Makhachev wants to fight the #9 ranked Usman instead of Morales...

[moosaev]

Brady had ragdolled everybody, and tried like hell to get him down. He was the biggest grappling threat at 170 other than Islam. Who else is gonna take Morales down?

Brady got KO’d by Belal who isn’t know for his punching power lol. He’s chinny and has poor striking defense. Let’s see Morales against someone who can clinch him and take him down.

 

[markg171]

Dominating and submitting Edwards when Usman couldn't do it is pretty damn good, bro. The turn on Brady is crazy here. Before Morales, half this forum thought he was the future of the division.

Cause Leon’s looking so great eh

 

[Here's Johnny!]

Is there an interim champion at 170? There is no clear #1 contender at 170 unlike HW, so the two situations are literally nothing alike lol.

They are exactly alike

 

[Hairrow]

islam chooses usman...
mma fans: "it makes sense for the resume"

jones chooses stipe...
mma fans: "jones is a scared bitch!"

Nice try, but no

 

[Tweak896]

I guess it finally sends Usman packing, kind of a cool fight too. It is what it is. Figured it was coming. Atleast not as bad as Colby title shots.

 

[usernamee]

Cause Leon’s looking so great eh

I thought Leon looked great vs Prates honestly and I was well on my way of writing him and his career off after how he looked vs Belal+Brady. But then he decided to stand in front of Prates in the 2nd round and paid for it immediately.

 

[joy2day]

Yes, Islam is taking the route of the duck if he fights Usman. He'll probably fight Usman, then retire for his mom.

 

[Duck Dodgers]

Champion: Makhachev
#1. Morales (KO Brady 1st round, Undefeated 19-0)
#2. Shavkat (beat Garry split decision 3-2 on all scorecards, inactive from injury, Undefeated 19-0)
#3. Garry (beat Prates and Belal clearly)
#4. Prates (KO Leon. Did better against Garry than Belal. 12 KOs in his last 13 fights.)
---
#5. JDM (beat Belal clearly. Did nothing offensively against Islam, besides one striking combo in the clinch.)
#6. Belal (KO Brady and beat Leon clearly)
#7. Brady (Submit Leon)
#8. Leon (KO Usman)
#9. Usman (1 win in last 4 fights)


MMA Math:
- Islam
- Morales
- Shavkat > Garry > Prates
- JDM > Belal > Brady > Leon > Usman


-----------------

My welterweight rankings updated after Garry vs Belal.

Makhachev wants to fight the #9 ranked Usman.
This reminds me of Jones wanting to fight geriatric Stipe instead of Aspinall.

Do you really not know what a split decision is?

 

[richardjohnson]

Islam could say he wanted to fight any of the top WW’s and all the usual suspects would find a problem with it.

Morales - “Unproven”
Garry - “Shavkat’s son”
Prates - “Lost to Garry”
Shavkat - “Too inactive”

I think you get the point but regardless Islam said he’ll fight whoever the UFC wants and conveniently that never gets brought up…

 

[JKS]

I can't believe he's trying to duck the legendary takedown defense of this Ecuadorian fighter who trains in Tijuana that 90% of casuals never heard about. Preposterous.

Well, his TDD is 90% and I wouldn't knock his wrestling. He won a national championship in Ecuador in freestyle and has been wrestling competitively since he was a kid. It's not like this is JDM. His advantage comes from his length and ability to stay on the outside and use his range. Fighters have difficulty setting up takedown on him. Even for someone like Islam, it's not gonna be as simple as JDM. Morales presents much bigger challenges.

 

[Pequeño Corey]

I dont blame him for wanting the money route instead of the challenge route

I guess the audience prefers the challenges, though

“Money”?

What money? The PPV model is dead. How is a fight with Usman more lucrative than a fight with Garry or Morales?

 

[Pequeño Corey]

Well, his TDD is 90% and I wouldn't knock his wrestling. He won a national championship in Ecuador in freestyle and has been wrestling competitively since he was a kid. It's not like this is JDM. His advantage comes from his length and ability to stay on the outside and use his range. Fighters have difficulty setting up takedown on him. Even for someone like Islam, it's not gonna be as simple as JDM. Morales presents much bigger challenges.

Didn’t know that he carried this pedigree. That’s gonna be a problem, combined with his natural gifts.

 

[Here's Johnny!]

“Money”?

What money? The PPV model is dead. How is a fight with Usman more lucrative than a fight with Garry or Morales?

Money comes in from eyeballs.... eyeballs on social media make money, advertisements, sponsors.... good matchups still matter for money without the PPV

 

[Koya]

Well, his TDD is 90% and I wouldn't knock his wrestling. He won a national championship in Ecuador in freestyle and has been wrestling competitively since he was a kid. It's not like this is JDM. His advantage comes from his length and ability to stay on the outside and use his range. Fighters have difficulty setting up takedown on him. Even for someone like Islam, it's not gonna be as simple as JDM. Morales presents much bigger challenges.

I dunno man what does winning a wrestling title in Ecuador really mean ? Not much and you know it. He also has a background in Judo. I'm also on the fence in that since Ecuador never had a world/Olympic judo champion ever. And it's a tiny country.

I have a hard time believe he'll be a grappling challenge for Makhachev.

 

[JKS]

I dunno man what does winning a wrestling title in Ecuador really mean ? Not much and you know it. He also has a background in Judo. I'm also on the fence in that since Ecuador never had a world/Olympic judo champion ever. And it's a tiny country.

I have a hard time believe he'll be a grappling challenge for Makhachev.

Well, its not like winning a wrestling title in the US or Russia lol, or even Canada for that matter. But it's certainly worth something on that level. Besides his skills, it's also his size that poses problems and also enhances the skill set he has. You get a guy who has somewhat of a wrestling background and already has very good TDD, and he's 6'1 with a 79" reach, it makes a tough fight for any grappler. The way he keeps his distance is impressive and doesn't even allow these guys to get a shot off.

I really don't know how he will fare exactly vs Islam. But seeing how he handled Burns and Brady, guys who have been pretty dam good with their wrestling vs the top of the division. You can expect it won't be an easy fight.

 

[Koya]

Well, its not like winning a wrestling title in the US or Russia lol, or even Canada for that matter. But it's certainly worth something on that level. Besides his skills, it's also his size that poses problems and also enhances the skill set he has. You get a guy who has somewhat of a wrestling background and already has very good TDD, and he's 6'1 with a 79" reach, it makes a tough fight for any grappler. The way he keeps his distance is impressive and doesn't even allow these guys to get a shot off.

I really don't know how he will fare exactly vs Islam. But seeing how he handled Burns and Brady, guys who have been pretty dam good with their wrestling vs the top of the division. You can expect it won't be an easy fight.

I think Makhachev would have disposed Brady and that old version of Burns very easily too.

I don't believe that he can stuff Islam's takedowns for 25mn, and Islam can strike too. I also believe that once on the ground, an MMA grapplers of the caliber of Makhachev will have a field day with him and submit him at some point eventually.

Styles makes fights, and in my view it's a bad matchup for Morales. We'll see if it happens.

 

[HHJ]

I'm not a fan of this fight but it's obvious Ali is doin it to get Usman one last payday

 

[usernamee]

I'm not a fan of this fight but it's obvious Ali is doin it to get Usman one last payday

I think Ali has way too much pull with the UFC brass honestly. I think they do each other favours constantly behind closed doors.

 

[CatchtheseHands]

sherdog rule:
if a fighter loses a fight, they were never that good

Except I never thought Brady was ever that good and thought so even prior to his loss against Morales. The rule only applies to people who were hype jobbing a fighter prior to losing, I never bought into Brady's hype and always thought he became overrated after the Leon win. The fact he had NOTHING for Morales very much proves this.

 

[Azhcrove]