The UFC Discussion and Prediction Topic

[electronicash]

The UFC rankings have been updated.
Michael Chandler dropped down by five places, from 7th to 12th place. Paddy moved up by 4, to 8th place, pushing up Gamrot to 7th.

I'm not sure why Topuria is not showing in the lightweight ranking, since he officially moved up the weight class. He's still ranked as a featherweight and dropped to number 3 contender.

Dominic Reyes made it to the top 10 of the light heavyweight. If he gets a fight with someone ranked above him and wins, he might be in a position for a shot at the belt. Pretty good considering many have written him off. I predict he could be matched for a rematch with Blachowicz.

Blachowicz vs Reyes 2 would be nice.  i think Reyes can win it this time. he been in the losing streak since ht time he was lost against Jones. he was devastated by the decision when most people that look at the fight, Reyes won it. His last won resembles the the fight of Aldo vs Mcgregor they say. spectacular KO.

Paddy ranking on the 8th place makes him a considerable contender that can rise above because he still is young.

[pawel7777]

(...)
Paddy ranking on the 8th place makes him a considerable contender that can rise above because he still is young.

If the UFC decide not to give Topuria a title shot against Islam and want him to have at least one win in the lighweight before they let him fight for the belt - I think there's a big chance we could see Topuria Vs Paddy. The hype is already there and Paddy is ranked high enough for Topuria to be willing to fight him.

[pawel7777]

Ilia Topuria was on Joe Rogan's podcast recently. I've watched some of it. He said that he's not going to accept any fight other than a title fight against Islam. He said he could make 2 exceptions though: one would be fighting Conor first, the other - a fight with Paddy in Spain at Real Madrid's stadium (80,000 seats).
I think the second option is a really good idea. Spain is not far for Paddy's fans to travel, so they would probably sell the venue out.

[target]

Ilia Topuria was on Joe Rogan's podcast recently. I've watched some of it. He said that he's not going to accept any fight other than a title fight against Islam. He said he could make 2 exceptions though: one would be fighting Conor first, the other - a fight with Paddy in Spain at Real Madrid's stadium (80,000 seats).
I think the second option is a really good idea. Spain is not far for Paddy's fans to travel, so they would probably sell the venue out.

Topuria is up for a big pay already. Paddy the Baddy will be able to fight back Topuria, he isn't ready to someone with such caliber. This is not going to to be good for Topuria to demand this fight UFC will make him wait because they know Conor is a goner.

Islam vs Topuria will be okay. It will be ironed to make big bucks Topuria's fame is already too big in his head. As long as islam is in his prime, he will not win against Islam.

[electronicash]

Ilia Topuria was on Joe Rogan's podcast recently. I've watched some of it. He said that he's not going to accept any fight other than a title fight against Islam. He said he could make 2 exceptions though: one would be fighting Conor first, the other - a fight with Paddy in Spain at Real Madrid's stadium (80,000 seats).
I think the second option is a really good idea. Spain is not far for Paddy's fans to travel, so they would probably sell the venue out.

a title shot for Paddy to fight Topuria would mean Topuria can ask UFC to be held in Spain. Paddy however isn't going to be fighting for a title shot yet, no way he can do it whichever weightclass. they do have a beef though, i'm sure they are going to hype but it will not be book right away.

i have not watched rogan's episode yet i hate to see an interview of UFC fighters coming from rogan's podcast. rogan always want to be the first to say it when its not really happening.

[pawel7777]

(...)
Islam vs Topuria will be okay. It will be ironed to make big bucks Topuria's fame is already too big in his head. As long as islam is in his prime, he will not win against Islam.

I would prefer to see Islam Vs Ilia than Paddy Vs Ilia. Topuria deserves the title shot in the lightweight without having to prove anything. Many other champions got that chance after moving weight class, so I don't know why Topuria should be different.
The problem is that Islam seems to be more interested in moving up to fight Belal (or Maddalena).

[bitbit97]

If fighters have contract with promotion and their job is to fight, why do they choose who they will fight instead of fighting the opponent which promotion has chosen? As an employee, I dont select which tasks I will do and do not, from the list my employer gave me. I dont understand why a champion has a right to be selective, to decide who deserves a fight against him and who not. I though that a person can call himself a champion, when he is ready to fight anyone and anytime, to prove his championship.

[electronicash]

If fighters have contract with promotion and their job is to fight, why do they choose who they will fight instead of fighting the opponent which promotion has chosen? As an employee, I dont select which tasks I will do and do not, from the list my employer gave me. I dont understand why a champion has a right to be selective, to decide who deserves a fight against him and who not. I though that a person can call himself a champion, when he is ready to fight anyone and anytime, to prove his championship.

seem to the usual thing the champs do anymore. just look at Jon Jones should be fighting the interim champ but he fought someone old and wasted.

Ilia has a different situation because he left the belt which means he isn't the champion anymore and yet he requested to fight straight away the champion on the higher weight class. its a bit risky but if Dana approves it, he must have hated the fact that Islam is staying up there on the top for a long time already while there is no one left to challenge him.

he allowed volkanovski to fight for the belt too in the LW. and here they are again in same situation where Islam has to fight someone new in the LW.

[bitbit97]

If fighters have contract with promotion and their job is to fight, why do they choose who they will fight instead of fighting the opponent which promotion has chosen? As an employee, I dont select which tasks I will do and do not, from the list my employer gave me. I dont understand why a champion has a right to be selective, to decide who deserves a fight against him and who not. I though that a person can call himself a champion, when he is ready to fight anyone and anytime, to prove his championship.

seem to the usual thing the champs do anymore. just look at Jon Jones should be fighting the interim champ but he fought someone old and wasted.

Ilia has a different situation because he left the belt which means he isn't the champion anymore and yet he requested to fight straight away the champion on the higher weight class. its a bit risky but if Dana approves it, he must have hated the fact that Islam is staying up there on the top for a long time already while there is no one left to challenge him.

he allowed volkanovski to fight for the belt too in the LW. and here they are again in same situation where Islam has to fight someone new in the LW.

I took a look on Ilia Topuria career. He has left his belt and moved to next division. Imo he should fight some fighters from that division before requesting a champions fight because he was a champion in other division. I under it like this - if you a new in division, you cant have a fight against champion from the start, no matter what your achievements were before. That is why they have different division, weight. A bigger guy hits harder. That is other level of competition and risks.

But I would like to speak more about why champions allow themselves to select opponents. They should be either ready for everyone, or dont call themselves champion.

[electronicash]

If fighters have contract with promotion and their job is to fight, why do they choose who they will fight instead of fighting the opponent which promotion has chosen? As an employee, I dont select which tasks I will do and do not, from the list my employer gave me. I dont understand why a champion has a right to be selective, to decide who deserves a fight against him and who not. I though that a person can call himself a champion, when he is ready to fight anyone and anytime, to prove his championship.

seem to the usual thing the champs do anymore. just look at Jon Jones should be fighting the interim champ but he fought someone old and wasted.

Ilia has a different situation because he left the belt which means he isn't the champion anymore and yet he requested to fight straight away the champion on the higher weight class. its a bit risky but if Dana approves it, he must have hated the fact that Islam is staying up there on the top for a long time already while there is no one left to challenge him.

he allowed volkanovski to fight for the belt too in the LW. and here they are again in same situation where Islam has to fight someone new in the LW.

I took a look on Ilia Topuria career. He has left his belt and moved to next division. Imo he should fight some fighters from that division before requesting a champions fight because he was a champion in other division. I under it like this - if you a new in division, you cant have a fight against champion from the start, no matter what your achievements were before. That is why they have different division, weight. A bigger guy hits harder. That is other level of competition and risks.

But I would like to speak more about why champions allow themselves to select opponents. They should be either ready for everyone, or dont call themselves champion.

they are champions. its like higher level, they can't just let him fight some fighter while fans are not interested in watching. while Ilia is popular, he should be fighting someone popular as well. although it would also make sense to get Tuporia to fight Dustin, the UFC will miss the outstanding profit once he loses against Dustin because he will not be able to fight Islam anymore.

but if Tuporia loses against Islam, he can make a good come back if he climbs up the rank by fighting the top 5 of the division like Charles Oliveira or Tsarukyan. you could say its not really up to him at all.

[bitbit97]

Letting fans to decide who to fight just by level of popularity isnt correct either. Ilia Topuria behavior is indescribable. He demands a fight only aganist lightweight division Islam Makhachev, because he was a champion of a featherweight division. If we close eyes on his past achievements, then in my eyes he is insolent person who cut in line without permission. Below Islam Makhachev, there are 15 ranked fighters, and dozen unranked. I think they have right of a first hand to challenge champion.

[electronicash]

Letting fans to decide who to fight just by level of popularity isnt correct either. Ilia Topuria behavior is indescribable. He demands a fight only aganist lightweight division Islam Makhachev, because he was a champion of a featherweight division. If we close eyes on his past achievements, then in my eyes he is insolent person who cut in line without permission. Below Islam Makhachev, there are 15 ranked fighters, and dozen unranked. I think they have right of a first hand to challenge champion.

those top guys in the division are already defeated by Islam by wide margin. they can't even request a rematch. if Ilia lost fighting in his first try in this new division, he won't have any other chance to get a title shot unless he fights 3 to 5 guys in the LW. he is up to reach there on top while in his prime and move to WW.

and i think Dana wants Islam out already because this division gets boring until Islam is out.

[Zed0X]

I think Ilia vs. Paddy will draw more crowd than fighting Islam because the two already had a history. It would be fun to watch their press conference

Letting fans to decide who to fight just by level of popularity isnt correct either. Ilia Topuria behavior is indescribable. He demands a fight only aganist lightweight division Islam Makhachev, because he was a champion of a featherweight division. If we close eyes on his past achievements, then in my eyes he is insolent person who cut in line without permission. Below Islam Makhachev, there are 15 ranked fighters, and dozen unranked. I think they have right of a first hand to challenge champion.

Blame Dana for that because he still allowed such practice before. Although I agree that he should fight at least one top lightweight but at the end of the day, it's what most fans wants that will move this fight organization forward.

[bitbit97]

Letting fans to decide who to fight just by level of popularity isnt correct either. Ilia Topuria behavior is indescribable. He demands a fight only aganist lightweight division Islam Makhachev, because he was a champion of a featherweight division. If we close eyes on his past achievements, then in my eyes he is insolent person who cut in line without permission. Below Islam Makhachev, there are 15 ranked fighters, and dozen unranked. I think they have right of a first hand to challenge champion.

those top guys in the division are already defeated by Islam by wide margin. they can't even request a rematch. if Ilia lost fighting in his first try in this new division, he won't have any other chance to get a title shot unless he fights 3 to 5 guys in the LW. he is up to reach there on top while in his prime and move to WW.

and i think Dana wants Islam out already because this division gets boring until Islam is out.

Islam Makhachev defeated most of lightweight division guys, but that does not cancel possibility for a rematch or trilogy. Fighters meet each other for several times. Even if a guy is defeated, he continues to fight, to train, to improve. History has number of example when loser wins in rematch. That is why idea of immediate title fight for Ilia Topuria looks unreal. I think Topuria needs to be tested by lightweight fighter to check if he is ready to bigger guys. That would be fair. That would be good for Topuria also, as it might be that he has overestimated his skills, abilities and strength.

[electronicash]

Letting fans to decide who to fight just by level of popularity isnt correct either. Ilia Topuria behavior is indescribable. He demands a fight only aganist lightweight division Islam Makhachev, because he was a champion of a featherweight division. If we close eyes on his past achievements, then in my eyes he is insolent person who cut in line without permission. Below Islam Makhachev, there are 15 ranked fighters, and dozen unranked. I think they have right of a first hand to challenge champion.

those top guys in the division are already defeated by Islam by wide margin. they can't even request a rematch. if Ilia lost fighting in his first try in this new division, he won't have any other chance to get a title shot unless he fights 3 to 5 guys in the LW. he is up to reach there on top while in his prime and move to WW.

and i think Dana wants Islam out already because this division gets boring until Islam is out.

Islam Makhachev defeated most of lightweight division guys, but that does not cancel possibility for a rematch or trilogy. Fighters meet each other for several times. Even if a guy is defeated, he continues to fight, to train, to improve. History has number of example when loser wins in rematch. That is why idea of immediate title fight for Ilia Topuria looks unreal. I think Topuria needs to be tested by lightweight fighter to check if he is ready to bigger guys. That would be fair. That would be good for Topuria also, as it might be that he has overestimated his skills, abilities and strength.

only happens when its a close fight and ended in a decision. but if islam dominated the fight and submitted his opponent,, its going to be a long shot which this fighter has to make 3 winning streak to earn that shot again to fight islam.

but sure ilia can fight someone among the top fighters before islam. if he loses, Dana will have to start over again to find someone that has potential to knock islam. it would take a year or two of waiting again while the division is at stale.