a joke. And I wouldn't be shocked at all if JDM instead dominates and flatlines Belal easily that Islam suddenly wants to defend at LW.

(against someone like Gaethje or Paddy)

 

[BroScienceTalkatWork]

You know I will say this:

Islam deserves the immediate shot far more then Ilia.. BUT.. Welterweight is absolutely logjammed compared to a Lightweight. So it is hypocritical

 

[Luffy]

That's like your third thread about this.
Let it go mate.

Or call Islam directly because complaining in here constantly isn't changing the result of things.

I called him, tho. We met, I told him what I thought (in a lighter way tho), he told me his PoV on it and that's fine, he was very respectful, probably saw I was afraid. We had a tea together, and we got along well. He called me to visit Dagestan later. I said I'm no fighter but he said to come to Dagestan, that I'd like to visit there. It's all cool

 

[Luffy]

Nobody seems to mention the real issue here and that is who the fuck cares what Ilia wants or what Islam wants, the UFC should just make the fight they want to make, and if the champ refuses, they should strip him of the belt.

When did guys choosing who they fight become a thing?

Nah, it shouldn't work like that at all either. Those fighters are MMA fighters, in a business, in a "sport". They aren't gladiators.

 

[Luffy]

You know damn well you would throw an absolute fit if he fought Justin or Paddy. Topuria has fought once in 14 months, Arman hasn't fought at all in over a year, Charles has 1 fight in over a year, while the champ fights more often than all of them with 2 fights in the last 10 months.

Or let's extend it back even further to the last 4 years. Islam's fought 9 times, Topuria's fought 6 times, Gaethje's fought 6 times, Charles has fought 7 times and lost 2 of them, Arman has fought 8 times and lost one of them.

The contenders act like entitled babies who never want to fight because they keep getting rewarded for it. Just show up every 9-14 months to beat someone outside the top 5 then sit out and wait for a title shot you didn't earn.

Lol at "not an actual contender". He signed and showed up to fight the #1 contender, and none of these bums will even show up for the fights they're scheduled for, but somehow you think they were all lining up and on weight to fight on 24 hrs notice? And don't pretend like even in the impossible hypothetical that one of these guys would have or could have shown up on 24 hrs notice that you wouldn't have immediately dismissed it as "pffft, they didn't even have a full camp", because you already did do that when he gave Volk a rematch after Charles pulled out.

Charles fought twice last year, dude. Check your facts straight. He fought at 300 and at the JJ vs Stipe card vs Chandler.

 

[Luffy]

You missed that Islam also wants to first see HOW Jack beats Belal before moving up. Not Islam will simply move up regardless so long as JDM wins and is the champion in front of him. He needs to first see how JDM looked.

Which says a lot given JDM is a huge bum who's best wins have only come by behind on the cards Hail Mary KOs and was nowhere near title contention without everybody else being unavailable. Even then, Islam still wants that confirmation before agreeing to try and move up against the best case scenario.

It's beyond a joke. And I wouldn't be shocked at all if JDM instead dominates and flatlines Belal easily that Islam suddenly wants to defend at LW.

(against someone like Gaethje or Paddy)

Btw, Islam getting the title shot if Jack won instead of Rakhmonov would be absurd... Rakhmonov is 19-0, has won all of those fights by finishes barring one that he got a UD vs a younger, also undefeated talent, who had his 0 taken by Shavkat (Ian Garry). Like, Islam doesn't want Topuria to get a TS? Fine. But then the most he'd get in 170 is fighting Shavkat first. Shavkat has had his title shot unfortunately delayed despite him being a huge talent that is seen by most as the future champion. As per Dana White, Islam Makhachev can not and will not get the jump on Shavkat Rakhmonov and go straight to the title shot if he vacates the LW belt and goes to 170... More than fair as he doesn't think Topuria deserves the TS despite the LWs not even questioning Illia fighting Islam lol

Now... I think that for Islam, fighting Shavkat Rakhmonov at 170 may be even riskier than fighting Topuria at 155... Dunno. But Shavkat would be a hell of a match up to Makhachev... Shavkat would likely defeat Makhachev IMO

 

[Koro_11]

Nah, it shouldn't work like that at all either. Those fighters are MMA fighters, in a business, in a "sport". They aren't gladiators.

Exactly, a sport… and what other sport can you think of where a player or a team can refuse to play against whoever the league matches them up against?

Can you imagine the Lakers ignoring the nba schedule and refusing to play against the Celtics cause they don’t think they’ve earned it or whatever? Or Novak Djokovic picking his opponent in the Wimbledon opener?

No it’s ridiculous in every other sport, so why are we not calling it out in MMA?

 

[Greyscale]

I agree he doesn't want to build his legacy by consistently fighting the best but rather by careful planning and avoiding as much risk as possible. Can you imagine Makhachev filling in on short notice to save an event against a bigger guy?

 

[HeadKickerV2]

Exactly, a sport… and what other sport can you think of where a player or a team can refuse to play against whoever the league matches them up against?

Can you imagine the Lakers ignoring the nba schedule and refusing to play against the Celtics cause they don’t think they’ve earned it or whatever? Or Novak Djokovic picking his opponent in the Wimbledon opener?

No it’s ridiculous in every other sport, so why are we not calling it out in MMA?

UFC is not NBA, fighters dont have a set schedule, and can negotiate/refuse fights offered to them.

You hypocrites would complain if any other fighter, after only one title defense, jumped to a higher division and demanded an instant title fight. But i know... that Georgian midget is special... the same way Volk was the the unstoppable GOAT just a year ago.

And UFC cant just strip Islam, they are risking damaging business relations they have in UAE and Middle East in general. Its not about love for Dagestanis, its just business.

 

[nostradumbass]

Charles fought twice last year, dude. Check your facts straight. He fought at 300 and at the JJ vs Stipe card vs Chandler.

UFC 300 was over a year ago, dude. Check your calendar.

 

[Koro_11]

UFC is not NBA, fighters dont have a set schedule, and can negotiate/refuse fights offered to them.

You hypocrites would complain if any other fighter, after only one title defense, jumped to a higher division and demanded an instant title fight. But i know... that Georgian midget is special... the same way Volk was the the unstoppable GOAT just a year ago.

And UFC cant just strip Islam, they are risking damaging business relations they have in UAE and Middle East in general. Its not about love for Dagestanis, its just business.

There is no hypocrisy and I’m not only talking about the Topuria/Makhachev situation, I’m talking about everyone in general.

These guys fight for an organization and they get paid for it, so once their money and contract has been negotiated they should be fighting whoever the promotion puts in their path if that person is making weight for their division, period.

This idea that the athlete gets to hold out and decide which opponent deserves to compete against them and which doesn’t is absolutely ridiculous, regardless of which sport we’re talking about.

 

[moosaev]

Btw, Islam getting the title shot if Jack won instead of Rakhmonov would be absurd... Rakhmonov is 19-0, has won all of those fights by finishes barring one that he got a UD vs a younger, also undefeated talent, who had his 0 taken by Shavkat (Ian Garry). Like, Islam doesn't want Topuria to get a TS? Fine. But then the most he'd get in 170 is fighting Shavkat first. Shavkat has had his title shot unfortunately delayed despite him being a huge talent that is seen by most as the future champion. As per Dana White, Islam Makhachev can not and will not get the jump on Shavkat Rakhmonov and go straight to the title shot if he vacates the LW belt and goes to 170... More than fair as he doesn't think Topuria deserves the TS despite the LWs not even questioning Illia fighting Islam lol

Now... I think that for Islam, fighting Shavkat Rakhmonov at 170 may be even riskier than fighting Topuria at 155... Dunno. But Shavkat would be a hell of a match up to Makhachev... Shavkat would likely defeat Makhachev IMO

Islam and ilia are not on equal footing, Islam has earned an immediate shot a weight class up because he’s had multiple defenses and he gave the FW champ a shot twice. Ilia does not deserve an immediate shot because he only defended once. They are not the same, Islam has put in the work while ilia hasn’t.

 

[uff]

Someone who KO'ed two featherweight GOATs back to back and relinquished the title out of self belief.

still not deserving of a immediate title-shot at LW though,

 

[HeadKickerV2]

There is no hypocrisy and I’m not only talking about the Topuria/Makhachev situation, I’m talking about everyone in general.

These guys fight for an organization and they get paid for it, so once their money and contract has been negotiated they should be fighting whoever the promotion puts in their path if that person is making weight for their division, period.

This idea that the athlete gets to hold out and decide which opponent deserves to compete against them and which doesn’t is absolutely ridiculous, regardless of which sport we’re talking about.

Ok, talking in general, if a fighter refuses a fight, what do you do? Kick them out of the UFC, fine them?

The UFC doesnt have that luxury unfortunately, there is only a small amount of really good fighters in the world that UFC can sign, kicking them out and replacing them is not easy.

They can fine them, that could work, but knowing how bad UFCs reputation is when it comes to fighter pay, that to could backfire.

 

[markg171]

Exactly, a sport… and what other sport can you think of where a player or a team can refuse to play against whoever the league matches them up against?

Can you imagine the Lakers ignoring the nba schedule and refusing to play against the Celtics cause they don’t think they’ve earned it or whatever? Or Novak Djokovic picking his opponent in the Wimbledon opener?

No it’s ridiculous in every other sport, so why are we not calling it out in MMA?

MMA oddly leans towards a ton of nerds who never played any other sports in their lives and so can't possibly fathom competing against your friends or simply whoever like everybody else does. So they think it's odd to land a good play on your buddy in actual competition instead of just practice and then joke about it together afterwards instead of it being completely normal and something the rest of us all grew up doing.

You also then have the smaller group of try hards who are former army or wanna be army who think these are brothers in arms so you can't fight them anymore than you would your actual brothers in arms troops.

Then you've got the guys who simply exploit both groups and use it as an excuse to avoid matchups they don't want as they know this is oddly something that's sorta allowed in MMA.

 

[SaltedVinegarfootstomps]

I'm pretty sure you had an erection while composing that. Go change your shorts bud, this thread is one hell of a mess.

 

[Alpha_T83]

Sure if it's a matter of wanting a full camp then let him have a full camp.

But that's not the arguments I'm hearing, Islam and Khabib are going on about who Ilia should beat to deserve the fight and pretending they're the matchmakers, wtf is that shit? If you're the best you just beat everyone they put in front of you. Give him time to prepare, pay him what he's worth, but he fights who the fans and the organization wants him to, end of story

Again, he's allowed to have an opinion on 145ers coming up multiple times and skipping the line. Volk was the 145 GOAT, so that made sense. But Topuria has 1 title defense. Islam can criticize that matchup. It doesn't mean he won't fight Topuria. Like I said, he will fight Topuria if the UFC give him no other choice. But he (probably) won't do it at UFC 317. Dana will have to offer him a boatload of cash to change his mind.

 

[Fight Professor]

He did not get much credit for beating super-accomplished Volk twice due to the size difference. Why would Islam fight a less proven FW who has no fights in the division.

 

[Luffy]

UFC 300 was over a year ago, dude. Check your calendar.

Last year = 2024...

UFC 300 — April 2024
UFC 309 — November 2024

Charles fought in both of them... Hence, he fought 2x last year. Got it ?