why such a quick turnaround on the rematch?

Dariush/Olives was a #1 contender match. I don't agree with rematches but he beat the #1 contender and deserves another crack. At least it wasn't an instant rematch. He earned it by beating the best guy.
 
DkMacaw said:
Not only Olives stole one of Islam's contenders in Dariush while saying he wasn't ready for a rematch; now suddenly they schedule the fight in Abu Dhabi out of all places.
and if Islam wins he also owes Volk a rematch. it really is looking like one of the most monotone title reigns ever.

Is Dana addicted to rematches or how did he make this happen?
Click to expand...

Because Charles Oliveira had the strongest strength-of-schedule of any UFC Fighter on the roster, prior to facing Islam, which may have debilitated him somewhat.

Oliveira literally faced his strongest challenger in Islam, after a string of epic battle-performances.

Meanwhile, Islam Makhachev had a soft-ass "strength"-of-schedule by comparison, easily beating the woefully overmatched Bobby Green and Dan Hooker, in a few seconds apiece, prior to facing Oliveira.

The disparity wasn't fair to Oliveira, and he deserves a rematch.

This time, Oliveira annihilated Makhachev's most-promising contender, Dariush, in a few seconds — while Islam struggled over five rounds to "barely beat" the smaller midget, Volkanovski, over 5 hard rounds.

This time, the matchup will be fair (except, of course, it's in Abu Dhabi).
 
dipstickjimmy said:
What advantage does Abu Dabi give Islam aside from the fans rooting for him? Is the climate in A.D. not closer to Brazil than it is to Dagestan?
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My guess would be people think there is Corrupt judging and reffing. The money the saudis are throwing around into sports would translate to a person assuming that the officials will be payed off.
 
It's a year between fights. Since when is a year quick?

We're only conditioned to think this is at all quick because of how little these guys actually fight.
 
RockyLockridge said:
He made this happen by shelfing islam til october.

Islam fought in February really he could have fought dariush in june, then oliveria in october but they are so hell bent on islam for Abu Dhabi, They wrecked the division for it.
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This, this, and this. Wouldn't be surprised if they literally requested Islam on the card and they sat Islam to make that happen. Islam went from verbally talking about wanting to be more active, to suddenly being ok with limited to October.
 
DkMacaw said:
Not only Olives stole one of Islam's contenders in Dariush while saying he wasn't ready for a rematch; now suddenly they schedule the fight in Abu Dhabi out of all places.
and if Islam wins he also owes Volk a rematch. it really is looking like one of the most monotone title reigns ever.

Is Dana addicted to rematches or how did he make this happen?
Click to expand...
I really thought it was going to be Chandler, not because he deserves it, but because he's Dana's special friend.
 
RockyLockridge said:
He made this happen by shelfing islam til october.

Islam fought in February really he could have fought dariush in june, then oliveria in october but they are so hell bent on islam for Abu Dhabi, They wrecked the division for it.
Click to expand...

That’s the problem with building cards for certain fighters. Leads to longer periods of inactivity, sometimes the best fight not being made, and nonsensical matchmaking to keep other contender busy.
 
I may be in the minority here, but this rematch does nothing for me. What’s the story for Islam? Nothing.

Volk or Edwards would have been much more exciting because there’s a story for all guys involved.
 
Hopefully Charles got a bit of extra cash for taking the rematch quickly.
 
sdpdude9 said:
That’s the problem with building cards for certain fighters. Leads to longer periods of inactivity, sometimes the best fight not being made, and nonsensical matchmaking to keep other contender busy.
Click to expand...
We JUST saw it again with Whittaker vs ddp. Could have just had DDP vs Izzy in july, Maybe strickland vs whittaker that night for the next shot.

but no we get Abus vs Strickland as a title eliminator instead.
 
tritestill said:
Wouldn't be surprised if they literally requested Islam on the card and they sat Islam to make that happen. Islam went from verbally talking about wanting to be more active, to suddenly being ok with limited to October.
Click to expand...

Oh brother, I absolutely believe that that is exactly what happened. they are asking for islam, as they probably also asked for Khamzat.

And the UFC should know by now that this whole "building a card around a particular fighter" thing has back fired many times before. (see: werdum vs hunt in mexico). I couldn't think of fighters worse to do this with than devout muslim fighters, There is going to be an 3 month period where they cannot fight (1 month fasting, 6-8 week training camp)

If Islam were to get injured and pull out of this fight the ufc delayed so long and wouldn't be ready to train again untill february, he wouldn't have enough time to do a training camp before ramadan, and of course wouldn't fight until he had enough time to do a training camp (rightfully so for a title holder) + month of fasting. So even if he got medically cleared in february, you wouldn't see him fight til June of next year. It's playing with fire, especially with the AKA guys the UFC should know better.
 
Getting Islam a fight in front of the pro muslim crowd is worth WAY more than catering to giving alex another shot for the UFC. The Saudi's pay out the ass for things they want to see. There's a reason for years now WWE has done regular yearly shows there despite constant negative press for doing so. Because the money is real good. And Islam dosen't owe Alex anything. He didn't even owe him the first shot but he gave it to him. Fight was close, but to me the right winner was called. People seem to only remember Alex coming on at the end and pushing Islam hard when he was tired and equate that to the whole fight, but in many of the previous rounds Alex was eating stiff counters down the middle and getting taken down. I'm ok with Alex getting another shot at some point, but it's definitely not something I think everything should be catered around.
 
RockyLockridge said:
Oh brother, I absolutely believe that that is exactly what happened. they are asking for islam, as they probably also asked for Khamzat.

And the UFC should know by now that this whole "building a card around a particular fighter" thing has back fired many times before. (see: werdum vs hunt in mexico). I couldn't think of fighters worse to do this with than devout muslim fighters, There is going to be an 3 month period where they cannot fight (1 month fasting, 6-8 week training camp)

If Islam were to get injured and pull out of this fight the ufc delayed so long and wouldn't be ready to train again untill february, he wouldn't have enough time to do a training camp before ramadan, and of course wouldn't fight until he had enough time to do a training camp (rightfully so for a title holder) + month of fasting. So even if he got medically cleared in february, you wouldn't see him fight til June of next year. It's playing with fire, especially with the AKA guys the UFC should know better.
Click to expand...
Not sure if they played the Religion card or chipped Islam some extra cash or third party reached out to Islam directly, but his tune from give me more fights stopped. It's bad business, but they chipped in and built all that for UFC and that comes with obligations, favors and pretty sure UFC still wants to keep good bridges over there.

I've got a question. That company that owned ten percent of Zuffa from over there, who got them their television deals and got them arenas in Asia when the Yakuza was actively blocking them, did they sell their ten percent with the Fertitas or does that company from out there still own their percentage?
 
tritestill said:
I've got a question. That company that owned ten percent of Zuffa from over there, who got them their television deals and got them arenas in Asia when the Yakuza was actively blocking them, did they sell their ten percent with the Fertitas or does that company from out there still own their percentage?
Click to expand...

I couldn't tell you, but it's more than likely those folks have a stake in things. Especially since the pandemic. The UFC needed them badly. Wouldn't surprise me in the slightest if they had a peice of the pie/seat at the table.
 
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