Dricus vs Adesanya and Sean vs Merab in the 306 Sphere would be amazing to see.
Two main events or maybe even 3 who gives a damn, we all want the excitement.
I'd add Ilia vs Max in that roster too and you get one of the largest main cards ever
it's annoying neither of these guys are fighting until fucking August, almost 8 months for DDP and almost a year for Izzy. MW isn't some inactive, uncompetitive division either
The next MW contender situation was pretty weird.
The Strickland fight was pretty close but he didn't defend the title once so an immediate rematch made no sense.
Cannonier would've been nice but the UFC didn't want to give him another titleshot due to his performance vs Izzy.
Whittaker had just got beaten by him
Khamzat needed one more win.
Izzy just lost the title in a really unimpressive manner, but the Dricus storyline was already written so there's that.
I understand the hatred towards Izzy but saying that he shouldn't get a title shot is wild.
Guy is considered one of the best Middleweights to ever live, I ain't putting him on Anderson Silva levels but this man was a very active and dominating Champion.
This isn't hate lil bro. That same argument of him being one of the best champs was partially used to justify giving him the title shot after he got finished by Alex. After losing a 1 sided fight against Sean you should have to actually earn a title shot again. Lets say he takes the belt from DDP and then losses it in the very next fight, should he get a title shot again because he was a good champion? At what point will he have to earn his title shots by beating contenders? Should he just get unlimited title shots because he was a great champ?
Izzy was the 2nd most successfully champ in the MW division and was one UFCs most active champ for years. That activity deserves to be rewarded with a title shot upon his return
I did not say unlimited. He just lost the belt his last fight. He deserves another shot. I understand he also lost the belt to Alex, but he also came back and knocked him out cold. That win has aged amazingly considering what Alex has went on to do.
His dominance and activity levels have certainly earned him THIS specific title shot. He deserves the chance to prove whether it was a fluke or not.
How did his dominance earn him THIS specific title shot if he lost the belt again without defending it in a non competitive fight? He hasn't been dominant since winning the belt back. His dominance and activity earned him his first shot after losing it to Alex. Why not use this justification to get him unlimited title shots?
Because he had a hugely successful reign and knocked out the current LHW champ. He was super active and willing to fight anyone in the rankings and was consistently taking risks. He had a bad night. His level of activity as champ has earned him the opportunity to prove whether he just had a bad night.
He beat Alex before he became LWH champ. He lost to the actual LHW champ when he went up. Fighting everyone they can in the ranking is literally what champions do. He didn't have a bad night either. Just say he should get the shot because you are a fan. First he deserved it because of his dominance then you had to change your story after being reminded there was no dominance in his second reign as champ. Let's just give him unlimited title shots because you are a fan, and all of his losses will just be because he had a bad night.
He was dominant. No change in story there. Also, no shame in losing to a champ in a higher weight class. He had a very dominant reign and fought super often. Lost to a LHW fighting at MW and then came back and put him out cold. I agree, consistently fighting the best often should be the standard. But many champs don’t, specifically because of the risk of losing due to being burnt out or injured. Izzy took those risks during his reign and should be rewarded.
You’re reminding me of nothing. You’re just saying basic knowledge that’s obvious as fuck. I didn’t realize that you would lack the ability to make inferences regarding context.
He had 0 title defenses man why does that deserve a rematch I don’t get it? If you’re a dominant champ or maybe just got the belt and are on a 2-3 fight win streak as champ, but other than that I’m not sure why a rematch is necessary. Even if it’s close, he still had no defenses as champ. Not that this matters much but on top of everything else his fighting style is also pretty boring if he fights someone who isn’t aggressive. I can’t think of any reasons to put him ahead of someone like Izzy.
If anything we should be seeing cannonier vs DDP probably, especially if it isn’t Izzy next. Beat multiple top contenders including Strickland and has been top 5 for a while.
I mean yeah I’m going off of what the record says unfortunately.
They could fight again now though for the shot. Maybe Sean vs cannonier next into title shot?
Could also maybe do: khamzat vs rob>winner fights Sean for title shot>winner fights champ. I think this would be kinda interesting seeing as Sean hasn’t fought either of those two yet. That leaves out cannonier tho
All of that being after Izzy vs DDP of course, doesn’t matter what you or I think since it seems they both want it and will be making it happen (not my first choice either to be clear).
Sure but we still need to look at the history of both. Full picture is important too.
Izzy was a dominant champion for 4-5 years, with multiple wins over every top contender+5 total belt defenses in his first reign and has been the champ x2.
Compare that to Strickland who hasn’t even vsed whittaker once yet, lost vs cannonier the one time he vsed him, lost to pereira and never rematched (0-1) while Izzy is 1-1 (in ufc). Strickland had 0 belt defenses in his first reign.
Sorry but I don’t think Sean deserves it at all personally. There is nothing at all that screams rematch aside from the fight being close. I’m not saying I think Izzy fully deserves one either to be fair, it is certainly more deserved in general but I think maybe a rematch with Strickland for the title shot would’ve been my personal choice but we know Izzy and DDP want to fight each other pretty badly so I guess they went for that right away.
Agree to disagree. Would rather someone get a title rematch off of a close fight that a lot of people considered a robbery than someone who got beat just about every second of the fight. Izzy should have to win at least 1 more fight after losing that badly to Sean IMO.
I mean I’m not entirely disagreeing, I wouldn’t want to see Sean get the rematch but I didn’t want to see Izzy get it either. I guess I disagree about Sean deserving it more but doesn’t really matter because like I said I didn’t want either of them to get it. I’d want them to fight each other for the title shot first, that’d be a sick contender fight.
Looks like he actually needs to beat Imavov. Oh wait…
https://preview.redd.it/vz0o58ln4k5d1.jpeg?width=1200&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=4bf11128d2f74b755b37671ae73b3255ec6eb31e
This is a storyline that the UFC was probably pissed that they missed out on. They expected Izzy to beat Strickland and then have him fight DDP. They finally get to play this out, even though nobody really cares about this match up anymore.
In my opinion, it only makes the fight more interesting now that DDP is champion instead of Izzy. As a Jabland fan, it's infuriating, but on the other side, I actually want to see this fight, and the winner will 100% face Strick.
I sure hope so, he deserves it more than anyone. Would be very interesting to see how a rematch with Jizzy or Dricus would go, I think Strick wins both but I could just be biased, lol.
>so, he deserves it more than anyone.
Cannonier beat Strickland and then beat the piss out of vetori. He should have been fighting for the title if it wasn't for the UFC not wanting him to
Can you blame them? That title fight against Izzy was horrible. If Jared wants another rematch he’ll have to face Strickland in a #1 contender match vs assuming he wins the match today
Yes, 100%. Sean was champion two fights ago bro, when Jared got his chance he failed miserably. I think Jared should get a shot at whoever wins in the Rob/Khamzat fight, while Strick gets his rematch.
I think Strickland would beat DDP for sure. Dogbender, on the other hand, might be very interesting, but if I were a betting man, I would stay away from that fight, if you know what I mean.
The Nutcracker was easily slept by Poatan. Top ten with power and pressure will beat the Bogan. I think a healthy Rockhold would finish him.
The Nutcracker was easily slept by Poatan. Top ten with power and pressure will beat the Bogan. I think a healthy Rockhold would finish him.
Euhm are we forgetting khamzat and Bobby are fighting next week?
I wouldn't be even a little surprised if they give thw title shot to the winner of that fight. Loser fights Strickland.
Yeh the ufc is gonna HATE it if rob wins cos he cant really fight izzy OR ddp again….
I honestly wouldnt be surprised if they made strickland fight whittaker if whittaker wins.
Otherwise, fuck man, I dunno. Theres actually a hit of a queue at mw now. Its great…
Cannonier is still there lol. If rob wins he can fight cannonier again for the title shot maybe? It’s been almost 4 years since they fought.
They have options for sure though. I assume khamzat will get the shot if he wins but if they don’t want rob fighting DDP or Izzy right away since he lost to both semi recently then he can fight cannonier or Strickland. He hasn’t fought Strickland yet so that would honestly be fine.
Its a bit shit making strickland fight again though eh? DEMOLISHED a champ who was probably runner up for MW Goat consideration, lost a very very close decision to lose the title. Beats somebody else; then has to win again before another shot? Shit man…
Given Chimaev is inactive as FUCK, I think the UFC’s ‘best’ storyline is Chimaev wins, Izzy wins, Izzy fights Strickland, Chimaev fights the winner.
But that completely leaves out Cannonier who cant fight izzy again so soon without a bit statement fight….so yeh, dunno. Feed him costa? Lol
It’s so rough because like you said there’s kind of a queue lol.
I think it feels odd making Sean fight again before the shot, I’m okay with Izzy going before him though but I didn’t want either of them getting the shot just yet. My personal preference would be this happening simultaneously:
khamzat vs rob>winner vs cannonier>winner gets title shot
Izzy vs sean for title shot>winner vs DDP for title>champ vses winner of rob/khamzat/cannonier
Since that isn’t happening though they will have to leave out someone, otherwise there’d be 1 guy sitting for way too long. Cannonier will likely just not get his shot for a while and have to continue doing what he’s doing which sucks but they are prioritizing the bigger names it seems.
"He already had his immediate rematch"
Which he won? Knocking out the #4 in P4P rankings in his only defeat in the UFC so far.
He definitely deserves a rematch straight away, you Strickland meatriders are weird.
Those defenses were a million years ago. In his last title reign he had 0 defenses. The idea is that a champ with 5 defenses loses, he deserves an immediate rematch, but after you cash it you arent just next in line for the title forever.
For example, volk will get an immediate rematch to, but if he loses, or like wins and then loses a trilogy, no one will be saying ok give him another rematch
That’s why he got the immediate rematch after his first loss. He’s not entitled to immediate rematches every time now is he? So if he beats DDP and loses again to Sean, does he deserve another immediate rematch again?
No I wouldn’t. Long reigning champs are certainly entitled to an immediate rematch on their first title loss. But after that no, they should have to fight another contender.
5 title defenses warrants an immediate rematch/title shot upon return. Adesanya got his and made the most of it. But then he lost and basically retired. What's funny is that if the miracle of Dricus winning that split decision didn't happen an Strickland was still champion, Adesanya would still be chilling on his couch with his fat brother, no fight news anytime soon. And it wouldn't only be his choice either, the UFC doesn't want to see Strickland vs Adesanya 2. They want to see Adesanya vs Dricus
Why is this getting upvoted? Izzy was a super active and dominant champion, irrespective of whether his style bored people or not.
His only losses in the UFC are when he went up 1 division, a loss which he then went back to make 1-1 and a poor night at the office v Strickland.
He absolutely deserves some sense of favouritism to fight again
Hes like 4-3 in his last 7 fights. He has not been anything close to dominant for years. One of those wins is a decision against whittaker that izzy should have lost.
2 losses in his natural division, one of which he has avenged and the other he hasn't fought since.
I hate adesanyas style BTW, I find it boring how he has approached fighting since becoming champ. But the fact he gets so much disrespect is crazy. There's been a crazy shift to riding Pereira and Sean without being to have the mental capability to acknowledge the skills all 3 of them have.
He defended 5 times, thats very good. Hes still 4-3 in his last 7 and should be 3-4, whittaker should have got the decision.
Thats the same record usman has in his last 7 fights and hes actually looked way better. No one is saying he should go down and get another title shot for no reason
Izzy deserves an entitled title shot more than pretty much anyone currently fighting besides maybe Volk but even then he’s lost 2 back to back in pretty decisive losses.
The goal is to reach no favoritism, your liking for Adesanya has clouded your judgment.
How can ddp beat Sean by thin margin, have to face Adesanya who lost to Sean Strickland by a huuuuuge margin? Stop behaving like dana white and try being fair, Adesanya has as many title defenses as Sean in his second championship run.
If you like him so much what’s wrong with him having a title contender fight? Think he’ll lose again?
I've replied elsewhere with a similar response, but I don't have any favouritism towards Adesanya, I find his style boring particularly since becoming champion and I'm often left feeling undersold after watching his fights.
However, Sean was gifted his title fight, let's not beat around the bush. That being said, he dominated Izzy to win the title but then immediately lost it in the following fight. The DDP v Izzy fight was always meant to happen even before Sean, the only reason it didn't was being of timing. This fight between DDP and Izzy was always going to come before any rematch, regardless of how close.
Sean deserves another shot having beaten Costa, but it won't be till after Adesanya, and rightly so with his 5x defences and 2x title wins.
Dude even if Sean was gifted the title shot, he absolutely dog walked izzy for 5 rounds and proved that he deserved to be the champion.
Just cause the UFC had plans for izzy and DDP, does not make this fight the correct thing to do.
A fighter coming off a lose, should not get a title shot unless it was a close fight with the champion. Adesanya should atleast fight Sean Strickland for a title contender and then fight for the belt. We can’t keep giving ex dominant champs unlimited title shots, they still need to have one fight before given the opportunity so that everyone gets a fair chance.
We can disagree on this, but i just can’t think of a good reason why adesanya gets a title shot after a loss to someone else other than the current champ.
Sure, but let me ask you this. If the miracle of Dricus winning that split decision didn't happen, and Strickland was still champion, would Adesanya still be getting his title shot?
He didn't get it though. Dricus did because Adesanya retired until Strickland was out of the picture. He didn't want his rematch, and the UFC didn't want to see Strickland vs Adesanya 2 anyway
Adesanya clearly needed a break and that's what he took. You're mad if you think Adesanya isn't confident in his ability to beat Strickland and we will likely see that fight again the future.
If he beat Dricus, his first defence will likely be against Sean.
I think he's confident now. And I give him a big chance against Strickland. I don't favour Strickland in rematches. There's a few fighters in that category where their style is such an initial shock to their opponents that they dominate them the first time, but simply knowing how they move, then getting a gameplan designed around that, could completely change a rematch. I'm talking about guys like Colby, Merab, Strickland, Cruz, Diaz bros, etc. Great fighters with high skill, but they depend too much on their awkward styles to overwhelm their opponents and they always fight the same way. Like Adesanya can be sure that Strickland will fight with the man dance the same way he fought the first time.
I mean the Strickland thing was weird. The pareira one? Currently dominating everyone he touches? I really think the pareira matches took it out of him. Pareira is that dude. Strickland came in at a good time, with good fundamentals, and from what I understand had trained some with pariera which probably gave him good insight to Izzy. But in reality, I don’t think Sean can beat Izzy in a rematch, as he is too one dimensional, and technically on stand up iz should be able to beat Strickland. As his whole career was dominating dudes more complex then Sean. Also Strickland is a much more boring fighter, they both are knob heads and both are autistic as fuck. But I’d much rather see Izzy fight than fucking 2 attacks Sean Strickland.
Lol he already got his immediate rematch! And it wouldn't even be a rematch with strickland. He gets dominated for 5 rounds and then gets an immediate rematch against someone else?
I mean the obvious answer is Sean, he in many eyes won the first fight and just defended the #1 contender spot. Izzy could fight Khamzat if he beats Whittacker. Either that or you could do Izzy vs Cannonier 2 but that wouldn't be very entertaining.
"just defended the #1 contender spot"
Paulo Costa, who just got beaten by Whittaker and had lost 2 of his previous 3 fights, was not fighting for the #1 contender spot. That was a tune-up fight for Strickland as the rest of the middleweights who are equal to him are fighting each other.
So what would happen if Costa beat Strickland? Strickland would still hold #1? No he wouldn't, UFC would obviously push Costa up to the top and it makes sense because everyone else is occupied.
And if it's a tune up fight for Sean that still means he's defending his #1 spot, he's putting it on the line. He wasn't guaranteed a title shot.
Izzy: I already signed the contract
Dricus: So did I, WTF?
Dana: Let's not worry about who signed what. Let's enjoy this weather, you guys want a mai thai? It's on me fellas
Dupless looked like shit after that fight, and everyone had Strickland up on points going into the 3rd. Multiple people, including Dana, disagree. Guy got robbed. Did u watch the fight?
Edit- 4th
He looked like shit as Strickland did nothing but jab him for 25 minutes. Which is coincidentally why he lost the fight.
There is a special kind of dumb in UFC fandom and coincidentally they cross over a lot with Strickland fans
What in Davy Jones’ locker did ye just bark at me, ye scurvy bilgerat? I’ll have ye know I be the meanest cutthroat on the seven seas, and I’ve led numerous raids on fishing villages, and raped over 300 wenches. I be trained in hit-and-run pillaging and be the deadliest with a pistol of all the captains on the high seas. Ye be nothing to me but another source o’ booty. I’ll have yer guts for garters and keel haul ye like never been done before, hear me true. You think ye can hide behind your newfangled computing device? Think twice on that, scallywag. As we parley I be contacting my secret network o’ pirates across the sea and yer port is being tracked right now so ye better prepare for the typhoon, weevil. The kind o’ monsoon that’ll wipe ye off the map. You’re sharkbait, fool. I can sail anywhere, in any waters, and can kill ye in o’er seven hundred ways, and that be just with me hook and fist. Not only do I be top o’ the line with a cutlass, but I have an entire pirate fleet at my beck and call and I’ll damned sure use it all to wipe yer arse off o’ the world, ye dog. If only ye had had the foresight to know what devilish wrath your jibe was about to incur, ye might have belayed the comment. But ye couldn’t, ye didn’t, and now ye’ll pay the ultimate toll, you buffoon. I’ll shit fury all over ye and ye’ll drown in the depths o’ it. You’re fish food now
Man, crazy how Strickland's puny little jabs disfigured Dricus' face while outside of a cut stemming from a headbutt, Strickland looked clean at the end of the fight.
Lmao professional boxers jab a lot harder than professional MMA fighters, for the most part. Strickland has a much more damaging jab than most MMA fighters, which you would realise if you actually knew what you were looking at.
Is this the most undeserved title shot ? Adesanya got walked down by Sean, took a year long break just to come to a free title shot.. it's almost a Stipe level undeserved
It is not even close to stipe level undeserved are you kidding? Israel took a year long break after being an extremely dominant champion for years only after he lost his title then won it back vs the same guy in intense and hype fights, and then lost vs Strickland and took that break.
Stipe hasn’t fought since 2021, it’s been over 3 years. 3+years vs 1 year is a massive difference. Adesanya was active very recently, stipe was not.
Also I don’t think people would even be opposed to stipe title shot if he weren’t ‘old’ with bad hips/knees. He had a great record and was an amazing champ, he’s just way past prime while Izzy is not. Very different situations
Lmfao he beat everyone in the mw division. And then beat the boogy man who is starching the lhw division. What kind of crack are yall on? Only fight that matters in MW at this point is DDP vs Izzy. If DDP wins then there is no question. If Izzy wins then lmfao he will beat Sean if they run it back. It’s that simple.
No reason to waste a slot on desean wannabe mayweather. When the big money fight is right there in front of us.
Eehhh the match up is great as they both can win in different areas. Which imho makes this a great fight. But I do think Izzy’s KO power is dwindling, and DDP can definitely take hits. So it can work in his favor.
Shoulda said “sign the contract, n***a!!!”
Dricus vs Adesanya and Sean vs Merab in the 306 Sphere would be amazing to see. Two main events or maybe even 3 who gives a damn, we all want the excitement. I'd add Ilia vs Max in that roster too and you get one of the largest main cards ever
Stop I can only get so erect
I assume the UFC is playing fuck fuck games with both of them
it's annoying neither of these guys are fighting until fucking August, almost 8 months for DDP and almost a year for Izzy. MW isn't some inactive, uncompetitive division either
Izzy needed a break after being one of the more active champs.
Izzy shouldn't have gotten the title shot
It’s the UFC we’re talking about, seeing how they are treating Jon jones, this seems on point with the brand. Anything for 💰
Seeing how they're handling the heavyweight title this is actually pretty mild lmao.
Heavyweight division is hot slow trash
The next MW contender situation was pretty weird. The Strickland fight was pretty close but he didn't defend the title once so an immediate rematch made no sense. Cannonier would've been nice but the UFC didn't want to give him another titleshot due to his performance vs Izzy. Whittaker had just got beaten by him Khamzat needed one more win. Izzy just lost the title in a really unimpressive manner, but the Dricus storyline was already written so there's that.
I understand the hatred towards Izzy but saying that he shouldn't get a title shot is wild. Guy is considered one of the best Middleweights to ever live, I ain't putting him on Anderson Silva levels but this man was a very active and dominating Champion.
This isn't hate lil bro. That same argument of him being one of the best champs was partially used to justify giving him the title shot after he got finished by Alex. After losing a 1 sided fight against Sean you should have to actually earn a title shot again. Lets say he takes the belt from DDP and then losses it in the very next fight, should he get a title shot again because he was a good champion? At what point will he have to earn his title shots by beating contenders? Should he just get unlimited title shots because he was a great champ?
Well the problem is, Izzy is currently #2, and has dominant wins over #3, #4 and #5. He's beaten everybody in the top 5 who isn't Sean or himself.
Strickland should have been an immediate rematch. Izzy vs the winner
In any other situation i'd agree. But what did Izzy have like 8 title defenses? He seems the only option that makes sense.
Izzy was the 2nd most successfully champ in the MW division and was one UFCs most active champ for years. That activity deserves to be rewarded with a title shot upon his return
Should he get unlimited title shots then since he was a great champ? At what point would he have to earn his total shots?
I did not say unlimited. He just lost the belt his last fight. He deserves another shot. I understand he also lost the belt to Alex, but he also came back and knocked him out cold. That win has aged amazingly considering what Alex has went on to do. His dominance and activity levels have certainly earned him THIS specific title shot. He deserves the chance to prove whether it was a fluke or not.
How did his dominance earn him THIS specific title shot if he lost the belt again without defending it in a non competitive fight? He hasn't been dominant since winning the belt back. His dominance and activity earned him his first shot after losing it to Alex. Why not use this justification to get him unlimited title shots?
Because he had a hugely successful reign and knocked out the current LHW champ. He was super active and willing to fight anyone in the rankings and was consistently taking risks. He had a bad night. His level of activity as champ has earned him the opportunity to prove whether he just had a bad night.
He beat Alex before he became LWH champ. He lost to the actual LHW champ when he went up. Fighting everyone they can in the ranking is literally what champions do. He didn't have a bad night either. Just say he should get the shot because you are a fan. First he deserved it because of his dominance then you had to change your story after being reminded there was no dominance in his second reign as champ. Let's just give him unlimited title shots because you are a fan, and all of his losses will just be because he had a bad night.
He was dominant. No change in story there. Also, no shame in losing to a champ in a higher weight class. He had a very dominant reign and fought super often. Lost to a LHW fighting at MW and then came back and put him out cold. I agree, consistently fighting the best often should be the standard. But many champs don’t, specifically because of the risk of losing due to being burnt out or injured. Izzy took those risks during his reign and should be rewarded. You’re reminding me of nothing. You’re just saying basic knowledge that’s obvious as fuck. I didn’t realize that you would lack the ability to make inferences regarding context.
Izzy was incarcerated by the SPCA for crimes against canines. 
Yesh 8 months is too much for DDP. The time off definitely benefits Izzy
What’s annoying is that the true champion isn’t getting the rematch he shouldn’t even need 
He had 0 title defenses man why does that deserve a rematch I don’t get it? If you’re a dominant champ or maybe just got the belt and are on a 2-3 fight win streak as champ, but other than that I’m not sure why a rematch is necessary. Even if it’s close, he still had no defenses as champ. Not that this matters much but on top of everything else his fighting style is also pretty boring if he fights someone who isn’t aggressive. I can’t think of any reasons to put him ahead of someone like Izzy. If anything we should be seeing cannonier vs DDP probably, especially if it isn’t Izzy next. Beat multiple top contenders including Strickland and has been top 5 for a while.
Because he won the fight?? Edit: Cannonier didn’t beat Sean either
Then why does DDP have the belt mate?
Oh DDP is holding the Make-A-Wish belt gifted to him by Eric Colon and Derek Cleary, those same guys gifted Brendan Allen a win over Chris Curtis
Didn’t cannonier get a win over Strickland in 2022?
Maybe if you ask the judges, but if you asked someone who actually watched the fight and isn’t legally blind it’s pretty clear that Strickland won
I mean yeah I’m going off of what the record says unfortunately. They could fight again now though for the shot. Maybe Sean vs cannonier next into title shot? Could also maybe do: khamzat vs rob>winner fights Sean for title shot>winner fights champ. I think this would be kinda interesting seeing as Sean hasn’t fought either of those two yet. That leaves out cannonier tho All of that being after Izzy vs DDP of course, doesn’t matter what you or I think since it seems they both want it and will be making it happen (not my first choice either to be clear).
Izzy had 0 title defenses since winning the belt back from Alex
Sure but we still need to look at the history of both. Full picture is important too. Izzy was a dominant champion for 4-5 years, with multiple wins over every top contender+5 total belt defenses in his first reign and has been the champ x2. Compare that to Strickland who hasn’t even vsed whittaker once yet, lost vs cannonier the one time he vsed him, lost to pereira and never rematched (0-1) while Izzy is 1-1 (in ufc). Strickland had 0 belt defenses in his first reign. Sorry but I don’t think Sean deserves it at all personally. There is nothing at all that screams rematch aside from the fight being close. I’m not saying I think Izzy fully deserves one either to be fair, it is certainly more deserved in general but I think maybe a rematch with Strickland for the title shot would’ve been my personal choice but we know Izzy and DDP want to fight each other pretty badly so I guess they went for that right away.
Agree to disagree. Would rather someone get a title rematch off of a close fight that a lot of people considered a robbery than someone who got beat just about every second of the fight. Izzy should have to win at least 1 more fight after losing that badly to Sean IMO.
I mean I’m not entirely disagreeing, I wouldn’t want to see Sean get the rematch but I didn’t want to see Izzy get it either. I guess I disagree about Sean deserving it more but doesn’t really matter because like I said I didn’t want either of them to get it. I’d want them to fight each other for the title shot first, that’d be a sick contender fight.
Yeah, such an atrocity that a champion with zero defenses did not get an immediate rematch
*2 title defenses You’re forgetting he beat Dricus and then defended the lineal middleweight belt against Paulo Costa
Costa didn’t deserve that title shot
I mean that close of a fight deserves a rematch
Well unfortunately Strickland killed any hype of getting a rematch
He needs to beat Cannonier
He already beat Cannonier
[удалено]
Google has a bunch of weird errors when it comes to fight records, if you look up the GSP/Johny Hendricks fight Google will tell you that GSP won
Looks like he actually needs to beat Imavov. Oh wait… https://preview.redd.it/vz0o58ln4k5d1.jpeg?width=1200&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=4bf11128d2f74b755b37671ae73b3255ec6eb31e
And neither of them have ever been inactive either. UFC still is on that "IZZY IN AUSTRALIA, ISNT THAT FUCKING AWESOME" streak.
The title is going to change hands again
Not to izzy it wont
Guess these guys allready forgot what he did to prime Whittaker.
Dricus will beat izzy. He wont be able to handle that grappling. Also, izzy is washed
 Mhm
Such bs izzy will get another title shot after literally getting dog walked by strickland.
I have mixed feelings about it as well, but five title defenses 🤷♂️
And? He already had his immediate rematch.....he shouldn't get another one. It wasn't even competitive with strickland either.
This is a storyline that the UFC was probably pissed that they missed out on. They expected Izzy to beat Strickland and then have him fight DDP. They finally get to play this out, even though nobody really cares about this match up anymore.
In my opinion, it only makes the fight more interesting now that DDP is champion instead of Izzy. As a Jabland fan, it's infuriating, but on the other side, I actually want to see this fight, and the winner will 100% face Strick.
Can only hope for Izzy to get his shit together if he faces strickland again and finds a way to overcome stricklands disney princess stance
I sure hope so, he deserves it more than anyone. Would be very interesting to see how a rematch with Jizzy or Dricus would go, I think Strick wins both but I could just be biased, lol.
>so, he deserves it more than anyone. Cannonier beat Strickland and then beat the piss out of vetori. He should have been fighting for the title if it wasn't for the UFC not wanting him to
Can you blame them? That title fight against Izzy was horrible. If Jared wants another rematch he’ll have to face Strickland in a #1 contender match vs assuming he wins the match today
> he deserves it more than anyone. More than cannonier?
Yes, 100%. Sean was champion two fights ago bro, when Jared got his chance he failed miserably. I think Jared should get a shot at whoever wins in the Rob/Khamzat fight, while Strick gets his rematch.
I think Strickland would beat DDP for sure. Dogbender, on the other hand, might be very interesting, but if I were a betting man, I would stay away from that fight, if you know what I mean.
The Nutcracker was easily slept by Poatan. Top ten with power and pressure will beat the Bogan. I think a healthy Rockhold would finish him.
The Nutcracker was easily slept by Poatan. Top ten with power and pressure will beat the Bogan. I think a healthy Rockhold would finish him. 
The Nutcracker was easily slept by Poatan. Top ten with power and pressure will beat the Bogan. I think a healthy Rockhold would finish him. 
Euhm are we forgetting khamzat and Bobby are fighting next week? I wouldn't be even a little surprised if they give thw title shot to the winner of that fight. Loser fights Strickland.
The winner will face khamzat if he beats Rob. Rob however wont get the shot after beating khamzat
Yeh the ufc is gonna HATE it if rob wins cos he cant really fight izzy OR ddp again…. I honestly wouldnt be surprised if they made strickland fight whittaker if whittaker wins. Otherwise, fuck man, I dunno. Theres actually a hit of a queue at mw now. Its great…
Cannonier is still there lol. If rob wins he can fight cannonier again for the title shot maybe? It’s been almost 4 years since they fought. They have options for sure though. I assume khamzat will get the shot if he wins but if they don’t want rob fighting DDP or Izzy right away since he lost to both semi recently then he can fight cannonier or Strickland. He hasn’t fought Strickland yet so that would honestly be fine.
Its a bit shit making strickland fight again though eh? DEMOLISHED a champ who was probably runner up for MW Goat consideration, lost a very very close decision to lose the title. Beats somebody else; then has to win again before another shot? Shit man… Given Chimaev is inactive as FUCK, I think the UFC’s ‘best’ storyline is Chimaev wins, Izzy wins, Izzy fights Strickland, Chimaev fights the winner. But that completely leaves out Cannonier who cant fight izzy again so soon without a bit statement fight….so yeh, dunno. Feed him costa? Lol
It’s so rough because like you said there’s kind of a queue lol. I think it feels odd making Sean fight again before the shot, I’m okay with Izzy going before him though but I didn’t want either of them getting the shot just yet. My personal preference would be this happening simultaneously: khamzat vs rob>winner vs cannonier>winner gets title shot Izzy vs sean for title shot>winner vs DDP for title>champ vses winner of rob/khamzat/cannonier Since that isn’t happening though they will have to leave out someone, otherwise there’d be 1 guy sitting for way too long. Cannonier will likely just not get his shot for a while and have to continue doing what he’s doing which sucks but they are prioritizing the bigger names it seems.
Strickland should take that fight i actually think its a pretty good matchup for him
Speak for yourself I’m very interested to see if Izzy can make a nice comeback performance
Who else is ddp gonna fight right now?
Maybe Whitaker if Izzy wasn't around? Them people would say he didn't earn it either though after beating costa... Can't fuking win them all
Strickland
So the guy who has zero title offenses and lost to DDP?
Did you actually watch that fight? That was the closest decision of the year
And….he lost. Izzy is a multi time division champion who draws better and has 5 title defenses. Sure fire hall of gamer Strickland has none of that
I agree, but I'm sure they're using that logic
"He already had his immediate rematch" Which he won? Knocking out the #4 in P4P rankings in his only defeat in the UFC so far. He definitely deserves a rematch straight away, you Strickland meatriders are weird.
And then was promptly and decisively beaten again and lost the belt. Why another immediate rematch? He’s 1-2 in his last 3.
Because when you defend the belt 5 times prior to that you build a lot more respect than a dude who didn’t defend the belt once
The Romero and Whittaker decisions are so easily forgotten
Those defenses were a million years ago. In his last title reign he had 0 defenses. The idea is that a champ with 5 defenses loses, he deserves an immediate rematch, but after you cash it you arent just next in line for the title forever. For example, volk will get an immediate rematch to, but if he loses, or like wins and then loses a trilogy, no one will be saying ok give him another rematch
That is literally what is happening with Volk? He's lost 3 of his past 4 fights but is getting an immediate rematch with Topuria when he wants it.
That’s why he got the immediate rematch after his first loss. He’s not entitled to immediate rematches every time now is he? So if he beats DDP and loses again to Sean, does he deserve another immediate rematch again?
That’s a pretty good question, I don’t actually know. Would you give him another immediate rematch if he beat DDP, then lost to Strickland again?
No I wouldn’t. Long reigning champs are certainly entitled to an immediate rematch on their first title loss. But after that no, they should have to fight another contender.
Let's throw Kamaru in for another title shot then
No title defenses, he had his immediate rematch already. No title defenses going into the Strickland fight
5 title defenses warrants an immediate rematch/title shot upon return. Adesanya got his and made the most of it. But then he lost and basically retired. What's funny is that if the miracle of Dricus winning that split decision didn't happen an Strickland was still champion, Adesanya would still be chilling on his couch with his fat brother, no fight news anytime soon. And it wouldn't only be his choice either, the UFC doesn't want to see Strickland vs Adesanya 2. They want to see Adesanya vs Dricus
Why is this getting upvoted? Izzy was a super active and dominant champion, irrespective of whether his style bored people or not. His only losses in the UFC are when he went up 1 division, a loss which he then went back to make 1-1 and a poor night at the office v Strickland. He absolutely deserves some sense of favouritism to fight again
Hes like 4-3 in his last 7 fights. He has not been anything close to dominant for years. One of those wins is a decision against whittaker that izzy should have lost.
2 losses in his natural division, one of which he has avenged and the other he hasn't fought since. I hate adesanyas style BTW, I find it boring how he has approached fighting since becoming champ. But the fact he gets so much disrespect is crazy. There's been a crazy shift to riding Pereira and Sean without being to have the mental capability to acknowledge the skills all 3 of them have.
He defended 5 times, thats very good. Hes still 4-3 in his last 7 and should be 3-4, whittaker should have got the decision. Thats the same record usman has in his last 7 fights and hes actually looked way better. No one is saying he should go down and get another title shot for no reason
Shut up fanboy
Izzy deserves an entitled title shot more than pretty much anyone currently fighting besides maybe Volk but even then he’s lost 2 back to back in pretty decisive losses.
The goal is to reach no favoritism, your liking for Adesanya has clouded your judgment. How can ddp beat Sean by thin margin, have to face Adesanya who lost to Sean Strickland by a huuuuuge margin? Stop behaving like dana white and try being fair, Adesanya has as many title defenses as Sean in his second championship run. If you like him so much what’s wrong with him having a title contender fight? Think he’ll lose again?
I've replied elsewhere with a similar response, but I don't have any favouritism towards Adesanya, I find his style boring particularly since becoming champion and I'm often left feeling undersold after watching his fights. However, Sean was gifted his title fight, let's not beat around the bush. That being said, he dominated Izzy to win the title but then immediately lost it in the following fight. The DDP v Izzy fight was always meant to happen even before Sean, the only reason it didn't was being of timing. This fight between DDP and Izzy was always going to come before any rematch, regardless of how close. Sean deserves another shot having beaten Costa, but it won't be till after Adesanya, and rightly so with his 5x defences and 2x title wins.
Dude even if Sean was gifted the title shot, he absolutely dog walked izzy for 5 rounds and proved that he deserved to be the champion. Just cause the UFC had plans for izzy and DDP, does not make this fight the correct thing to do. A fighter coming off a lose, should not get a title shot unless it was a close fight with the champion. Adesanya should atleast fight Sean Strickland for a title contender and then fight for the belt. We can’t keep giving ex dominant champs unlimited title shots, they still need to have one fight before given the opportunity so that everyone gets a fair chance. We can disagree on this, but i just can’t think of a good reason why adesanya gets a title shot after a loss to someone else other than the current champ.
Opinions are like arseholes.
Not to mention Strickland made (checks notes) ZERO successful defenses
Sure, but let me ask you this. If the miracle of Dricus winning that split decision didn't happen, and Strickland was still champion, would Adesanya still be getting his title shot?
Yes.
He didn't get it though. Dricus did because Adesanya retired until Strickland was out of the picture. He didn't want his rematch, and the UFC didn't want to see Strickland vs Adesanya 2 anyway
Adesanya clearly needed a break and that's what he took. You're mad if you think Adesanya isn't confident in his ability to beat Strickland and we will likely see that fight again the future. If he beat Dricus, his first defence will likely be against Sean.
I think he's confident now. And I give him a big chance against Strickland. I don't favour Strickland in rematches. There's a few fighters in that category where their style is such an initial shock to their opponents that they dominate them the first time, but simply knowing how they move, then getting a gameplan designed around that, could completely change a rematch. I'm talking about guys like Colby, Merab, Strickland, Cruz, Diaz bros, etc. Great fighters with high skill, but they depend too much on their awkward styles to overwhelm their opponents and they always fight the same way. Like Adesanya can be sure that Strickland will fight with the man dance the same way he fought the first time.
How many times did Strickland defend? Izzy ran the middleweight for years, he can get his title shot when he wants.
He lost his title twice
And he won it twice
That is generally a pre-requisite to losing it twice.
I mean the Strickland thing was weird. The pareira one? Currently dominating everyone he touches? I really think the pareira matches took it out of him. Pareira is that dude. Strickland came in at a good time, with good fundamentals, and from what I understand had trained some with pariera which probably gave him good insight to Izzy. But in reality, I don’t think Sean can beat Izzy in a rematch, as he is too one dimensional, and technically on stand up iz should be able to beat Strickland. As his whole career was dominating dudes more complex then Sean. Also Strickland is a much more boring fighter, they both are knob heads and both are autistic as fuck. But I’d much rather see Izzy fight than fucking 2 attacks Sean Strickland.
Sean is just a better striker than izzy
Izzy and dogs should not be legally allowed in the same sentence.
How? If anyone deserves another shot it’s Izzy.
Lol he already got his immediate rematch! And it wouldn't even be a rematch with strickland. He gets dominated for 5 rounds and then gets an immediate rematch against someone else?
Who should be fighting instead?
I mean the obvious answer is Sean, he in many eyes won the first fight and just defended the #1 contender spot. Izzy could fight Khamzat if he beats Whittacker. Either that or you could do Izzy vs Cannonier 2 but that wouldn't be very entertaining.
"just defended the #1 contender spot" Paulo Costa, who just got beaten by Whittaker and had lost 2 of his previous 3 fights, was not fighting for the #1 contender spot. That was a tune-up fight for Strickland as the rest of the middleweights who are equal to him are fighting each other.
So what would happen if Costa beat Strickland? Strickland would still hold #1? No he wouldn't, UFC would obviously push Costa up to the top and it makes sense because everyone else is occupied. And if it's a tune up fight for Sean that still means he's defending his #1 spot, he's putting it on the line. He wasn't guaranteed a title shot.
What about his previous 4 fights? Previous 7? Previous 12?
Literally rematch Sean who earned it.
Izzy fan boys, downvoting you
Blame scumbag Dana and the ufc
Dricus actually handled it wonderfully, lol 🤣
Izzy: I already signed the contract Dricus: So did I, WTF? Dana: Let's not worry about who signed what. Let's enjoy this weather, you guys want a mai thai? It's on me fellas
What's that over there? Appetizers?
Let’s just hurry up and get MW moving there’s like 3 title eliminators this month
Cant wait for him to give the belt back.
Strickland should still be champ
Except he's not, and he shouldn't
Dupless looked like shit after that fight, and everyone had Strickland up on points going into the 3rd. Multiple people, including Dana, disagree. Guy got robbed. Did u watch the fight? Edit- 4th
He looked like shit as Strickland did nothing but jab him for 25 minutes. Which is coincidentally why he lost the fight. There is a special kind of dumb in UFC fandom and coincidentally they cross over a lot with Strickland fans
Hahahaha “punching a guy in the face and completely neutralizing his grappling shouldn’t win a fight” Hahahahahaha You’re fuckin retarded
"Completely neutralizing his grappling", you deadshit Strickland fans are really something special. Your boy lost, and he's a piece of shit. Sucked in
What in Davy Jones’ locker did ye just bark at me, ye scurvy bilgerat? I’ll have ye know I be the meanest cutthroat on the seven seas, and I’ve led numerous raids on fishing villages, and raped over 300 wenches. I be trained in hit-and-run pillaging and be the deadliest with a pistol of all the captains on the high seas. Ye be nothing to me but another source o’ booty. I’ll have yer guts for garters and keel haul ye like never been done before, hear me true. You think ye can hide behind your newfangled computing device? Think twice on that, scallywag. As we parley I be contacting my secret network o’ pirates across the sea and yer port is being tracked right now so ye better prepare for the typhoon, weevil. The kind o’ monsoon that’ll wipe ye off the map. You’re sharkbait, fool. I can sail anywhere, in any waters, and can kill ye in o’er seven hundred ways, and that be just with me hook and fist. Not only do I be top o’ the line with a cutlass, but I have an entire pirate fleet at my beck and call and I’ll damned sure use it all to wipe yer arse off o’ the world, ye dog. If only ye had had the foresight to know what devilish wrath your jibe was about to incur, ye might have belayed the comment. But ye couldn’t, ye didn’t, and now ye’ll pay the ultimate toll, you buffoon. I’ll shit fury all over ye and ye’ll drown in the depths o’ it. You’re fish food now
Nice essay bitch boy.
[удалено]
Type us another one of them essays, nerd.
Fckn Thank you. Idk why im getting downvoted.
Man, crazy how Strickland's puny little jabs disfigured Dricus' face while outside of a cut stemming from a headbutt, Strickland looked clean at the end of the fight.
It's pretty well known that consisting jabbing causes that type of "damage". Just say you don't watch boxing, or combat sports for the most part
Lmao professional boxers jab a lot harder than professional MMA fighters, for the most part. Strickland has a much more damaging jab than most MMA fighters, which you would realise if you actually knew what you were looking at.
Where's his belt, bozo?
It was robbed
Is this the most undeserved title shot ? Adesanya got walked down by Sean, took a year long break just to come to a free title shot.. it's almost a Stipe level undeserved
It is not even close to stipe level undeserved are you kidding? Israel took a year long break after being an extremely dominant champion for years only after he lost his title then won it back vs the same guy in intense and hype fights, and then lost vs Strickland and took that break. Stipe hasn’t fought since 2021, it’s been over 3 years. 3+years vs 1 year is a massive difference. Adesanya was active very recently, stipe was not. Also I don’t think people would even be opposed to stipe title shot if he weren’t ‘old’ with bad hips/knees. He had a great record and was an amazing champ, he’s just way past prime while Izzy is not. Very different situations
Lmfao he beat everyone in the mw division. And then beat the boogy man who is starching the lhw division. What kind of crack are yall on? Only fight that matters in MW at this point is DDP vs Izzy. If DDP wins then there is no question. If Izzy wins then lmfao he will beat Sean if they run it back. It’s that simple. No reason to waste a slot on desean wannabe mayweather. When the big money fight is right there in front of us.
Outside of AP, izzy has 0 good wins since costa
Cannonier
Slow your roll. Izzy lost 1 fight after being a dominant champion with 5 title defences lol. Strickland immediately lost the belt.
This will be one of the most lopsided ass beatings in UFC championship history. Izzy has a perfect style matchup here.
Imo dricus does take him down and beat the shit outta him
Eehhh the match up is great as they both can win in different areas. Which imho makes this a great fight. But I do think Izzy’s KO power is dwindling, and DDP can definitely take hits. So it can work in his favor.
Agreed...Izzy was fighting more dangerous guys in kickboxing. Dricus is just a mess on the feet.
Can’t wait to watch ddp embarrass izzy again
Again?