Media Umar vs. Song Not Even Signed! (so says Faber)

[TheMMAnalyst]

Sounds like things be leaking before they put pen to paper - not sure if UFC trying to strong-arm Song based on convenience for Umar or what the deal is.

Supposedly it was for the Fight Night in FL on Dec. 14th - do they really need a Umar/Song for a main? Are they trying to have a backup on weight/ready in case Yan/Figgy get injured a week earlier?

No idea what’s going on, quite strange though…

 

[RockyLockridge]

I was confused by this because Garry said he had a contract to fight colby in december in tampa.


Colby also leaked he was fighting in december to some randoms at a bar that posted about it on SM.

So which one is it? umar vs song? or colby vs garry?

 

[Tweak896]

It's kind of a pointless fight besides appeasing the people who want Umar to have more names on his resume to "earn" a title shot.

 

[TheMMAnalyst]

It's kind of a pointless fight besides appeasing the people who want Umar to have more names on his resume to "earn" a title shot.

Umar wanted to stay busy and get a fight in before Ramandan in March, otherwise the earliest he can fight after is likely end of May/early June.

December/January would be a 6th month layoff, I don't think he wants to get rusty/lose momentum and be out for like 11 months because Merab is ducking the smoke.

Also he could get lost in the shuffle if Figgy or Yan get a fast highlight-reel finish, so it makes sense for him to take a fight against a top 10 guy that he has a huge stylistic advantage over.

 

[TheMMAnalyst]

I was confused by this because Garry said he had a contract to fight colby in december in tampa.


Colby also leaked he was fighting in december to some randoms at a bar that posted about it on SM.

So which one is it? umar vs song? or colby vs garry?

Neither?

 

[usernamee]

Sounds like they have been approached about Dec fight but they'd rather have Song get more time to prepare

That's my feeling of how he answered that

 

[octagonation]

Dont think Song will take the fight

 

[Tweak896]

Umar wanted to stay busy and get a fight in before Ramandan in March, otherwise the earliest he can fight after is likely end of May/early June.

December/January would be a 6th month layoff, I don't think he wants to get rusty/lose momentum and be out for like 11 months because Merab is ducking the smoke.

Also he could get lost in the shuffle if Figgy or Yan get a fast highlight-reel finish, so it makes sense for him to take a fight against a top 10 guy that he has a huge stylistic advantage over.

Hey it's one more win for his record, gives Song a chance to be top 5. I wish more fighters were more active. Even if they have to do squash matches.

 

[MrBlackheart]

Umar wanted to stay busy and get a fight in before Ramandan in March, otherwise the earliest he can fight after is likely end of May/early June.

December/January would be a 6th month layoff, I don't think he wants to get rusty/lose momentum and be out for like 11 months because Merab is ducking the smoke.

Also he could get lost in the shuffle if Figgy or Yan get a fast highlight-reel finish, so it makes sense for him to take a fight against a top 10 guy that he has a huge stylistic advantage over.

Maybe for figgy if he wins. Yan? Not sure about that. Even with a win, he’s 2-3 in his last 5 and 3-4 in his last 7.

 

[richardjohnson]

Neither?

I feel like Colby's made it pretty clear he doesn't want to fight Garry, maybe he'll prove me wrong though.

 

[MarioLemieux]

Something about Umar and Song seemed off to me because outside of O'Malley, Umar has the biggest name value and potential in the division. The UFC would far rather him be champ than Merab.

The only way I can see Merab be able to duck this is to fight O'Malley again which is pretty woeful match making.

Umar can just sit and wait to get a TS he doesn't need to fight anyone, but if he wants to remain active I'm all for it.

 

[Alpha_T83]

It's kind of a pointless fight besides appeasing the people who want Umar to have more names on his resume to "earn" a title shot.

It's more like Umar doesn't want to wait a year for a title shot. He wants to stay active. He knows he won't fight during Ramadan and he knows he won't even train during Ramadan, which quite frankly is unprofessional.

That means Merab will likely fight the Yan/Figgy winner some time in March/April/May. Umar will obviously be offered the fight first, but I would expect he will decline. Assuming the Yan/Figgy winner wants the title shot, Merab will defend his belt against them first. That means that Umar could be waiting until September or October 2025 for his title shot.

 

[Girubgez]

Umar wanted to stay busy and get a fight in before Ramandan in March, otherwise the earliest he can fight after is likely end of May/early June.

Why's that?

 

[The Siege]

Looking at the current rankings:

(C) Merab - Can't fight until March or April
1 - O'Malley - Coming off loss
2 - Umar - Coming off win over #4 Cory, Possible vs Yadong
3 - Petr - Booked vs #5 Figgy
4 - Cory - Just lost to Umar
5 - Figgy - Booked vs #3 Yan
6 - Marlon Vera - Coming off loss to #5 Figgy
7 - Cejudo - Coming off loss to Merab, Unknown when he will come back
8 - Yadong - Coming off loss to #3 Yan, possible next opponent for Umar
9 - Bautista - Coming off win over #11 Jose Aldo
10 - Font - Coming off win over #12 Kyler Phillips, probably wont be ready for DEC, JAN, or FEB
11 - Jose Aldo - Coming off loss to #9 Bautista
12 - Kyler Phillips - Coming off loss to #10 Font
13 - Jonathan Martinez - Booked vs McGhee
14 - Dom - Coming off loss to #6 Vera
15 - Jackson - Coming off win over Blackshear

Looking at the rankings, excluding the champ, only Umar, Bautista, Font, and Montel Jackson are coming off wins.

O'Malley, Cory, Vera, Cejudo, Yadong, Aldo, Phillips, and Dom are coming off losses.

Yan, Figgy, and Martinez are booked.

The best-case scenarios were:
1- Umar vs Merab in February while Figgy waits for a TS
2 - Merab vs Figgy while Umar waits for TS or takes another fight

Now, Merab will not fight Umar AND there is a chance that Figgy vs Yan is a war and they are both too damaged to fight Merab in March.

We knew since the end of Merab vs Sean that Merab didnt want to fight Umar, the UFC should have just booked Figgy vs Merab. Figgy already had a good case for a TS and the clock is ticking, he is old and now they are going to make him go through an elite BW in Yan which will no doubt damage him further or in the worst-case scenario (for him) he loses and drops out of title contention. Pretty shit match-making IMO.

 

[fortheo]

They should put bautista in there. He's on a win streak and hungry to climb the rankings. Granted, the fans hate him at the moment, but still.

 

[Dr. Rose]

Why is Helen Yee interviewing the little boy?

 

[Tweak896]

It's more like Umar doesn't want to wait a year for a title shot. He wants to stay active. He knows he won't fight during Ramadan and he knows he won't even train during Ramadan, which quite frankly is unprofessional.

That means Merab will likely fight the Yan/Figgy winner some time in March/April/May. Umar will obviously be offered the fight first, but I would expect he will decline. Assuming the Yan/Figgy winner wants the title shot, Merab will defend his belt against them first. That means that Umar could be waiting until September or October 2025 for his title shot.

Seems like Merab is just waiting until Umar is out so he doesn't get matched with him right away. That's pretty shitty.

 

[TheMMAnalyst]

Maybe for figgy if he wins. Yan? Not sure about that. Even with a win, he’s 2-3 in his last 5 and 3-4 in his last 7.

It’s the context bro - the only “real” loss is against Merab where he re-injured his knee 10 seconds into the fight because he thought he could still fight with the injury.

Aljo 1 - on his way to winning until brain fart DQ
Aljo 2 - split that he would’ve won under any other ruleset
Suga - outright robbery

I mean he could be 4-1 or 6-1 if not for some bad decision making, round scoring manipulation game planning, and ridiculous judging.

Like I get it, he “lost” those fights, but if we use our eyes he’s still a top 5 level fighter that only got washed once due to circumstance and Merab’s best performance ever.

If he KO’s Figgy in a couple rounds and Umar can’t fight until Summer there is a Yan/Merab 2 rematch storyline that they can fit in before possibly.

 

[TheMMAnalyst]

Why's that?

If he takes all March off for Ramadan he’s not training like he normally would, will need at least a month to get back in shape and then 6-8 week fight camp to prepare for a championship fight.

Middle of May or early June most probable based on that timeline. It depends when their UAE/Saudi cards are set for next year though, they’ll probably have Umar vs Merab as a headliner of all gods according to plan.

 

[Girubgez]

If he takes all March off for Ramadan he’s not training like he normally would, will need at least a month to get back in shape and then 6-8 week fight camp to prepare for a championship fight.

Middle of May or early June most probable based on that timeline. It depends when their UAE/Saudi cards are set for next year though, they’ll probably have Umar vs Merab as a headliner of all gods according to plan.

Oh, so his ramadan vacation isn't "just one month that Merab has specifically picked to avoid Umar" like all abu-lawyers claim. In fact it's at least 3 months which is a whole quarter of the year that all those ramadanists want the UFC matchmaking to be planned around, right?