Media Islam says beating Featherweights do nothing for his career but still willing to fight Illia

koa pomaikai said:
A real champion, he’s willing to fight Illia even though he says it does nothing for his legacy.

He’d have beat arguably two FW goats if he beats Illia and haters will keep saying he fights smaller guys.


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I’m starting to like him
 
svmr_db said:
Gamrot has nothing for Islam but sure cling to the fantasy that he would've done anything lol.
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He should retire then if there’s no competition for him, and the other fighters are so bad that no one deserves to fight for the belt… not even worth to match them up because no one doesn’t have a chance anyway?
Isn’t this a bit silly?

Btw, cool Avi, that hat suits Dana 😅
 
MarioLemieux said:
You mean he beat the p4p #1 fighter two times straight instead of Gamrot who is 3-2 in his last five fights and just lost to Dan Hooker? The audacity of Islam!
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Fighting Volk made sense for islam, and he chose volk at least one of the times they fought, which is why people are pointing out the hypocrisy of islam now saying that fighting featherweights does nothing for his career. That said, I think it's because Islam saw the fans' somewhat sour reactions to the second Volk fight and learned from that, so he now believes that beating featherweights does nothing for his career because fandom downplayed that win. He was certainly interested in it before, though.

Frankly, I don't blame the guy for not wanting to fight Featherweights anymore. Not only did a featherweight give him his toughest fight, but fans also belittle the fights because it was a featherweight. Lose lose scenario, but still, one that islam walked himself into.

richardjohnson said:
I’ve seen a few people post this and I always have a couple questions for them but have yet to receive any answers.

If they had put Gamrot in who would they have got to fly to Abu Dhabi on two weeks notice to cut weight as a backup fighter? The whole point of a backup fighter is so they have someone to step in in case shit hits the fan a day or two before the fight when it would be next to impossible to find a replacement. If it was as simple as just having Gamrot step in why would they have even contacted Dustin and Volk to replace Charles? It seems very obvious that they wanted to keep Gamrot in that backup fighter position but so few are able to think critically to acknowledge that.
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If gamrot was stuck in the limbo of "back up fighter, but only in the last few days of a fight cancellation", then Islam wouldn't have been able to chose gamrot as an option at all when charles pulled out.

We know that is not the case, since islam himself said he had the choice between Gamrot, Poirier, and Volk, and he chose volk.
 
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WoozyFailGuy said:
Because in that scenario, he would in fact, be fighting smaller guys.
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It if the smaller guy is talking smack and calling you out, you can’t run or else it looks bad. Islam didn’t call out to Topuria. It’s the other way around and Topuria wants Islam territory. It’s the king duty to defend regardless of the size of the opposing attacking army.
 
TITS said:
He already lost to Volk the first time. And I like Islam and was rooting for him.
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The Final Verdict: Islam Makhachev vs. Alexander Volkanovski
 
svmr_db said:
Gamrot has nothing for Islam but sure cling to the fantasy that he would've done anything lol.
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Islam fans think Poirier's better than expected performance against Islam is from simply having trained with Gamrot for 6 weeks.

It's just a total mystery that Islam has repeatedly refused to fight Gamrot and instead waited it out for him to lose.
 
MarioLemieux said:
You mean he beat the p4p #1 fighter two times straight instead of Gamrot who is 3-2 in his last five fights and just lost to Dan Hooker? The audacity of Islam!
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Yes, the audacity of Islam to fight 10 days notice post-surgery FW Volk instead of Gamrot who was the official backup and had been training for him.

And the audacity of him to fight Poirier instead of Gamrot who was equally ready to fight at 301, had a longer win streak, and literally helped train Poirier for Islam and has been given all the credit for Poirier not getting blown out like everybody expected.

It's just a total mystery why Islam kept avoiding him and let Gamrot have to keep fighting others until yes, he recently just controversially lost to Hooker.
 
fortheo said:
Fighting Volk made sense for islam, and he chose volk at least one of the times they fought, which is why people are pointing out the hypocrisy of islam now saying that fighting featherweights does nothing for his career. That said, I think it's because Islam saw the fans' somewhat sour reactions to the second Volk fight and learned from that, so he now believes that beating featherweights does nothing for his career because fandom downplayed that win. He was certainly interested in it before, though.

Frankly, I don't blame the guy for not wanting to fight Featherweights anymore. Not only did a featherweight give him his toughest fight, but fans also belittle the fights because it was a featherweight. Lose lose scenario, but still, one that islam walked himself into.



If gamrot was stuck in the limbo of "back up fighter, but only in the last few days of a fight cancellation", then Islam wouldn't have been able to chose gamrot as an option at all when charles pulled out.

We know that is not the case, since islam himself said he had the choice between Gamrot, Poirier, and Volk, and he chose volk.
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That's not what happened, the UFC picked Volk. Islam told them he didn't care who it was and thought it was going to be Gamrot, then they called Gaethje and he told them he couldn't make weight, so they called Volk who said he'd let them know by the end of the day, and they called Poirier in case Volk said no.

The UFC chose Volk because they thought it would do the highest PPV numbers. Islam's "choice" wasn't a list of opponents to pick from, it was to accept the fight or to turn it down and have them offer someone else. Don't actually know what their conversation was with Gamrot after Charles pulled out, but he got pushed to the back of the pile and they called other guys they thought would do better PPV numbers, and Islam said yes to the first one they offered him.
 
nostradumbass said:
That's not what happened, the UFC picked Volk. Islam told them he didn't care who it was and thought it was going to be Gamrot, then they called Gaethje and he told them he couldn't make weight, so they called Volk who said he'd let them know by the end of the day, and they called Poirier in case Volk said no.

The UFC chose Volk because they thought it would do the highest PPV numbers. Islam's "choice" wasn't a list of opponents to pick from, it was to accept the fight or to turn it down and have them offer someone else. Don't actually know what their conversation was with Gamrot after Charles pulled out, but he got pushed to the back of the pile and they called other guys they thought would do better PPV numbers, and Islam said yes to the first one they offered him.
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Islam himself said he picked Volk over Gamrot and others.

Islam: You have to say thanks to me. I can choose any other opponent. We have Gamrot, we have Poirier, everybody is ready to fight for the belt. But I give you for the second time a chance. Just say ‘thank you’, that’s it.

 
richardjohnson said:
I’ve seen a few people post this and I always have a couple questions for them but have yet to receive any answers.

If they had put Gamrot in who would they have got to fly to Abu Dhabi on two weeks notice to cut weight as a backup fighter? The whole point of a backup fighter is so they have someone to step in in case shit hits the fan a day or two before the fight when it would be next to impossible to find a replacement. If it was as simple as just having Gamrot step in why would they have even contacted Dustin and Volk to replace Charles? It seems very obvious that they wanted to keep Gamrot in that backup fighter position but so few are able to think critically to acknowledge that.
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No, that was the SHTF situation... hence Volk basically having to roll of the couch and fight. They were trying to impress their wealthy benefactors in the UAE with a big-name fight. Gamrot wasn't a big enough needle-mover, so they did what they could to avoid using him.

Otherwise why not let the backup fighter with a full camp fill in and do his job as a backup fighter and then have someone else come in on short notice in case of your aforementioned last-minute SHTF scenario?
 
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markg171 said:
Islam himself said he picked Volk over Gamrot and others.

Islam: You have to say thanks to me. I can choose any other opponent. We have Gamrot, we have Poirier, everybody is ready to fight for the belt. But I give you for the second time a chance. Just say ‘thank you’, that’s it.
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Correct, he didn't have to accept the fight. He could have turned it down and they would have given it to someone else, and he would have finished them and you'd be on here saying he was offered the rematch with Volk and ducked it for an easier opponent.

On what planet do you think the UFC really wanted Gamrot to headline a PPV over Volk?
 
nostradumbass said:
Correct, he didn't have to accept the fight. He could have turned it down and they would have given it to someone else, and he would have finished them and you'd be on here saying he was offered the rematch with Volk and ducked it for an easier opponent.

On what planet do you think the UFC really wanted Gamrot to headline a PPV over Volk?
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What easier opponent was there than 10 days notice post surgery FW Volk you've already once fought and prepared for?

Volk WAS the easy option. That's why Islam picked him.
 
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