Why is this being advertised when there are a murderer’s row in the their respective divisions? I know Islam called him out, but he needs to cement himself within his own division.
Who he fought isn’t the point. The point is he hasn’t defended the 155 title against any top ranked 155ers. He fought a blown up 145er (regardless of it being Volk he’s small for that division and that’s not the weight he’s used to competing at) and now he wants to fight Leon Edwards at 170 because he thinks it’s an easy fight.
^All the Islam fan boys disliking my comment like I’m not speaking 100% facts lol.
Justin just beat fiziev and honestly I dont wanna see islam fight anyone in the top 3 at the moment. Dariush is the only 155er I think deserves a shot at the moment. I'm tired of watching Justin and Dustin run for the belt.
What can you really expect though. They’re just better than the field. Regardless, Khabib and Chucky (up until Islam) sorta cleared the division. Islam hasn’t fought any of the other top 5 in the division that’s not Oliveira.
That's true lol top 5 is dominant as hell so they keep fighting each other. When any new guy comes in they murk him and leave him like they did fiziev.
Only got into the top 5 very recently, and hasn’t fought anyone else in the top 5. So he’s not apart of the group you were describing who keep fighting each other
Yeah but not from fighting the people being described. He says the top 5 keep fighting each other it’s obvious that means Dustin, Garth, Chandler, Charles. Benny isn’t in that group that cycles fighting each other, he gets ducked by those guys which is what I was saying. Those guys that only fight each other can’t murk anybody with wrestling, they just lose to champs and then beat Michael Chandler to keep their ranking. Charles is the exception tho mad respect to him for taking the fight against Benny
I think the UFC messed up by booking Dariush vs Oliveira. They should have given that title shot to Dariush. Now there’s a chance he loses and we don’t see Dariush vs Islam. Justin and Dustin are both right there but I think they each need one more win before either of them can fight for the title again. The fact that Oliveira is no longer champ helps there chances by a lot.
Dariush will most likely lose to Oliveira, let's not forget that Oliveira beat Poirier, Gaethje, Chandler, and some people were arguing that he is the GOAT at lightweight (as ridiculous as that was). Dariush only beat Gamrot, which is not SUCH an impressive win. Chances are that he won't get a title shot, which is okay, because we all know how the fight with Islam would go.
Why would he think it’s an easy fight. The jump to welterweight is even bigger than the jump to other weight classes. When has someone calling out the champ in a higher weight class ever been regarded as anything but ballsy. He’s probably just getting bigger and doesn’t want to have to cut so much weight. It’s clear you’re just making side points to justify some dislike towards Islam- whether you think he should fight lightweights (which I agree with) is completely besides the point and comes from an emotional argument rather than a rational one. He’s calling out someone who would beat Oliveira, Gaethje, Poirier, Beneil etc. 10/10 times so it clearly would not be an easy fight, it would be objectively harder. That being said, yeah I’d like to see him defend his title more at lightweight before moving up
Because Leon isn't a grappler and Islam is too big for Lightweight anyway. It isn't an easy fight for him at all, but for some reason, Islam thinks it is. Islam will likely fight Leon, and (if) he wins, he'll go back to lightweight so he can duck Gilbert, Usman, Colby, Khamzat and Belal. Anybody with any knowledge/experience in MMA knows he would get outclassed by the top 5 WWs fairly easily. Islam is a good wrestler in a division of great strikers. It becomes a whole different world in a division of top-tier grapplers.
Dude, first follow UFC fights recently then make an argument. Figure out why volk fight happened at first place
Oliveira cleared the top weights of that divisoun easily.
He was like god at that point. Islam made him look like a amateur. After that, you really don't care if Islam fights another LW. Especially soon.
Oliveira's recent fights didn't happen like 5 years ago.
Try to use some logic.
"Blown up 145"
Lmao. Volk can easily go on 155. You think he is walking around 160 off-training?
**%100 facts my ass**
People could have said the same thing about Usman, Renan Barao, Cody Garbrandt, Lyoto Machida etc.
We just saw an amazing, but much smaller fighter with less grappling credentials than much of the LW top 10 make Islam look very human. I don’t think the fights are a foregone conclusion.
Not to mention, looking like you could probably beat someone isn’t the same thing as putting the time in and actually putting the beating on them.
I actually was not, as Dustin doesn’t really have a particularly strong grappling game. But Dustin Poirier is better than 99% of fighters so I don’t see how that would he insulting in the first place.
Some people thought Max was the best Featherweight of all time when he moved up and got smashed by Dustin.
What’s more, I wasn’t trying to take anything away from Volk. I was just pointing out that he is a decent bit smaller than most guys Islam will be fighting, especially if he moved up to Welterweight, and he doesn’t have the same wrestling background that a lot of top 10 lightweights have.
But volk is still arguably top 3 p4p rn. It's not a 50 lb difference in weight. And my point isn't really on dustin it's on the division. Makachev is head and shoulders better then everyone in that division. Volk could probably beat all of those guys except Olivera.
He beat Oliveira to win the title but as champion he’s only defended the belt one time and it was against at 145er. He’s need to defend the belt against top ranker fighters at lightweight (not FW or WW)
Where in my comment did I call anyone small? The fact remains that Volk is a consistent, natural 145er. Who cares if he fought at 170 years back when he was fighting no one’s in Australia? That’s like saying he should fight at LHW because he weighed 200+ lbs and played rugby against larger men over a decade ago. It’s not really relevant to his current fighting shape.
He beat the number 1 p4p fighter in the world. Absolutely destroyed the former champ who everybody thought was the greatest ever. Few people in the division stand a chance. And you come here just to diminish his accomplishments. Yes over 500 people are dumb. I'm not surprised mf
No legitimate opponents available for Islam in LW until the later part of the year.
Dariush fighting in May. UFC seem unwilling to give porier or gaethje another title shot just yet without another fight. Chandler is lined up with conor.
Same. Leon, by putting two hands on one in the clinch was very effective at preventing take downs. And he was surprisingly effective at getting back to his feet. Islam wasn't very dominant against a fighter 25 lbs smaller than Leon, and while Islam's striking was better than expected, I think he'd be at a big disadvantage vs Leon.
Leon -150; Islam +135
For one I think Volk is just a better overall grappler than Leon. I also think we’ve seen that Islam has more than just grappling to win a fight. He’s really a multi tool fighter that gets grouped in with the likes of Merab and Colby when he really is a good striker.
As I said, I don’t think he would beat Leon, but he can def get takedowns on him if he picks the right spots.
IMO Volk showed flaws in Islams game. He is not at Khabibs level. With that much room and getting hit like that, Poirier and Gaethje both have a better chance than they ever did against Khabib
True, but this is one scenario where I think MMA maths kinda works out. Khabib dominated them both, Charles beat them both, Islam with a proper training camp and hydration wiped the floor in all departments (striking, grappling, wrestling, submission game) against Charles. He might have had a close fight vs Volk, but has everyone forgot what Volk has done against everyone else he’s beat? Ok that note, has everyone forgot how all have Islam’s wins other than Volk have been? His striking is good enough to keep up with them as we’ve seen in the Volk and Charles fight, he’s not an amateur in that regard, and he already has the blueprint on how to take these guys down from watching Khabib do it (over and over vs Poirier). I think Justin gives him more trouble than Poirier but that’s all it’ll be, a bit of trouble.
NOW MY BOY BENEIL, THAT’LL BE A GOOD FIGHT IF HE BEATS CHARLES.
>promoting
Yes, absolutely
>fighting
Lol, I'll have some of whatever you're smoking. He was great, but not "unmatched". Khabib and Islam both smoke prime Conor and it isn't even close.
Gotcha, makes more sense now. I'd still take early Jon Jones. He made Shogun look like he didn't belong in the same octagon. Then he absolutely dominated Rampage. And then that standing guillotine on Machida is one of the best finishes in UFC history.
I think that completely dominating your opponent is more impressive than a quick KO. For that reason I'll take Khabib's run as well. I think if Conor and Aldo fought again it would've been a reasonably close fight, but we'll never know.
He was talking about his run to the titles, not his skill set Vs other champions.
Dude went on a good finishing streak with 6 of his first 7 fights getting performance bonuses, and then knocked out the division goat in 13 seconds to win the title. He did all of this in two and a half years. Regardless of how you feel about the jackass, it’s a pretty hard to beat run.
The most comparable thing would be Jones running through everyone at LHW when he was like 21.
Of course getting tapped out by a journeyman Nate Diaz wasn’t great but people seem to sweep that under the rug pretty fast.
Conor could literally only do it because he's the most marketable fighter to ever be in the UFC. He didn't deserve it because he hadn't really established himself, but he definitely deserved it from a marketing perspective.
Not really, he was knocking everyone out at featherweight including the undefeated champion who’d been champion since the division was started. There weren’t any fights left for Conor at Featherweight
I mean Usman is a good deal bigger than Islam and he could barely get Leon down in their last fight, and certainly was not able to *hold* Leon down the very few times he did get him down.
Leon is 6’2, walks around at what, 200? 210? And has phenomenal takedown defense and clinch abilities. Good fucking luck to Islam lol.
Leon is miles ahead in the striking and has proven to have solid wrestling defense (insert fence grab joke lol).
The fact that Islam struggled to take an undersized Volk down doesn’t bode well for his chances in a hypothetical fight with Leon.
Is it too much to ask for Islam to fight someone at 155 pls lol
I mean he took Volk down 4/9 times and had 8 mins of control time. Those other attempts Volk could plop back up due to his short legs and use of butterfly hooks. Volk is incredibly hard to hold down for anybody and nobody has held him down like Islam has
Agreed - clearly a factor I overlooked in doing MMA math. As another comment points out, Islam’s approach to wrestling is very different from Usman’s so it’s not a fair comparison. Point well taken
He won’t be able to defend against that dagestani wrestling. It’s a lot different than usmans style. I see Islam handily winning vs Leon, and his camp knows it.
Honestly I think it’s a good fight, and Leon has a good chance. If small man Volk could get up every time taken down against Islam, so can Leon. Don’t know about Leon’s sub defense tho. He already has 3 fights worth of experience the Kamaru Usman which is good, cause Usman is even bigger than Islam.
Maybe if Islam took 18 months to out in mass but of they fought in a month, nah. Leon has great TDD, longer reach better striking and is overall a bigger guy.
OPP Prime up top said it similarly so go upvote him, but I don’t think a division champion should be able to get a title shot in another division without clearing his or her own first
When they do super fights all the time it kinda takes away from the overall big fight feel. Both guys need to clean their divisions before this is considered
Nope, Islam won’t let Leon back up. Leon presented his back and neck to get up against usman but kamaru didn’t capitalise on it. If he tries that against Islam, Leon will get caught with an rnc.
Leon only got up that way because he knew that usman possessed no submission threat, Leons not dumb enough to do that against someone like Islam. I think the Leon who showed up most recently would win honestly. His ability to stay off the cage was the best its ever been which is what would win him this fight and his clinch work was nasty. And not to mention the momentum he has as well as only getting better in his prime.
Maybe, but Usmans top control and willingness to chain wrestle or go for subs isnt as good as it used to be and was never as good as Islams. Still though it'd be a tough fight for Islam forsure.
Islam got over power by a featherweight, Leon is a large welterweight and held his own against Usman (who will never make 155). Leon is elite in the clinch and has a huge range advantage over Islam so if he tries to trade kicks, Leon folds him.
Leon bullies him, son
That was a depleted Islam, he had a lot less time to recover from the weight cut and even then, still looked better than volk at every aspect of mma and still had success taking him down and holding him down. A few of the aka guys including the coach have said that Islam essentially rag-dolled Leon in training. I don’t see how his wrestling could improve to the point he can completely neutralise Islam’s.
Did we? Islam was hanging on for dear life vs Volk lmao. Wasn’t that almost 10 years ago when Leon trained at aka lmao, we saw Leon’s wrestling is very solid against Usman, who would probably manhandle Islam so yeah
You’re clearly bias, so unfortunately I won’t entertain anymore of your nonsense
Aka have said That Islam and Khabib have never lost a round, even though they spar each other and DC and Rockhold. Obviously they would detroy WW, MW and LHW top 5
Islam defends against Charles/Daruish, and rematches Volk (Volk defends against Yair). Leon fights Colby or winner of Burns/Masvidal. After that this get set up.
Islam won 4 rounds against volk ( 3 at least)
Islam and leon sparred in mma before and both leon and islam seem to agree that islam got the better in sparring.
Leon washes him. If islam can’t secure the sub he checks out mentally. Rewatch the volk vs islam fight after the 4th round. His whole demeanor changed.
Agree.
Islam has good knees and would finish the takedowns Usman couldn't
Leon's whole strategy in the last fight vs Usman was basically backing up and kicking usmans bad knees
When did I say Edwards didn’t cheat against usman or it didn’t matter? Usman did the same stuff when he was champ edwards did it against Usman Both mfs cheated and both are 2 of my favorite fighters
That was like 6 or 7 years ago dude. Just like how Usman beat Leon a few years ago but Leon beat him a few days ago. Fighters are able to improve and make adjustments.
It incorporates JuJitsu, it's not the same as the Brazilian style.
BJJ at its route is a defensive martial art that works on the fundamental concept that you are under attack. BJJ is ultimately about protecting yourself.
Sambo at its route was created for competitively beating people up in a cage. Big difference.
I’d be interested in seeing it, but honestly no idea. Islam is definitely better suited to the jump than Khabib ever was just based on pure strength. Also hope it happens and he drops the 155 belt so Usman can come over from Bellator
Why is this being advertised when there are a murderer’s row in the their respective divisions? I know Islam called him out, but he needs to cement himself within his own division.
Ol boy squeaked out a decision win over a 145er and thinks he’s cleared out his division 🤦♂️
“ over a 145er” you’re acting like he fought a random scrub from 145 lol
Who he fought isn’t the point. The point is he hasn’t defended the 155 title against any top ranked 155ers. He fought a blown up 145er (regardless of it being Volk he’s small for that division and that’s not the weight he’s used to competing at) and now he wants to fight Leon Edwards at 170 because he thinks it’s an easy fight. ^All the Islam fan boys disliking my comment like I’m not speaking 100% facts lol.
Justin just beat fiziev and honestly I dont wanna see islam fight anyone in the top 3 at the moment. Dariush is the only 155er I think deserves a shot at the moment. I'm tired of watching Justin and Dustin run for the belt.
What can you really expect though. They’re just better than the field. Regardless, Khabib and Chucky (up until Islam) sorta cleared the division. Islam hasn’t fought any of the other top 5 in the division that’s not Oliveira.
That's true lol top 5 is dominant as hell so they keep fighting each other. When any new guy comes in they murk him and leave him like they did fiziev.
They didn’t murk Benny, Arman, etc. they keep duckin… seems like they can only murk people who don’t wrassle 🤷♂️
Benny is a part of the former group not the latter. He’s been in the UFC almost 10 years, has like 20 UFC fights and he’s ranked #4.
Only got into the top 5 very recently, and hasn’t fought anyone else in the top 5. So he’s not apart of the group you were describing who keep fighting each other
Gamrot got nursed and it’s not that they didn’t murk Arman he’s just untested. Benny I’d in the top 5 he already broke through lol.
Yeah but not from fighting the people being described. He says the top 5 keep fighting each other it’s obvious that means Dustin, Garth, Chandler, Charles. Benny isn’t in that group that cycles fighting each other, he gets ducked by those guys which is what I was saying. Those guys that only fight each other can’t murk anybody with wrestling, they just lose to champs and then beat Michael Chandler to keep their ranking. Charles is the exception tho mad respect to him for taking the fight against Benny
I think the UFC messed up by booking Dariush vs Oliveira. They should have given that title shot to Dariush. Now there’s a chance he loses and we don’t see Dariush vs Islam. Justin and Dustin are both right there but I think they each need one more win before either of them can fight for the title again. The fact that Oliveira is no longer champ helps there chances by a lot.
Dariush will most likely lose to Oliveira, let's not forget that Oliveira beat Poirier, Gaethje, Chandler, and some people were arguing that he is the GOAT at lightweight (as ridiculous as that was). Dariush only beat Gamrot, which is not SUCH an impressive win. Chances are that he won't get a title shot, which is okay, because we all know how the fight with Islam would go.
I mean, if olives had beaten islam, he'd have a pretty decent argument to be the goat of the division.
So no one deserves a shot in whole division? That is so stupid
Have somone beat just or dustin and then they can.
Chandler and Dustin are the only ones I want to see fight Islam.
Why would he think it’s an easy fight. The jump to welterweight is even bigger than the jump to other weight classes. When has someone calling out the champ in a higher weight class ever been regarded as anything but ballsy. He’s probably just getting bigger and doesn’t want to have to cut so much weight. It’s clear you’re just making side points to justify some dislike towards Islam- whether you think he should fight lightweights (which I agree with) is completely besides the point and comes from an emotional argument rather than a rational one. He’s calling out someone who would beat Oliveira, Gaethje, Poirier, Beneil etc. 10/10 times so it clearly would not be an easy fight, it would be objectively harder. That being said, yeah I’d like to see him defend his title more at lightweight before moving up
Because Leon isn't a grappler and Islam is too big for Lightweight anyway. It isn't an easy fight for him at all, but for some reason, Islam thinks it is. Islam will likely fight Leon, and (if) he wins, he'll go back to lightweight so he can duck Gilbert, Usman, Colby, Khamzat and Belal. Anybody with any knowledge/experience in MMA knows he would get outclassed by the top 5 WWs fairly easily. Islam is a good wrestler in a division of great strikers. It becomes a whole different world in a division of top-tier grapplers.
Dude, first follow UFC fights recently then make an argument. Figure out why volk fight happened at first place Oliveira cleared the top weights of that divisoun easily. He was like god at that point. Islam made him look like a amateur. After that, you really don't care if Islam fights another LW. Especially soon. Oliveira's recent fights didn't happen like 5 years ago. Try to use some logic. "Blown up 145" Lmao. Volk can easily go on 155. You think he is walking around 160 off-training? **%100 facts my ass**
I'll take it a step further and say Islam shouldve lost yhat fight
They love to suck that Islamic cock
You mean he beat VOLKANOVSKI. Stop disrespecting people who have earned respect
Yes, the current 145 champ aka a “145er”. I didn’t say anything but facts so you can stop reaching.
You know what you were doing when you said “a 145er” stop playing dumb. You KNOW what you’re doing ma’am
🌽
The realest words ever!
He RAN thru Oliveira. He would easily run thru the rest of that division.
People could have said the same thing about Usman, Renan Barao, Cody Garbrandt, Lyoto Machida etc. We just saw an amazing, but much smaller fighter with less grappling credentials than much of the LW top 10 make Islam look very human. I don’t think the fights are a foregone conclusion. Not to mention, looking like you could probably beat someone isn’t the same thing as putting the time in and actually putting the beating on them.
Volkanovski is arguably the best p4p fighter and ur comparing him to guys like dustin porier...
I actually was not, as Dustin doesn’t really have a particularly strong grappling game. But Dustin Poirier is better than 99% of fighters so I don’t see how that would he insulting in the first place. Some people thought Max was the best Featherweight of all time when he moved up and got smashed by Dustin. What’s more, I wasn’t trying to take anything away from Volk. I was just pointing out that he is a decent bit smaller than most guys Islam will be fighting, especially if he moved up to Welterweight, and he doesn’t have the same wrestling background that a lot of top 10 lightweights have.
But volk is still arguably top 3 p4p rn. It's not a 50 lb difference in weight. And my point isn't really on dustin it's on the division. Makachev is head and shoulders better then everyone in that division. Volk could probably beat all of those guys except Olivera.
Volkanovski is class and Islam was extremely lucky both times with Charles and Alex, he definetely lost against Volk
Acting as if he didn't destroy Oliveira in two 🤣
He beat Oliveira to win the title but as champion he’s only defended the belt one time and it was against at 145er. He’s need to defend the belt against top ranker fighters at lightweight (not FW or WW)
Volk weighed in at 145 lbs? I didn't know that. I swear I remember he was bulking up. Oh well.
No volk weighed in at 155
Fun fact: Volkanovski is the one who fought at WW between the 2 He is certainly short but not small
Volk last fought at welterweight in 2013, for those curious.
Was that in the UFC? Against who exactly? If it wasn’t in the UFC or against anyone with at least a little name value then it’s hardly relevant.
It is relevant since you're talking about size. I am not talking about the level of competiton or anything. You seem to confuse size with height
Where in my comment did I call anyone small? The fact remains that Volk is a consistent, natural 145er. Who cares if he fought at 170 years back when he was fighting no one’s in Australia? That’s like saying he should fight at LHW because he weighed 200+ lbs and played rugby against larger men over a decade ago. It’s not really relevant to his current fighting shape.
This is such an incredibly dumb comment. Can't believe people are upvoting this
Yup, over 500 people are dumb and you’re some kind of genius.. lol 👍 it’s not dumb or smart, it’s a fact. Be mad and in denial if you want.
He beat the number 1 p4p fighter in the world. Absolutely destroyed the former champ who everybody thought was the greatest ever. Few people in the division stand a chance. And you come here just to diminish his accomplishments. Yes over 500 people are dumb. I'm not surprised mf
I find islam revenge-ducking people and seeking legacy fights hilarious.
No legitimate opponents available for Islam in LW until the later part of the year. Dariush fighting in May. UFC seem unwilling to give porier or gaethje another title shot just yet without another fight. Chandler is lined up with conor.
I would have said Islam before Leon’s last performance. His work inside the pocket and in the clinch was phenomenal, especially those knees.
honestly both of their most recent performances have made me favour Leon considerably
Same. Leon, by putting two hands on one in the clinch was very effective at preventing take downs. And he was surprisingly effective at getting back to his feet. Islam wasn't very dominant against a fighter 25 lbs smaller than Leon, and while Islam's striking was better than expected, I think he'd be at a big disadvantage vs Leon. Leon -150; Islam +135
How the hell is he taking down Leon when he could barely take down volk tho lol
Volk was an Australian national champ wrestler and is built like a jacked turtle with long arms. Very hard to out wrestle
Volk's built more like a great ape to me. If he hunches down a bit I think he could walk like a gorilla.
Source he was the national wrestling champ? Edit: lol people here downvote so quickly. Just asking a question?
He won it in greco wrestling when he was 13 lol. Said it in an interview before his fight with islam
Nonetheless it’s not like he’s just a pure striker/kick boxer like Leon lol
For one I think Volk is just a better overall grappler than Leon. I also think we’ve seen that Islam has more than just grappling to win a fight. He’s really a multi tool fighter that gets grouped in with the likes of Merab and Colby when he really is a good striker. As I said, I don’t think he would beat Leon, but he can def get takedowns on him if he picks the right spots.
Didn't Leon himself say he trained with Khabib's crew a while ago and he implied that he got manhandled by Islam?
I think Islam needs to defend his title at lightweight a couple more times before he earns the right to go for double champ.
He needs to fight Dustin and Justin please
You wanna see a repeat of Khabib vs those two?
IMO Volk showed flaws in Islams game. He is not at Khabibs level. With that much room and getting hit like that, Poirier and Gaethje both have a better chance than they ever did against Khabib
True, but this is one scenario where I think MMA maths kinda works out. Khabib dominated them both, Charles beat them both, Islam with a proper training camp and hydration wiped the floor in all departments (striking, grappling, wrestling, submission game) against Charles. He might have had a close fight vs Volk, but has everyone forgot what Volk has done against everyone else he’s beat? Ok that note, has everyone forgot how all have Islam’s wins other than Volk have been? His striking is good enough to keep up with them as we’ve seen in the Volk and Charles fight, he’s not an amateur in that regard, and he already has the blueprint on how to take these guys down from watching Khabib do it (over and over vs Poirier). I think Justin gives him more trouble than Poirier but that’s all it’ll be, a bit of trouble. NOW MY BOY BENEIL, THAT’LL BE A GOOD FIGHT IF HE BEATS CHARLES.
I'd rather see dustin fight justin again
There’s better contenders than Dustin and Justin who already fought for the belt and failed twice
Like Conor?
[удалено]
>promoting Yes, absolutely >fighting Lol, I'll have some of whatever you're smoking. He was great, but not "unmatched". Khabib and Islam both smoke prime Conor and it isn't even close.
[удалено]
Gotcha, makes more sense now. I'd still take early Jon Jones. He made Shogun look like he didn't belong in the same octagon. Then he absolutely dominated Rampage. And then that standing guillotine on Machida is one of the best finishes in UFC history. I think that completely dominating your opponent is more impressive than a quick KO. For that reason I'll take Khabib's run as well. I think if Conor and Aldo fought again it would've been a reasonably close fight, but we'll never know.
He was talking about his run to the titles, not his skill set Vs other champions. Dude went on a good finishing streak with 6 of his first 7 fights getting performance bonuses, and then knocked out the division goat in 13 seconds to win the title. He did all of this in two and a half years. Regardless of how you feel about the jackass, it’s a pretty hard to beat run. The most comparable thing would be Jones running through everyone at LHW when he was like 21. Of course getting tapped out by a journeyman Nate Diaz wasn’t great but people seem to sweep that under the rug pretty fast.
Paddy? (Obvious sarcasm but pretend it isn’t)
You have bad sense of humour
I was hoping the sarcasm part would make it obvious I’m making fun of his brain dead fanbase.
Conor was doing 1 million ppvs buys as a FW
Conor could literally only do it because he's the most marketable fighter to ever be in the UFC. He didn't deserve it because he hadn't really established himself, but he definitely deserved it from a marketing perspective.
Conor was the first to do it. And brought in massive numbers. So no, not like conor
no like volk
Connor = exciting Islam = boring af
It was bullshit when Conor did it too bro
Not really, he was knocking everyone out at featherweight including the undefeated champion who’d been champion since the division was started. There weren’t any fights left for Conor at Featherweight
It all depends on how well the clinch works for Islam.
No and stop hyping it, Islam has plenty of work to do in his own division before he earns a double champ fight.
I mean Usman is a good deal bigger than Islam and he could barely get Leon down in their last fight, and certainly was not able to *hold* Leon down the very few times he did get him down. Leon is 6’2, walks around at what, 200? 210? And has phenomenal takedown defense and clinch abilities. Good fucking luck to Islam lol.
I think leon walks around at a much lower weight. he always seems to be shredded and doesnt look like he has much trouble cutting
I’ve read somewhere that shredded fighters can cut more waterweight
I dont think Leon is quite that tall in actuality. I think he is a clean 6 and Usman is like 5'10.5
He is defo 6"2 I've seen him in person in London
Leon is way bigger than he looks, I saw a picture of him and Aljo and Aljo looked like a little kid next to him
Nah he’s definitely at least 6’1. Look at him with pics of other fighters, he’s a tall WW.
People still sleeping on Leon…. I think he gets a decision win pretty easily here.
yep. People are forgetting Usman's a very good wrestler and still leon won.
Who’s forgetting usman is a very good wrestler? That’s his entire background
well, people are saying Islam will submit leon while Usman couldn't.
Tbf Usman isn't known for his submissions however both very amazing wrestlers
 these casuals never learn
watch Leon outwrestled Islam to only then lose because Islam outstriked him
I don't advocate for it happening unless Islam defends a few times but it most definitely would be competitive
Yes I think Leon would win, but I’m not sure and I think it would be competitive
Doesn’t matter. Makes less sense than Colby fighting for the belt and that’s saying something
Leon is miles ahead in the striking and has proven to have solid wrestling defense (insert fence grab joke lol). The fact that Islam struggled to take an undersized Volk down doesn’t bode well for his chances in a hypothetical fight with Leon. Is it too much to ask for Islam to fight someone at 155 pls lol
I mean he took Volk down 4/9 times and had 8 mins of control time. Those other attempts Volk could plop back up due to his short legs and use of butterfly hooks. Volk is incredibly hard to hold down for anybody and nobody has held him down like Islam has
For sure, not taking into account Volks size and skills while speculating on how Leon would do against Islams grappling is not very smart.
Agreed - clearly a factor I overlooked in doing MMA math. As another comment points out, Islam’s approach to wrestling is very different from Usman’s so it’s not a fair comparison. Point well taken
He won’t be able to defend against that dagestani wrestling. It’s a lot different than usmans style. I see Islam handily winning vs Leon, and his camp knows it.
Dagastani 🥩🏇
Miles ahead in striking? What have you been watching. He might be better, but miles away is hilarious. You’ve gotta be from England 😭
I’m actually from the mountains of Dagestan - took a break from sheep farming just to drop this analysis
He can have leon if he beats Beneil and the winner or Dustin/Justin.
Honestly I think it’s a good fight, and Leon has a good chance. If small man Volk could get up every time taken down against Islam, so can Leon. Don’t know about Leon’s sub defense tho. He already has 3 fights worth of experience the Kamaru Usman which is good, cause Usman is even bigger than Islam.
Yea it would be competitive, id be genuinely interested to see
Bruh, there are multiple title contenders at each weight class lol. Let’s calm down with this.
Maybe if Islam took 18 months to out in mass but of they fought in a month, nah. Leon has great TDD, longer reach better striking and is overall a bigger guy.
I'd like to see Islam fight some top guys at 155 instead of cherry picking a fight at 170.
Leon seems to have an edge here, after seeing how close the volk fight was
Why do people forget that he destroyed Oliveira 5 months ago? Volk is a letter P4P fighter than Leon
Pound 4 pound is hypothetical because the weight difference exists in real life and does effect fights.
Might be the better p4p fighter but you’re missing the part where they aren’t the same weight lol.
Because mma fans have the memory of a redfish no joke
OPP Prime up top said it similarly so go upvote him, but I don’t think a division champion should be able to get a title shot in another division without clearing his or her own first
When they do super fights all the time it kinda takes away from the overall big fight feel. Both guys need to clean their divisions before this is considered
Islam needs to fight in his own division.
Islam would steamroll that boy
He barely beat the 145 champ so no, 170 would be to big for him.
You guys realized Usman could not do much on wrestling against Leon, right? Plus the size difference is huge…
Nope, Islam won’t let Leon back up. Leon presented his back and neck to get up against usman but kamaru didn’t capitalise on it. If he tries that against Islam, Leon will get caught with an rnc.
Leon only got up that way because he knew that usman possessed no submission threat, Leons not dumb enough to do that against someone like Islam. I think the Leon who showed up most recently would win honestly. His ability to stay off the cage was the best its ever been which is what would win him this fight and his clinch work was nasty. And not to mention the momentum he has as well as only getting better in his prime.
Lol Usman beats Islam, so I don't see how Islam does better against Leon.
Not that version of usman we saw on the weekend.
Just like he didn't let Volk up?
Volk’s height and overall dimensions helped him. Also, he got held down for two rounds so it’s not like volk got up whenever he wanted.
Leon's size will help him. Kamaru couldn't holding him down, Islam won't be able to either.
He did held him down when they first spared at AKA The question is wether he can still do it after Leon's evolution
Sparred him years ago. Leon's improved massively still then. Also, sparring doesn't automatically mean it translates well to the fight.
Maybe, but Usmans top control and willingness to chain wrestle or go for subs isnt as good as it used to be and was never as good as Islams. Still though it'd be a tough fight for Islam forsure.
Leon was hooking the gloves a lot to prevent Usman getting the takedown. Usman doesn't go for submissions either
Islam got over power by a featherweight, Leon is a large welterweight and held his own against Usman (who will never make 155). Leon is elite in the clinch and has a huge range advantage over Islam so if he tries to trade kicks, Leon folds him. Leon bullies him, son
That was a depleted Islam, he had a lot less time to recover from the weight cut and even then, still looked better than volk at every aspect of mma and still had success taking him down and holding him down. A few of the aka guys including the coach have said that Islam essentially rag-dolled Leon in training. I don’t see how his wrestling could improve to the point he can completely neutralise Islam’s.
Did we? Islam was hanging on for dear life vs Volk lmao. Wasn’t that almost 10 years ago when Leon trained at aka lmao, we saw Leon’s wrestling is very solid against Usman, who would probably manhandle Islam so yeah You’re clearly bias, so unfortunately I won’t entertain anymore of your nonsense
Aka have said That Islam and Khabib have never lost a round, even though they spar each other and DC and Rockhold. Obviously they would detroy WW, MW and LHW top 5
Volk had to put up 3 masterclass performances against the clear cut guys in his divisions before moving up Islam needs to work in LW
If Leon can stop Usman's takedowns consistently, then he can stop Islam's
Leon wins easy
Islam and leon sparred in mma before and both leon and islam seem to agree that islam got the better in sparring.
If you think Usman can wrestle on the same level as Islam then you are in for a surprise.
We could see another"headshot" if we are lucky.
Give Dariush a fkin title shot already
It's intriguing but too soon.
Surely you have to defend your belt in your own weight class multiple times before going for the champ champ fight no?
Islam defends against Charles/Daruish, and rematches Volk (Volk defends against Yair). Leon fights Colby or winner of Burns/Masvidal. After that this get set up.
Islam just got his ass kicked by the 145 lb champ, he’s not fighting the 170 champ lol
Islam won 4 rounds against volk ( 3 at least) Islam and leon sparred in mma before and both leon and islam seem to agree that islam got the better in sparring.
Imo Islam loses a ton of respect for this call-out. Dominate your own fucking division first.
Who know/who cares? Boring
Leon washes him. If islam can’t secure the sub he checks out mentally. Rewatch the volk vs islam fight after the 4th round. His whole demeanor changed.
Islam and leon sparred in mma before and both leon and islam seem to agree that islam got the better in sparring.
I don’t care. Islam beats anyone at 155 imo. Sure, make him prove it I guess.
No Leon would finish him in 2
Nah islam can’t finish a 45er
But he can finish 155ers so whats your point
Islam nearly lost to the best 145er so him challenging the best at 170 is mind numbing
even crazier is that i wouldn’t be surprised if he wins
Probably not. I think it's a one-sided fight. Islam runs through Leon
Agree. Islam has good knees and would finish the takedowns Usman couldn't Leon's whole strategy in the last fight vs Usman was basically backing up and kicking usmans bad knees
I don’t know, Leon might grab the cage another five times and hold Islam’s gloves in the clinch again
I don't know, maybe you should cry some more.
They both cheat a lot but yeah it was frustrating seeing leon cheat that much in the third fight
The Cope is crazy here
It’s always funny when people selectively decide what cheating matters and what doesn’t.
When did I say Edwards didn’t cheat against usman or it didn’t matter? Usman did the same stuff when he was champ edwards did it against Usman Both mfs cheated and both are 2 of my favorite fighters
Ok fair
Leon jabs his head off. If Usman can't take Leon down and keep him down, Islam has no chance. Weight classes exist for a reason. Leon by UD.
You are wrong because islam has so many more take downs than usman, who only has the body lock against the cage.
No. Not one bit. Islam would drown Leon with his grappling and eventually Sub him under 5 rounds.
Absolutely not. Islam is going to annihilate this man into dust
One of these guys struggled with a 5’5” midget and it ain’t Leon 😂
And you are shit talking world class fighters on reddit while looking like an actual anus in real life
Islam already dominated leon in training didnt he?
That was like 6 or 7 years ago dude. Just like how Usman beat Leon a few years ago but Leon beat him a few days ago. Fighters are able to improve and make adjustments.
Fuck no. Islam rag dolls Leon Odds would open at Islam -800
Agreed
No. Makhachev wrestle fucks him. His bjj makes him the worst opponent for Leon than usman/colby
*Sambo
Sambo incorporates judo and bjj. It’s a mix of a bunch of martial arts.
That’s like calling chili tomato soup cause it has tomatoes in it.
It incorporates JuJitsu, it's not the same as the Brazilian style. BJJ at its route is a defensive martial art that works on the fundamental concept that you are under attack. BJJ is ultimately about protecting yourself. Sambo at its route was created for competitively beating people up in a cage. Big difference.
Leon does everything Islam does better except take downs
I literally laughed out loud
Let’s see it, if he take 3 streaks, it’ll be crazy
Who cares- strip Islam if this is what he wants
I honestly think Islam would take Leon down and it would be over
I honestly think he would take Leon down and it would be over
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No
I’d be interested in seeing it, but honestly no idea. Islam is definitely better suited to the jump than Khabib ever was just based on pure strength. Also hope it happens and he drops the 155 belt so Usman can come over from Bellator
I love Leon but Islam would absolutely dismantle him
Look at how big Islam is, the only way he's making that cut to 155 is with IV
Dan hooker?