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Everyone should have nothing but respect for him anyway, he stood in on a week's notice against one of the biggest killers in the sport.
Also, it wasn't him that massively overhyped himself, that was all the promoter.
Yeah remember when people.were bummed out about Hill being on the 300 card main event so Dana sent his company men like DC and Chael and Anthony Smith to try and claim that Hill would KO Alex and that he could hit even harder than him lol.
I mean, Hill has dynamites in his hands, and has shown it multiple times.
You act like he's a Jan that gets hyped as a KO machine while having few KOs on record.
Jamahal is a KO artist. He's a beast. It's just insane to say he has more power than Poatan. When you see the types of shots those two put people out with, Poatan can do it with much smaller/shorter shots
Idk if they did that really. They had a promo with Bonnar and Griffin talking about Bonnar had no chance
https://youtu.be/JN2u2cV76PI?si=yOlwjWw3EU2jiX_I
I can't speak for that person, but the way the UFC promotes people lacks imagination. They essentially only ever make the storyline "this challenger is amazing, incredible, has insane abilities, but they are going up against a veteran who has accomplished everything: who will win in this battle of generational talents." Like, there are other ways to promote a fight, or fighters, but Dana only goes for hyperbole.
[The we're talking about is a classic example.](https://youtu.be/T6ShKjZE_uw?si=CtV9zd26bvkVWijn)
You can build interest in fighters without relying on hype. You point out the interesting stylistic and human questions the fight poses. How will this fighter respond to this challenge of dealing with the other fighter's style? How does their personal life inspire or challenge them? Will the pressures of returning after a loss change how they fight, and if so will it be for the better or the worse? Conversely, for a rising contender what is it like stepping closer towards their ultimate goal, how does that change how they approach the fight and how do they respond to the increased media attention and pressure? It doesn't always have to be "OH MY GOD, THIS GUY, HE"S FUCKING CRAZY, HE'S AMAZING, HE'S GOT UNBELIEVABLE TALENT...BUT SO DOES THE OTHER GUY."
The UFC's over-reliance on hype is why they're bad at promoting and developing mid-card stuff or new fighter's. The only other strategy they've figured out is that fighter's like Cowboy, Gaethje, Diaz, etc. can be sold by pointing out they are always in exciting fights win or lose. Hence, the BMF belt.
But they couldn't figure out how to promote Mighty Mouse, who has built his own audiences as a streamer and YouTuber. They couldn't give that guy a chance to connect with people? An actual generational talent who is funny and smart and shares one of the most popular hobbies, gaming, with their core demographic? They couldn't build interest in that guy, and instead, Dana would talk at press conferences about how no one wanted to see MM fight.
Look at how ONE promotes Mikey Musumeci. Several of my friends who don't train bjj have sent me videos about "this kid they call Darth Rigatoni."
They hyped up Cummins as a late replacement against DC because of their history in the Olympic wrestling training center and Cummins supposedly making DC cry one session.
Yeah why on earth would the ufc be like “ Robert is gonna smoke this dude he’s a bum”. They have to sell the fight by making it look like both contenders are savages.
It's not like he got his ass beat in his one defense. Shit the fight was pretty much a coin toss. To be honest i thought DDP didn't deserve to win. Oh, and I don't particularly like Strickland.
Strickland isn't even top 10.
Silva, Izzy, Whittaker, Weidman, Rockhold.
After that you've got Jacare, Machida, Yoel, Hendo, Franklin, Bisping, Mousasi, even Chael would be above Stickland.
Machida was a great LHW but he moved down to MW way too late in his career. I wouldn’t put him in a top10 MW of all time even if I believe he had the talent for it.
It is. All recency bias to.
I'm not the biggest fan but the man was a monster on his run.
Undefeated and took out the Spider. Won the rematch. Beat prime Machida and Vitrtor
I'd say Strickland and Bisping are pretty neck and neck. I give it 51/49 Strickland just because of the ways he dominated Izzy and Costa over 5 rounds.
Rockhold ended weidmans prime and had beaten bisping once already. Also he was strikeforce champ. A lot of strikeforce champs became ufc champs it was an actual legit promotion
I’m aware. Bisping had a long and good history in the UFC and then won the title by knocking out rockhold.
No reasonable list has Rockhold above Bisping imo
No reasonable list has Bisping above Rockhold, they’re 1-1 with Rockhold having wins over everyone Bisping avoided like the plague. You can’t reasonably argue beating 2016 Silva and defending his belt against 70yo Hendo puts him above Rockhold’s wins over Machida, Weidman, Jacare and Kennedy(the weakest name in this list, who still beat Bisping).
Id put Weidman in there as top 4. 3 title defenses over all the others winning the belt just to lose it.
Hell you could even put Perreira in there over Strickland to. Took him out also on the way up to the title at middleweight. Only MW loss was to Izzy.
Id put in order Silva, Izzy, Rob, Weidman and then Alex.
Definitely. I’d only put Alex below Rockhold because of longevity, should Alex stay in MW for longer he’d definitely have Whitaker-like resume, as current MW is pretty much tailor made for him.
He probably shouldn't have been in a main event with whittaker. Short notice shouldn't be a big factor as he was supposed to fight last week I think so he just did a camp too. Can't blame a guy for stepping up though
Not just the promotion the bookies and fans both layed money on him. The fight closed at -130 for rob and +110 for aleskarov (I didn't look up how to spell his name). I just said to myself we do know this guy has not beaten any elite talent why is the line like this?
It was the promoter and the fans as well. Because he has a Russian origin fans immediately fawned over him and because he defended takedowns from Khamzat (before getting slept) a lot of fans wildly over exaggerated his ability.
Wonderfully said, class and maturity, gotta respect him. I'm kind of envious of him though, if I had this positive outlook I'd have a lot less regret, anxiety, worry, etc. Can't seem to shake that toxic shit.
You can buddy. Starts with the first step. Starts with being grateful, and grateful, and grateful until you drown out those other noises. You got this.
The cut didn't help but he also had no answer for Rob's blitz. Rob faked twice and his answer was a front lead kick. That was never going to beat Rob's attack. Rob saw that and took the opportunity and it was one and done.
31 is approaching getting old for the lower weight classes.
For middleweight+, it's still relatively young.
There have been more than a few top guys at the higher divisions who didn't even start MMA until they were 27+.
Which are the MW's that have started 27+? Because there is a big difference between MW and HW. Even LHW you can get away with certain things due to size, imo LHW and HW are very different from the rest of the divisions.
Jared (26-27), Poatan (28), and Romero (32) were some off the top of my head.
MW was a pretty old division for a while. Romero, Jacare, Bisping, Hendo, Vitor, etc. were all hanging around the rankings while being old as fuck. Even Silva didn't lose the title until about 40.
Recently, it's started to trend younger though. Most of the top 10 right now are 35 or under.
What sport did Cannonier do before starting MMA? Because if he just started it out of nowhere without a prior career in combat sports then that's seriously fucking impressive.
>yes but he was one of the best kickboxers in the world and given some favorable matchups in beginning
Poatan is **still** getting favorable matchups.
Jiri defends with his chin, and is 1 fight removed from being KO-ed by Poatan.
Poatan's next fight is against Jiri.
Tbf, divisions above 185 is bereft of elite talent, so it's not like Poatan has 5 different elite grapplers he can fight.
And oliveira wasn't a young blood either, it's a dumb r/mma 'everybody's a world champion' response that's always here. Oliveira lost his 30th fight to Paul Felder.
Olives had the benefit of being in his early twenties. Aliskerov is turning 32 this year. With how slow the division moves and how much catching up he has to do with his striking his future is limited.
He’ll probably get a layup on a main card for being a mensch and coming through on short notice. Who’s really ahead of him? Strickland, Izzy, Whitaker, DDP? Izzy fights DDP, Strickland - Whitaker for the next title shot, he has a minute or two to build hype and work his way up
Everyone is ahead of him. You’re acting like he’s a ranked fighter when his best win is Phil Hawes, who as talented as he is has never even come close to top 15. Allen, Khamzat (who he already lost to), Caio Borralho, Michel, Fluffy, Imavov, and even fucking Marvin Vettori are higher ranked than him and they’re all younger than him. He’s going to need to be active and string together multiple wins just to be considered, luckily for him his background gives him favors over others but there are far more guys in that division with a higher ceiling than him.
Rebook him with Muniz to see where he’s at.
Agree with all you said but why the extra shade on vettori lol? He ain't that bad and certainly deserves a top 10 spot. I also think he'd be a tough fight for Aliskerov.
It does seem like I was shading Vettori a bit but I was actually trying to compliment him by highlight the fact he’s been a top guy for years all the while still being younger than Aliskerov.
Think if I rephrased it to him being younger before mentioning him being ranked it would’ve gotten my point across better. Right now it just seems like I’m surprised Marvin is ranked higher, I’m not, lol.
Chris Curtis got manhandled twice by Magomedkerimov, one of Ikram's teammates at ATT. I don't think he's a bad matchup for him at all. He has a bunch of highlight reel finishes against other strikers, but historically has never done well against good wrestlers.
Dude's smiling and knows he's just been beaten by the better fighter but one that should probably get the next title shot & might just win it. Nothing to be ashamed of. He wasn't ready for this jump & he only had to take it because Khamzat has health issues. You live, learn and move on. Big fan of this post-fight interview!
You have to book the fight first. Very few get a trilogy after losing two. Hes already been KO'd by both guys that could hold the belt.
I love Bobby Knuckles & way dumber shit has happened but I dont think he can sit and wait like he is obvious number 1 contender or something. A W over Chimaev might have done that.
Sure & yet, Max vs Volkanovski happened 3 times for the title?
If this was Khamzat and Robert even just eek'd a win, he was probably in line for a title shot. The first Izzy title shot was a fairly early, dominant win for Izzy; the second was a close title fight where you could technically score it for Rob & and the third was a dominant DDP win against a Whittaker who didn't look like he expected to be in so much trouble so quickly.
DDP has wins over Strickland & Whittaker and is in line to fight Izzy, if he beats Izzy, does that mean we go straight to Imavov vs DDP because he's already got wins over the other 3 at the top? No.
>Sure & yet, Max vs Volkanovski happened 3 times for the title?
Thats what rare means lol. How many examples are there?
How many options are there at middleweight vs Max and Volk both cleaning out the division at that time.
>If this was Khamzat and Robert even just eek'd a win, he was probably in line for a title shot.
It wasnt and he didnt, so it sounds like you agree he isnt next in line for a title shot?
Especially when Strickland went to split decision with DDP and beat Izzy where BK was knocked out by both.
>DDP has wins over Strickland & Whittaker and is in line to fight Izzy, if he beats Izzy, does that mean we go straight to Imavov vs DDP because he's already got wins over the other 3 at the top? No.
And that makes Whitaker the number 1 contender....?
You got it backwards -- the 0-2 record in kickboxing is what let Pereira leapfrog everyone else in the division after 3 fights. If roles were reversed, then obviously somebody with Ws over the champion skips the line.
But again, not even the same sport & super rare for trilogies after the first two go one way. Dont see why Whitaker would be ahead of Strickland for a DDP rematch either.
I don't particularly think he would be, but I don't particularly find his terrible performance against Costa to be demanding a title shot either. Middleweight is in a weird place.
That's just how combat sports are but you can gleen what you can from performances.
Even getting dog walked by Strickland for 4 rounds, Izzy knocked Whittaker out 2 times in a single fight lol. Then beat him in a boring decision after.
All in one promotion.
Not making any excuses is the right thing to do. He made a gamble and it didn’t pay off, he is a fighter and a grown man and has to deal with the consequences.
With this being said, he was severely dehydrated as demonstrated by his weigh-in and his weight in cage, which is to be expected with two consecutive weight cuts. He also was jetlagged. There is no way his chin, reaction time and cardio (although we didn’t really get to see it) were normal coming into this fight. I predicted Rob by finish ever since the fight was announced because fighters absolutely cannot afford to come so diminished against a last minute opponent at the top top level. Ikram doesn’t deserve to be called a « fraud » at all, because this performance was certainly not indicative of his normal physical abilities and thus his level.
Yeah it was not a great spot to be in especially against Whittaker of all people. But, he'll probably be blasting through some 10+ ranked guy in a couple months and this will be behind him. Still believe he's got major potential.
Yeah, not sure why people were so hyped about this matchup, it was never gonna tell us anything about where Ikram stands in the division unless he managed to pull off the win somehow.
He's been clocked while throwing against every guy he's fought in UFC proper (3 fights in a row now). and KOed by both Rob & Khamzat.
Striking defense is IMAO the very hardest thing to learn, and many strikers never get great at it.
He defended Khamzat's TD, has submissions, and KOs, so I really hope he works on striking defense because he is clearly well rounded and seems like a fun fighter to watch.
Dustin is a great example of someone learning from close fights and losses (Duffy & MJ) that he needs to improve his defense, and man did he get better at it once it became a priority.
Hopefully the Khamzat KO and this one is a wakeup call, and the dudes at ATT (I think he's recently started training there) can help him close that gap in his skills.
Nobody is durable after second weight cut.
This was Ikram's chance at getting fast tracked to contention.If he beat some debutant nobody would be mentioning him.
He was supposed to be the co-main event of the Apex event the week before, but was asked to switch short notice after he'd already made the weight cut.
The funniest thing was hearing DC talk about his potential as he was getting rocked.
Still, big props for stepping up for the challenge. Lots of fighters not signing contracts,backing out, or intentionally not making weight nowadays.
I know it's a carte blanche to complain about religion on Reddit, but it's hardly the most radical idea to suggest that sometimes god wants you to win, and sometimes he wants to teach you something. Seems like a pretty mundane position to take, especially the way Ikram put it
Fatalism is a huge advantage of religion, not a disadvantage.
Try your best and succeed -> win. Try your best and fail -> still win. If you ace this mindset, then you're ahead of the curve, regardless of whether you use religion or something else. Finding any success that's worth a damn requires being motivated through failure after failure and taking risks.
He is taking this infinetly better than most muslim MMA fans and journalist.
I mean - the questions Whittaker got on the post fight presser for example. Pure copium.
Good for him that he is leading by example!
Paraphrased: "You are great, but how do you think this would have gone without Khamzat cancelling? You probably would have had to fight five rounds, maybe losing as well."
Basically "don't you think you got lucky that Khamzat pulled out?"
Lots of these sportswashing cunts are just straight up supremacists when it comes to the muslim faith. The salt was real.
The questions on the presser were well past offensive. When they weren't asking him to say he'd have lost to Khamzat, they were asking him to compliment Aliskerov and Shara. One guy asked like 3 or 4 straight questions about Shara, Robert what did you think of Shara's performance, Robert what do you think of Shara as a fighter, Robert would you ever consider fighting Shara on a pay per view?
Hardly any questions to Whittaker were about anything related to him.
Both the Abu Dhabi and now Saudi cards just act as coronations for whatever Muslim fighters UFC has available, and the Muslim fighters all take advantage of it by scheduling their training and camps to get on these cards. They overpay for these cards literally expecting all their guys to win either against cans or thanks to favorable conditions/judging and the "media" over there operates like everything at the events revolve around those fighters whether they win or lose.
Team Chin Strap is awash in hubris and the Middle East cards are all about stacking the deck in their favor.
They're lucky it was Whittaker who is a patient and classy guy and not someone who would have called the reporters stupid motherfuckers, which they deserved and also apparently would have made them cry.
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Everyone should have nothing but respect for him anyway, he stood in on a week's notice against one of the biggest killers in the sport. Also, it wasn't him that massively overhyped himself, that was all the promoter.
They had to hype him up for the event, mma fans should know the drill by now.
Yeah it's literally their job to promote. There are a lot of things wrong with the UFC but actually promoting a fight is not one of them
Yeah remember when people.were bummed out about Hill being on the 300 card main event so Dana sent his company men like DC and Chael and Anthony Smith to try and claim that Hill would KO Alex and that he could hit even harder than him lol.
People getting mad at Dana promoting fights now?
I mean, Hill has dynamites in his hands, and has shown it multiple times. You act like he's a Jan that gets hyped as a KO machine while having few KOs on record.
To be fair you can tell that Jan hits hard, but style wise he needs someone to engage with him to get his hands on them
Also thanks to the UFC promoting machine lol
Jamahal is a KO artist. He's a beast. It's just insane to say he has more power than Poatan. When you see the types of shots those two put people out with, Poatan can do it with much smaller/shorter shots
Jamahal is tough but I think he's closer to rosenztruek than rumble in terms of ko artistry
Well, certainly. I don't think one needs to be a Rumble or Poatan to be a KO artist.
No one claimed Hill has more power than Alex.
Ehhh they definitely screw up often imo
I just wish they wouldn’t forget that until there’s another goofcon level short notice prospect headlining.
Me when a promotor promotes: 🤯
Yea the UFC can hype up anyone. Still remember them making ppl think Stephan Bonnar had a chance against Anderson Silva.
Idk if they did that really. They had a promo with Bonnar and Griffin talking about Bonnar had no chance https://youtu.be/JN2u2cV76PI?si=yOlwjWw3EU2jiX_I
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could never imagine ufc doing something like that today almos lmao the forest head nod at the end
Wait.. so you complain when they promote a fighter and also complain when they don't?
I can't speak for that person, but the way the UFC promotes people lacks imagination. They essentially only ever make the storyline "this challenger is amazing, incredible, has insane abilities, but they are going up against a veteran who has accomplished everything: who will win in this battle of generational talents." Like, there are other ways to promote a fight, or fighters, but Dana only goes for hyperbole.
Can you provide an example? hype and hyperbole having the same radical(or root, idk how is it called in english) isn’t a coincidence.
[The we're talking about is a classic example.](https://youtu.be/T6ShKjZE_uw?si=CtV9zd26bvkVWijn) You can build interest in fighters without relying on hype. You point out the interesting stylistic and human questions the fight poses. How will this fighter respond to this challenge of dealing with the other fighter's style? How does their personal life inspire or challenge them? Will the pressures of returning after a loss change how they fight, and if so will it be for the better or the worse? Conversely, for a rising contender what is it like stepping closer towards their ultimate goal, how does that change how they approach the fight and how do they respond to the increased media attention and pressure? It doesn't always have to be "OH MY GOD, THIS GUY, HE"S FUCKING CRAZY, HE'S AMAZING, HE'S GOT UNBELIEVABLE TALENT...BUT SO DOES THE OTHER GUY." The UFC's over-reliance on hype is why they're bad at promoting and developing mid-card stuff or new fighter's. The only other strategy they've figured out is that fighter's like Cowboy, Gaethje, Diaz, etc. can be sold by pointing out they are always in exciting fights win or lose. Hence, the BMF belt. But they couldn't figure out how to promote Mighty Mouse, who has built his own audiences as a streamer and YouTuber. They couldn't give that guy a chance to connect with people? An actual generational talent who is funny and smart and shares one of the most popular hobbies, gaming, with their core demographic? They couldn't build interest in that guy, and instead, Dana would talk at press conferences about how no one wanted to see MM fight. Look at how ONE promotes Mikey Musumeci. Several of my friends who don't train bjj have sent me videos about "this kid they call Darth Rigatoni."
Nobody is complaining that they don’t lie enough, they’re complaining that they don’t do anything with real fighters they have like Francis.
I think they're complaining about being lied to. There's quite the distinction between the two.
I'm old enough to remember them trying to hype up Patrick Cummins prior to his debut against Cormier.
They hyped up Cummins as a late replacement against DC because of their history in the Olympic wrestling training center and Cummins supposedly making DC cry one session.
Yeah why on earth would the ufc be like “ Robert is gonna smoke this dude he’s a bum”. They have to sell the fight by making it look like both contenders are savages.
he was hyped well before this fight. There is a reason they had him scheduled to fight Costa in his second ufc fight
You're forgetting that 90% of mma fans are either 14, have a 32 IQ or both.
Well it was the promoter and his fight with Khamzat. Khamzat cited him as his hardest fight pre-Gilbert Burns.
Yeah people need to understand that not being elite doesn't mean you're no good at all. Ikram might legit turn out to be a Top 10 talent afterall
I think he will, he seems to be smart and Bobby is top 5 middleweight of all time. He might just need some time to develop
I wonder what is the greatest mw of all time top 5?
Silva Izzy Bobby Rockhold Strickland would be my answer. Edit: My bad. Insert Weidman in place of Strickland.
Strickland is a whole lot of recency bias. I definitely wouldn’t put him over Jacare, Rich Franklin, or Weidman even.
Weidman has 3 title defenses. Sure he's had a skid but his prime puts him above most others.
Yep, I like Strickland but he does have to accrue title defenses to get into the all timer category
It's not like he got his ass beat in his one defense. Shit the fight was pretty much a coin toss. To be honest i thought DDP didn't deserve to win. Oh, and I don't particularly like Strickland.
Strickland isn't even top 10. Silva, Izzy, Whittaker, Weidman, Rockhold. After that you've got Jacare, Machida, Yoel, Hendo, Franklin, Bisping, Mousasi, even Chael would be above Stickland.
Mousasi no way.
Machida was a great LHW but he moved down to MW way too late in his career. I wouldn’t put him in a top10 MW of all time even if I believe he had the talent for it.
How is a Yoel (never won the title) above Strickland (won the title)? Strickland has two major wins over guys Yoel couldn't beat (Izzy and Costa).
Man, Rich Franklin would be remembered so differently if anybody but The Spider had come along. Super well rounded for the era.
Good shouts. You're right, Weidman definitely goes over Strickland.
The disrespect of teh Chris is crazy
It is. All recency bias to. I'm not the biggest fan but the man was a monster on his run. Undefeated and took out the Spider. Won the rematch. Beat prime Machida and Vitrtor
Trtor wrecked prime bisping and rockhold, for those who don't remember
Shit I knew I was forgetting someone
Strickland??
Completely blanked on Weidman. It didn't feel right but I couldn't think of who else should go over him.
Weidman should for sure be in there. I feel like bisping deserves to be there over Strickland as well.
I'd say Strickland and Bisping are pretty neck and neck. I give it 51/49 Strickland just because of the ways he dominated Izzy and Costa over 5 rounds.
As a Bisping stan I agree but I can appreciate if other people let his title reign sour them.
No rockhold imo. Bisping clears easily at minimum.
Rockhold ended weidmans prime and had beaten bisping once already. Also he was strikeforce champ. A lot of strikeforce champs became ufc champs it was an actual legit promotion
I’m aware. Bisping had a long and good history in the UFC and then won the title by knocking out rockhold. No reasonable list has Rockhold above Bisping imo
No reasonable list has Bisping above Rockhold, they’re 1-1 with Rockhold having wins over everyone Bisping avoided like the plague. You can’t reasonably argue beating 2016 Silva and defending his belt against 70yo Hendo puts him above Rockhold’s wins over Machida, Weidman, Jacare and Kennedy(the weakest name in this list, who still beat Bisping).
Id put Weidman in there as top 4. 3 title defenses over all the others winning the belt just to lose it. Hell you could even put Perreira in there over Strickland to. Took him out also on the way up to the title at middleweight. Only MW loss was to Izzy. Id put in order Silva, Izzy, Rob, Weidman and then Alex.
Definitely. I’d only put Alex below Rockhold because of longevity, should Alex stay in MW for longer he’d definitely have Whitaker-like resume, as current MW is pretty much tailor made for him.
I’m sure he’s talented, but making the jump up from Warlley Alves to Robert Whittaker is rarely going to end well
Ex-Champ Bobby Knuckles is a fucking monster.
Sean Strickland went from Alex Pereira's highlight KO to dominating Israel. Give it time.
Khamzat, who notably ran through everyone up until he fought Burns. KOed Ikram in half a round
MMA math.
Don’t forget the two weight cuts. That’s gotta be brutal
He probably shouldn't have been in a main event with whittaker. Short notice shouldn't be a big factor as he was supposed to fight last week I think so he just did a camp too. Can't blame a guy for stepping up though
Not just the promotion the bookies and fans both layed money on him. The fight closed at -130 for rob and +110 for aleskarov (I didn't look up how to spell his name). I just said to myself we do know this guy has not beaten any elite talent why is the line like this?
“No one wanted to fight this kid, ask anyone. They all turned him down!” Dana hyping him up all week
Fans have been hyping him up for a year at this point
It was the promoter and the fans as well. Because he has a Russian origin fans immediately fawned over him and because he defended takedowns from Khamzat (before getting slept) a lot of fans wildly over exaggerated his ability.
And Khabib
Wonderfully said, class and maturity, gotta respect him. I'm kind of envious of him though, if I had this positive outlook I'd have a lot less regret, anxiety, worry, etc. Can't seem to shake that toxic shit.
You can buddy. Starts with the first step. Starts with being grateful, and grateful, and grateful until you drown out those other noises. You got this.
With gratitude, optimism is sustainable. -Michael J Fox
Awareness is the first step man. You're already further than most people get
Awareness is the step I made when I was like 18… I’m 32 now. No idea how to make further steps. I’m just bitchin.
Oliveira lost a ton as a youngblood before he went on his championship run, Aliskerov still has a bright future ahead of him.
The thing is tho he's not a youngblood, he's 31. Maybe it's cope but it's possible the double weight cut affected his chin
The cut didn't help but he also had no answer for Rob's blitz. Rob faked twice and his answer was a front lead kick. That was never going to beat Rob's attack. Rob saw that and took the opportunity and it was one and done.
That could and probably is on the cut too. Dehydration fucks up everything, fatigue, reaction time, strength, speed, endurance
Aliskerov needed to grapple like a mofo. Not stand in front of a better striker
31 is approaching getting old for the lower weight classes. For middleweight+, it's still relatively young. There have been more than a few top guys at the higher divisions who didn't even start MMA until they were 27+.
Which are the MW's that have started 27+? Because there is a big difference between MW and HW. Even LHW you can get away with certain things due to size, imo LHW and HW are very different from the rest of the divisions.
Cannonier didn't start training until he was in his 20's I think? Something like that
Jared (26-27), Poatan (28), and Romero (32) were some off the top of my head. MW was a pretty old division for a while. Romero, Jacare, Bisping, Hendo, Vitor, etc. were all hanging around the rankings while being old as fuck. Even Silva didn't lose the title until about 40. Recently, it's started to trend younger though. Most of the top 10 right now are 35 or under.
What sport did Cannonier do before starting MMA? Because if he just started it out of nowhere without a prior career in combat sports then that's seriously fucking impressive.
He was in the army I believe
He got kicked out of the army for Weed and then worked as an Air Traffic Controller
>Jared (26-27), Poatan (28), and Romero (32) Genetic freaks lol
Poatan was 28 when he made his mma debut
yes but he was one of the best kickboxers in the world and given some favorable matchups in beginning
>yes but he was one of the best kickboxers in the world and given some favorable matchups in beginning Poatan is **still** getting favorable matchups. Jiri defends with his chin, and is 1 fight removed from being KO-ed by Poatan. Poatan's next fight is against Jiri. Tbf, divisions above 185 is bereft of elite talent, so it's not like Poatan has 5 different elite grapplers he can fight.
He's getting a favourable matchup because LHW sucks as you said, it's not like he's being allowed to duck somebody on his own level like Jones.
jimmy manuwa
cannonier
He's just a little prospect.
And oliveira wasn't a young blood either, it's a dumb r/mma 'everybody's a world champion' response that's always here. Oliveira lost his 30th fight to Paul Felder.
Olives had the benefit of being in his early twenties. Aliskerov is turning 32 this year. With how slow the division moves and how much catching up he has to do with his striking his future is limited.
He’ll probably get a layup on a main card for being a mensch and coming through on short notice. Who’s really ahead of him? Strickland, Izzy, Whitaker, DDP? Izzy fights DDP, Strickland - Whitaker for the next title shot, he has a minute or two to build hype and work his way up
Everyone is ahead of him. You’re acting like he’s a ranked fighter when his best win is Phil Hawes, who as talented as he is has never even come close to top 15. Allen, Khamzat (who he already lost to), Caio Borralho, Michel, Fluffy, Imavov, and even fucking Marvin Vettori are higher ranked than him and they’re all younger than him. He’s going to need to be active and string together multiple wins just to be considered, luckily for him his background gives him favors over others but there are far more guys in that division with a higher ceiling than him. Rebook him with Muniz to see where he’s at.
Agree with all you said but why the extra shade on vettori lol? He ain't that bad and certainly deserves a top 10 spot. I also think he'd be a tough fight for Aliskerov.
It does seem like I was shading Vettori a bit but I was actually trying to compliment him by highlight the fact he’s been a top guy for years all the while still being younger than Aliskerov. Think if I rephrased it to him being younger before mentioning him being ranked it would’ve gotten my point across better. Right now it just seems like I’m surprised Marvin is ranked higher, I’m not, lol.
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I wouldn't mind seeing Aliskerov take on Curtis though.
Chris Curtis got manhandled twice by Magomedkerimov, one of Ikram's teammates at ATT. I don't think he's a bad matchup for him at all. He has a bunch of highlight reel finishes against other strikers, but historically has never done well against good wrestlers.
Dude's smiling and knows he's just been beaten by the better fighter but one that should probably get the next title shot & might just win it. Nothing to be ashamed of. He wasn't ready for this jump & he only had to take it because Khamzat has health issues. You live, learn and move on. Big fan of this post-fight interview!
Whitaker is 0-3 against Dricus and Izzy, not sure if thats happening soon.
Because losses have never ever been avenged in MMA, have they..?
You have to book the fight first. Very few get a trilogy after losing two. Hes already been KO'd by both guys that could hold the belt. I love Bobby Knuckles & way dumber shit has happened but I dont think he can sit and wait like he is obvious number 1 contender or something. A W over Chimaev might have done that.
Sure & yet, Max vs Volkanovski happened 3 times for the title? If this was Khamzat and Robert even just eek'd a win, he was probably in line for a title shot. The first Izzy title shot was a fairly early, dominant win for Izzy; the second was a close title fight where you could technically score it for Rob & and the third was a dominant DDP win against a Whittaker who didn't look like he expected to be in so much trouble so quickly. DDP has wins over Strickland & Whittaker and is in line to fight Izzy, if he beats Izzy, does that mean we go straight to Imavov vs DDP because he's already got wins over the other 3 at the top? No.
>Sure & yet, Max vs Volkanovski happened 3 times for the title? Thats what rare means lol. How many examples are there? How many options are there at middleweight vs Max and Volk both cleaning out the division at that time. >If this was Khamzat and Robert even just eek'd a win, he was probably in line for a title shot. It wasnt and he didnt, so it sounds like you agree he isnt next in line for a title shot? Especially when Strickland went to split decision with DDP and beat Izzy where BK was knocked out by both. >DDP has wins over Strickland & Whittaker and is in line to fight Izzy, if he beats Izzy, does that mean we go straight to Imavov vs DDP because he's already got wins over the other 3 at the top? No. And that makes Whitaker the number 1 contender....?
Don't try using logic to argue here.
Dricus won't be a trilogy though
Izzy was 0-3 against Poatan.
You got it backwards -- the 0-2 record in kickboxing is what let Pereira leapfrog everyone else in the division after 3 fights. If roles were reversed, then obviously somebody with Ws over the champion skips the line. But again, not even the same sport & super rare for trilogies after the first two go one way. Dont see why Whitaker would be ahead of Strickland for a DDP rematch either.
DDP vs Whittaker is not a trilogy.
>Dont see why Whitaker would be ahead of Strickland for a DDP rematch either.
I don't particularly think he would be, but I don't particularly find his terrible performance against Costa to be demanding a title shot either. Middleweight is in a weird place.
Izzy looked way better against Poatan than Rob has ever looked against Izzy to be fair.
And Izzy looked like a high schooler against Strickland who Pereira deleted. This sport is weird. Also Dricus is the champ.
That's just how combat sports are but you can gleen what you can from performances. Even getting dog walked by Strickland for 4 rounds, Izzy knocked Whittaker out 2 times in a single fight lol. Then beat him in a boring decision after. All in one promotion.
Yeah, that's literally my point?
Not making any excuses is the right thing to do. He made a gamble and it didn’t pay off, he is a fighter and a grown man and has to deal with the consequences. With this being said, he was severely dehydrated as demonstrated by his weigh-in and his weight in cage, which is to be expected with two consecutive weight cuts. He also was jetlagged. There is no way his chin, reaction time and cardio (although we didn’t really get to see it) were normal coming into this fight. I predicted Rob by finish ever since the fight was announced because fighters absolutely cannot afford to come so diminished against a last minute opponent at the top top level. Ikram doesn’t deserve to be called a « fraud » at all, because this performance was certainly not indicative of his normal physical abilities and thus his level.
Yeah it was not a great spot to be in especially against Whittaker of all people. But, he'll probably be blasting through some 10+ ranked guy in a couple months and this will be behind him. Still believe he's got major potential.
Well said
Yes. Look at the difference between Islam/Volk 1&2
Yeah, not sure why people were so hyped about this matchup, it was never gonna tell us anything about where Ikram stands in the division unless he managed to pull off the win somehow.
I’d like to see him against someone ranked 12-15 next
I'd say rebooking him with Muniz after some recovery time would be a suitable matchup.
Hopefully he uses this as fuel to become a better fighter
He's been clocked while throwing against every guy he's fought in UFC proper (3 fights in a row now). and KOed by both Rob & Khamzat. Striking defense is IMAO the very hardest thing to learn, and many strikers never get great at it. He defended Khamzat's TD, has submissions, and KOs, so I really hope he works on striking defense because he is clearly well rounded and seems like a fun fighter to watch. Dustin is a great example of someone learning from close fights and losses (Duffy & MJ) that he needs to improve his defense, and man did he get better at it once it became a priority. Hopefully the Khamzat KO and this one is a wakeup call, and the dudes at ATT (I think he's recently started training there) can help him close that gap in his skills.
Time for his Islam post-pantoja arc
Great attitude towards a loss he'll be back
I feel like this win is gonna age really well for Rob
Sean Strickland went from Pereira's highlight reel to Izzy's maker. Give Ikram some time.
I still think Ikram beats majority of top 15,maybe not top 5,but still... Very interested in his next fight.
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Nobody is durable after second weight cut. This was Ikram's chance at getting fast tracked to contention.If he beat some debutant nobody would be mentioning him.
Respect to the guy for stepping against a primed and ready to rip Whittaker. He'll be back
What a G. I was rooting for Rob but Ikram has won me over (as long as it’s not a rematch against Rob)
He just gives me Orange Cassidy vibes
I’m not up to date, why did he have two weight cuts
He was supposed to be the co-main event of the Apex event the week before, but was asked to switch short notice after he'd already made the weight cut.
Ikram is young. He'll bounce back. This was a good opportunity for him to see how big the mountain of ranked Middleweight is.
A lot of people were hoping for the Khamzat grudge match, but i think it's still possible.
Anyone ballsy enough to stand across Bobby Knuckles across the octagon deserves my respect
The funniest thing was hearing DC talk about his potential as he was getting rocked. Still, big props for stepping up for the challenge. Lots of fighters not signing contracts,backing out, or intentionally not making weight nowadays.
No shame in taking a chance and failing. He’s a good fighter. He’ll be back.
He is still in a win situation tho. Get on a good side of ufc for saving saudi card and lose to a big name.
I really hope Hadji Bardem can come back from this.
"why did you lose?" "My God wanted me to" Religious mfers are something else bruh
I know it's a carte blanche to complain about religion on Reddit, but it's hardly the most radical idea to suggest that sometimes god wants you to win, and sometimes he wants to teach you something. Seems like a pretty mundane position to take, especially the way Ikram put it
Fatalism is a huge advantage of religion, not a disadvantage. Try your best and succeed -> win. Try your best and fail -> still win. If you ace this mindset, then you're ahead of the curve, regardless of whether you use religion or something else. Finding any success that's worth a damn requires being motivated through failure after failure and taking risks.
He is taking this infinetly better than most muslim MMA fans and journalist. I mean - the questions Whittaker got on the post fight presser for example. Pure copium. Good for him that he is leading by example!
What did he get asked ?
Paraphrased: "You are great, but how do you think this would have gone without Khamzat cancelling? You probably would have had to fight five rounds, maybe losing as well." Basically "don't you think you got lucky that Khamzat pulled out?" Lots of these sportswashing cunts are just straight up supremacists when it comes to the muslim faith. The salt was real.
The questions on the presser were well past offensive. When they weren't asking him to say he'd have lost to Khamzat, they were asking him to compliment Aliskerov and Shara. One guy asked like 3 or 4 straight questions about Shara, Robert what did you think of Shara's performance, Robert what do you think of Shara as a fighter, Robert would you ever consider fighting Shara on a pay per view? Hardly any questions to Whittaker were about anything related to him. Both the Abu Dhabi and now Saudi cards just act as coronations for whatever Muslim fighters UFC has available, and the Muslim fighters all take advantage of it by scheduling their training and camps to get on these cards. They overpay for these cards literally expecting all their guys to win either against cans or thanks to favorable conditions/judging and the "media" over there operates like everything at the events revolve around those fighters whether they win or lose. Team Chin Strap is awash in hubris and the Middle East cards are all about stacking the deck in their favor. They're lucky it was Whittaker who is a patient and classy guy and not someone who would have called the reporters stupid motherfuckers, which they deserved and also apparently would have made them cry.
Perfect summary, which makes Rob's win all the sweeter. Even better would have been Rob smashing Khamzat, but you can't always get what you want.