So Poatan should fight Ank, but Top doesn't need to fight Evloev (and/or Lopes)?

[laleggenda27]

1. Alex has been clearly protected from grapplers by the UFC. That's not the case with Topuria. And I actually like Alex more than Topuria.
2. I think most of us would be interested in Topuria fighting both Lopes and Movsar.

 

[Thy]

thought it said anik and i was like lul

 

[Domitian]

1. Alex has been clearly protected from grapplers by the UFC. That's not the case with Topuria. And I actually like Alex more than Topuria.
2. I think most of us would be interested in Topuria fighting both Lopes and Movsar.

Can we have some names of these grapplers Alex was clearly protected from? Like, literally who? People aren't even considering Jan a grappler.

There's Khamzat who was at WW and has had all sorts of issues when Alex was at MW. There's Ankalaev who turned down a fight with Alex. Who else are we talking about here? Brunson? Dricus?

Here's MW and LHW rankings now.

Middleweight​

Dricus Du Plessis​

Champion​

1	Sean Strickland
2	Israel Adesanya
3	Khamzat Chimaev
4	Robert Whittaker
5	Nassourdine Imavov
6	Caio Borralho
7	Marvin Vettori
8	Jared Cannonier
9	Brendan Allen
10	Roman Dolidze
11	Paulo Costa
12	Jack Hermansson
13	Anthony Hernandez
14	Shara Magomedov
15	Michel Pereira

Light Heavyweight​

Alex Pereira​

Champion​

1	Magomed Ankalaev
2	Jiří Procházka
3	Jamahal Hill
4	Jan Błachowicz
5	Aleksandar Rakić
6	Carlos Ulberg	Rank increased by 1
7	Khalil Rountree Jr.	Rank decreased by 1
8	Nikita Krylov
9	Volkan Oezdemir
10	Johnny Walker
11	Dominick Reyes	Rank increased by 1
12	Azamat Murzakanov	Rank decreased by 1
13	Bogdan Guskov	Rank increased by 1
14	Anthony Smith	Rank decreased by 1
15	Alonzo Menifield

Bro I'm really not seeing very many grapplers. I mean actual grapplers who use it to win fights.

 

[Question]

I wanna see both, Alex/Ank is a must

Topuria/Evloev should be next too, there's also Lopes but Evloev has a win over him so I say that gives the edge to Evloev getting the shot over him along with a few other factors
Topuria/Volk 2 is the worst option here however, that's worse compared to DDP/Sean 2 IMO, waste of a title fight

 

[Pancake Sprawl]

It's not like the LHW division is crawling with grapplers that he just isn't being booked against. Without looking at the rankings I'd say the best grapplers are Rakic and Ankalaev and both of them seem to prefer to keep it on the feet anyway.

he's referring to MW, where there was a good amount of grapplers. Vettori and Cannonier for instance were highly ranked when he entered into the UFC.

 

[mjoln]

Topueira got rookie season going on...how many top wins he got? 2?

 

[MarioLemieux]

If Topuria drops the belt there's nothing to be said about it. He can do what he wants and call me crazy but I think he's a more dangerous fight for Islam than anyone at LW or WW.

 

[Pancake Sprawl]

Can we have some names of these grapplers Alex was clearly protected from? Like, literally who? People aren't even considering Jan a grappler.

There's Khamzat who was at WW and has had all sorts of issues when Alex was at MW. There's Ankalaev who turned down a fight with Alex. Who else are we talking about here? Brunson? Dricus?

Here's MW and LHW rankings now.

Middleweight​

Dricus Du Plessis​

Champion​

1	Sean Strickland
2	Israel Adesanya
3	Khamzat Chimaev
4	Robert Whittaker
5	Nassourdine Imavov
6	Caio Borralho
7	Marvin Vettori
8	Jared Cannonier
9	Brendan Allen
10	Roman Dolidze
11	Paulo Costa
12	Jack Hermansson
13	Anthony Hernandez
14	Shara Magomedov
15	Michel Pereira

Light Heavyweight​

Alex Pereira​

Champion​

1	Magomed Ankalaev
2	Jiří Procházka
3	Jamahal Hill
4	Jan Błachowicz
5	Aleksandar Rakić
6	Carlos Ulberg	Rank increased by 1
7	Khalil Rountree Jr.	Rank decreased by 1
8	Nikita Krylov
9	Volkan Oezdemir
10	Johnny Walker
11	Dominick Reyes	Rank increased by 1
12	Azamat Murzakanov	Rank decreased by 1
13	Bogdan Guskov	Rank increased by 1
14	Anthony Smith	Rank decreased by 1
15	Alonzo Menifield

Bro I'm really not seeing very many grapplers. I mean actual grapplers who use it to win fights.

Cannonier, Vettori, Whittaker, Hermansson are all guys who can grapple that were top 10 MWs when Pereira came. the guys don't have to be actual grapplers to be able to outgrapple Pereira. Pereira just got to fight guys who weren't going to grapple, and even then Adesanya controlled him on the ground and Adesanya is obviously not good at grappling either.

at LHW it's easier for him now, which is why i think he went up there after the Adesanya KO. he beats Ankalaev and he'll never fight another guy who can grapple until he retires most likely. unless he's serious about fighting Jon Jones or Aspinall. i don't think this is some conspiracy, UFC is known for doing stuff like this. they did it for Conor, they did it for O'Malley, and they did it for Maycee Barber. they gave them all favorable matchups because they were actively promoting them.

 

[hogwash]

Imagine shortening names that aren't long, then ending up typing them out, anyway

Holy shit

 

[laleggenda27]

Can we have some names of these grapplers Alex was clearly protected from? Like, literally who? People aren't even considering Jan a grappler.

There's Khamzat who was at WW and has had all sorts of issues when Alex was at MW. There's Ankalaev who turned down a fight with Alex. Who else are we talking about here? Brunson? Dricus?

Here's MW and LHW rankings now.

Middleweight​

Dricus Du Plessis​

Champion​

1	Sean Strickland
2	Israel Adesanya
3	Khamzat Chimaev
4	Robert Whittaker
5	Nassourdine Imavov
6	Caio Borralho
7	Marvin Vettori
8	Jared Cannonier
9	Brendan Allen
10	Roman Dolidze
11	Paulo Costa
12	Jack Hermansson
13	Anthony Hernandez
14	Shara Magomedov
15	Michel Pereira

Light Heavyweight​

Alex Pereira​

Champion​

1	Magomed Ankalaev
2	Jiří Procházka
3	Jamahal Hill
4	Jan Błachowicz
5	Aleksandar Rakić
6	Carlos Ulberg	Rank increased by 1
7	Khalil Rountree Jr.	Rank decreased by 1
8	Nikita Krylov
9	Volkan Oezdemir
10	Johnny Walker
11	Dominick Reyes	Rank increased by 1
12	Azamat Murzakanov	Rank decreased by 1
13	Bogdan Guskov	Rank increased by 1
14	Anthony Smith	Rank decreased by 1
15	Alonzo Menifield

Bro I'm really not seeing very many grapplers. I mean actual grapplers who use it to win fights.

I understand what you're saying: currently, there's definitely a dearth of high-end grapplers in the higher weight classes.

That being said, Alex's road to the MW title was a complete can (Michailidis) and 2 guys who essentially never grapple (Bruno and Strickland). At the time he fought Strickland, the top 15 had Marvin (#3), Brunson (#5), Hermansson (#7), and Muniz (#13). And you had unranked grapplers like Dolidze, RoboCop, Fluffy, and Rodolfo in the mix as well. All of those guys rely heavily on grappling to win fights.

Surely we're not arguing against the idea that Alex was given a favorable path to the title; this is a universally accepted truth. He had a built-in rivalry with Izzy, and the UFC strategically navigated him there.

At LHW, there are far fewer grapplers. Ankalaev isn't exactly a high-level grappler, but he's certainly the best grappler at the top of the division. And he's the top contender. Yet the UFC booked Ankalaev against Rakic and LESS THAN 2 WEEKS LATER announced that Alex was fighting #8 Khalil...and when asked why Ankalaev didn't get the title shot, Dana said because Ankalaev "was already scheduled for a fight."

C'mon buddeh. I like Alex, but facts are facts.

 

[HunsonAbadeer]

I wanna see both, Alex/Ank is a must

Topuria/Evloev should be next too, there's also Lopes but Evloev has a win over him so I say that gives the edge to Evloev getting the shot over him along with a few other factors
Topuria/Volk 2 is the worst option here however, that's worse compared to DDP/Sean 2 IMO, waste of a title fight

Yeah, at least DDP/Sean was a razor close decision + Sean fought Costa in between,
Volk just got slept and haven't fought since.

I think Volk/Lopes and Top/Evloev will be more interesting,
and if Volk can still hang give him his title shot.

 

[dipstickjimmy]

he's not going to start from the bottom of the top 10. he just knocked out the guy who is ranked #5 at LW, and that guy had just KO'd the guy who was #1 contender at LW.

Right so he has ZERO fights at LW. What Max has done at LW doesn't become Topuria's at LW when he fought Max at FW. TJ was great at BW but moves to another division and gets obliterated.

If Topuria was a dominant reigning champ moving up that's one thing. He has ONE whole defense. The UFC needs to stop letting guys win a title and move on to the next division. He isn't some massive star. Swagger Jacking Conor's already Swagger Jacked look doesn't make him Mcgregor.

But you are right. He will probably get a title shot against Belal and then Strickland if he can beat DDP. The UFC is truly losing all credibility of The Best vs The Best.

 

[Pancake Sprawl]

Right so he has ZERO fights at LW. What Max has done at LW doesn't become Topuria's at LW when he fought Max at FW. TJ was great at BW but moves to another division and gets obliterated.

If Topuria was a dominant reigning champ moving up that's one thing. He has ONE whole defense. The UFC needs to stop letting guys win a title and move on to the next division. He isn't some massive star. Swagger Jacking Conor's already Swagger Jacked look doesn't make him Mcgregor.

But you are right. He will probably get a title shot against Belal and then Strickland if he can beat DDP. The UFC is truly losing all credibility of The Best vs The Best.

i think they lost the "best of the best" a long time ago. just look at this year's title shots alone. Strickland is getting a title shot by waiting, Adesanya gets a title shot off losing his title lol?, Stipe gets a title shot because Jon Jones said so?, Khamzat is probably next after Strickland and he has exactly 1 win vs s ranked MW, etc.,

that's just this year's shenanigans, all the years before this year has had a bunch of bullshit title shots too. even you saying Topuria doesn't absorb what Max did at LW, you're right, but the UFC DOES operate that way. because look how Max got his FW title shot, by beating the LW #1 contender lmao. Max should've been fighting Islam, but somehow knocking out the LW #1 contender got him a fight with the FW champ? when the last guy he beat at FW was a retiring Korean Zombie. then look who got the LW title shot? another bullshit title shot, Poirer gets it after beating BSD? even though he was just slept by Gaethje 1 fight ago, and Max had just slept Gaethje.

the UFC just makes the fights they want. even their ranking system is entirely bogus. how does Brian Ortega stay the #1 or #2 spot at FW when all he does is sit on his ass and fight once every 2 years? by allowing Ortega to rank squat they basically used him to boost Diego Lopes' to that spot, even though we all know Brian Ortega hasn't been a top 2 FW for years now.

 

[MisfitsBR]

people are underestimating that he just beat Volk and Holloway, two GOATs