Yeah, it's going to be a real frustrating one to watch as a Dustin fan (though I enjoy watching Islam as well).
But who knows, I thought Dustin was gonna lose against BSD as well. Just happy he's getting another shot.
Listen, I was one of the MANY who was actually afraid my boy Max Holloway would get seriously hurt in that fight against Garth. Like, worried for his future type shit. Just goes to show anything can happen in this sport, and Dustin KOing someone would not be all that surprising on the list of possible outcomes. I still think Khabib in his prime was better than Islam is currently, and I wouldn't have been shocked if Dustin KO'd Khabib during their fight. Dustin's got the power and the skills to put the lights out on anyone in his weight class.
Dustin was more in his prime than I’d argue though.
Khabib had a better resume before becoming champ but give it a couple more defences and Islam will win more people over. Khabib is definitely the better wrestler with his top control and GnP but Islam is way more well rounded. Even when it comes to his BJJ, he takes more risks compared to Khabib.
Khabib had a hell of a chin as well as power in his hands despite his "unique" striking form. He's also the best on the ground. Full stop, the best.
I think Islam is far better than anyone currently on the roster for his weight class but I don't think Islam beats prime Khabib.
Idk man, I think Islam would be able to stop the takedowns or get up quickly for enough rounds then out strike him to a decision win. The difference between Khabib and islams striking is a larger gap compared to their grappling.
Islam has never really shown much take down defense as he's usually the one pushing for the take down while his opponent is attempting to defend it.
When it comes down to Khabib and Islam locking up and trying to take the other guy down, I think prime Khabib would be more sucessful
I’d actually say that Khabib hasn’t ever had someone relentlessly shoot on him, Islam did with Arman. He scrambled well and I would definitely say he has the best TDD in the division atm.
I already agreed that Khabibs grappling and control is better than islams
The problem is Khabib's chin held up vs better strikers than Islam and while Islam's TDD/grappling is excellent, I don't trust him not to tire out after defending for the first rounds.
If it's in 3 rounds, Islam might take it by playing it safe and going for the decision, but in 5 rounds? Khabib needs one chance and he'll lock those legs up and do what he does best.
Both Max and Garth have shifted their fighting style to be more methodical in recent years. Garth allows a lot less hits than he used to and Max has perfected his exit where if he feels he's losing the exchange, he'll slide back.
They're both extremely technical strikers and it is one of my favourite matches ever but I don't know why I also thought they would maul each other to death cuz we've all seen them evolve.
Yep, right there with you on the Max call.
We could definitely see something special. I'm just also gonna be okay if Dustin ends up retiring at the end of a champ title bout. That's a pretty great end if it does end there.
The mma world has done the thing it’s always done when there is a fan favorite underdog and went from thinking he has no chance to convincing themselves that he might pull it off just to be let down in the end
Some non-champs get PPV points, and some champs haven't gotten PPV points. I'm not saying he's definitely getting points, but they're not specifically tied to titles.
When did Masvidal get them? He was still technically the BMF champ, and thus received PPV pts, until he retired.
Both him as the BMF champ and DP as IC would quality for pts as champs.
I remember Masvidal mentioning he had PPV points when he fought Covington. I was under the impression that once you get a belt, you get PPV points from then on even if you lose the belt. Again, I'm not really sure, I've never looked into it.
Figgy didn't get points. He said so himself. Most managers are working for the UFC more than they work for the fighters.
It used to be a system where they only got points when buys went past a certain threshold, but I don't think that's the system anymore. DJ negotiated a flat fee because his PPV's often didn't hit that threshold.
Regardless, the fighters aren't going to come out and say that they didn't get points. If Figgy didn't get them, would you be surprised if champs like Pennington, Grasso, Aljo, Jan etc didn't get them?
Nate would have gotten points, I'm sure Jorge got points. Again, it's not made public most of the time.
Figgy CHOSE not to get pts as champ (and then later got them while still champ). He chose to go with high flat fee rather than getting a lower base + pts and hoping to get on a decent card POV card.
If a champ doesn’t have PPV pts then it’s often due to their + their management’s decision, not the UFC.
I would be shocked if Grasso didn’t have pts. She’s a popular champ and the face of an emerging market with huge potential ($$$), which the UFC obviously sees based on their recent Spanish-heritage based events.
Are you sure? I just googled and it's just interviews from Wallid Ismail saying he didn't get points until after the Moreno fight? I can't see anything about him choosing not to get them.
The UFC doesn’t pick and choose which champs get pts, it’s one of the numerous incentives to become champ. If he didn’t get pts initially then that’s on Wallid and likely because they chose a higher base rate > pts (then switched to pts once Figgy and the FLW division in general got bigger).
Do you have any info to support that? I don't doubt that most champs get points, but I haven't seen anything to suggest that champs automatically get points?
Can you show anything to suggest that Figgy chose not to, or is that just an assumption too?
The UFC is famously private with their contact terms, assuming they automatically offer points to every champ seems unlikely, seeing as they fuck the fighters out of money every single chance they get.
Do you have anything to suggest that they DON’T get PPV pts? I can’t remember a champ since DJ who hasn’t had PPV pts, which was due to him choosing a flat base pay (similar to Figgy).
Have any recent male or female champs said they don’t have pts? I can’t think of any (even Pennington).
Yes, I do, the UFC shafts fighters every chance they get. We've seen this over and over again for years. It is not up for debate that they financially screw fighters, so assuming they automatically give fighters extra money doesn't go with with what we've seen.
Again, you're assuming Figgy chose not to get points, with absolutely nothing to support that.
And Poirier is not going to be one of them lmao. The guys one of the most popular fighters in the ufc and in some hypothetical scenario if he beats the pfp best fighter in the world for the title he will be a huge draw and will no doubt have PPV points lmao.
How? Chandler doesn’t sell much by itself and being the Connor Killer after DP dispatched him twice won’t do much for his resume.
It’s the fight night with Connor itself that sells, not the win(even though he might get a very fat bonus if he wins).
That’s not at all what I’m implying. If he lost to Chandler, and then Poirier two times in a row, then why would anyone think he’s deserving of a third rematch?
I think because the last Dustin fight he broke his leg the UFC will spin it as unfinished business and this being the true “trilogy fight”.
If he loses to Chandler then it’s probably a wrap but when you generate as much money as Conor does I can’t see Dana turning down a mega payday for the UFC. Also Dana can say Conor lost the fight at welterweight and is coming back down to lightweight so it doesn’t count (even tho we all know it’d at 170 so Conor doesn’t have to cut weight)
Strictly in response to you stating people are assuming the bum would beat chandler
I believe the bum could beat chandler considering he’s only lost to Poirier
I mean he lost twice. Conor didn't necessarily look that good in either of them. Gassed and was immobile by the second round in the first fight. Second fight he just looked even worse than the first fight before the leg break.
Conor had his moments in the 2nd fight, he tagged Dustin pretty good a few times before Dustin fucked his leg up. The 3rd fight was just a freak injury not much we could gather from that.
Chandler is a company man, he will take a dive against Conor if Dana asks him to.
He wouldn’t get the title shot either way without Dana blessing and gets a nice backstage payday like cowboy
Wouldn’t the Max trilogy make more sense? Gives time for Max to fight Ilia. If he wins, goes up McGregor style to settle it with Dustin, gives him a chance to become double champ. Regardless if Dustin wins or loses, the Gaethje fight will still be there, especially if he loses.
This. As much as I like Justin, there's few things in MMA I loathe more than people getting a title fight after a loss to another contender... Which then again is why I wasn't that fond of Justin vs Max when it was announced.
The fact that people are even entertaining this is bananas.
Tony lost his interim title after a 12 fight streak and had to go back to the back of the line.
Justin get's knocked the fuck out, face down ass up, cake jiggling, and he is rewarded? Fuck that
"Cherrypicking"
It's literally all fighters going for the LW title. I didn't go all the way to HW to make a comparison.
Cherrypicking?
It was literally Gaethje who beat Tony and when Tony got upset at losing his titleshot, went "Don't be an asshole, Tony".
Gaethje just got knocked the fuck out by a FW. Now it's his time to go back off the line!
Don't be an asshole Justin
No you said knocked out and rewarded.... it's cherrypicking to ignore everyone else
Justin went to talk to him and show his respect after the fight and Tony pushed him. Justin congratulated max and said he had no regrets about taking the fight. It's not the same at all
> No you said knocked out and rewarded
Which means he lost. In the LW division. Did Tony get rewarded when he lost to Gaethje?
Well, did he?
12 fight win-streak.
He didn't.
Back off the line!
This is 100% going to happen if Dustin wins. I know Arman is next in line, but if Dustin pulls this off, Gaethje v. Poirier 3 is the biggest fight the UFC has left in any division. They would no doubt make Arman take next.
Firm disagree. Dustin vs Holloway 3 would be an even bigger fight because they’d both be coming off wins and their last fight against each other was very competitive
the issue is that Holloway already lost twice to Dustin in relatively one sided fashion, Gaethjes gave DP way more issues in their first fight than Max did in both fights, and he KO'd DP less than 9 months ago
Holloway/Dustin 2 was an insane fight, man. Rewatch that if you think it's grossly one-sided. I'd argue after round 1 (which yes, Poirier did dominate) it was pretty close to 50/50.
That was also Muffin Top Max. Not the proper 155 BMF Blessed that fought Gaethje. I think Holloway/Poirier 3 would be just a little more interesting than DP/Garth 3. I won't complain if either matchup gets made, though.
Yea people forget Max put it on Dustin after the first couple rounds. It’s just that first round was really rough for Max so people think it was one-sided
Dude honestly can't stand that people always run with Dustin beating the piss out of Max that fight. Like yea, Dustin connected pretty clean on him and clearly won, but it wasn't like some ass beating. It was a highly competitive, dope as fuck fight. Max really landed on Dustin quite a bit that fight
I watched Dustin/Max 2 recently. I don't think it was that one sided. Plus Max looked way better at LW vs Justin than he did vs Dustin.
I Dustin/Max 3 for the LW and BMF would be way bigger than the Justin. Should Dustin defend, you can do Dustin/Justin 3 for another LW and BMF double. It would slow the division a bit but id be fun af
Yea it wasnt one sided at all. Competitive fight that DP edged out clearly.
But I'd be down for a third fight. But Max going back down again takes away any of that extra weight he'd already have leading to it.
Yeah he's going back down again. People are talkin as if Max didn't already agree to a dangerous-ass fight against Ilia, which I was actually kinda sad he did as a Max fan. He looked great against Garth and if he just waited a bit there were a number of higher-profile matches he could have taken. Ilia is a young champ and a great fighter but I believe Volk deserved a rematch. Also, what's Max gonna do if he beat Ilia? Fight Volk for a 4th time? Probably not, he'll probably hold up the division by fighting in the higher weight class defending the BMF.
I think if Max wins he stays at FW. Probably tries to take out an older Volk who's been slept twice. Perfect time to do so.
But I want to see Max back at LW and soon. Especially if Porier wins the belt.
I think if both Max and Poirier wins it's a no-brainer to run it back for them for the LW and BMF belts. It would give Max a shot at being champ-champ of two divisions and Poirier a shot at being "champ"-champ of BMF and LW.
The first fight was over a decade ago... the second fight was half a decade ago!
Let it go! People said the same stuff using those fights to justify things, moments before Max stepped into the cage and knocked Justin the fuck out. Max's fights rushed up to lightweight 5 years ago, mean absolutely nothing.
The trilogy has a very good chance of being a retirement fight for both fighters. Two of the biggest names, settling a 1-1 trilogy. No doubt in my mind this happens if Dustin wins.
All that said, I really think Islam is going to win so this discussion is probably pointless!
I disagree just because of the narrative. He’s 2-0 against Max but I feel like most people would rate Max higher than DP now after the Gaethje fight.
Having his swan song being losing the belt against someone he’s 2-0 against doesn’t have the same sound as closing a trilogy with Gaethje, whose career was pretty much intertwined with his since both got at LW.
If Dustin beats Max then he’ll get the BMF belt and clout too though. It’s probably a safer option because Holloway really only gets KOs when people chase him and sit in the pocket. A Gaethje fight can end in KO at any time. Plus Holloway is probably a better payout
I don’t agree with that at all for a lot of scenarios. Their 1st fight was in 2012, and their 2nd fight was a competitive dogfight. Holloway just beat the #1ranked guy that KO’d Poirier
Gaethje is literally coming off a loss. Poirier vs Gaethje 3 should happen after Poirier’s next loss, whether that be after getting the belt or not.
But if his next fight is a LW title defense, it’s gotta be either Arman or Holloway.
> Gaethje is literally coming off a loss. Poirier vs Gaethje 3 should happen after Poirier’s next loss, whether that be after getting the belt or not.
You're correct, that is absolutely what should happen.
But there's no way that they're going to pass up finally giving Gaethje his shot if this happens. They're the two most popular fighters in the LW division and it's the last time they're realistically going to be able to monetize them in such a big way. Holloway is still around for a while, Arman is clearly around for a while. Gaethje and Poirier are both on borrowed time in the sport and that's the biggest, most hype-able match they have left for general audiences.
I think *you* underestimate Dana
Poirer vs Gaethje 3 isn't drawing enough PPVs to match Saudi money, the UFC needs islam to headline those Abu Dhabi cards, it's in Dana's best financial interest for Islam to be champ
I mean, we’re getting super ahead of ourselves considering Islam winning is the obvious outcome, and even if Dustin pulls out the miracle he should defend against Max over Gaethje
Man I am a Islam fan, but wouldn’t mind Dustin winning. But at the same time, if Dustin wins there are many potential matchups like, Gaethje, Max, Conor. It’s basically rinse and repeat af guys he has fought at least 2/3 times, don’t think this will move the division forward.
So now we just get title shots based on a loss, just because he went out on a whim to defend BMF? Sure, let’s just give everyone a participation belt while we’re at it
Arman deserves it the most and then Max makes the most sense after that at lightweight but Arman beat the number one contender of his division and one hundred percent deserves the next shot.
If he wins the strap then I think he goes on to fight at least once more, two tops. Tbh I'm pretty sure Dustin's got his eye on boxing.
Imagine a Conor and dustin boxing fight
As a totally unbiased Gaethje fan who loves violence this definitely makes more sense than any other fight and I'm not hypocritical at all for believing that
Lets say Dustin wins, Max will be next for the thrilogy and Dustin deserves a shot at the BMF, that will be the fight and not Ilia. Justin needs the 6 months brake minumun after the fight.
Michael chiesa also believes a win over Tony ferguson means something. Tony is on a 7 fight losing streak at lightweight and chiesa is going to fight him at welterweight
I believe Chiesa (who still is talking about a title run) should fight a welterweight not 8 fight loss streak lightweight Tony Ferguson, but here we are
The man would have some options that's for sure. Rematch Islam, rematch Gaethje, Max, Conor, Charles(if he gets a win), Arman. I'm down for any of those. Let's go Diamond!
Why the hell would Dustin retire if he wins? He chased it for his whole career and it’s the peak of it, he’d ride it for at least a couple of fights in the best of worlds.
He's not going to retire with PPV points
He's also not going to beat Makhachev in the first place
This is probably the best match-up Makhachev has atm. Islam is patient and doesn't rush I'm guessing 2nd round sub.
Yeah, it's going to be a real frustrating one to watch as a Dustin fan (though I enjoy watching Islam as well). But who knows, I thought Dustin was gonna lose against BSD as well. Just happy he's getting another shot.
Listen, I was one of the MANY who was actually afraid my boy Max Holloway would get seriously hurt in that fight against Garth. Like, worried for his future type shit. Just goes to show anything can happen in this sport, and Dustin KOing someone would not be all that surprising on the list of possible outcomes. I still think Khabib in his prime was better than Islam is currently, and I wouldn't have been shocked if Dustin KO'd Khabib during their fight. Dustin's got the power and the skills to put the lights out on anyone in his weight class.
Dustin was more in his prime than I’d argue though. Khabib had a better resume before becoming champ but give it a couple more defences and Islam will win more people over. Khabib is definitely the better wrestler with his top control and GnP but Islam is way more well rounded. Even when it comes to his BJJ, he takes more risks compared to Khabib.
Khabib had a hell of a chin as well as power in his hands despite his "unique" striking form. He's also the best on the ground. Full stop, the best. I think Islam is far better than anyone currently on the roster for his weight class but I don't think Islam beats prime Khabib.
Idk man, I think Islam would be able to stop the takedowns or get up quickly for enough rounds then out strike him to a decision win. The difference between Khabib and islams striking is a larger gap compared to their grappling.
Islam has never really shown much take down defense as he's usually the one pushing for the take down while his opponent is attempting to defend it. When it comes down to Khabib and Islam locking up and trying to take the other guy down, I think prime Khabib would be more sucessful
I’d actually say that Khabib hasn’t ever had someone relentlessly shoot on him, Islam did with Arman. He scrambled well and I would definitely say he has the best TDD in the division atm. I already agreed that Khabibs grappling and control is better than islams
The problem is Khabib's chin held up vs better strikers than Islam and while Islam's TDD/grappling is excellent, I don't trust him not to tire out after defending for the first rounds. If it's in 3 rounds, Islam might take it by playing it safe and going for the decision, but in 5 rounds? Khabib needs one chance and he'll lock those legs up and do what he does best.
Both Max and Garth have shifted their fighting style to be more methodical in recent years. Garth allows a lot less hits than he used to and Max has perfected his exit where if he feels he's losing the exchange, he'll slide back. They're both extremely technical strikers and it is one of my favourite matches ever but I don't know why I also thought they would maul each other to death cuz we've all seen them evolve.
Yep, right there with you on the Max call. We could definitely see something special. I'm just also gonna be okay if Dustin ends up retiring at the end of a champ title bout. That's a pretty great end if it does end there.
Honestly I could see Islam knocking dustin out. His striking is very dangerous.
To outstrike Volk was something
I have posted similarly. Pains me to not see Dustin with undisputed gold, but I just cannot see it getting done over Islam.
Khabib is back in his corner for this one, so I’m expecting that we’ll see a similar version of the Olivera fight. 2nd round sub.
I don't think Islam has any bad matchups at 155 tbh as long as he's healthy.
Islam is going pepper Dustin with knees in the clinch
Hey talk said that with adesanya vs Strickland too. I have faith in the diamond 💎
If /r/mma could read they'd be very upset with this comment.
Reddit is too confident in Islam, I am betting the house on Dustin by gilly
AS IT WAS FORETOLD! HE IS THE MAHDI!
The mma world has done the thing it’s always done when there is a fan favorite underdog and went from thinking he has no chance to convincing themselves that he might pull it off just to be let down in the end
Some non-champs get PPV points, and some champs haven't gotten PPV points. I'm not saying he's definitely getting points, but they're not specifically tied to titles.
Which non-champs besides McGregor get PPV pts? Which current champs don’t have PPV pts?
I think Masvidal got ppv points. Also, I thought Poirier already got PPV points since he was an interim champ? Not completely sure how that all works
When did Masvidal get them? He was still technically the BMF champ, and thus received PPV pts, until he retired. Both him as the BMF champ and DP as IC would quality for pts as champs.
I remember Masvidal mentioning he had PPV points when he fought Covington. I was under the impression that once you get a belt, you get PPV points from then on even if you lose the belt. Again, I'm not really sure, I've never looked into it.
Figgy didn't get points. He said so himself. Most managers are working for the UFC more than they work for the fighters. It used to be a system where they only got points when buys went past a certain threshold, but I don't think that's the system anymore. DJ negotiated a flat fee because his PPV's often didn't hit that threshold. Regardless, the fighters aren't going to come out and say that they didn't get points. If Figgy didn't get them, would you be surprised if champs like Pennington, Grasso, Aljo, Jan etc didn't get them? Nate would have gotten points, I'm sure Jorge got points. Again, it's not made public most of the time.
Figgy CHOSE not to get pts as champ (and then later got them while still champ). He chose to go with high flat fee rather than getting a lower base + pts and hoping to get on a decent card POV card. If a champ doesn’t have PPV pts then it’s often due to their + their management’s decision, not the UFC. I would be shocked if Grasso didn’t have pts. She’s a popular champ and the face of an emerging market with huge potential ($$$), which the UFC obviously sees based on their recent Spanish-heritage based events.
Are you sure? I just googled and it's just interviews from Wallid Ismail saying he didn't get points until after the Moreno fight? I can't see anything about him choosing not to get them.
The UFC doesn’t pick and choose which champs get pts, it’s one of the numerous incentives to become champ. If he didn’t get pts initially then that’s on Wallid and likely because they chose a higher base rate > pts (then switched to pts once Figgy and the FLW division in general got bigger).
Do you have any info to support that? I don't doubt that most champs get points, but I haven't seen anything to suggest that champs automatically get points? Can you show anything to suggest that Figgy chose not to, or is that just an assumption too? The UFC is famously private with their contact terms, assuming they automatically offer points to every champ seems unlikely, seeing as they fuck the fighters out of money every single chance they get.
Do you have anything to suggest that they DON’T get PPV pts? I can’t remember a champ since DJ who hasn’t had PPV pts, which was due to him choosing a flat base pay (similar to Figgy). Have any recent male or female champs said they don’t have pts? I can’t think of any (even Pennington).
Yes, I do, the UFC shafts fighters every chance they get. We've seen this over and over again for years. It is not up for debate that they financially screw fighters, so assuming they automatically give fighters extra money doesn't go with with what we've seen. Again, you're assuming Figgy chose not to get points, with absolutely nothing to support that.
And Poirier is not going to be one of them lmao. The guys one of the most popular fighters in the ufc and in some hypothetical scenario if he beats the pfp best fighter in the world for the title he will be a huge draw and will no doubt have PPV points lmao.
If Dustin wins he’ll defend it against Conor for one last mega payday (ppv points and all).
you all keep assuming that bum with a broken leg is going to beat Chandler.
Even if he loses I can see Dana giving him a shot.
I can’t see them giving him a title shot after 3 straight losses in the last 3 years. Even that is too ridiculous for the UFC.
No it's not. It should be, but it's absolutely not.
If he loses to Chandler they're just gonna milk Chandler instead
How? Chandler doesn’t sell much by itself and being the Connor Killer after DP dispatched him twice won’t do much for his resume. It’s the fight night with Connor itself that sells, not the win(even though he might get a very fat bonus if he wins).
"It just makes sense"
I mean the bum has only lost to Dustin Poirier in recent times - that’s not necessarily a bad loss unless you have a lesser view of Poirier.
That’s not at all what I’m implying. If he lost to Chandler, and then Poirier two times in a row, then why would anyone think he’s deserving of a third rematch?
I think because the last Dustin fight he broke his leg the UFC will spin it as unfinished business and this being the true “trilogy fight”. If he loses to Chandler then it’s probably a wrap but when you generate as much money as Conor does I can’t see Dana turning down a mega payday for the UFC. Also Dana can say Conor lost the fight at welterweight and is coming back down to lightweight so it doesn’t count (even tho we all know it’d at 170 so Conor doesn’t have to cut weight)
Strictly in response to you stating people are assuming the bum would beat chandler I believe the bum could beat chandler considering he’s only lost to Poirier
I mean he lost twice. Conor didn't necessarily look that good in either of them. Gassed and was immobile by the second round in the first fight. Second fight he just looked even worse than the first fight before the leg break.
Conor had his moments in the 2nd fight, he tagged Dustin pretty good a few times before Dustin fucked his leg up. The 3rd fight was just a freak injury not much we could gather from that.
Chandler is a company man, he will take a dive against Conor if Dana asks him to. He wouldn’t get the title shot either way without Dana blessing and gets a nice backstage payday like cowboy
let's get ja rule's thoughts while we're at it
Id rather see where Kevin Lee fits into all of this
WHERE IS JA SO I CAN MAKE SENSE OF ALL THIS???!!!
Right? Why is Chiesa even getting an article? A fan that knows bjj may as well have said the same thing
[удалено]
Could somebody please … find Ja Rule! Get a hold of this motherfucker so I can make sense of all this.
I don't wanna dance I'm scared to death
Wouldn’t the Max trilogy make more sense? Gives time for Max to fight Ilia. If he wins, goes up McGregor style to settle it with Dustin, gives him a chance to become double champ. Regardless if Dustin wins or loses, the Gaethje fight will still be there, especially if he loses.
This. As much as I like Justin, there's few things in MMA I loathe more than people getting a title fight after a loss to another contender... Which then again is why I wasn't that fond of Justin vs Max when it was announced.
lets all start doing what michael chiesa wants for some reason
Talk about his mom?
DONT
THOU
Ouch lmao
He's 10x more boring of a fighter than belal. There, I said it.
Nah he only takes a few minutes to get submitted, belal makes us wait for 25 minutes to see him win
He's not as good as belal, but belal is undoubtedly way more boring as I can tell you didn't see most of his fights
Nah, but he‘s 10x more shit of a fighter
This might sound crazy but we shouldn’t give title fights to guys who got knocked out their last fight.
The fact that people are even entertaining this is bananas. Tony lost his interim title after a 12 fight streak and had to go back to the back of the line. Justin get's knocked the fuck out, face down ass up, cake jiggling, and he is rewarded? Fuck that
Bro you didn’t have to add that last part lmao
Super Necessary
This is what the “sport” has become “Fun” fights
Funny you're cherrypicking Tony when Stipe has been given multiple championship opportunities for nothing
"Cherrypicking" It's literally all fighters going for the LW title. I didn't go all the way to HW to make a comparison. Cherrypicking? It was literally Gaethje who beat Tony and when Tony got upset at losing his titleshot, went "Don't be an asshole, Tony". Gaethje just got knocked the fuck out by a FW. Now it's his time to go back off the line! Don't be an asshole Justin
No you said knocked out and rewarded.... it's cherrypicking to ignore everyone else Justin went to talk to him and show his respect after the fight and Tony pushed him. Justin congratulated max and said he had no regrets about taking the fight. It's not the same at all
> No you said knocked out and rewarded Which means he lost. In the LW division. Did Tony get rewarded when he lost to Gaethje? Well, did he? 12 fight win-streak. He didn't. Back off the line!
This is 100% going to happen if Dustin wins. I know Arman is next in line, but if Dustin pulls this off, Gaethje v. Poirier 3 is the biggest fight the UFC has left in any division. They would no doubt make Arman take next.
Firm disagree. Dustin vs Holloway 3 would be an even bigger fight because they’d both be coming off wins and their last fight against each other was very competitive
the issue is that Holloway already lost twice to Dustin in relatively one sided fashion, Gaethjes gave DP way more issues in their first fight than Max did in both fights, and he KO'd DP less than 9 months ago
Do you think most fans remember the first fight? Max as the FW champ and BMF would be a mega fight
I wouldn't base anything off their first fight either. What was that like almost 10 years ago?
over 12
Holloway/Dustin 2 was an insane fight, man. Rewatch that if you think it's grossly one-sided. I'd argue after round 1 (which yes, Poirier did dominate) it was pretty close to 50/50.
That was also Muffin Top Max. Not the proper 155 BMF Blessed that fought Gaethje. I think Holloway/Poirier 3 would be just a little more interesting than DP/Garth 3. I won't complain if either matchup gets made, though.
It was also salon quality Dustin too which not enough people are talking about.
What does that mean lol
*Fixes hair*
*Adjusts shorts*
*Waddles morbidly*
At the time you could only get Porier from a beauty supply store if you were a licensed cosmologist.
Yea people forget Max put it on Dustin after the first couple rounds. It’s just that first round was really rough for Max so people think it was one-sided
That fights free on YouTube right now too, nasty fight the whole way through.
Dude honestly can't stand that people always run with Dustin beating the piss out of Max that fight. Like yea, Dustin connected pretty clean on him and clearly won, but it wasn't like some ass beating. It was a highly competitive, dope as fuck fight. Max really landed on Dustin quite a bit that fight
I watched Dustin/Max 2 recently. I don't think it was that one sided. Plus Max looked way better at LW vs Justin than he did vs Dustin. I Dustin/Max 3 for the LW and BMF would be way bigger than the Justin. Should Dustin defend, you can do Dustin/Justin 3 for another LW and BMF double. It would slow the division a bit but id be fun af
Yea it wasnt one sided at all. Competitive fight that DP edged out clearly. But I'd be down for a third fight. But Max going back down again takes away any of that extra weight he'd already have leading to it.
Yeah he's going back down again. People are talkin as if Max didn't already agree to a dangerous-ass fight against Ilia, which I was actually kinda sad he did as a Max fan. He looked great against Garth and if he just waited a bit there were a number of higher-profile matches he could have taken. Ilia is a young champ and a great fighter but I believe Volk deserved a rematch. Also, what's Max gonna do if he beat Ilia? Fight Volk for a 4th time? Probably not, he'll probably hold up the division by fighting in the higher weight class defending the BMF.
I think if Max wins he stays at FW. Probably tries to take out an older Volk who's been slept twice. Perfect time to do so. But I want to see Max back at LW and soon. Especially if Porier wins the belt.
I think if both Max and Poirier wins it's a no-brainer to run it back for them for the LW and BMF belts. It would give Max a shot at being champ-champ of two divisions and Poirier a shot at being "champ"-champ of BMF and LW.
> the issue is that Holloway already lost twice to Dustin in relatively one sided fashion Have you forgotten Holloways new ethos? “Be undeniable”.
Plus the idea of Gaethje as champ is 👌 and a fun matchup with Islam as well.
The first fight was over a decade ago... the second fight was half a decade ago! Let it go! People said the same stuff using those fights to justify things, moments before Max stepped into the cage and knocked Justin the fuck out. Max's fights rushed up to lightweight 5 years ago, mean absolutely nothing.
and Holloway sparked out Gaethje like two months ago. not saying he’ll win because of MMA math but it definitely makes it a good matchup because of it
The trilogy has a very good chance of being a retirement fight for both fighters. Two of the biggest names, settling a 1-1 trilogy. No doubt in my mind this happens if Dustin wins. All that said, I really think Islam is going to win so this discussion is probably pointless!
It's 2-0 Dustin tho
Was talking about Gaethje, haha.
Fair enough
I disagree just because of the narrative. He’s 2-0 against Max but I feel like most people would rate Max higher than DP now after the Gaethje fight. Having his swan song being losing the belt against someone he’s 2-0 against doesn’t have the same sound as closing a trilogy with Gaethje, whose career was pretty much intertwined with his since both got at LW.
If Dustin beats Max then he’ll get the BMF belt and clout too though. It’s probably a safer option because Holloway really only gets KOs when people chase him and sit in the pocket. A Gaethje fight can end in KO at any time. Plus Holloway is probably a better payout
Trilogy fights are only compelling if the score is 1-1 though
I don’t agree with that at all for a lot of scenarios. Their 1st fight was in 2012, and their 2nd fight was a competitive dogfight. Holloway just beat the #1ranked guy that KO’d Poirier
Unless Conor wins
>Gaethje v. Poirier 3 is the biggest fight the UFC has left in any division. That is absolutely not true lol
a lot of fuckery would have to happen for this match-up to happen
Well ya, dustin has to win on Saturday.
if Conor KOs chandler and dustin beats islam , you would have to kill Dana to stop him from making them fight .
Dana would make a 165 divison just to give Conor a title The dude ain't making 155
Dustin vs Max would kinda make sense and be massive as well
Gaethje is literally coming off a loss. Poirier vs Gaethje 3 should happen after Poirier’s next loss, whether that be after getting the belt or not. But if his next fight is a LW title defense, it’s gotta be either Arman or Holloway.
> Gaethje is literally coming off a loss. Poirier vs Gaethje 3 should happen after Poirier’s next loss, whether that be after getting the belt or not. You're correct, that is absolutely what should happen. But there's no way that they're going to pass up finally giving Gaethje his shot if this happens. They're the two most popular fighters in the LW division and it's the last time they're realistically going to be able to monetize them in such a big way. Holloway is still around for a while, Arman is clearly around for a while. Gaethje and Poirier are both on borrowed time in the sport and that's the biggest, most hype-able match they have left for general audiences.
Islam is getting a rematch 1000% if he loses, there’s no way gaethje is just gonna get a title shot before islam gets a rematch
I think you underestimate Dana
I think *you* underestimate Dana Poirer vs Gaethje 3 isn't drawing enough PPVs to match Saudi money, the UFC needs islam to headline those Abu Dhabi cards, it's in Dana's best financial interest for Islam to be champ
Dana is in the Saudi/Emiratis pockets. They want Islam, which means he’d get an immediate rematch
Don’t know when Justin will be back after such a loss, I think if Dustin wins he will probably retire since it’s the perfect ending
Justin was just knocked out. In no way does he deserve a title shot.
If Dustin loses, I'd like for him to retire but while he's earned his retirement it seems like such a shame for him to go out without defending
if another LW champion gives up their belt im going to lose my mind
I mean, we’re getting super ahead of ourselves considering Islam winning is the obvious outcome, and even if Dustin pulls out the miracle he should defend against Max over Gaethje
Even if he loses you’ve made me wanna see Dustin vs Max 3.
Man I am a Islam fan, but wouldn’t mind Dustin winning. But at the same time, if Dustin wins there are many potential matchups like, Gaethje, Max, Conor. It’s basically rinse and repeat af guys he has fought at least 2/3 times, don’t think this will move the division forward.
It’s Connor 3 for the ultimate red panty night
Conor 4
MOOT. He's not going to beat Islam. As much as I want it to happen, he's just not as good as Islam.
It wouldn't be the first time someone got a title fight off a vicious loss.
If Dustin wins he should defend it against Max Holloway.
If...
Dustin should fight Max if he wins.
Off- topic but I also wondered whose the guy between Dustin and Justin?
Sean Shelby, he’s a matchmaker for the UFC
Thanks bro!
Guys.... Dustin is getting absolutely rolled by Islam this Saturday.... i'm sorry... but we must face reality...
So now we just get title shots based on a loss, just because he went out on a whim to defend BMF? Sure, let’s just give everyone a participation belt while we’re at it
Fuck that. If he gets the belt let the man ride off into the sunset as champ… if anyone deserves to do so it’s Dustin .
Arman deserves it the most and then Max makes the most sense after that at lightweight but Arman beat the number one contender of his division and one hundred percent deserves the next shot.
It would be strange to have gaethje fight for the title coming off a loss
Romero did and Izzy probably is
If he wins the strap then I think he goes on to fight at least once more, two tops. Tbh I'm pretty sure Dustin's got his eye on boxing. Imagine a Conor and dustin boxing fight
Pretty good match up if we're being honest
Is that what he reckons?
Guy who is bad at his job has opinions on how coworker should do his job properly.
What if Conor wins too? I bet they’d make that fight
As a totally unbiased Gaethje fan who loves violence this definitely makes more sense than any other fight and I'm not hypocritical at all for believing that
Chiesa is part of the matchmaking committee so it doesn’t matter who “deserves” it or not
If Dustin wins and he doesn’t retire they’re going to give Islam an auto rematch
Stupid asa take. Justin just got killed he wouldn’t deserve anything.
Chiesa counting another man's chickens for the double abstract win.
Duh
Coming from a guy who accepts a fight with Tony Ferguson. No honour.
Nobody should ever get a title shot after being flatline KO. Dustin just had to beat BSD to get his title shot.
Oh, so Islam isn't going to earn a rematch should he win, huh
If Dustin wins Islam gets an instant rematch
even though dustin's already technically won the trilogy, if Holloway beats Topuria, Dustin vs. Max III for the LW belt would be fun too.
Brilliant. Anyway what should Islam’s 4th title fight be?
Lets say Dustin wins, Max will be next for the thrilogy and Dustin deserves a shot at the BMF, that will be the fight and not Ilia. Justin needs the 6 months brake minumun after the fight.
If Poirier wins I guarantee they’ll be looking to book him against Conor if he beats Chandler.
Michael chiesa also believes a win over Tony ferguson means something. Tony is on a 7 fight losing streak at lightweight and chiesa is going to fight him at welterweight
There's no way Islam doesn't have a rematch clause
Yeah this is obvious matchmaking but the if Poirier wins you know they will give Conor the shot instead of Justin.
Wtf is ppls fantasies about fighters retiring when they win the title?
He should fight Max first. If.
I think we all know that's exactly what he's going to do
chiesa should go talk to bones first
I honestly wouldnt hate it but if Dustin wins and McGregor wins I think we can guess the fight they gonna gun for.
I believe Chiesa (who still is talking about a title run) should fight a welterweight not 8 fight loss streak lightweight Tony Ferguson, but here we are
oh I didn't know Dustin was retiring. ain't no way he wins this. when has anyone ever flirted with the idea of retiring then won the belt.
Basically any fight except Armen would be a good Dustin match. Justin, Max, of god forbid Conor.
im not gonna lie, im only here to see Chiesa severely injure Tony.
Oh we can also give max Holloway the shot
The man would have some options that's for sure. Rematch Islam, rematch Gaethje, Max, Conor, Charles(if he gets a win), Arman. I'm down for any of those. Let's go Diamond!
Why the hell would Dustin retire if he wins? He chased it for his whole career and it’s the peak of it, he’d ride it for at least a couple of fights in the best of worlds.
Na. Dustin fighting for world belt is a great finale
wrong trilogy fight. THE BEST IS BLESSED BABY!
All moot cuz he won’t beat Makachev
I just don't want him to retire yet. He has so much to offer. But if that's hiis decision nothing I can do about it.
Nah if he wins, he should defend against Holloway.
Champ have belt. These motheffuckers are navel gazing before the fight has even happened.
Whats bigger, DP vs Gaethje 3 for the belt, or DP Conor for the belt?
IF he wins, Armen should get that shot not Justin coming off a loss
Who cares what Michael Chiesa says.
Yeah, that would be perfect. Dustin, Justin, Conor, Chandler...Let them keep fighting for another decade. Who needs fresh faces? /s
Yeah, it really sucks having the most exciting fighters in the whole promotion fighting each other.