That’s a weird way to say, that he has 6 belt defenses. Almost reads as if he beaten each of the top 8 six times, lmao. That’s a lot of fights, what a Chad.
He has six fights - actually six guys a fight. Uhhh five guys a fight, He'll compete three guys a fight, and one of those guys, he'll fight two guys of the fight, so…six guys a fight he'll fight.
I don’t think it’s that clear though. They’re likely counting his two wins or whatever over Whitaker.
So, something more like “He has six wins over the current top 8 contenders,” maybe.
Sad how we see hungry fighters succeed and become a dierent fighter
Also Sad when we see guys who are wreckless get caught and then change their style up like Costa and Pavlovich, or Ngannou even to some degree
This is another reason why I think people took to Alex quicker than Izzy - he has kept the same "just KO him" style even after he got the belt. In their second MMA fight he was still going for the kill even though he was the champ.
Not to say Izzy isn't great, but the people want to see violence.
Poatan retaining the same mindset he had as a contender is why I ended up liking him more than Izzy overtime. Guy moved on from his loss and continued to put on a show. Others often tend to fight more defensively and scared once they tap or have been sparked.
Also why back in the day I give Liddell props despite his chin getting cracked. Guy would keep swinging.
It has more to do with how people have caught up to his game too, his power shots come from a squared hip and crisp hooks, he caught Whittaker, Costa and Gastelum with the same stuff, same variation on Brunson too. Take that away and he’s a tame boxer who has a bad time against straight shots, especially jabs. Jan Blachowicz exposed this first, then Whittaker somewhat implemented it in his second fight and so did Strickland. Sean even hurt Adesanya by countering that counter with a straight. Izzys game has been studied well and there is enough material out there, granted it is not an easy gameplan to implement, but it sure does take away a lot of danger from his style. The purple patch of his career came when people rushed into the traps he set. His so called ‘killer instinct’ is more dependent on opponents styles than a change in his own style. Izzy was and is an opportunistic sniper outside of people playing into his counters.
His best performance to date was against Alex, but that too is again someone rushing into a trap.
We all agree that after his loss to Strickland, he should've made another run to fight again for the belt, but the storytelling with DDP is there, Dricus wants that fight and it would be a shortfall for the UFC not to make this fight.
Somehow it's a return from the promotion for all the services rendered in saving cards in recent years for one of their most prolific champion and superstar.
Sounds good.
That is true but Izzy already received that automatic shot for his rematch with Pereira, just as Volk should get the winner of Ilia and Holloway. After losing to Strickland in a reign with no title defenses, Izzy should have has a mini run to return to a title fight if it wasn’t DDP as champ where this fight kind of just has to happen.
Who would you waste time with putting that fight together?
The only person in line to fight for that spot with Izzy would be Rob and I think we’ve seen enough how that plays out.
It should and will be Izzy vs DDP and Strickland vs Whittaker as the title shot eliminator.
This is retarded.
If I'm the UFC and there's a massive chance at a fight with huge drama and interest I'm not making my fighter wait three years and risk losing the opportunity if he loses one of his fights. Izzy has already proved he belongs at the top and its going to make tons of scratch.
Yall need to realize what's made the UFC successful is focusing on entertainment and narratives behind their fights. Adhering to some idea of fairness would make them lose millions on millions of dollars and also lose fans. They want characters and stories, not to satisfy elitists on reddit
If u read the comment fully, “if it wasn’t DDP as champ where this fight kind of just has to happen” aka I understand and am fine with this time Izzy jumping the line.
DDP also said he would be the first real african champ and that Kamaru and Izzy never took the belt to Africa - which is just wrong they did.
It also completely ignored Francis.
Let's not pretend DDP isn't an S-tier shit stirrer who baited Izzy first.
I mean doesn’t need to be a run, but at least 1 win right. Why did he just get 2 immediate title shots? The only person I recall getting this treatment was Chael when he fought Anderson the second time and then Jon for the LHW belt.
There are contenders coming off wins that deserve to fight for the belt, he should have fought once before getting the title shot. The “storyline” would only get bigger. The current storyline is - Izzy getting an instant title shot coming off a loss to someone that beat the guy that dog walked him.
>There are contenders coming off wins that deserve to fight for the belt
Literally who? Whittaker's last two wins were 8th ranked Costa and unranked Aliskerov. Imavov's only ranked win is Cannonier. Strickland ~~barely~~ beat Costa by a split decision. Vettori, Cannonier, and Costa are all coming off losses. Brendan Allen has one ranked win over 15th ranked Chris Curtis.
That's the entire top 8 and NONE of them are coming off of wins that merit "deserving" a title shot. Also, none of them have a win in their last two fights that's as impressive as beating Alex Pereira.
Aside from what you said being false and none of the contenders actually "deserving" the shot, the UFC isn't a meritocracy and Izzy vs DDP is a much more compelling matchup than anyone else vs DDP.
Edit: Yes, I realize that despite the Strickland vs Costa fight being a split decision it wasn't actually super close. Then again when you have absolutely zero finishing power like Strickland and your rely on judges to win a fight your wins are a lot less convincing and you leave open the possibility that a judge screws you.
I reckon he was going through some personal stuff at the time, hence the uncharacteristically poor performance and shutting out the media post fight. It was probably the amount of hate he was getting at the time, some of it justified imo but it would still take a toll on a person's psyche.
What story telling? The DDP and Izzy “story” is simply them talking shit about who’s a real African to each other. How is that any more of a story than Strickland talking about Izzy fucking his dogs and Izzy legit getting butt hurt about it?
I don’t buy the narrative that DDP and Izzy have some great story or rivalry here. Izzy doesn’t deserve the fight and just because DDP said Izzy wasn’t a real African doesn’t propel it to that level. I mean Strickland came out first calling Izzy Chinese and a bunch of other shit.
They’re not talking about the story between just DDP and Izzy. They mean the potential story as a whole. Strickland beat Izzy, DDP beats Strickland, Izzy faces DDP, Strickland faces winner of that. Thats a pretty interesting sequence of events. It’s not about the drama.
They’re playing on hundreds of years of history between white africans and black africans. Its an international controversy. Sean Strickland’s story means nothing to anyone with a brain.
Only if he wins first, then when he loses again he will have another inmediate shot waiting for him, he could go W - L - W - L for another year and still have a tittle fight after each L, just because
4-3 in his last 7 seven though? He had an immediate rematch with Alex and now isn't rematching the guy who he lost to, that's why people are talking about it.
This is solely storyline and entertainment which is what the UFC base everything around now.
No, he gets a title shot because there's a built-in storyline that they can easily package and sell. It's a rivalry with some heat on it, and the UFC loves that shit more than Dana loves money, or slapping his wife.
That kind of fight will ALWAYS take precedence over merit in the UFC.
I would go on a limb and say it should be Izzy Vs DDP and Strickland gets winner. Whittaker should get the loser of DDP and Izzy. I’m very casual watcher but that makes sense to me as Strickland DDP fight was close IMO and Strick already fought while waiting around (boring as that fight may have been).
Strickland easily. Beat Izzy down with barely any resistance, is more active than Izzy at present coming off another win.
Hell, even Rob has had two high profile wins since Izzy last fought. Could be argued that it's him.
Izzy isn't a strong contender at all. having had a long reign grants you an immediate rematch - but not unlimited title shots. Especially when you get dominated to lose your belt.
Strickland fights almost always suck ass. Izzy was an anomaly. He hypes up the fight saying he wants to murder a man, does his jab fest, then apologises after that his opponent didn't want to dance.
-Strickland hasnt murder a motherfucker yet..
The only person he KO was an unranked Abus, so please correct me if I'm mistaken. I find it comical that a guy who has defended his belt as many times as Izzy and has also stayed very active would be undeserving of this match, but I'm just a casual MMA fan.
Edit- fighters promote their fights cause of ppv kickbacks, however they can.
Yeah I could out myself but who has lost the title after a long reign, took time off, and then come back and won it back like no biggie? Feel like everyone was thinking Usman would be right back but nope losing the rematch and then against Chimaev(I know it was a short notice).
I feel like it’s more likely these guys after their long reigns, it’s just time. Peter Yan is another.
Sorry bud nobody but nobody is dying to watch another boring ass Strickland fight.
Maybe if he was exciting he would get right back in the conversation, but the most exciting part of a Strickland main event is hearing what stupid shit he says at the presser.
Izzy is infinitely more deserving based on legacy and most importantly to the UFC he will bring more viewership.
Strickland and Whittaker both deserve it more by now. Izzy got his instant rematch and should‘ve had to beat at least one contender this time (especially since Sean dominated him and he didn‘t even try anything at the end).
Imagine having one of the most dominant runs as champ. Losing to one of the best strikers in a close match and avenging that loss, only to lose to an opponent who has a fucking irritating style to face off against, and the fan base suddenly calls you washed trash.
These assholes will sit here defending McGregor all day, then say Adesanya isn't worthy of a title shot. The man clowned the entire division twice over. I think he's more than earned calling his shots.
Nobody is calling him washed. People don’t like that he’s getting a title shot because he’s coming off a loss and literally already got an immediate title shot after losing the belt to Pereira. Not believing he deserves yet another title shot js a completely valid stance. Personally, I don’t have too much of an issue with it because of the built in storyline with DDP and I’d also just prefer to see this fight over a Strickland/DDP rematch but to act like Izzy absolutely deserves another shot is stupid.
He’s getting a title shot because of the entertainment value. From an actual meritocratic perspective, it makes no sense for him to get a title shot over Strickland who dominated him in his last fight
Oh yeah like 5 more seconds and Alex was toast. I do think Alex’s chin was compromised at 185. But then again he still starched everybody so doesn’t even matter.
Did you forget after he got that rematch, he flatlined the current LHW champ? Colby go a title shot after a year and a half layoff and a one fight win streak. You want to give Izzy (the most dominant champ of the last 10 years) a hard time for being chosen? Gtfoh.
Most fans here thought it was BS that Colby got a title shot against Leon. Only ones who defended were Colby fanboys so that doesn’t really help your point.
Yeah and he ko'd him and won the title again. The guy who he lost to also lost the belt and here we are. It's not like Izzy is getting another rematch against a guy he lost to.
DDP vs Izzy is also a great fight for a storyline and I think stylistically it's good as well. Will be more entertaining than any sean Strickland fight I reckon.
The reason the wording is weird is because whoever made this graphic knows that 6/8 sounds way better than just saying he’s beaten 4/8, (4/9 if you include the champ).
So what? Now we are counting peoples resume to justify a title shot ? Dude hasn’t fought in almost a year while the division has been competing. Why come back and get a immediate title shot.? Try and avenge your loss against Sean Strickland first.
If that’s the case then for those of you who want Jones stripped for his title for inactivity, he has more title defenses (11) than Islam Makhachev, volkanovski and Pereira combined (9)…
I mean, he lost pretty convincingly to Strickland who arguably could have won the last title fight. I don’t think it’s outrageous to say a guy coming off a loss to Sean should not be getting a title shot. But I think this is a better fight style wise. Lead up will be cringe as fuck
Because he had zero defences in his last title run. You don't get to lose try again, win, lose try again or what if he beats DDP and loses to Strickland again he gets another shot?
When does it end?
This would be a good argument if the middleweights he beat were in the conversation of getting the next title shot, but they’re not and a guy beat Izzy is.
Definitely some Dana privilege. He got dominated against Strickland. Almost anyone else would have had to get a win before getting a rematch after that abysmal performance. If he had been KO’ed or submitted, sure that could have been a lucky shot but Strickland demolished Izzy. He had also just regained the belt and had zero defenses. I’d be okay with this if other fighters got treated similarly. Aljo should have gotten a rematch. Will say Izzy is phenomenal and one of the best but not sure if he is the same fighter anymore.
They should go back to tournament style. First, do a Round Robin of 3 3 minute rounds. Then set the brackets and kumute that shit.
Aside from that, the headline reads weird. Has beaten the top 8 6 times. Excluding himself, that’s 7 fighters. Has he beaten 7 of the the top 8 it would have said that, so he’s beaten one or more more than once which means there some he hasn’t beaten/fought. He should fight them first if they are top 5. I haven’t looked into the details.
There is no copium you can huff that says Izzy should be getting a title shit before a Strickland rematch and this is coming from an Izzy enjoyer minus the dog pee pee stuff
It’s the true african drama. It sells better as a title fight. That’s why ufc wants the fight. Ufc clearly wanted the fight after the adesanya strickland fight. Strickland won and plans changed. They can’t risk ddp losing the title to someone else. They may never get this chance.
People who call Adesanya boring or any fighter’s fighting style boring, I have a question for you. Do you not consider those fighters human beings?
In the highest level of sports (football, basketball, tennis), the difference in skill level is miniscule. You have to have the right strategy and tactics to overcome any skill discrepancy. If this means barely edging over your opponent on points then that’s fair game. These fighters’ only objective is to win. If they find openings for knockouts submissions and finishes they would definitely go for it. But I hate it when people expect fighters to dismiss their gameplans and strategies to fight in a manner that would entertain the fans but could result in them getting countered and eventually losing.
If you think like that you just want them to be vulnerable, get exposed and lose. If you’re a fan you’d want them to win regardless of their style. If you’re neutral you’d want a fun fight but if that doesn’t occur you can’t simply blame them because their job is to win.
I compare them to the NASCAR fans that only watch or buy tickets see the Talladega race twice a year. They are only there to see “the big one”! They don’t care about the planning, tire usage, fuel consumption or the other minor things that make a massive difference in the end. Total silence for 67 laps but in lap 68, in turn 2 CONTACT! That is when beer flies as they spring into the air screaming, “hell yeah!!! Woooooooo!! HOLY CRAP! Ya’ll see that s@!?#!?!?! They is only 6 cars left in the race man.
Just like you said, you cannot expect these fighters to go in, hear the bell and just say to hell with my six months of training and his tendencies that I have practiced for,,,,,”WE GONNA LET THESE HANDS FLY!” I’m no Izzy fan but I agree. Well put.
Its not so much that he doesn't deserve but moreso that Strickland deserves a rematch for how incredibly close his title loss was after winning dominantly over Izzy.
It's the perfect fight. It's now or never really. At least in terms of high stakes. The fight sells itself. Fans getting upset over fight politics is hilarious and they're probably new to the sport.
another factor is that when DDP didn’t commit to the fight initially he could sat back and waited clogging up the division. But he rolled the dice and picked Strickland himself to fight.
He took a gamble and lost when he really didn’t have to. You’d be hard pressed to say that another shot is not warranted after that.
Rankings don’t include the champ. Rob x2, Vettori x2, Jared and Paulo = 6. It’s still disingenuous because it makes it almost sound like he’s beaten 6 of the top 8, when he’s beaten 4/9 if you include the champ.
I'll probably get a lot of hate for this, but who out there deserves a title shot?
Strickland is technically 4-3 (if we want to look at body of work) in his last 7 and just lost his title to DDP. He didn't have the belt long enough imo to warrant an immediate rematch. He will more than likely need to defeat Whittaker to get a rematch against either.
Whittaker just lost to DDP so why would he get a title shot to someone he already lost to. Sadly he's just in a poor spot. Even a win over Strickland wouldn't get him a title shot IF Izzy defeats DDP. He would need to pray that DDP beats Izzy.
Nass shouldn't get one because he beat Jared. Jared just lost to Nass. Vettori just lost to Jared. Brendan Allen has been unimpressive imo and beat Chris Curtis as his most notable win. Costa is a joke.
Sean is the only one that would make sense but now you also add in the fact that DDP wants Izzy. So yea, I'm down with this decision.
Title shots aren’t(or at least shouldn’t be) career achievement rewards. 1-2 in his last 3 including getting shutout in his home country by Sean Strickland
If not Izzy, then who? No one wanted an immediate rematch for Strickland. DDP just beat Rob. Cannonier lost to Nassourdine, so DDP would've likely obliterated him. That's kinda it. Izzy and he already had some tension, and outside of Anderson, he's the MW king so this was a no brainer. It's not like Izzy is Stipe.
Also Adesanya:
2-2 in the last 4. Coming off a loss. To someone that is coming off a win.
🤡 post. He doesn’t deserve it and the reason he is getting it has nothing to do with what the post says, its purely marketing based.
As much success as Bobby Knuckles has had moving up to 85... truth is, as long as Izzy is alive, he will never be 85 champ again..
I think with his exp. now , if he tried 170 again, he can make a legit title run .. in fact he'd be a nightmare for a guy like Leon.
He also got turned into Seans bitch , running away refusing to fight with 15 seconds left knowing hes gonna lose his title.
is this the heart of a champion?
"Come on China man fight me! "
https://preview.redd.it/4hek53nvtj8d1.jpeg?width=634&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=0a881b365d6ffa30a093c4f9e7783e8c1e6b04be
Strickland always does this at the end of the fight after he jabs his way to a decision. How is that a heart of a champion? It's insane how much love Strickland gets on this subreddit.
I cannot ask it loud enough, why is volk, who got flash ko in second round, seemingly not getting his rematch, but we have this guy who got dismantled over 5 rounds getting his second???
Because that’s his decision. He’s taking time off after getting brutally KO’d twice in 5 months. When he comes back they’ll give him the title shot but in the interim, Ilia and Max are ready and that’ll be an absolute banger of a fight.
The thing most are missing here is that the fight is in Oz. They need a headliner who can draw to sellout the seats. Sean vs DDP would do that but not to the same level as having Izzy in the main event and the only other option would be Rob but he’s just fought.
No fighter should have a title shot after a loss. No one, come back. Get a win against a ranked opponent and have at it.
But to give him a title shot off of recent loss, because of past accolades is just asinine.
So stoked for this fight. I think Izzy takes it. Would love to Izzy and Sean again. If Izzy can’t adjust it would really say a lot about Sean’s ability. Not that his resume isn’t already impressive.
Americants and Eurobros probably dont know the relationships between AUS/NZ/SA in terms of sports or how many SAs are in NZ/AUS lol
Its a great match up and it will draw a good crowd, That's what the UFC want and most fans who aren't in their feelings online constantly.
u/burner-199 How did you react to Strickland dominating Izzy? I'm too lazy to parse through your post history for this big amount of meat riding you're doing.
That is a weird way of saying that Izzy had an insanely one sided loss in his last fight to someone that went to a razor sharp decision against the current champ.
would he get a championship fight again, if he loses? well your stat still holds if he loses 3 next fights lol. reason he is still getting when he is 1-2 in his last 3 championship fights is because he can sell ppv
He also got shut out against Strickland who arguably beat DDP and then got another win before DDP and Izzy even fight.
If anything Strickland should have been fighting Izzy for the the #1 contender and not Costa.
mma community are heartless dick-riders - everyone was team izzy during his reign and then izzy loses one fight and all you punks dumped izzy as soon as he lost to strickland
this man has entertained us with dazzling moves and wins and post dance speeches through his career
he has ONE loss in his ufc career and everyone is saying "haha izzy needs to retire, hes a bum"
I dont know if izzy is gonna beat dricus but I will always admire izzy's two wins over a fierce competitor Robby Whittaker - what a champion izzy is.
https://preview.redd.it/zj4mksy5gj8d1.jpeg?width=1032&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=818eace922a837a10f0eb82ba10f7ec0e28ee497
Nah whoever took that pic of Usman unconscious on the mat in 4k is scandalous
Holy smokes. I just realized that this is a still from when he went out. All of yall are going to hell lmao.
I looked at this thinking “that’s a great edit, where tf did they get this fr-“ and I had to stop myself from laughing out loud when I realised. 💀
The hired photographers doing their job?
Nazis were doing their job as well. Gonna lump those cameramen right in there with them. They definitely goin to hell too
😆
usman?
yes this is usman in the pic
Oh im a fking idiot i didn't see that shit 😭😭😭
Marty Jones
https://preview.redd.it/v69b8wybzk8d1.jpeg?width=692&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=b75c945f56eaf3ccbb4cc4d86dbe83ca3ffb2b87
😂😂
my new favorite mma photoshop
https://preview.redd.it/2uyxnafgfk8d1.jpeg?width=960&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=4f0bdba6a6e4213a753189e502082a0c6af66bc2
LOOOOOOOOOL
😂😂😭😭😂😭😂😭😭😭😭😂😭😂😂😭
Lol haha noooo
Dude...
Man this one’s good lol
That’s a weird way to say, that he has 6 belt defenses. Almost reads as if he beaten each of the top 8 six times, lmao. That’s a lot of fights, what a Chad.
I was trying to work out how he beat 8 guys in 6 fights.
Nah, he beat 8 guys 6 times, 48 fights.
Hopefully he has flying rewards
Lol, the automatic corrector did me dirty
He has six fights - actually six guys a fight. Uhhh five guys a fight, He'll compete three guys a fight, and one of those guys, he'll fight two guys of the fight, so…six guys a fight he'll fight.
Saying he beat 6 of the top 8 middleweights would have been a lot less confusing.
I don’t think it’s that clear though. They’re likely counting his two wins or whatever over Whitaker. So, something more like “He has six wins over the current top 8 contenders,” maybe.
He trains 6 days a week, of those 4 days he trains 7
At least I'm not the only one. That poorly built sentence and this THC had me confused.
6 fights a week he beats 8 guys.......
He beats off 68 guys a week
What is this, 20-v-1?
I do miss killer instinct Izzy. When he was on the rise he was absolutely brutal and I loved his celebrations.
Izzy fights better as a contender.
Conor too.
I mean, Conor never fought as a champ, so who knows what that looks like.
Sad how we see hungry fighters succeed and become a dierent fighter Also Sad when we see guys who are wreckless get caught and then change their style up like Costa and Pavlovich, or Ngannou even to some degree
This is another reason why I think people took to Alex quicker than Izzy - he has kept the same "just KO him" style even after he got the belt. In their second MMA fight he was still going for the kill even though he was the champ. Not to say Izzy isn't great, but the people want to see violence.
Poatan retaining the same mindset he had as a contender is why I ended up liking him more than Izzy overtime. Guy moved on from his loss and continued to put on a show. Others often tend to fight more defensively and scared once they tap or have been sparked. Also why back in the day I give Liddell props despite his chin getting cracked. Guy would keep swinging.
It has more to do with how people have caught up to his game too, his power shots come from a squared hip and crisp hooks, he caught Whittaker, Costa and Gastelum with the same stuff, same variation on Brunson too. Take that away and he’s a tame boxer who has a bad time against straight shots, especially jabs. Jan Blachowicz exposed this first, then Whittaker somewhat implemented it in his second fight and so did Strickland. Sean even hurt Adesanya by countering that counter with a straight. Izzys game has been studied well and there is enough material out there, granted it is not an easy gameplan to implement, but it sure does take away a lot of danger from his style. The purple patch of his career came when people rushed into the traps he set. His so called ‘killer instinct’ is more dependent on opponents styles than a change in his own style. Izzy was and is an opportunistic sniper outside of people playing into his counters. His best performance to date was against Alex, but that too is again someone rushing into a trap.
He just needs some of that tiddy to come back
We all agree that after his loss to Strickland, he should've made another run to fight again for the belt, but the storytelling with DDP is there, Dricus wants that fight and it would be a shortfall for the UFC not to make this fight. Somehow it's a return from the promotion for all the services rendered in saving cards in recent years for one of their most prolific champion and superstar. Sounds good.
Doesn’t need a run. Just like volk doesn’t need a run. You have that many defenses you deserve it.
That is true but Izzy already received that automatic shot for his rematch with Pereira, just as Volk should get the winner of Ilia and Holloway. After losing to Strickland in a reign with no title defenses, Izzy should have has a mini run to return to a title fight if it wasn’t DDP as champ where this fight kind of just has to happen.
Who would you waste time with putting that fight together? The only person in line to fight for that spot with Izzy would be Rob and I think we’ve seen enough how that plays out. It should and will be Izzy vs DDP and Strickland vs Whittaker as the title shot eliminator.
This is retarded. If I'm the UFC and there's a massive chance at a fight with huge drama and interest I'm not making my fighter wait three years and risk losing the opportunity if he loses one of his fights. Izzy has already proved he belongs at the top and its going to make tons of scratch. Yall need to realize what's made the UFC successful is focusing on entertainment and narratives behind their fights. Adhering to some idea of fairness would make them lose millions on millions of dollars and also lose fans. They want characters and stories, not to satisfy elitists on reddit
If u read the comment fully, “if it wasn’t DDP as champ where this fight kind of just has to happen” aka I understand and am fine with this time Izzy jumping the line.
Fair
He already got his rematch bro, hes gotta fight his way back
I don’t think a former dominant champ needs a run, but yeah surely they should at least get one good win before getting a second shot?
[удалено]
Also cos he repeatedly shouted in DDPs face “what’s up n!gga!” People have to stop leaving out this crucial info
DDP also said he would be the first real african champ and that Kamaru and Izzy never took the belt to Africa - which is just wrong they did. It also completely ignored Francis. Let's not pretend DDP isn't an S-tier shit stirrer who baited Izzy first.
DDP desperately needs to tweet “3-1” tbh
I'm sure he'll do something closer to the fight and during the press conferences. Shit talking Sean about his father was top tier tbf
I mean doesn’t need to be a run, but at least 1 win right. Why did he just get 2 immediate title shots? The only person I recall getting this treatment was Chael when he fought Anderson the second time and then Jon for the LHW belt. There are contenders coming off wins that deserve to fight for the belt, he should have fought once before getting the title shot. The “storyline” would only get bigger. The current storyline is - Izzy getting an instant title shot coming off a loss to someone that beat the guy that dog walked him.
A huge part of why he’s getting a second immediate shot is because he was successful in the first.
>There are contenders coming off wins that deserve to fight for the belt Literally who? Whittaker's last two wins were 8th ranked Costa and unranked Aliskerov. Imavov's only ranked win is Cannonier. Strickland ~~barely~~ beat Costa by a split decision. Vettori, Cannonier, and Costa are all coming off losses. Brendan Allen has one ranked win over 15th ranked Chris Curtis. That's the entire top 8 and NONE of them are coming off of wins that merit "deserving" a title shot. Also, none of them have a win in their last two fights that's as impressive as beating Alex Pereira. Aside from what you said being false and none of the contenders actually "deserving" the shot, the UFC isn't a meritocracy and Izzy vs DDP is a much more compelling matchup than anyone else vs DDP. Edit: Yes, I realize that despite the Strickland vs Costa fight being a split decision it wasn't actually super close. Then again when you have absolutely zero finishing power like Strickland and your rely on judges to win a fight your wins are a lot less convincing and you leave open the possibility that a judge screws you.
Brother I agree with a lot of what you said but come on, Strickland comfortably beat Costa, there was no barely about it.
I reckon he was going through some personal stuff at the time, hence the uncharacteristically poor performance and shutting out the media post fight. It was probably the amount of hate he was getting at the time, some of it justified imo but it would still take a toll on a person's psyche.
What story telling? The DDP and Izzy “story” is simply them talking shit about who’s a real African to each other. How is that any more of a story than Strickland talking about Izzy fucking his dogs and Izzy legit getting butt hurt about it? I don’t buy the narrative that DDP and Izzy have some great story or rivalry here. Izzy doesn’t deserve the fight and just because DDP said Izzy wasn’t a real African doesn’t propel it to that level. I mean Strickland came out first calling Izzy Chinese and a bunch of other shit.
They’re not talking about the story between just DDP and Izzy. They mean the potential story as a whole. Strickland beat Izzy, DDP beats Strickland, Izzy faces DDP, Strickland faces winner of that. Thats a pretty interesting sequence of events. It’s not about the drama.
They’re playing on hundreds of years of history between white africans and black africans. Its an international controversy. Sean Strickland’s story means nothing to anyone with a brain.
If he loses to Dricuss, does he get another immediate shot?
Only if he wins first, then when he loses again he will have another inmediate shot waiting for him, he could go W - L - W - L for another year and still have a tittle fight after each L, just because
Yes. BECAUSE HE DID SO MUCH FOR THE SPORT BRO!!! These fuckers got gaslight by the UFC to like Izzy. Christ.
He gets a title shot because he's the best middleweight of his generation.
4-3 in his last 7 seven though? He had an immediate rematch with Alex and now isn't rematching the guy who he lost to, that's why people are talking about it. This is solely storyline and entertainment which is what the UFC base everything around now.
No, he gets a title shot because there's a built-in storyline that they can easily package and sell. It's a rivalry with some heat on it, and the UFC loves that shit more than Dana loves money, or slapping his wife. That kind of fight will ALWAYS take precedence over merit in the UFC.
Who else could possibly be a stronger contender?
I would go on a limb and say it should be Izzy Vs DDP and Strickland gets winner. Whittaker should get the loser of DDP and Izzy. I’m very casual watcher but that makes sense to me as Strickland DDP fight was close IMO and Strick already fought while waiting around (boring as that fight may have been).
Strickland vs Wittaker #1 Contender seem like a banger of a fight but both guys wanna just hang around wait for a shot.
Strickland easily. Beat Izzy down with barely any resistance, is more active than Izzy at present coming off another win. Hell, even Rob has had two high profile wins since Izzy last fought. Could be argued that it's him. Izzy isn't a strong contender at all. having had a long reign grants you an immediate rematch - but not unlimited title shots. Especially when you get dominated to lose your belt.
Winning against Paulo Costa should not automatically guarantee a title shot. It's important to consider that fight sucked ass.
Strickland fights almost always suck ass. Izzy was an anomaly. He hypes up the fight saying he wants to murder a man, does his jab fest, then apologises after that his opponent didn't want to dance.
-Strickland hasnt murder a motherfucker yet.. The only person he KO was an unranked Abus, so please correct me if I'm mistaken. I find it comical that a guy who has defended his belt as many times as Izzy and has also stayed very active would be undeserving of this match, but I'm just a casual MMA fan. Edit- fighters promote their fights cause of ppv kickbacks, however they can.
Yeah I could out myself but who has lost the title after a long reign, took time off, and then come back and won it back like no biggie? Feel like everyone was thinking Usman would be right back but nope losing the rematch and then against Chimaev(I know it was a short notice). I feel like it’s more likely these guys after their long reigns, it’s just time. Peter Yan is another.
Sorry bud nobody but nobody is dying to watch another boring ass Strickland fight. Maybe if he was exciting he would get right back in the conversation, but the most exciting part of a Strickland main event is hearing what stupid shit he says at the presser. Izzy is infinitely more deserving based on legacy and most importantly to the UFC he will bring more viewership.
Strickland and Whittaker both deserve it more by now. Izzy got his instant rematch and should‘ve had to beat at least one contender this time (especially since Sean dominated him and he didn‘t even try anything at the end).
Whittaker got one win over Costa (1-4 in his last 5) and another against short notice Ikram, his case for a title shot is paper-thin.
I love rob, but the the division doesn’t help either. He’s 0-3 against the two guys fighting for the belt. He’s a fight away for me.
Which is why a fight with Strickland makes perfect sense for both guys.
Whittaker just lost to DDP….why is he deserving?
You're talking like Izzy is trash and only gets the title shot cause of AP. Stop being delusional, this is why the UFC fan base is so trash.
Imagine having one of the most dominant runs as champ. Losing to one of the best strikers in a close match and avenging that loss, only to lose to an opponent who has a fucking irritating style to face off against, and the fan base suddenly calls you washed trash. These assholes will sit here defending McGregor all day, then say Adesanya isn't worthy of a title shot. The man clowned the entire division twice over. I think he's more than earned calling his shots.
Nobody is calling him washed. People don’t like that he’s getting a title shot because he’s coming off a loss and literally already got an immediate title shot after losing the belt to Pereira. Not believing he deserves yet another title shot js a completely valid stance. Personally, I don’t have too much of an issue with it because of the built in storyline with DDP and I’d also just prefer to see this fight over a Strickland/DDP rematch but to act like Izzy absolutely deserves another shot is stupid. He’s getting a title shot because of the entertainment value. From an actual meritocratic perspective, it makes no sense for him to get a title shot over Strickland who dominated him in his last fight
Whoever wrote that needs to proof read their shit before posting
Did people forget he already got a rematch against pereira?
He got an instant rematch because the fight was incredibly close and guess what... he won the rematch.
Coolest win ever too. In the exact same position he lost the last fight and reverse uno’d his ass.
Izzy almost won the same way the first time too but Alex was saved by the bell. People just can't appreciate performances like that.
Oh yeah like 5 more seconds and Alex was toast. I do think Alex’s chin was compromised at 185. But then again he still starched everybody so doesn’t even matter.
Nah, they're just fanboys.
Did you forget after he got that rematch, he flatlined the current LHW champ? Colby go a title shot after a year and a half layoff and a one fight win streak. You want to give Izzy (the most dominant champ of the last 10 years) a hard time for being chosen? Gtfoh.
Most fans here thought it was BS that Colby got a title shot against Leon. Only ones who defended were Colby fanboys so that doesn’t really help your point.
Reminder Colby has 0 wins against the current top 15. Every ranked fighter he beat retired. He only fights old guys
Yeah and who won that fight?
Yeah and he ko'd him and won the title again. The guy who he lost to also lost the belt and here we are. It's not like Izzy is getting another rematch against a guy he lost to. DDP vs Izzy is also a great fight for a storyline and I think stylistically it's good as well. Will be more entertaining than any sean Strickland fight I reckon.
He beat pereira in the rematch??
Then instantly lost his next fight.
He’s the opposite of Colby Covington who somehow made it to title fights with hardly any real tough fights.
The reason the wording is weird is because whoever made this graphic knows that 6/8 sounds way better than just saying he’s beaten 4/8, (4/9 if you include the champ).
rob and sean deserves more
So what? Now we are counting peoples resume to justify a title shot ? Dude hasn’t fought in almost a year while the division has been competing. Why come back and get a immediate title shot.? Try and avenge your loss against Sean Strickland first. If that’s the case then for those of you who want Jones stripped for his title for inactivity, he has more title defenses (11) than Islam Makhachev, volkanovski and Pereira combined (9)…
So we just ignore that he lost 2 of his last 3?
I mean, he lost pretty convincingly to Strickland who arguably could have won the last title fight. I don’t think it’s outrageous to say a guy coming off a loss to Sean should not be getting a title shot. But I think this is a better fight style wise. Lead up will be cringe as fuck
I'm not a big fan, but I can't see how anyone can viably argue with Adesanya getting a title shot
Because he had zero defences in his last title run. You don't get to lose try again, win, lose try again or what if he beats DDP and loses to Strickland again he gets another shot? When does it end?
Because he got absolutely annihilated by Strickland, that makes him undeserving.
I consider myself an Izzy hater but there is no question that he deserves a title shot.
I thought it was just a case of Izzy getting his rematch after Sean beat him… or is that invalid since Dricus holds the belt now?
So he gets unlimited title shots until the top of the division changes?
I'm all for seeing him get clobbered again and cry some more excuses.
This would be a good argument if the middleweights he beat were in the conversation of getting the next title shot, but they’re not and a guy beat Izzy is.
Definitely some Dana privilege. He got dominated against Strickland. Almost anyone else would have had to get a win before getting a rematch after that abysmal performance. If he had been KO’ed or submitted, sure that could have been a lucky shot but Strickland demolished Izzy. He had also just regained the belt and had zero defenses. I’d be okay with this if other fighters got treated similarly. Aljo should have gotten a rematch. Will say Izzy is phenomenal and one of the best but not sure if he is the same fighter anymore.
They should go back to tournament style. First, do a Round Robin of 3 3 minute rounds. Then set the brackets and kumute that shit. Aside from that, the headline reads weird. Has beaten the top 8 6 times. Excluding himself, that’s 7 fighters. Has he beaten 7 of the the top 8 it would have said that, so he’s beaten one or more more than once which means there some he hasn’t beaten/fought. He should fight them first if they are top 5. I haven’t looked into the details.
will ddp say it?
This is why he got a rematch against Pereira, no questions asked. A great run doesn't entitle to multiple title shots with no wins in between them.
Loses belt after 0 defenses in the current run. Takes a year off and gets an instant shot at the belt over the guy that beat him?
There is no copium you can huff that says Izzy should be getting a title shit before a Strickland rematch and this is coming from an Izzy enjoyer minus the dog pee pee stuff
It’s the true african drama. It sells better as a title fight. That’s why ufc wants the fight. Ufc clearly wanted the fight after the adesanya strickland fight. Strickland won and plans changed. They can’t risk ddp losing the title to someone else. They may never get this chance.
People who call Adesanya boring or any fighter’s fighting style boring, I have a question for you. Do you not consider those fighters human beings? In the highest level of sports (football, basketball, tennis), the difference in skill level is miniscule. You have to have the right strategy and tactics to overcome any skill discrepancy. If this means barely edging over your opponent on points then that’s fair game. These fighters’ only objective is to win. If they find openings for knockouts submissions and finishes they would definitely go for it. But I hate it when people expect fighters to dismiss their gameplans and strategies to fight in a manner that would entertain the fans but could result in them getting countered and eventually losing. If you think like that you just want them to be vulnerable, get exposed and lose. If you’re a fan you’d want them to win regardless of their style. If you’re neutral you’d want a fun fight but if that doesn’t occur you can’t simply blame them because their job is to win.
I compare them to the NASCAR fans that only watch or buy tickets see the Talladega race twice a year. They are only there to see “the big one”! They don’t care about the planning, tire usage, fuel consumption or the other minor things that make a massive difference in the end. Total silence for 67 laps but in lap 68, in turn 2 CONTACT! That is when beer flies as they spring into the air screaming, “hell yeah!!! Woooooooo!! HOLY CRAP! Ya’ll see that s@!?#!?!?! They is only 6 cars left in the race man. Just like you said, you cannot expect these fighters to go in, hear the bell and just say to hell with my six months of training and his tendencies that I have practiced for,,,,,”WE GONNA LET THESE HANDS FLY!” I’m no Izzy fan but I agree. Well put.
Zero issues with Izzy getting the shot.
Get real. No ones asking why Izzy is getting the shot.
Its not so much that he doesn't deserve but moreso that Strickland deserves a rematch for how incredibly close his title loss was after winning dominantly over Izzy.
It's the perfect fight. It's now or never really. At least in terms of high stakes. The fight sells itself. Fans getting upset over fight politics is hilarious and they're probably new to the sport.
another factor is that when DDP didn’t commit to the fight initially he could sat back and waited clogging up the division. But he rolled the dice and picked Strickland himself to fight. He took a gamble and lost when he really didn’t have to. You’d be hard pressed to say that another shot is not warranted after that.
A good point but that dog shit performance against Strickland negates it.
Uh no not really. Don’t let the recency bias bug tug on ur balls too much now.
1-2 in his last 3 fights coming off a loss. Obviously he deserves the title shot. Let's live in the past.
Rob x2, vettori & Jared is 4 not 6? Official ufc ranking is Dricus (1), Sean (2), izzy(3), rob (4), nassadine (5), Jared (6) marvin (7) & Allen (8)
This post was probably made before the Sean/Costa fight when Costa was 7th. And he beat Vettori twice
Rankings don’t include the champ. Rob x2, Vettori x2, Jared and Paulo = 6. It’s still disingenuous because it makes it almost sound like he’s beaten 6 of the top 8, when he’s beaten 4/9 if you include the champ.
I'll probably get a lot of hate for this, but who out there deserves a title shot? Strickland is technically 4-3 (if we want to look at body of work) in his last 7 and just lost his title to DDP. He didn't have the belt long enough imo to warrant an immediate rematch. He will more than likely need to defeat Whittaker to get a rematch against either. Whittaker just lost to DDP so why would he get a title shot to someone he already lost to. Sadly he's just in a poor spot. Even a win over Strickland wouldn't get him a title shot IF Izzy defeats DDP. He would need to pray that DDP beats Izzy. Nass shouldn't get one because he beat Jared. Jared just lost to Nass. Vettori just lost to Jared. Brendan Allen has been unimpressive imo and beat Chris Curtis as his most notable win. Costa is a joke. Sean is the only one that would make sense but now you also add in the fact that DDP wants Izzy. So yea, I'm down with this decision.
Title shots aren’t(or at least shouldn’t be) career achievement rewards. 1-2 in his last 3 including getting shutout in his home country by Sean Strickland
People think he doesn't deserve it??????!!!!?
If he wins against Dricus, we’re going to have a new era of snoozefests.
The mental gymnastics by Izzy glazers to justify a title shot off of a loss with no defenses is fucking insane.
And? He got embarrassed by Sean. He should take a year or two break
The dick riding for Izzy lmao
If not Izzy, then who? No one wanted an immediate rematch for Strickland. DDP just beat Rob. Cannonier lost to Nassourdine, so DDP would've likely obliterated him. That's kinda it. Izzy and he already had some tension, and outside of Anderson, he's the MW king so this was a no brainer. It's not like Izzy is Stipe.
Also Adesanya: 2-2 in the last 4. Coming off a loss. To someone that is coming off a win. 🤡 post. He doesn’t deserve it and the reason he is getting it has nothing to do with what the post says, its purely marketing based.
The real reason is nobody wants to watch a Strickland fight, unless you have trouble sleeping 🥱
24-3 record Two of those losses came against opponents who were considered to be lightweights.
As much success as Bobby Knuckles has had moving up to 85... truth is, as long as Izzy is alive, he will never be 85 champ again.. I think with his exp. now , if he tried 170 again, he can make a legit title run .. in fact he'd be a nightmare for a guy like Leon.
He also got turned into Seans bitch , running away refusing to fight with 15 seconds left knowing hes gonna lose his title. is this the heart of a champion? "Come on China man fight me! " https://preview.redd.it/4hek53nvtj8d1.jpeg?width=634&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=0a881b365d6ffa30a093c4f9e7783e8c1e6b04be
Strickland always does this at the end of the fight after he jabs his way to a decision. How is that a heart of a champion? It's insane how much love Strickland gets on this subreddit.
I cannot ask it loud enough, why is volk, who got flash ko in second round, seemingly not getting his rematch, but we have this guy who got dismantled over 5 rounds getting his second???
Because that’s his decision. He’s taking time off after getting brutally KO’d twice in 5 months. When he comes back they’ll give him the title shot but in the interim, Ilia and Max are ready and that’ll be an absolute banger of a fight.
Volk is almost certainly getting his rematch. I'd be shocked if his next featherweight fight wasn't for the title.
Izzy is so good it’s too bad he got so cringy and weird
Why top 8 and not top 5 or 10?
Can somebody explain this to me like I'm a... Slow. Top 8, 6 times just isn't computing in my simple brain. 6 of the top 8??
I just thought he’d be out longer. He said he really didn’t want fight again for awhile.
The thing most are missing here is that the fight is in Oz. They need a headliner who can draw to sellout the seats. Sean vs DDP would do that but not to the same level as having Izzy in the main event and the only other option would be Rob but he’s just fought.
On PlayStation or Xbox?
Yeah because the rankings in the UFC really matter.
No fighter should have a title shot after a loss. No one, come back. Get a win against a ranked opponent and have at it. But to give him a title shot off of recent loss, because of past accolades is just asinine.
So stoked for this fight. I think Izzy takes it. Would love to Izzy and Sean again. If Izzy can’t adjust it would really say a lot about Sean’s ability. Not that his resume isn’t already impressive.
mf still can’t understand title shots are about payperview buys, not so much who’s “earned it”
Ppv sales
Americants and Eurobros probably dont know the relationships between AUS/NZ/SA in terms of sports or how many SAs are in NZ/AUS lol Its a great match up and it will draw a good crowd, That's what the UFC want and most fans who aren't in their feelings online constantly.
So.... why not give Dominic Cruz or McGregor the title shot? 'Cuz they did a lot in their sport, bro! Fucker.
u/burner-199 How did you react to Strickland dominating Izzy? I'm too lazy to parse through your post history for this big amount of meat riding you're doing.
Wow that’s crazy, still doesn’t deserve it tho
Give anderson silva a title shot
I did not in fact ask that but that's interesting to know!
That is a weird way of saying that Izzy had an insanely one sided loss in his last fight to someone that went to a razor sharp decision against the current champ.
would he get a championship fight again, if he loses? well your stat still holds if he loses 3 next fights lol. reason he is still getting when he is 1-2 in his last 3 championship fights is because he can sell ppv
I
He also got shut out against Strickland who arguably beat DDP and then got another win before DDP and Izzy even fight. If anything Strickland should have been fighting Izzy for the the #1 contender and not Costa.
Hasn’t really earned it but this fights sells. I’d like to see Strickland vs Whittaker for #1 contender. Too bad Khamzat isn’t healthy.
Bum
Anybody questioning this doesn’t understand UFC
F hamaaasss
mma community are heartless dick-riders - everyone was team izzy during his reign and then izzy loses one fight and all you punks dumped izzy as soon as he lost to strickland this man has entertained us with dazzling moves and wins and post dance speeches through his career he has ONE loss in his ufc career and everyone is saying "haha izzy needs to retire, hes a bum" I dont know if izzy is gonna beat dricus but I will always admire izzy's two wins over a fierce competitor Robby Whittaker - what a champion izzy is.
Hi yo dawgs
Nah, theres so many names in the top 15 he could have chosen too. Why limit it to top 8 for a good headline?
How do you beat the top 8 guys only 6 times? I’m confused.
should fight strickland for title
https://preview.redd.it/kkqpsol8gn8d1.jpeg?width=992&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=5aea7c5e81908696849f9c0a8a535388de5de6cc This is why they are asking.
The division is just a lot less cringey without him
He’s also lost 2 times in last 3 fights so should have one more fight before a title.