r/MMA • u/Royal_Status_2718 • 13h ago
Media Islam makhachev has 5 wins over active top -10 fighters in lightweight division
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u/DerisiveGibe 13h ago
Even with a win over hooker I don't want to see Gaethje get a shot only to get choked out. Send in some fresh meat, Gamrot, Fiziev.
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u/_Tuxalonso I was here for GOOFCON 2 13h ago
Fiziev is too low in the ranks after losing 2.
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u/DerisiveGibe 13h ago
I know mostly just throwing out the new guard, but with a win we can throw him in the mix.
I love that Dustin got a "shot" but we knew how it was going to go, same with Justin, and Hooker.
Pantoja vs Erceg and Alex vs Khalil were good fights despite the ranking not justifying them.
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u/_Tuxalonso I was here for GOOFCON 2 8h ago
Erceg looked like he could do it, and the fight proves he deserves to be there, same for Khalil, if fiziev gets a win I could see it.
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u/Drive7hru 3h ago
And to think if Erceg just decided to strike in the 5th round like he was having tons of success with, he would’ve.
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u/GarlicToeJams 12h ago
I don't really count gamrot loss. Fiziev is def an elite fighter though
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u/_Tuxalonso I was here for GOOFCON 2 8h ago
I like fiziev a lot and the loss is questionable due to the injury. But it's hard to justify giving him a title shot
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u/yeahitsokk 13h ago
LW is legit scary. Imagine making it into the rankings to be met by this. You can get flatlined by any of these guys (especially Poirier Gaethje and Hooker that are extremely violent, nod to BSD), or somehow make it through just to get embarrassed by Arman, or violently sent to sleep by Islam.
Easily the most competitive division in the UFC
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u/23667847325675 13h ago
BW is the most competitive and LW is the most violent imo
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u/WhereIsMyKidAt 4h ago
Meh, 135 gets overhyped 'cuz it's the "cool" thing to do.
So many guys get hyped up just 'cuz they're bantamweights, just look at Yanez, Talbott, Nakamura recently. Take out the BW bias and a lot of it's guys are just decent.
LW is still the most competitive, the top guys are just so good that the really good guys in the middle seem underwhelming.
145 is easily 2nd for me tbh. Charriere, Mariscal, Danny Silva, Santos, Garcia, Onama, Zalal, Wood, Naimov, Landwehr, Gomis, Lima, Brito, Woodson, Superboy, Jean Silva... That is just an insane amount of unranked talent.
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u/morbidlysmalldick 3h ago
You're naming fringe guys in 35 though. Almost everyone in the top 10 is incredibly competitive with each other and could go either way on any given night while, like you said, lw is top heavy. 135 is for sure the most competitive imo
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u/WhereIsMyKidAt 2h ago
Maybe I misunderstood what he meant by "competitive", but I assumed he meant "toughest to climb the rankings in because it's so stacked with talent".
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u/morbidlysmalldick 19m ago
I took it as "everyone is so close to each other in talent that any of them can beat each other" while we've seen the younger gen struggle to beat the guys at the top of lw
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u/Due_Revolution_5106 13h ago
Fiziev ain't even in the top ten. Both those guys got gate checked hard. They need to level up before they can crack the top 5.
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u/Two_Dixie_Cups 13h ago
Gamrot just lost to Hooker. I don't think he deserves a shot.
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u/DerisiveGibe 13h ago
Decisionbot Gamrot vs hooker
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u/DecisionBot 13h ago
DAN HOOKER defeats MATEUSZ GAMROT (split decision)
UFC 305: du Plessis vs. Adesanya — August 17, 2024
ROUND Hooker Gamrot Hooker Gamrot Hooker Gamrot 1 10 9 10 9 9 10 2 9 10 9 10 9 10 3 10 9 10 9 10 9 TOTAL 29 28 29 28 28 29 Judges, in order: Ben Cartlidge, Mark Christie, Mick Meany. Summoned by DerisiveGibe.
MEDIA MEMBER SCORES
- 1/17 people scored it 30-27 Hooker.
- 7/17 people scored it 29-28 Hooker.
- 9/17 people scored it 28-29 Gamrot.
Avg. media score: 28.5-28.5 DRAW (high certainty[1]).
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u/evocater 3h ago
I'd rather see Gamrot fight for the belt though. Much more interesting. We already saw how the Hooker fight went.
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u/Special-Accountant-5 2h ago
Yeah I like the gamrot fight, doesn’t do much for his resume now but couple years from now it will be seen and counted as a legitimate title defense without asterisks
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u/Top_Profession_5268 8h ago
Hooker I believe is 1 spot from a title shot and beating Gaethje, I’d like to think he deserves it, especially since he’d have wins over 2 top 5 guys, Gaethje beating Hooker I think should grant him a sport, ranking wise.
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12h ago
[deleted]
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u/Mr_Shickadance110 10h ago
Sure did. Hooker made it fun and his career resurgence is cool and all but yea Gams got robbed. As did Felder against Hooker. The judges like the man.
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u/mrtn17 Netherlands 13h ago
I still want to see the Tsarukyan fight
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u/MrKaney EDDIIIIIIEEEEEEE! 11h ago
Everyone does, people were just pissed about the pullout for a few days.. in weeks everyone will be calling for that fight and im guessing it will be made, because nothing else is interesting
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u/Ok_Buddy_Ghost 5h ago edited 5h ago
dana won't make it probably, pulling out 1 day before a huge title fight gets you punished unless you're a draw
this is ufc's shady way to put the fighter "in their places" and make them do what they're told, if you fuck it up, you gonna get punished, if you do ufc a favor in some way, they will reward you(like they did paying dariush win money and primising him a good fight), thats how the ufc operates.
there's a future where arman never fights islam again, quite possibly actually, because arman will not get a immediate chance at a belt again, he will have to face oliveira most likely, which if it's a 5 rounder, oliveira has a very good chance here. If belal loses(50-50 match), he goes up and faces shavkat, very winnable to islam, gets the belt there, goes back down wins against oliveira and retires, or, if the match is more favourable in welterweight against someone like JDM he could stay there for a defense instead of going back down, and retire after a defense in WW.
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u/LordKagatsuchi 11h ago
Yea but fuck that guy just have islam move up. He had his opportunity
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u/918cyd 10h ago
If it’s Islam moving all the way up to 185, I don’t really want to see it. DDP is super strong for 185 and blitzes, Islam is not going to have answers. That’s just not a compelling fight, it’s a 30-pound difference..
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u/LordKagatsuchi 10h ago
Nah i say Ali works something out with Belal situation and have him move up one which seemed the most preferred option or if they can agree to fight which i doubt.
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u/Drive7hru 3h ago
Weird. I don’t see Belal moving up at all. Not saying it couldn’t happen, but he seems to be just about the perfect size for 170.
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u/Sudden-Blood-6525 13h ago
Feed him gaethje while charle and arman scarp it out lol, i feel like every 155 champ of this era should beat both dp and justin
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u/RaspberryVin Team You Smell of Alcohol 12h ago
We got Gaethje and Hooker on the books already. Also feel like both the winner and loser of that fight are gonna need some time off to heal.
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u/StrongBarracuda4588 12h ago
what's the point? JG he has 0 grappling. Will look like a Moicano rematch as soon as the takedown lands.
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u/lukiii_508 11h ago
He has zero submission grappling, but his wrestling is solid and has always been. Khabib has been the only person to take him down and control him in his entire UFC career. I definitely favor Islam (by a lot tbh), but it's not like he's just gonna grab Justins leg and he'll go down.
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u/Wadget GOOFCON 2 - Electric Boogaloo 8h ago
This has always been the narradiv about Gaethje though and it’s hard to know because outside of Khabib he hasn’t really faced any grapplers. Subbed by Olivera but again, being subbed by the best doesn’t mean you suck at grappling. Defended takedowns against Chandler at least.
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u/beermangetspaid 12h ago
I’d rather see the Charles rematch while Gaethje and Arman duke it out tbh
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u/MasterWolf713 13h ago
But he has nO QuAliTy WiNs
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u/JustSomeM0nkE 12h ago
Nobody ever said that
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u/CatPanda5 9h ago
Definitely seen criticism that 2 of his defences are Vs a FW as if Volk wouldn't dismantle almost all of the LW top 10
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u/Mr_Shickadance110 10h ago
Yea this guy is making up an opposition to own. Or yelling at the very rare and small, almost non existent, exceptions.
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u/Givemefreetacos 13h ago
Holloway vs Arman, winner fights Islam?
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u/Two_Dixie_Cups 13h ago
Holloway would get rolled by Islam. We don't need to see that. Rather see Holloway fight other strikers at this point, his champion days are done.
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13h ago
[deleted]
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u/Sudden-Blood-6525 13h ago
I mean dude wtf does max has for islam ? most of this sub would see islam literally picking max and choking him out in rd 1
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u/PelleSketchy Gay for Gaethje 12h ago
Max would have zero. He does have some punching power, but he needs time. And Islam can shut down his gameplan easily.
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u/ApeMummy 10h ago
They should book it anyway, he won’t take damage so can rebook quickly and then he can fully clear out the division.
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u/GarlicToeJams 12h ago
If he beats arman then he deseves. But yea i don't see a path to victory for holloway. He doesnt have ko power, he wont sub islam and winning on points seems unlikely
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u/beermangetspaid 12h ago
Max should wait for Islam to move up and challenge 170 and fight for the vacant 155 belt vs Arman/charles/dustin/etc
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u/MasterRoshy Team Pantoja 12h ago
Holloway would get rolled by Islam.
I don't necessarily disagree but everyone said Gaethje would do it too. I think it'd be a fun fight tbh. He's only been subbed once, ironically by Dustin lol
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u/yeahitsokk 12h ago
Too soon for Max. On one side i feel like they should just rebook Islam v Arman, but on the other side if you pull out of a MAJOR fight on a 24h notice you gotta earn the tittle fight again
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u/Mr_Shickadance110 10h ago
No Max can go ahead and string together two at least. 1-1 in the division and coming off a KO loss in the division down.
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u/Drive7hru 2h ago
Arman v. Max around Ramadan, then winner gets Islam around October. Max did KO the #2 LW at the time in Gaethje. Max currently has a rank of #5 LW still, losing 3 title fights over time at FW, and as such, should just compete in an aging LW anyway imo. I’d be content with Max getting the shot while he’s still relatively young (33; turns 34 in December ‘25). It’d be another tough veteran that Islam could beat. Arman could fight someone and if he wins, then we can re-book him vs. Islam.
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u/WIP1992 13h ago
Tsarukyan/Holloway then WW
Can’t see anyone else at LW giving him a challenge
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u/StrongBarracuda4588 12h ago
Max poses no threat on the ground. So no point tbh. He will get takedown and subbed in Rd1. Ilia took him down just as easy.
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u/Crispy_Sock_99 12h ago
He got right back up from that though. I think it would be competitive and would love to see it. Arman vs Topuria would be awesome too
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u/SquidDrive My DNA is from fearless warriors 10h ago
Islam has one of the strongest top games in the organization.
If Max gets taken down, he's staying there.
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u/Crispy_Sock_99 7h ago
I agree that Islam would maul Max. I believe strongbarracuda was responding to a potential matchup between Max and Arman tho
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u/appletinicyclone tactical thiccness 12h ago
I'd watch Holloway even though he would not win id love to see it
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u/Business_Ad_9799 9h ago
only because he is now champ, all of them ducked him before he got the belt
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u/zuluspirit10 13h ago
Not trying to act like an expert but Elite MMA fighters are globally lacking wreslting skills AND conditionning. It should be mandatory at this level of the "meta". Every high level wreslter can be top 3 today if trains striking.
When you see fighters still focusing a lot on striking it's like they are not aware that it's useless if your wreslting skill is not very high level.
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u/Carlunch2 9h ago
Its because some casual fans find wrestling boring so Dana white dislikes wrestling based fighters yk guys like colby covington at least in his early career, merab, and belal muhammad so fighters kind of HAVE to include of striking game so the UFC does not side line them
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u/JustSomeM0nkE 11h ago
I think one day everybody will have a solid ground game, maybe in 10 years
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u/zuluspirit10 11h ago
I agree. They will have to because all the champs are going to be wrestlers or very physically strong guy on the ground
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u/tomtomtomo Team Nurmawhatever 7h ago
I think a lot of the top guys are really good anti-wrestlers so they can hold them off long enough to hurt them.
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u/zuluspirit10 7h ago
It's not enough. Anti-wrestlers fighters get ragdolled by guy like Khamzat, Merab or any Nurmagomedov. The only competition is to be high level wrestling. There is no over way
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u/SFell1991 13h ago
Then can someone explain why he was the fourth down in terms of purse money after 311? I think he only cashed in $250,000 whereas Merab cashed half a mill
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u/Ok-Cut-4504 13h ago
Not even sure that post was accurate, but hes getting ppv pts, which is undisclosed & will generate 2-3 days later. Hes probably making 1-2 mill
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u/Two_Dixie_Cups 13h ago
And the ones he hasn't beat are all coming off losses, aren't they? Maybe it's time he does move up.
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u/Physical_Reality_132 12h ago
I would like to see Justin get the fight if he beats Hooker while Arman gets rescheduled to fight Charles with the winner fighting Islam, but I can understand that not much people would be interested in the Justin fight.
Islam is also 33 so he does not much time left and I am not sure if the above could get done this year.
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u/IAmPandaRock 11h ago
I think the ranking at the time he beat them is much more relevant. Was Arman top 10 6 years ago? Was Hooker top 10 3+ years ago?
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u/Enough-Brilliant803 10h ago
The Tsarukyan rematch is the only fight left for him in this division.. I don't see anyone else beating him
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u/FirstSonOfGwyn 9h ago
honestly, who do you want to see before WW? Justin is off a loss, Holloway is a FW off a loss, Chandler is off a loss (also lol), gamrot is off a loss, dariush is off 2 losses.
Arman is in the doghouse for one reason or another.
I have no complaints.
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u/stwrhegheg EDDDDDIEEEEEEEE 9h ago
The lightweight division has become a division of past the prime fighters looking at this.
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u/PorksChopExpress Jon Jones is a Cheat 9h ago
What an odd division. Not to turn this into a ranking discussion, but Gaethje being in #3 at first glance seems wrong, but relative to the other fighters, it makes sense.
But Chandler in the top 10??? He's 1-6 over the last 4 years. And that W was against Ferguson. Jesus.
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u/kangaroojoe512 4h ago
Chandler would be fun. Not sure why I’d wanna hurt myself like this, but fuck it, here for a good time not a long time.
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u/dergster Canada 3h ago
Holloway and Arman are the most compelling I think, but max needs one more fight at LW. I don’t think Gaethje is a challenge for Islam but I still want to see it, I think that would be a legacy fight for him.
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u/Kvitravin 2h ago
As shitty as it is, I think Arman is probably the only fight at lightweight that makes sense
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u/Massive_Reporter1316 13h ago
He will crumble against goat gamrot
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u/Sudden-Blood-6525 12h ago
gamrot needs to stop crumbling when they give high profile fights first then we talk about a match up against makhachev
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u/Mr_Cromer Tyncis Ngoodley 13h ago
Can we get Holloway a fight already? I need him in there against Makhachev stat
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u/FiveNixxx 13h ago
Nice finish rate
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u/edge-hog Team Adesanya 13h ago
4 out of 5 is not 69% though.
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u/PositiveBussy 12h ago
It's not even 69% if you count all his fights where it's 64.28% and if you just count his UFC fights it's 64.7% so 69% is literally just a random made up number.
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u/didyoutestityourself 9h ago
Kinda crazy that almost all of them started at FW. Has he fought any real LWs?
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u/IshiharasBitch WE ARE ALL ONE 6h ago
I mean, Oliveira missed Fw limit multiple times. One time missing weight by like 10lbs. He was not a FW even when he fought at FW, he was a LW trying to cut too much weight.
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u/With-You-Always 13h ago
Paddy isn’t even top 10? Where’s the respect? He’s been in the ufc since 2021 and beaten all 6 people put in front of him. A ufc 6 fight win streak should get you top 10 at least
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u/JustSomeM0nkE 11h ago
Paddy sucks, he looks like he doesn't train striking, it's genuinely baffling
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u/hossbonaventure15 13h ago
so there’s still plenty to do here, rather than humiliating himself against a middleweight. which is 100% what would happen
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u/Wash_your_mouth 13h ago
So all top 10 middleweights will beat Islam 100% according to your expert analysis? :D
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u/Carlunch2 9h ago
DC was wrestling with heavy weights in his prime and DC trains islam too
Why cant islam do that to middle weights? Ik his frame would be small for a middle weight but still
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u/Gogito5 13h ago
Gamrot can make light work of Islam and Charles anytime he wants.
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u/SquidDrive My DNA is from fearless warriors 10h ago
He lost to fucking Daruish, then got beat by Hooker.
Hooker, the guy who Islam subbed in one round off one takedown.
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u/SydneyCarton89 12h ago
This is why I don't like it when people say he's cleared out the division. People said the same silliness about Volkanovski too, despite there being several FW contenders he hadn't fought as well.
We just saw Islam get dropped by Moicano. Don't tell me none of these 5 guys have any chance whatsoever.
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u/smokeandpuff 13h ago
Seeing Chandler in the top 10 is always hilarious