Not a hot take: until Ilia measures vs him, Islam has the best stand up @ 155. And a case for the best ever in the division.

[Harlekin]

He showed good striking against surgery needing injured Poirier, who was stiff after the grappling.
And he showed not even good striking vs a 5'6 dwarf

It really got a lot better over the years.

But this thread is still nuthugging bullshit from a clueless person

 

[Conan the K-9]

I'm surprised you mentioned that, and I'm going to rewatch instead of arguing.

Because I even highlighted the opposite: I view him as very "Russian-esque" closing the distance with punches, always balanced foot-hand sync.
Just for the sake of the example, obviously not comparing them: think Beterbiev.

I'd rewatch. Maybe... that top confidence prime Volk was something else. He "offered his face" as bait (typical boxing's leaning forward a bit) because his reflexes and head movement were unreal.
I could see Islam overextending in these instances thinking he'd hit.

Thks for your insight.

He for sure is quite clumsy with his footwork. Also when he retreats, he tends to move backwards in a straight line. That’s where a good striker can punish with a 4-5 combination. Most guys don’t throw combos against him because of the takedown threat. In a pure striking match, we would see this a lot and that is also the reason why the Ilia fight would be interesting. Ilia has great combinations.

 

[Pierce 34]

threat of the TD but Islam good on the feet

 

[burningspear]

lol we know you think islam beats ilia, just like you were sure max beats ilia

 

[PurpleDrank]

He is probably underrated as a striker and is one of the better strikers at lw. That being said even along the lines of soviet styles, this division has had guys like Rashid Magomedov and Damir Ismagulov, who I would consider more adept at that than Islam.

 

[Subline]

 

[Rubios]

I probably worded it badly:

Factoring the TD threat, I believe Islam is favored to win the standing instances against any current or past LW...
...not named Ilia (still to be proven).

Being a southpaw particularly great at Muay kicks* surely helps (or, more precisely, is a handicap for his opponents).

*And because of this plus the reach advantage I lean slightly towards him in the stand up vs Ilia.

 

[Dimbis]

He for sure is quite clumsy with his footwork. Also when he retreats, he tends to move backwards in a straight line. That’s where a good striker can punish with a 4-5 combination. Most guys don’t throw combos against him because of the takedown threat. In a pure striking match, we would see this a lot and that is also the reason why the Ilia fight would be interesting. Ilia has great combinations.

I agree with you, but it’s not only the threat of the takedown that he holds while retreating. Islam tends to throw moving backwards no matter what, he’ll land with his forearms and that also deters his opponents. I’m not saying they’re super damaging, but those strikes definitely help end combinations his opponents are thinking of throwing.

 

[Chagaev]

He has holes that could be exploited, but also can hurt people with hands, knees, kicks, elbows. It's gonna be interesting to see his mma striking vs Top's.

 

[BowserJr]

Sure, the wrestling threat plays a huge factor but is part of the game.
Besides eye test (light on the feet, effective soviet-style forward punching, quick and smooth kicks, hardly buys any feints) just look at his stats against DP and Volk #1

Outlanded Poirier by far, specially to the head.
Excluding low kicks and teeps (were not heavy, damaging ones, but a way to manage distance. Islam's legs were totally fine at the end of the fight.) and the final G'n'P rush -reminder: I've stated stand up- he landed more significant strikes than Volk in his first match. Splitting hairs, but he did.
And the cleaner ones.

Even as a huge Volk fan (rooted for him), being honest it's true that Islam didn't seem to be at his best that night because of the rehydration stuff.

He's not very busy, but his accuracy and defense are outstanding and he seems to carry serious power.

Being a Muay-heavy southpaw plays in his favor and makes him very hard to figure out. But DP is a right-handed southpaw, and still.


If a somewhat diminished Islam handled that well vs prime Volk (yes, a FW, I don't care: it was f*ing Volk) I believe he could fare well against anyone before him. Edgar, BJ Penn, you name it.

Edgar would be very intriguing cuz of his speed, foot work and wrestling. Sherk too cuz of the same. Sherk might have been slightly slower but also stronger

BJ would've been interesting cuz of his wrestling defense, bjj, KO power, speed and reflexes