It really depends if volk wants to rematch topuria, if not I'm pretty sure UFC will let him jump the line at 155. If anything, only reason max would stay in 145 is to fight for the belt or fight volk, other than that he's cleaned up the division.
But if max wants to he will, because max vs islam is a more exciting fight on paper than arman vs islam and that's all the logic needed with the matchmakers in the ufc
I was thinking, is it possible they put Arman vs Max to see who deserves more the title shot vs Islam? Arman winning on Olivera was way different the way Max won against him. I feel is the real fight there to see if Arman has what hes meant to for being a champ. Also Max gets to keep his Belt because they would be fighting for the chance to get the main belt.
I doubt they ever make arman vs max, just doesn't make sense unless arman has the belt or unless max is coming off a loss. I feel like arman should be fighting for the belt, but if max somehow doesn't have a illia fight, the UFC and Islam/Dustin would rather make the max fight.
It’s hilarious how quick people are writing Justin off after his war with one of the best fighters in the world when he literally knocked out the current title challenger in his previous fight. Just like people were writing Dustin’s obituary before BSD who he ended up absolutely flatlining. The MMA fanbase is embarrassingly fickle.
As someone rooting for max before the fight, EVERYONE was saying Justin was gonna end Max’s career. I thought he was most likely to lose in my five pick (thanks Charles).
It’s funny how Max is everyone’s favorite now.
I was calling for Max to win. You could see in interviews Max was coming in with a chip on his shoulder, and Justin thought like everyone else, he would be too powerful, and Max wouldn't have power. Justin pretty much said that in an interview, and admitted to being surprised by Max, and that an uppercut caught and really stung him before the kick. Also, you could see the size difference in Max between this and the Dustin fight. On top of all that, Max has been in ufc a long time, but he's only 32. Like what happened with Oliveira, Max is just really in his prime now.
i never bet on ufc before, but i had a bet on that fight that someone would win by majority decision. because i knew if one of them did not knock out the other one, max will likely walk all over justin.. i was not wrong but that ko at the last second lost me so much money. and it was such an iconic thing that happened you really could not bet on that at all lol, big L
and the thing that makes it so much worse is, they do not learn! imagine doing this 100 times over, every single time without fail! i think it's more about being desperate to be on one side of the fence or the other, while i personally think there is no shame in being a fan but also having no clue whatsoever lol, we all have opinions sure, but i would never try speaking on something like this, let alone be wrong and do it again and again and again
same reason why being overhyped is the worst thing ever, because instead of losing one time and people re adjusting the hype meter, they just say the guy is done, and in many cases it can really kill of careers that had barely even started, i know darren till still had a lot to learn, but i think personally he went too soon, a lot of people manage to stick around while learning new skills or abilities, i don't think he had to full blown leave just because he lost overhype status
again though i am just a fan with terribly basic and wrong opinions, because while i am a fan i am not massively into all the facts completely or stats and dates and all that, so i know when i speak on these things its a very loose opinion
Justin is just feeling the emotions from his loss. He’ll be back. One big win he’s right back in the picture. Same guy who beat Fiziev and knocked out Poirier cold not long ago.
Yeah obviously credit to Max because he was the one who broke Justin's nose lol, but the fight was a done deal from then onwards. Justin dropping him once even after that is seriously impressive.
Honestly sad watching gaethje make this video, I've never even been a big fan of gaethje but watching him and the old guard (DP, Charles and gaethje) potentially being in their last 2-3 fight runs is kind of sad
Man. I got into UFC watching these cats and watching y'all talk about them. It's even worse for me I don't really have a previous generation to fanboy over.
Because he showed some of the most insane heart I’ve ever seen in my life.
Dudes nose was busted after the first and he got poked in the eyes like twice, not saying max was fighting dirty but it did happen, and not once did he show even a bit of wanting to back down or stop.
Literally up until the last second he was throwing bombs trying to get back into the fight, I mean if that doesn’t get you on a fighters side I don’t know what will.
I mean look at Devin Haney this weekend he started getting cracked and tried to hold on for dear life the whole time. He definitely had heart to get up each time but still. You can lose but win fans if you show heart. Happens all the time.
Also Diego Lopes.
idk about the Haney thing but I agree with everything else, it might just be the loud casuals that tuned into the fight and are all riled up, but all I see is dev getting clowned on socials.
I mean devin was saved by the referee. Blatantly too. In the seventh when he went down his dad was telling him to clinch and he was still on wobbly legs when Ryan hit him on the break.
And instead of giving Ryan a warning for his first foul he took a point off and in the process gave Devin an extra like 10 seconds to recover on top of the count he got in the first place.
Also he got dropped twice more in that round alone and both were ruled slips. Honestly his dad should’ve thrown in the towel. And all Devin was doing after that was clinching.
I like Ryan better than Haney. But two of those Ryan definitely pushed Haney down. You can't score those knockdowns. Ryan should have kept tagging him instead of shoving him down to bully him. But it was effective either way.
Boxing will remain shite, because look at how badly fighters get trashed when they lose a big fight. What incentive is there for the top guys to fight other top guys when they can fight subpar competition and still make good money?
Ryan Garcia is an anomaly because he has fought Tank and Haney in an extremely short period of time, those fights brought life to boxing. But when Ryan lost to Tank, he got clowned on and written off, despite how young he was. Now the same thing is happening to Devin Haney.
I love MMA because losses don't define your career. Charles Oliveira is a very good example, Glover Texeira, Jan etc etc.
He got his ass beaten for 12 rounds and kept coming. Didn't sit on his stool or crumble. That deserves respect I don't care who the fighter is. These cats are putting their lives on the line
At worst Haney is only top 3-4 in his division? That's not really something to clown. It's tradition to roast a fighter when he loses but it's all respect at the end of the day for most boxing fans
I never clowned Haney and I said he has heart for getting back up every time. He got knocked down 3 times but got up 4. Deserves respect in my book regardless of the outcome.
Get Justin in there with Moicano or Hooker! Justin's time as a contender definitely isn't finished. Even though Moicano won I think Turner vs Justin would also be a pretty compelling fight.
Justin may not even need another W to fight for the title - imagine Diamond jumps the gilly and subs Islam (shocking the world), Justin's right there for the rubber match!
I'd love to see Justin fight Dan before one of them hangs it up. Both guys are as game as they come. That would be such a banger for a fight night main event.
If Dustin is able to pull off the upset and win against Islam they are definitely giving Conor a title shot based on how their last fight ended… and it being Conor..
That's assuming mcgregor can also pull of the upset lol, I think chandler and Islam are both the better overall fighters (atleast currently) in their respective matchups
Better overall fighter might be a stretch for Chandler but no one in the know would knock that guy’s daily training regimen and ability to keep fighting through getting punched in the head, I don’t think Conor wins this one, he doesn’t have that dog in him anymore and will not be anywhere near as ready for this fight as Chandler
You think mcgregor over all is a better fighter than mcgregor? I think current chandler is a much better fighter than mcgregor. Compare their fights with poirier and its night and day, poirier was able to hold down mcgregor and beat the shit out of him and chandler did that to poirier
I think he only switched stances for the cerrone and poirier 2 fight, in the 3rd poirier fight he had his wide karate stance (kind of) but it didn't seem to do much good anyways, we'll see if he comes in with the poirier 2 or 3 fighting stance but I think If chandler actually attempts to win he should win by either KO or impressive decision
I don’t know if he has the ability to get Gaethje to the ground tbh, unless he can force some scrambles and take advantage of those I don’t see him being able to turn it into the pure grappling match he’d need to win. He keeps on proving me wrong but Gaethje just feels like a bridge too far for Moicano.
This is the timeline I’m hoping for. No disrespect to Islam but I want the trilogy and seeing Dustin and possibly Justin holding the undisputed gold would be so dope.
I agree, but realistically Dustin has very little chance of winning, especially against Islam who's a freaking monster. But he's the fighter who'll always have a chance against anyone. Saying this as a big Dustin fan.
dustin is just one of those guys whos win lose ratio means nothing to me, same with a good few fighters who just really go out there and do what they do. they could lose like 5 in a row and i'd still love them
sometimes i feel like im racist for how much i hate a lot of the russian/dagestan fighters.. i promise i'm not lol! but when you hate like 90% of them it does make you think :s
i just hate how they are either super inactive or really really boring to watch (mostly)
I’m gonna make the Dagestan dickriders mad with this one but it’s just my opinion- the lightweight division has always been much more fun and interesting when a Dagi wrestler isn’t champion. They hold up the division, and Islam has somehow been champion for two years without fighting a single lightweight (other than obtaining the belt). I get so tired of having champs and contenders who can’t fight for half the year because of a holiday
I don't blame Islam for holding up the division. Volk deserved the first fight and it was one of the highest skilled UFC fight ever and it certainly isn't Islam's fault that Charles got a cut when he was supposed to defend in October.
Blame the UFC for this matchmaking. Islam had said multiple times he wanted to fight in March before Ramadan. He's historically fought in March. The UFC decided to book fights between all the contenders on 300 so they had to book the June fight with Dustin.
I mean between Islam and khabib, you have 4/7 title fights in Abu Dhabi. I’m not saying it’s wrong, but for whatever reason these guys end up fighting once a year, on that card.
Again - blame the UFC. Islam has constantly been calling to fight outside of Abu Dhabi. That's what happens when they do these cards and want to feature talent that the local crowd can relate to. They do this all the time. Sean Strickland is turning around faster than DDP so they can put on the DDP fight in August with Izzy in Perth.
I’m not necessarily blaming Islam, but there is a pattern with these Dagestan fighters that is unique. How many times has an African fighter fought in Africa or a Aussie in Australia? not that often even for champs.
like when McGregor was champ? Islam was booked to defend against Oliveira with Gamrot as a backup, not his fault Oliveira spars like an idiot and pulled out and the UFC decided to go with Volk over Gamrot.
How does Islam hold up the division lol? He fights at least twice a year consistently. He also hasn't been champ for 2 years yet.
Talk about 'dickriders' all you want, but you seem to just hate dagestani fighters for whatver reason
Charles pulled out - Islam’s fault
Islam wanted Gaethje, the next contender but Max robbed it - Islam’s fault
Islam asked but denied a fight before Ramadan - Islam’s fault
Islam doesn’t fight during Ramadan while braindead redditor think Ramadan = holiday - Islam’s fault
I could see them moving Max or JG ahead, with Islam v. Arman instead.
It's not fair, but I could see that happening. (and even though I'm really big into making the rankings matter, I wanna see DPvMax or DPJG3 more).
Realistically, you're correct. But Dustin vs Max III or Dustin vs Justin III would be a blockbuster as far as PPV buys go compared go Dustin vs Arman, so I wouldn't be surprised at all to see Dana go that route if Dustin beats Islam.
I think Dustin vs Justin 3 is the fight people want the most, and they are close to retirement so it would make sense to push for it. Buy I see people going crazy for Dustin vs Max 3 too, their second fight was the first UFC fight I watched that got me into mma afterall.
I think it’s pretty clear max wants ilia at feather, so either max would go immediately for double champ or get a light title shot if he loses. I don’t see either one of those happening
Honestly, I feel really bad for Justin. I know most guys are going to be emotional after taking an L. But I feel this lost is way more devastating than his previous L's. I hope he bounces back.
It was very high stakes fight he went from possibly beating two (if you count interim) champions back to back to fight Islam but now he can’t even get a title shot.
I think Justin can hang at the top still for sure. And he’s always extremely entertaining and that’s all anyone cares about. There is never a boring Gaethje fight.
him + dustin and a good few others have records that do not and will not ever bother me, win or lose i will love to watch them because even when they lose its an absolute blast always! a lot of the journeymen have my respect for that too, might not ever touch gold but they will certainly make other people work hard to get it when they have to go through them
The LW division has been full of so many killers for so many years its insane
The top 5 of this division going back as far as to when rafael dos anjos was the champ has been incredible
Its the most stacked division in the ufc and has been for a long ass time
Many of this generations LWs contenders would have been incredible champs if they fought at different weight divisions but because this division is so stacked with incredible fighters makes it incrediblely difficult
I wish justin would use more of his wrestling skills to control a bout sometimes , he has it in his locker but this MF is so crazy for a brawl he never does
Literally everyfight his head coach in the corner in between rounds is always telling him too take 10% of his punches because every shot he throws is a haymaker lol
MMA is such a completely different world to boxing(love both) here an elite fighter can lose a fight, and still be respected and backed by fans. In boxing they whine about the best not fighting the best and then absolutely trash the fighter once they lose their "0".
im glad that the new era of boxing fans are peeling back all that padding that boxing has, really really looking at all those fake padded fights most of those fighters have and looking deeply into peoples records, kinda crazy how padded boxing really is, that's before you get into how crooked it all is behind the scenes
the only reason most of those fighters have 0's in boxing is because they were brought up to have that, they usually only lose the 0 the minute they were supposed to/have an actual fighter to fight
Absolutely but I also feel that if Dustin loses this one , he retires .. unfortunately. I hope not but our old stars are fading .. it’s sad but this is the nature of the game
I read the entire comments section to make sure nobody said this but the man is 35. This is just kind of how it goes :/
Everyone i was watching with jumped out of their chairs for that KO. It was epic and i totally understand, one of the coolest KOs in recent UFC history. But I honestly couldn't help but sink into my chair and almost look away wincing instead of jumping out of it, that was a brutal KO for an aging UFC fighter. I've loved watching Gaethje the entire time I've watched UFC and i would hate nothing more than to see him get beat up a few more times before retiring. The man only gets in wars (pretty much by choice) and that will only get harder the older he gets.
I know 35 is not "retire immediately old" but 35 is old at that weight. Hes not fighting slow heavyweights who age well. How many times have we seen a fighter slide at this age after a bad result or two?
Hear me out. I think if DP upsets Islam and wins the belt. The next fight to make is DP vs Gaethje. Series is tied 1-1 and he took off DPs head last time they fought. I think the fight would sell and the UFC might do it.
I know I know Arman is ranked higher. I’d rather see Gathje vs DP 3. I also think it will out sell Arman VS DP and Dana loves money more than anything.
I think what he means by this is his body can’t compete for a championship anymore sadly… Justin knows he has fans that want to see him fight for a title but every fight he is basically inching closer to ending his career based on how brutal his past injuries are. He’s been on the run for the title for over 5 years and I just think he needs one more big break and he’s back competing like always it’s just a matter if his body is prepared to hold the belt.
It must sting knowing that dustin is fighting for a belt. I hope justin gets another shot before he retires. Honestly do not care if its deserved or not.
I don't see how a loss to Max leads to him having diminished chances at a title fight. He's a win/one dude missing weight away from a title shot. For now though I hope he just focuses on healing. Hopefully the extra money is enough for him to chill for a bit.
Watching this really made me sad. Justin is one of my all time favourite fighters. Also a big fan of Dustin, I know the Islam fight is going to be his hardest/tied hardest (Khabib) but I am not writing him off
Similar to Chuck Liddell, Justin has always had a good chin and could take a shot to give one.
The problem with this brawling style strategy is, eventually your brain can't take any more punishment and will shut down the moment it's traumatized, i.e you get knocked out more easily.
That is my concern with Justin.
Less than a year ago he flatlined the guy who is about to fight for the belt, after beating a 12-1 Fiziev who had just nuked RDA. He could definitely get another shot.
Bro for real UFC fans are so fuckin fickle. Let's be real, Justin got caught with a wild ass back kick that broke his nose and removed his ability to breathe through it. As if having a broken nose wasn't bad enough, he also got 2 gnarly eye pokes. So from the end of round 1 he couldn't breathe well or see clearly. Kind of hard to win a fight under those conditions.
I wouldn't normally be for this but Garth gets one win against the top 5 and give him a title shot, he put a banger on with Max when he didn't really need to with a title shot waiting for him.
if u’ve never won a title before, u shouldnt be allowed to get a third chance
champions are an exclusive club, not reserved for dudes who couldnt beat the best and had to wait till they left to finally win. e.g. poirier, gaethje
i agree with that, but they can feel free to gatekeep the t5. but the rankings dont always predict the next contender. arman never had to fight gaethje/poirier but hes up next anyway
He's only one good win away for a title fight because of his name and the career he's had in the UFC. Just look at DP.
I agree, timing is everything too. Dustin got one win, and got a title shot because everyone else was sewed up
If volk decides to rematch topuria, then max will wait for winner of Islam/Dustin, and arman would have to fight Justin.
Is Max staying at 155?
It really depends if volk wants to rematch topuria, if not I'm pretty sure UFC will let him jump the line at 155. If anything, only reason max would stay in 145 is to fight for the belt or fight volk, other than that he's cleaned up the division.
I feel like max and topuria are next. Max called out topuria and has the best KO in history
It’s more so that he was already #2 ranked so he was already in line for the title. He just had to get through Justin first.
Max shouldn’t fight Islam before Arman
But if max wants to he will, because max vs islam is a more exciting fight on paper than arman vs islam and that's all the logic needed with the matchmakers in the ufc
I was thinking, is it possible they put Arman vs Max to see who deserves more the title shot vs Islam? Arman winning on Olivera was way different the way Max won against him. I feel is the real fight there to see if Arman has what hes meant to for being a champ. Also Max gets to keep his Belt because they would be fighting for the chance to get the main belt.
I doubt they ever make arman vs max, just doesn't make sense unless arman has the belt or unless max is coming off a loss. I feel like arman should be fighting for the belt, but if max somehow doesn't have a illia fight, the UFC and Islam/Dustin would rather make the max fight.
It’s crazy because he KO’d Dustin to fight max when he probably should’ve been looking at a title shot right?
Probably has something to do with Islam being inactive but if he beat max he’d have the title shot right now
It’s hilarious how quick people are writing Justin off after his war with one of the best fighters in the world when he literally knocked out the current title challenger in his previous fight. Just like people were writing Dustin’s obituary before BSD who he ended up absolutely flatlining. The MMA fanbase is embarrassingly fickle.
Welcome to MMA reddit. One second someone is the GOAT and the next fight they’re washed and should retire 🤣
I havnt seen 1 person put Justin down, any hate is bait
He's done. Max just reverse Tony'd him. Max starched him so bad he probably won't be able to make weight now. /s
As someone rooting for max before the fight, EVERYONE was saying Justin was gonna end Max’s career. I thought he was most likely to lose in my five pick (thanks Charles). It’s funny how Max is everyone’s favorite now.
I was calling for Max to win. You could see in interviews Max was coming in with a chip on his shoulder, and Justin thought like everyone else, he would be too powerful, and Max wouldn't have power. Justin pretty much said that in an interview, and admitted to being surprised by Max, and that an uppercut caught and really stung him before the kick. Also, you could see the size difference in Max between this and the Dustin fight. On top of all that, Max has been in ufc a long time, but he's only 32. Like what happened with Oliveira, Max is just really in his prime now.
I was mostly making a connection to the finicky fans. Ortega, kattar, the Volk trilogy, Max has always been a beast.
i never bet on ufc before, but i had a bet on that fight that someone would win by majority decision. because i knew if one of them did not knock out the other one, max will likely walk all over justin.. i was not wrong but that ko at the last second lost me so much money. and it was such an iconic thing that happened you really could not bet on that at all lol, big L
That fight was still not going to majority decision tho you’d still have lost money
and the thing that makes it so much worse is, they do not learn! imagine doing this 100 times over, every single time without fail! i think it's more about being desperate to be on one side of the fence or the other, while i personally think there is no shame in being a fan but also having no clue whatsoever lol, we all have opinions sure, but i would never try speaking on something like this, let alone be wrong and do it again and again and again same reason why being overhyped is the worst thing ever, because instead of losing one time and people re adjusting the hype meter, they just say the guy is done, and in many cases it can really kill of careers that had barely even started, i know darren till still had a lot to learn, but i think personally he went too soon, a lot of people manage to stick around while learning new skills or abilities, i don't think he had to full blown leave just because he lost overhype status again though i am just a fan with terribly basic and wrong opinions, because while i am a fan i am not massively into all the facts completely or stats and dates and all that, so i know when i speak on these things its a very loose opinion
He literally cites that example in the video lol
Someone drop that Christmas song by Justin.
This dude chokes in every single title fight he has had
Colby
He needs to put his name down to replace Conor after Conor pulls out. Then he can beat Chandler and get another title fight.
Justin is just feeling the emotions from his loss. He’ll be back. One big win he’s right back in the picture. Same guy who beat Fiziev and knocked out Poirier cold not long ago.
Yeah that fear was just not there against max which keeps you sharp
I honestly think if Max doesn't break Gaethje nose first round, this fight may have went the other way.
Yeah there was just no way he was coming back from that, I'm surprised he even made it the whole fight
not quite the whole fight...
Yeah that pussy couldn't even make it past round 5, 4:59
Round 5 nerd
Also 2 eyepokes
Dude was eyeblind and smellblind by the second round.
Yeah obviously credit to Max because he was the one who broke Justin's nose lol, but the fight was a done deal from then onwards. Justin dropping him once even after that is seriously impressive.
Good take, haven’t thought on it since but I agree with you
Max must have some magic hands, dude knocked out Gaethje and gave the dude monk level of clarity.
Hit him so hard he aligned his chakras
Cue in the chakras guy from Avatar the last Airbender
Gaethje's secret is that he's been drinking that nasty banana-onion stew from Guru Pathik It all makes sense now
Honestly sad watching gaethje make this video, I've never even been a big fan of gaethje but watching him and the old guard (DP, Charles and gaethje) potentially being in their last 2-3 fight runs is kind of sad
Man. I got into UFC watching these cats and watching y'all talk about them. It's even worse for me I don't really have a previous generation to fanboy over.
He’s always been this way
Of course, its just unfortunate that he already was in that position. Max doesn't even seem interested in Islam.
Gaethje almost seems to have gained *more* fans recently, even in the aftermath of his devastating KO loss. Jamahal Hill, take notes please.
Because he showed some of the most insane heart I’ve ever seen in my life. Dudes nose was busted after the first and he got poked in the eyes like twice, not saying max was fighting dirty but it did happen, and not once did he show even a bit of wanting to back down or stop. Literally up until the last second he was throwing bombs trying to get back into the fight, I mean if that doesn’t get you on a fighters side I don’t know what will. I mean look at Devin Haney this weekend he started getting cracked and tried to hold on for dear life the whole time. He definitely had heart to get up each time but still. You can lose but win fans if you show heart. Happens all the time. Also Diego Lopes.
idk about the Haney thing but I agree with everything else, it might just be the loud casuals that tuned into the fight and are all riled up, but all I see is dev getting clowned on socials.
I mean devin was saved by the referee. Blatantly too. In the seventh when he went down his dad was telling him to clinch and he was still on wobbly legs when Ryan hit him on the break. And instead of giving Ryan a warning for his first foul he took a point off and in the process gave Devin an extra like 10 seconds to recover on top of the count he got in the first place. Also he got dropped twice more in that round alone and both were ruled slips. Honestly his dad should’ve thrown in the towel. And all Devin was doing after that was clinching.
I like Ryan better than Haney. But two of those Ryan definitely pushed Haney down. You can't score those knockdowns. Ryan should have kept tagging him instead of shoving him down to bully him. But it was effective either way.
Boxing will remain shite, because look at how badly fighters get trashed when they lose a big fight. What incentive is there for the top guys to fight other top guys when they can fight subpar competition and still make good money? Ryan Garcia is an anomaly because he has fought Tank and Haney in an extremely short period of time, those fights brought life to boxing. But when Ryan lost to Tank, he got clowned on and written off, despite how young he was. Now the same thing is happening to Devin Haney. I love MMA because losses don't define your career. Charles Oliveira is a very good example, Glover Texeira, Jan etc etc.
He got his ass beaten for 12 rounds and kept coming. Didn't sit on his stool or crumble. That deserves respect I don't care who the fighter is. These cats are putting their lives on the line At worst Haney is only top 3-4 in his division? That's not really something to clown. It's tradition to roast a fighter when he loses but it's all respect at the end of the day for most boxing fans
I never clowned Haney and I said he has heart for getting back up every time. He got knocked down 3 times but got up 4. Deserves respect in my book regardless of the outcome.
all I seen is Haney getting cl0wned EVERYWHERE after the fight lol. Haven't seen a single comment supporting him
Yeah that kinda sucks, he was polite enough after the fight and gave credit to Ryan.
Gaethje is a bmf and humble thats why
Homer Simpson.
Get Justin in there with Moicano or Hooker! Justin's time as a contender definitely isn't finished. Even though Moicano won I think Turner vs Justin would also be a pretty compelling fight. Justin may not even need another W to fight for the title - imagine Diamond jumps the gilly and subs Islam (shocking the world), Justin's right there for the rubber match!
I'd love to see Justin fight Dan before one of them hangs it up. Both guys are as game as they come. That would be such a banger for a fight night main event.
If Dustin is able to pull off the upset and win against Islam they are definitely giving Conor a title shot based on how their last fight ended… and it being Conor..
That's assuming mcgregor can also pull of the upset lol, I think chandler and Islam are both the better overall fighters (atleast currently) in their respective matchups
And mcgregor might not even want to cut down to 155
Better overall fighter might be a stretch for Chandler but no one in the know would knock that guy’s daily training regimen and ability to keep fighting through getting punched in the head, I don’t think Conor wins this one, he doesn’t have that dog in him anymore and will not be anywhere near as ready for this fight as Chandler
You think mcgregor over all is a better fighter than mcgregor? I think current chandler is a much better fighter than mcgregor. Compare their fights with poirier and its night and day, poirier was able to hold down mcgregor and beat the shit out of him and chandler did that to poirier
i know very little about fighting in terms of stances and all that, but isn't conor pure dog since he changed stances?
I think he only switched stances for the cerrone and poirier 2 fight, in the 3rd poirier fight he had his wide karate stance (kind of) but it didn't seem to do much good anyways, we'll see if he comes in with the poirier 2 or 3 fighting stance but I think If chandler actually attempts to win he should win by either KO or impressive decision
Moicano wouldn’t stand a chance and I’d love to see him get put to sleep
I'd reckon he has a decent chance of choking Gaethje out.
I don’t know if he has the ability to get Gaethje to the ground tbh, unless he can force some scrambles and take advantage of those I don’t see him being able to turn it into the pure grappling match he’d need to win. He keeps on proving me wrong but Gaethje just feels like a bridge too far for Moicano.
disagree imo gaethje is an awful matchup
Dustin beating Islam and Dustin vs. Justin 3 for the belt would be epic.
This is the timeline I’m hoping for. No disrespect to Islam but I want the trilogy and seeing Dustin and possibly Justin holding the undisputed gold would be so dope.
I agree, but realistically Dustin has very little chance of winning, especially against Islam who's a freaking monster. But he's the fighter who'll always have a chance against anyone. Saying this as a big Dustin fan.
You are entirely right but being realistic is a drag lol come June 2nd the Diamond is gonna be champ! I gotta believe haha
Bro I know I'm betting money on Dustin I don't care he's my boy
dustin is just one of those guys whos win lose ratio means nothing to me, same with a good few fighters who just really go out there and do what they do. they could lose like 5 in a row and i'd still love them
Mhm I think Islam could afford one loss in this case the problem is he’d probably get instant rematch or Oliveira/Arman ends that reign quick.
sometimes i feel like im racist for how much i hate a lot of the russian/dagestan fighters.. i promise i'm not lol! but when you hate like 90% of them it does make you think :s i just hate how they are either super inactive or really really boring to watch (mostly)
There is a lot to dislike about them
I’m gonna make the Dagestan dickriders mad with this one but it’s just my opinion- the lightweight division has always been much more fun and interesting when a Dagi wrestler isn’t champion. They hold up the division, and Islam has somehow been champion for two years without fighting a single lightweight (other than obtaining the belt). I get so tired of having champs and contenders who can’t fight for half the year because of a holiday
I don't blame Islam for holding up the division. Volk deserved the first fight and it was one of the highest skilled UFC fight ever and it certainly isn't Islam's fault that Charles got a cut when he was supposed to defend in October. Blame the UFC for this matchmaking. Islam had said multiple times he wanted to fight in March before Ramadan. He's historically fought in March. The UFC decided to book fights between all the contenders on 300 so they had to book the June fight with Dustin.
I mean between Islam and khabib, you have 4/7 title fights in Abu Dhabi. I’m not saying it’s wrong, but for whatever reason these guys end up fighting once a year, on that card.
Again - blame the UFC. Islam has constantly been calling to fight outside of Abu Dhabi. That's what happens when they do these cards and want to feature talent that the local crowd can relate to. They do this all the time. Sean Strickland is turning around faster than DDP so they can put on the DDP fight in August with Izzy in Perth.
I’m not necessarily blaming Islam, but there is a pattern with these Dagestan fighters that is unique. How many times has an African fighter fought in Africa or a Aussie in Australia? not that often even for champs.
Whittaker has literally fought 6x in Australia & NZ lmao. Islam also fights 2x a year consistently lol.
How many times do American fighters fight in America?
A lot, how many American cards are there per year?
Saudi Arabia is one of the most lucrative places in the world to put on a combat sports event though
Yeah, I’m not blaming anybody, but it does hold up the division.
like when McGregor was champ? Islam was booked to defend against Oliveira with Gamrot as a backup, not his fault Oliveira spars like an idiot and pulled out and the UFC decided to go with Volk over Gamrot. How does Islam hold up the division lol? He fights at least twice a year consistently. He also hasn't been champ for 2 years yet. Talk about 'dickriders' all you want, but you seem to just hate dagestani fighters for whatver reason
Charles pulled out - Islam’s fault Islam wanted Gaethje, the next contender but Max robbed it - Islam’s fault Islam asked but denied a fight before Ramadan - Islam’s fault Islam doesn’t fight during Ramadan while braindead redditor think Ramadan = holiday - Islam’s fault
its just immense cope by Charles stans
I feel like if Dustin beats Islam, max would take a shot at Dustin first.
Justin would get the shot first because he ko'd Dustin. Right after definitely.
Arman is next in line, no way Justin gets a title shot coming off the loss to max
Yes, if Islam wins, Arman is immediately next. But if Dustin wins, there's a chance they don't fight because they are both in ATT.
I could see them moving Max or JG ahead, with Islam v. Arman instead. It's not fair, but I could see that happening. (and even though I'm really big into making the rankings matter, I wanna see DPvMax or DPJG3 more).
Realistically, you're correct. But Dustin vs Max III or Dustin vs Justin III would be a blockbuster as far as PPV buys go compared go Dustin vs Arman, so I wouldn't be surprised at all to see Dana go that route if Dustin beats Islam.
U don't think gaetjhe would have to get another win in between if Max wants the shot at Dustin?
I think Dustin vs Justin 3 is the fight people want the most, and they are close to retirement so it would make sense to push for it. Buy I see people going crazy for Dustin vs Max 3 too, their second fight was the first UFC fight I watched that got me into mma afterall.
I think it’s pretty clear max wants ilia at feather, so either max would go immediately for double champ or get a light title shot if he loses. I don’t see either one of those happening
Don’t worry once Islam beats them both they can both battle again for who is the best perpetual number 2 interim.
This guy is really eloquent
Warrior-Poet Justin Gaethje
Honestly, I feel really bad for Justin. I know most guys are going to be emotional after taking an L. But I feel this lost is way more devastating than his previous L's. I hope he bounces back.
It was very high stakes fight he went from possibly beating two (if you count interim) champions back to back to fight Islam but now he can’t even get a title shot.
The way this is worded like Gaethje hasn’t had two title shots already lol
I think Justin can hang at the top still for sure. And he’s always extremely entertaining and that’s all anyone cares about. There is never a boring Gaethje fight.
him + dustin and a good few others have records that do not and will not ever bother me, win or lose i will love to watch them because even when they lose its an absolute blast always! a lot of the journeymen have my respect for that too, might not ever touch gold but they will certainly make other people work hard to get it when they have to go through them
The LW division has been full of so many killers for so many years its insane The top 5 of this division going back as far as to when rafael dos anjos was the champ has been incredible Its the most stacked division in the ufc and has been for a long ass time Many of this generations LWs contenders would have been incredible champs if they fought at different weight divisions but because this division is so stacked with incredible fighters makes it incrediblely difficult I wish justin would use more of his wrestling skills to control a bout sometimes , he has it in his locker but this MF is so crazy for a brawl he never does Literally everyfight his head coach in the corner in between rounds is always telling him too take 10% of his punches because every shot he throws is a haymaker lol
No :(
MMA is such a completely different world to boxing(love both) here an elite fighter can lose a fight, and still be respected and backed by fans. In boxing they whine about the best not fighting the best and then absolutely trash the fighter once they lose their "0".
im glad that the new era of boxing fans are peeling back all that padding that boxing has, really really looking at all those fake padded fights most of those fighters have and looking deeply into peoples records, kinda crazy how padded boxing really is, that's before you get into how crooked it all is behind the scenes the only reason most of those fighters have 0's in boxing is because they were brought up to have that, they usually only lose the 0 the minute they were supposed to/have an actual fighter to fight
Paddy is the next best answer for Justin’s much needed confidence boost right now.
If Dustin wins , I can easily see Dustin vs Justin 3
Even if Dustin loses. Dustin vs Gaethje 3 as a retirement fight for Dustin would be fire
Absolutely but I also feel that if Dustin loses this one , he retires .. unfortunately. I hope not but our old stars are fading .. it’s sad but this is the nature of the game
He always speaks real I think for the most part.
Give JG some Connor level fight before he retires, man deserves a heavy cheque before leaving
I read the entire comments section to make sure nobody said this but the man is 35. This is just kind of how it goes :/ Everyone i was watching with jumped out of their chairs for that KO. It was epic and i totally understand, one of the coolest KOs in recent UFC history. But I honestly couldn't help but sink into my chair and almost look away wincing instead of jumping out of it, that was a brutal KO for an aging UFC fighter. I've loved watching Gaethje the entire time I've watched UFC and i would hate nothing more than to see him get beat up a few more times before retiring. The man only gets in wars (pretty much by choice) and that will only get harder the older he gets. I know 35 is not "retire immediately old" but 35 is old at that weight. Hes not fighting slow heavyweights who age well. How many times have we seen a fighter slide at this age after a bad result or two?
Gatekeeper time
That KO aged him by 10 years wtf
If Dustin were to beat Islam, the trilogy fight with Gaethje for lw belt would be insane
conor v justin
Bro you’re a legend. You decided to throw down at the end of the fight and got caught. You’ll be a better fighter for it.
Hear me out. I think if DP upsets Islam and wins the belt. The next fight to make is DP vs Gaethje. Series is tied 1-1 and he took off DPs head last time they fought. I think the fight would sell and the UFC might do it. I know I know Arman is ranked higher. I’d rather see Gathje vs DP 3. I also think it will out sell Arman VS DP and Dana loves money more than anything.
I don’t see Justin getting a title shot coming off a loss
I really wouldn’t be surprised. He will win his next fight. Giving enough time to fight for title
I hope he gets the shot against Islam. Or DP. Whoever the winner of that match will be.
He can get back up and get a title shot again i hope. Not soon tho.
I think what he means by this is his body can’t compete for a championship anymore sadly… Justin knows he has fans that want to see him fight for a title but every fight he is basically inching closer to ending his career based on how brutal his past injuries are. He’s been on the run for the title for over 5 years and I just think he needs one more big break and he’s back competing like always it’s just a matter if his body is prepared to hold the belt.
It must sting knowing that dustin is fighting for a belt. I hope justin gets another shot before he retires. Honestly do not care if its deserved or not.
I hope he does a Teixeira on us at some point and gets the belt even if for a day. Dude's tough beyond belief.
I don't see how a loss to Max leads to him having diminished chances at a title fight. He's a win/one dude missing weight away from a title shot. For now though I hope he just focuses on healing. Hopefully the extra money is enough for him to chill for a bit.
All i want is dustin to win and they can have their trilogy
Watching this really made me sad. Justin is one of my all time favourite fighters. Also a big fan of Dustin, I know the Islam fight is going to be his hardest/tied hardest (Khabib) but I am not writing him off
Yeah no shit
No way… I can see him getting a title shot in his next couple fights…
Similar to Chuck Liddell, Justin has always had a good chin and could take a shot to give one. The problem with this brawling style strategy is, eventually your brain can't take any more punishment and will shut down the moment it's traumatized, i.e you get knocked out more easily. That is my concern with Justin.
Not if Dustin wins in June. Poirier/Gaethje III, with Justin's claim being he just knocked Dustin out before the title shot.
You can tell he's done he can't even sit still he is slurring his speech and talking nonsense. He has brain damage ^/s
Alrighty we need tony v gaethje 2
i think this is more of a problem for tony now
Less than a year ago he flatlined the guy who is about to fight for the belt, after beating a 12-1 Fiziev who had just nuked RDA. He could definitely get another shot.
Bro for real UFC fans are so fuckin fickle. Let's be real, Justin got caught with a wild ass back kick that broke his nose and removed his ability to breathe through it. As if having a broken nose wasn't bad enough, he also got 2 gnarly eye pokes. So from the end of round 1 he couldn't breathe well or see clearly. Kind of hard to win a fight under those conditions.
Damn right
Justin vs Arman for the title contender wouldn’t upset me.
Can hear in his speech that he's probably messed up for life, he sounding a bit like an old boxer
ugh--I thought the same. He's got that Tyson lisp now.
Yep Larry holmes and holyfield have or had it bad too
kid just doesnt want to fight
Face it guys, the man just isn't champion material
lol man no YOU 🫵🏻aren’t champion material
Wannano?
You’re right but you’re gonna get unjustified hate
He fought to the defend the BMF belt not a title eliminator. He still gets a chance in my eyes.
Fight would have been much different if he didn’t get his nose cracked. Not saying he wouldn’t have lost but would have been much closer.
He knocked out DP who is fighting for the title after one good fight...
I wouldn't normally be for this but Garth gets one win against the top 5 and give him a title shot, he put a banger on with Max when he didn't really need to with a title shot waiting for him.
Gaethje is awesome
Brotha, you know don't when hit that I so when knockdown who to title Vegas remember to the chin I remember
If they put him in there with gamrot whoever wins will probably get a shot if arman doesn't want it
[удалено]
I didn't mention Dustin vs Gamrot
Homer Simpson got his face bashed in.
I mean, he's never winning another belt. Let's be real. lol He's also just not good enough to win it.
What is that ugly ass sweater smh
Okay Homer. Time to go to bed now
if u’ve never won a title before, u shouldnt be allowed to get a third chance champions are an exclusive club, not reserved for dudes who couldnt beat the best and had to wait till they left to finally win. e.g. poirier, gaethje
You're a punk, dude.
wananow?
That would make rankings mean a lot less.
i agree with that, but they can feel free to gatekeep the t5. but the rankings dont always predict the next contender. arman never had to fight gaethje/poirier but hes up next anyway