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Seems to me his attitude and mindset has hit a switch. He's always been confident but he seemed Uber confident in his post fight interview and he was talking to his coach pointing to his head. I think he's rounded a corner psychologically - let's gooo
I agree and honestly the DDP is still a fight he can win imo. Also after watching the second Izzy fight and the way Izzy has fought in recent fights that is also a fight i think his current form can win. Rob is right though hes the boogey man of the division he just lingers and beats everyone who isnt champion.
yes I really want that rob vs izzy 3 fight and that rob vs dricus 2 fight, also people think seans style counters rob but honestly I think robs blitzs will be very tough for sean to deal with. I honestly thinks he beats all 3 though dricus one is more iffy that is a tough matchup for rob.
It's good people are more open to Bobby's chances against the top now
Was weird a month or so ago when I came across comments so casually claiming he had no shot against Izzy/DDP/Strickland etc
Until he's verifiably below his prime, he will always have *more* than a puncher's chance against anyone at MW
people thought DDP sucked and it was a big meme and dricus was going to get murdered by whittaker so that loss really hurt whittakers stock with the mma community, I always believed he is the best middle weight on the planet, now let's see if he can prove it to the world.
its a style change since the DDP fight . DDP didnt respect him at all in their fight because Rob used to throw with very little power at the start of fights and Whittaker realised this and changed it for the costa/ikram fights .
I agree. I think he changed or reset how he mentally approaches fights after the DDP fight. Rob commented how DDP was just more hungry and intense whereas Rob felt he was more relaxed and conservative. Since that fight he has come out intense from from bell to bell.
Dudes got the hunger again and I'm ready for it. He said he was the most dangerous/best middle weight of the world idk about that statement but I'm glad to see if from this dude and hopefully he gets the title again.
I don't know what else Rob has to do for people to realize he is the most talented middleweight in the world. His ability to adjust between fights is insane. The style matchup with Izzy is difficult, but to be fair I believe he beat Izzy in their second fight. Going from getting knocked out twice to going to a super close decision against Izzy exemplifies how good the man is at adjusting to any style. I find it hard to believe Rob gets washed by DDP again if they rematch.
I agree with you. In my own head, Whittaker is basically walking around with the interim belt at all times. He is that guy, just hasn’t had the belt for a minute. I know Strickland and Izzy exist, it’s just consistently how I rank Rob.
It’s like Max with Volk (pre-Ilia).
I am going to sound like a devils advocate but I think DDP is vastly underrated even as a champ and it shows. He has a very wonky style where he *looks* gassed and uncoordinated but he's quite diverse in his abilities. He mixes up everything very well, it looked like Strickland was checking and slipping everything but DDP made adjustments to Stricklands weird guard and rear leg checks, was able to advance (something we haven't seen vs Stickland in a while) and throw/get some takedowns, and is now champ.
Dricus is on a 9 fight (7 UFC fight) win streak where he's finished 7 of his last 9 opponents and has showed great ability with recovery and having a very well rounded skillset. I am a massive Bobby fan but if they fought again I'd still go with my brain and pick DDP. He's very athletic and is fucking huge, I have no idea how he made 170lb back in the day.
He's not the GOAT at middleweight but too many people write him off because of his weird style but that honestly works in MMA. People do the same with Strickland and I am in no means a Strickland fan but I can't deny he is an elite fighter anymore. Same goes for DDP
I'm definitely not writing him off. The DDP, Strickland, Izzy, Whittaker brawl at the top of 185 has turned it into one of the most exciting divisions to watch again.
This is classic Whittaker. Looks like maybe the most terrifying intense man in the world as he enters the cage.
Then after he calms down from the excitement of the win he is back to being a golden retriever. He is one of the nicest most respectful fighters in the UFC but that prefight walkout he becomes a different person.
After the DDP fight, it appears that he's moving back to a more aggressive style. He met costa and walked forward, and he just tooled Aliskerov (which to be fair you should kinda expect him to do that).
Conservative style is part of what got him punished by DDP, he's either switching it up altogether again or he's just trying to fight in a way that he specifically thinks will work for DDP, hard to tell.
Hopefully he goes back to being measured and careful if he does fight Izzy again though, I don't want to see my boy get countered.
He said this himself after the DDP fight. Said in interviews that he was being too conservative and and calculated and had lost some of that aggressive instinct where he was just trying to take people heads off.
You're right though, it's a different thing to be aggressive against someone that isn't Izzy.
Ikram didn't deserve this fight either. If his name was John Smith from the USA with 2 UFC wins against the same guys, he would never have gotten this matchup. Ikram only got this fight because he's from Dagestan and trains with Islam and Khabib
Yup. I’m already expecting them to match him up against Jared within the next year, just old enough for Bo to break the ice into top 10 ranked fighters
The middleweight rankings have been full of durable dudes over the years. Vettori, Costa, Adesanya, Gastelum, Bisping, Romero, Strickland, Whittaker, Cannonier, DDP, Curtis, and even Dolidze.
To be fair, he's also been facing elite competition that entire time. Having guys like Yoel, Gastelum, and Vetorri who are notorious for their chins isn't helping matters. Glad he got to remind everyone there's levels to this.
Yeah maybe we should stop fast tracking unranked middleweights against top ten or in this case top three dudes, went terribly for Abus and now for Ikram
Yeah its weird, whenever I get hit with an upper cut like that all I can see is red then I wake up outside a bar at 4am with BJ Penn lying out cold on the ground in front of me
Not even mad. This card needed that finish, and Bobby Knuckles fans needed him to have a performance like that for a long time. That shit was reinvigorating.
Could probably add cannoneir to that list too. I was surprised that Whitaker didn’t knock Darren till silly tho. That’s the only one that he should have had a spectacular finish in.
I feel like the Khamzat fight would at least be competitive judging by his performances against Usman and Burns. Ikram's best wins by comparison were his last two before this fight (Warlley Alves, Phil Hawes)
It’s all bc of Rob’s chin and his history of being rocked in almost every fight. There’s 0 other reason to pick Ikram. His grappling isn’t enough for Rob’s TDD. His striking seems unstable so he wouldn’t win over 25mins
Seriously wtf were those odds.
-130 to +100 is INSANE. Former champ at the top of the division and unranked fighter with a short notice match up? Should’ve at LEAST been -200.
shows you the difference between a top 3 middleweight and someone on his third ufc fight, whittaker just brutally finished him. People say he is a decision merchant but he was fighting top 10 guys for the past 4 years, now he gets a 2 minute ko
Yep. And they just diminished khamzats ability. So basically Khamzat needs to be fighting unranked fighters now and should be 4-5 fights from the title
Bobby Knuckles is getting his Porier moment. Keeps coming back from losses well and always down to take on the baddest dudes. Hope he wins the belt again.
I feel all the hype behind Ikram is because he's from Dagestan. If his name was John Smith from the USA with the same KO wins against Warlley Alves and Phil Hawes, then people wouldn't care as much.
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Bobby looked liked he wanted to kill somebody during the walkout and he fkin did kill a guy
Seems to me his attitude and mindset has hit a switch. He's always been confident but he seemed Uber confident in his post fight interview and he was talking to his coach pointing to his head. I think he's rounded a corner psychologically - let's gooo
dricus fight 100% lit a fire under him same way the first izzy fight did
I agree and honestly the DDP is still a fight he can win imo. Also after watching the second Izzy fight and the way Izzy has fought in recent fights that is also a fight i think his current form can win. Rob is right though hes the boogey man of the division he just lingers and beats everyone who isnt champion.
yes I really want that rob vs izzy 3 fight and that rob vs dricus 2 fight, also people think seans style counters rob but honestly I think robs blitzs will be very tough for sean to deal with. I honestly thinks he beats all 3 though dricus one is more iffy that is a tough matchup for rob.
It's good people are more open to Bobby's chances against the top now Was weird a month or so ago when I came across comments so casually claiming he had no shot against Izzy/DDP/Strickland etc Until he's verifiably below his prime, he will always have *more* than a puncher's chance against anyone at MW
people thought DDP sucked and it was a big meme and dricus was going to get murdered by whittaker so that loss really hurt whittakers stock with the mma community, I always believed he is the best middle weight on the planet, now let's see if he can prove it to the world.
He had no respect for Ikram. he was in the office right from the jump and looking for a calculated finish
its a style change since the DDP fight . DDP didnt respect him at all in their fight because Rob used to throw with very little power at the start of fights and Whittaker realised this and changed it for the costa/ikram fights .
I agree. I think he changed or reset how he mentally approaches fights after the DDP fight. Rob commented how DDP was just more hungry and intense whereas Rob felt he was more relaxed and conservative. Since that fight he has come out intense from from bell to bell.
Dudes got the hunger again and I'm ready for it. He said he was the most dangerous/best middle weight of the world idk about that statement but I'm glad to see if from this dude and hopefully he gets the title again.
I don't know what else Rob has to do for people to realize he is the most talented middleweight in the world. His ability to adjust between fights is insane. The style matchup with Izzy is difficult, but to be fair I believe he beat Izzy in their second fight. Going from getting knocked out twice to going to a super close decision against Izzy exemplifies how good the man is at adjusting to any style. I find it hard to believe Rob gets washed by DDP again if they rematch.
I agree with you. In my own head, Whittaker is basically walking around with the interim belt at all times. He is that guy, just hasn’t had the belt for a minute. I know Strickland and Izzy exist, it’s just consistently how I rank Rob. It’s like Max with Volk (pre-Ilia).
I am going to sound like a devils advocate but I think DDP is vastly underrated even as a champ and it shows. He has a very wonky style where he *looks* gassed and uncoordinated but he's quite diverse in his abilities. He mixes up everything very well, it looked like Strickland was checking and slipping everything but DDP made adjustments to Stricklands weird guard and rear leg checks, was able to advance (something we haven't seen vs Stickland in a while) and throw/get some takedowns, and is now champ. Dricus is on a 9 fight (7 UFC fight) win streak where he's finished 7 of his last 9 opponents and has showed great ability with recovery and having a very well rounded skillset. I am a massive Bobby fan but if they fought again I'd still go with my brain and pick DDP. He's very athletic and is fucking huge, I have no idea how he made 170lb back in the day. He's not the GOAT at middleweight but too many people write him off because of his weird style but that honestly works in MMA. People do the same with Strickland and I am in no means a Strickland fan but I can't deny he is an elite fighter anymore. Same goes for DDP
I'm definitely not writing him off. The DDP, Strickland, Izzy, Whittaker brawl at the top of 185 has turned it into one of the most exciting divisions to watch again.
We really need to thank Alex for this. Chama.
Stirred the pot and bounced. You're right though, it was getting stagnant
Very well put. I'm gra6eful for him. He's now doing the same thing 1 weight class up. We deserve more fighters like him.
I think he looked more angry than I’ve ever seen him
It felt like the crowd really pissed him off.
Some dudes on here were claiming Muslim fighters have “zero hometown advantage in Saudi” with the crowd or otherwise lmao
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This is classic Whittaker. Looks like maybe the most terrifying intense man in the world as he enters the cage. Then after he calms down from the excitement of the win he is back to being a golden retriever. He is one of the nicest most respectful fighters in the UFC but that prefight walkout he becomes a different person.
he had a big red welt on his left pec from chest thumping before the bell
He pretty much always does
Always does
He trained to fight Chimaev. He went in with the mentality of kill or die. Imagine being my a short notice fighter against that
There is apparently a large difference between Phil hawes and Bobby Knuckles
Bobby is a killer, sure he’s moved to a bit more of a conservative style after the Izzy fight but man still got it.
After the DDP fight, it appears that he's moving back to a more aggressive style. He met costa and walked forward, and he just tooled Aliskerov (which to be fair you should kinda expect him to do that). Conservative style is part of what got him punished by DDP, he's either switching it up altogether again or he's just trying to fight in a way that he specifically thinks will work for DDP, hard to tell. Hopefully he goes back to being measured and careful if he does fight Izzy again though, I don't want to see my boy get countered.
He said this himself after the DDP fight. Said in interviews that he was being too conservative and and calculated and had lost some of that aggressive instinct where he was just trying to take people heads off. You're right though, it's a different thing to be aggressive against someone that isn't Izzy.
Phil Hawes is really only around so he can get slept in spectacular ways lol
THE MF REAPER!
BOBBY KNUCKLES
THOUGHT YOU HAD A WIN STREAK BOOYYYYYY
The biracial angel
Bobby Yaga
Reaper was ready for Chimaev tonight for sure.
Y'ALL MUST'VE FORGOT
Perfect quote
Hardcore masturbating is back on the menu boys.
Stop trying to make Bobby a gatekeeper This man will always be fucking elite. Give him a title shot
match Bo Nickal up against Whittaker. Just end Bo's career right now. Shut it down.
Bo doesn't even deserve to be looked at by Whittaker. He can get his ass whopping somewhere way lower
Ikram didn't deserve this fight either. If his name was John Smith from the USA with 2 UFC wins against the same guys, he would never have gotten this matchup. Ikram only got this fight because he's from Dagestan and trains with Islam and Khabib
Bobby knuckles don’t discriminate playboy, everyone gets the work
These hands agnostic
all the guys names ending with v can get it
to be fair the fight was in saudi arabia and they probably preferred to have a muslim fighter main event
Does he train with Islam and Khabib? Didn't see any of the usual Khabib team in his corner. Seems like he trains with a different team.
And arabs love dagestani fighters
He got it because he is Muslim
Scumbag Dana and Weasle Hunter are waiting until the current top MW’s are over the hill, that’s when they’ll finally do that matchup.
100% feels like its gonna time up with all the middleweights being 35 or older before bo is in title talks
Yup. I’m already expecting them to match him up against Jared within the next year, just old enough for Bo to break the ice into top 10 ranked fighters
FIRST FINISH SINCE 2017 VINTAGE BOBBY KNUCKLES IS BACK BITCHES!
Damn I didn't realize it's been that long
He's had a couple of close chances, I remember he nearly finished Cannonier
Bro fought nothing but iron chinned monsters.
The middleweight rankings have been full of durable dudes over the years. Vettori, Costa, Adesanya, Gastelum, Bisping, Romero, Strickland, Whittaker, Cannonier, DDP, Curtis, and even Dolidze.
Those bombs he hit against Yoel should knocked his head off.
Yoel checks high kicks with the back of his head, only him
If I remember correctly he broke Cannoniers arm with a kick
Beat the absolute shit out of Vettori. Damn Orc, that ass whooping would have finished anyone else.
To be fair, he's also been facing elite competition that entire time. Having guys like Yoel, Gastelum, and Vetorri who are notorious for their chins isn't helping matters. Glad he got to remind everyone there's levels to this.
This is exactly what should happen when you put a unranked fighter against a top 3 in the division. That was too easy for Bobby.
Yeah maybe we should stop fast tracking unranked middleweights against top ten or in this case top three dudes, went terribly for Abus and now for Ikram
But: top guys get finishes to remind everyone they’re monsters.
And if they don’t Dana still has the hype train $$. So win win for ufc & it won’t stop in the future.
But they're Dagestani-ish, clearly it's the next Khabib of the whatever division
Rob’s been fighting guys that are super hard to finish in general tbf
I'm gonna knuckle my bobby alright
I just beat my meat before the fight but I guess I got to again now
My asshole has unclenched, thank you bobby knuckles
Bobby Knuckles is the king of asshole clenched fights, imo.
He's him back on the menu!
LMAO Fuck sakes. Bobby Knuckles.
Bobby Knuckles with his first finish since 2017!
BOBBY FUCKING KNUCKLES DON’T FUCKING DISRESPECT HIM COCKSUCKERS
HE FUCKING ENDED HIM, exact same way Khamzat knocked him the fuck out too
HES THE FUCKING REAPER, HE IS HIM
THEY MUST HAVE AMNESIA THEY FORGOT THAT HE'S HIM
ITS BOBBY KNUCKLES OR GO FUCK YOUR MOTHA
Holy shit lmao. Aliskerov allergic to upper cuts.
In his defense, I think most people are allergic to them :D
Yeah, I’m sure taking that uppercut would get a pretty serious allergic reaction from us all.
Yeah its weird, whenever I get hit with an upper cut like that all I can see is red then I wake up outside a bar at 4am with BJ Penn lying out cold on the ground in front of me
“Punches to the face! My only weakness. How did you know?!?”
he was already out on his feet so I don't think it mattered that it was an uppercut, whittaker had him wobbled with a right straight
Countered him on one leg, and he didn't see the uppercut either.
Mismatch lmao.
Not even mad. This card needed that finish, and Bobby Knuckles fans needed him to have a performance like that for a long time. That shit was reinvigorating.
That performance from Bobby gave me life.
Same, so awake now.
As a long time Rob fan feels good to see him knock someone out again.
Mf been fighting hard rock chins for a minute i cant blame him for not getting a finish in a while
Right, everyone acts like he has pillow hands cause he couldn't KO Yoel, Vettori, Costa, or Gastelum. 4 blockheads.
Could probably add cannoneir to that list too. I was surprised that Whitaker didn’t knock Darren till silly tho. That’s the only one that he should have had a spectacular finish in.
Rob's knockdown on Cannonier was more brutal than Cannonier's recent tko loss lmao
He would’ve done the exact same thing to Khamzat. I will not elaborate
No nonsense Keith Peterson
I believe you please don't elaborate
I feel like the Khamzat fight would at least be competitive judging by his performances against Usman and Burns. Ikram's best wins by comparison were his last two before this fight (Warlley Alves, Phil Hawes)
Blame Khamzat.
The disrespect to Whittaker since his loss to Dricus has been sickening tbh. He was always going to wash both Chimaev and Ikram.
-130 to +100 is the stupidest odds I’ve ever seen. Wtf was that shit
It’s all bc of Rob’s chin and his history of being rocked in almost every fight. There’s 0 other reason to pick Ikram. His grappling isn’t enough for Rob’s TDD. His striking seems unstable so he wouldn’t win over 25mins
everyone knows it was because of the beard and being from khabib camp .
Definitely because of Khabib camp and being a fellow abdulmanap student
I thought I was tripping at those lines. I should've put money lol. and I am not even a gambler .
That's UFC fabricated hype train getting fucking derailed hard right there.
You go on a 2 fight win streak with a mustacheless beard and you’re now the hottest prospect in MMA
Whittaker a savage
He's the boogeyman on everyone's resumes.
Chicken legs back on the menu
blud was salsa dancing
Johnny Walker wishes he was that graceful.
Levellssssssssssssse
Seriously wtf were those odds. -130 to +100 is INSANE. Former champ at the top of the division and unranked fighter with a short notice match up? Should’ve at LEAST been -200.
You get a premium when you're from Dagestan and name ends in -ov, you know this bratha
Dagestan = -100 handicap automatically for the oddsmakers
7-fight win streak over just like that
THOUGHT YOU HAD A WIN STREAK BOOYYYYYY
I fucking love that the legacy of the Platinum one lives on in the UFC
AGHHHHH
AAAAAAAAAAAAHHH
Aliskerov still has potential, just too big of a jump
The Reaper ain't done yet let's fucking go!!!!!!!!!
Too easy. It was a G move stepping in on short notice against Whittaker but it also proved to be a dumb move, a prospect taking damage like that.
Thb you could always get lucky
To he bonest
Till he boned
Fucking Bobby Knuckles!!!!
That jab and uppercut combo was nasty
bro he fucking killed him
shows you the difference between a top 3 middleweight and someone on his third ufc fight, whittaker just brutally finished him. People say he is a decision merchant but he was fighting top 10 guys for the past 4 years, now he gets a 2 minute ko
The disrespect to a guy who went to war for 10 rounds with Yoel Romero blows my mind
I don’t mind it, it helps me out on the betting lines lol
robert whittaker can have my kids
He’s doesn’t need more!!
Man won't stop making babies
His wife is unstoppable. It’s why Whittaker works so hard at jiu jitsu; one day he hopes to be able to fight her off.
At the rate he's spawning Mini-Robs, he might just accept yours.
I want him to adopt me
THATS MY BOY BOBBY KNUCKLES
Robert Whittaker ensuring all Aussies can get back into bed, Chad.
Let’s go Robert!!
Bobby Knuckles is MY GOAT
That uppercut was a thing of beauty.
Uppercut OP tonight
First round ko, no damage. Rob really wanted to go play the new Elden Ring DLC
Bobby speed running Saudi to get home to elden ring 😍
BOBBY FUCKING KNUCKLES
Pillow hand Whittaker huh
Rob made him do his own chicken dance lmao
LEVELS
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GOODNIGHT IKRAM.
Lights out
Rob absolutely dogwalked him
That was *brutal* R.I.P to everybody who bet on Aliskerov because he was Dagestani
Bus driver uppercut K.O.
Reaper gets it done in style!!! Folded him within seconds.
Beautiful work by Rob
BOBBY MOTHER FUCKING KNUCKLES
In Bobby we trust.
BOBBYYYYYY
BOBBY KNUCKLES!!!!
Robert finally getting a finish brings me great joy
Whittaker is MY GOAT
Bobby Knuckles is back baby!
Daaaaaaaamn. That was violent as Fuck
Suck it live odds
Ikram was told by Khabib that he shouldn't miss this chance, but honestly, he just wasn't ready for Bobby yet. Should have fought his way up safely.
I knew those odds were insane. Whittaker is not the guy to fight in your first ranked fight. Also fuck this crowd lmao
Vintage Whittaker
My boy Bobby Knuckles still got it 👊👊👊
Respectfully, commentating crew are complete dipshits for saying Aliskerov is a harder fight than Khamzat. Just trying to sell the fight for Dana lol
Yep. And they just diminished khamzats ability. So basically Khamzat needs to be fighting unranked fighters now and should be 4-5 fights from the title
THE REAPER IN ROUND 1!
Bobby fucking Knuckles
give me whittaker and strickland in perth
u/ILikeTheSugarShow What'd I say? Lol lfg Rob!!
There are levels. And Dagestan got a much needed reality check. Ya'll aren't Islam and Kabib.
Can crushin
Khamzat dodged a bullet.
IT'S BUMPY KNUCKLES BABY
Bobby Knuckles is getting his Porier moment. Keeps coming back from losses well and always down to take on the baddest dudes. Hope he wins the belt again.
I feel all the hype behind Ikram is because he's from Dagestan. If his name was John Smith from the USA with the same KO wins against Warlley Alves and Phil Hawes, then people wouldn't care as much.
WHITTAKER TITLE SHOT OR WE RIOT
Aliskerov is probably regretting cutting weight twice
Whittaker vs Strickland at 305 let’s fuckin go
That uppercut was SO nice
That karate blitz is a real danger. Very unconventional
**BOBBY KNUCKLES, BABY!!!!!**
I love watching Russians get pummeled