Nice to see the UFC booking the fights that make sense for the division. Charles vs Islam…and now Dariush vs Gamrot is targeted for the same Abu Dhabi card. Great fight
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Welp, thats the best PPV main card I’ve seen this year.
UFC 280 Quick Card
- Charles Oliveira vs. Islam Makhachev 155 lbs
- Aljamain Sterling vs. T.J. Dillashaw 135 lbs
- Belal Muhammad vs. Sean Brady 170 lbs
- Petr Yan vs. Sean O’Malley 135 lbs
- Beneil Dariush vs. Mateusz Gamrot 155 lbs
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Wow that’s an unreal line up
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Yep, the two title fights are two of the more compelling title fights we have seen in a long time. Then you got a likely #1 contenders fight at WW, basically a #2 or even #1 contenders fight at BW (if Aldo beats Merab in August he will likely get the next title fight as he will be 4-0 but if not then the winner of this Yan fight could get next title shot) and then Dariush vs Gamrot winner will very possibly get next title shot, especially if 8-0 Dariush wins.
Personally, the main event is by far my favorite on-paper MMA fight of 2022. I’ve wanted to see this fight for a couple years and I’ve expected both Oliveira and Makhachev to be major players in the title picture and possible belt holders for several years now. Used to get so frustrated they could not get the big fights Barboza, Michael Johnson, Gaethje etc… were getting.
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Not trying to say I called it but I called it.
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The Islam era of LW is upon us
I really hope they don’t do something weird like put Muhammad vs Brady as the featured prelim with a fight we don’t care about on the PPV. However, even if we lose one of those fights, and one is a prelim…I buy a PPV headlined by those 2 title fights, and any one of those other 3 as the featured fight.
I don’t see them booking Yan vs Aljo again right away, but I agree…any other combination of winning fighters likely sets up the next fight…unless Aldo and TJ win…I think the UFC would love that matchup.
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Agree…more than anything, I just don’t want to lose Oliveira vs Makhachev, like I said, its my favorite fight in forever.
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I don’t know what the Sheikhs did to Dana but holy fuck they put together the card of the year.
Big wins for 15-0 Usman Nurmagomedov and 20-4 Tofiq Musayev. Musayev is 16-1 since 2015. Those two along with Barnaoui are three huge signings for the Bellator LW division and if you like seeing the best vs the best its a shame UFC could not get these guys to come compete in the premier LW division of the sport. I just don’t see much comp being available for these three in Bellator.
In terms of the Bellator LW title picture and entertainment…I think a LW GP, 8 man or 16 in 2023 would be the perfect move for Bellator as they have Patricky Pitbull, Usman, Musayev, Barnaoui, Shabliy, Primus, Queally, Bendo, possibly AJ McKee etc… that could make it a lot of fun. Especially if they do half the “round of 16” on one card and half on another card a week later like they did with the FW GP. It would have ran faster but covid lockdowns fucked that up.
Back to the UFC LW title picture… we got:
Oliveira vs Makhachev for the title on 10/22.
Chandler vs Poirier being talked about
Dariush return vs Gamrot on 10/22.
Conor’s possible LW return at the end of 2022 or start of 2023.
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I’m really curious what the UFC does with the winner of Chandler vs Poirier. Let’s say it’s Chandler and it’s spectacular…with the huge Ferguson KO and impressive win over Poirier, is he right back in a title fight? If it’s Oliveira and and Dariush wins on 10/22 also, I assume it’s Dariush and Charles…but what if it’s Gamrot and Islam who win? I don’t think there’s a big buzz around Gamrot yet, and with Chandler obviously cutting a great promo after beating Poirier (and likely having the higher ranking) does he go right back to a title fight?
If Poirier wins and stops him, does he? I assume if Charles is the champ, both rematches are harder to sell…but if it’s Islam, I wonder if the winner gets the shot?
To further complicate things…what if Conor comes back and gets a win over literally anyone and shit talks Islam. I have to assume the UFC would kill for Islam vs Conor for the belt, and hope they get half the PPVs Conor vs Khabib sold (half would still be the 2nd biggest UFC PPV ever, right?).
The division has a ton of intrigue right now.
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You raise a lot of great points and there are for sure tons of interesting possibilities given the outcomes of the upcoming fights. I think UFC would much rather throw Chandler back in the title picture than Poirier but who knows. I’m not really sure how much bigger the Conor wins made Poirier, not really sure how much longer he wants to compete. Same with Chandler, I’d assume both men have five or six or less fights in them at this point given age and the miles.
Of course UFC would love a Conor win as you are right, Conor vs Islam would be insanely huge and possibly even bigger than Conor Khabib since Khabib is still around to grow the feud with Conor in the media and carry Islam in the promotion of the fight. Conor vs Charles would also be huge because you have the whole Conor vs Brazil angle and Charles was just part of the best selling PPV of the year already when he headlined vs Gaethje. Charles holds the record for most FOTN/POTN bonuses in the history of the UFC so he is Mr. Excitement and even a lot of casuals know it now.
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Charles has never been a proven draw though. The guys he fought in his biggest cards were all bigger names than him. Conor vs. a Brazilian who can’t speak English at all doesn’t make for as good tv.
When Islam beat Charles, the elephant in the room will be Conor not willing to take the biggest fight in UFC history against Islam because he has no chance.
I think from your first scenario with Islam, Gamrot and Chandler winning…I feel 99% sure Chandler would get the title shot (though personally I’d like to see Gamrot if he can beat Dariush).
Even if Charles wins, if Chandler finishes Dustin I think he did enough in the first round vs Oliveira to give the ufc some highlight package material of rocking him, and before that surviving with Charles on his back, that they’d be able to sell it as a “anybodys fight”. Beating Poirier would likely give him a bigger push from the company than anyone other than Conor. Chandlers work on the mic helps that too. I don’t wanna talk Conor personally until he’s back and hopefully he doesn’t get a title fight til earning it
I think the UFC knows what they’re getting in Chandler…a guy who will cut a good promo and fight who they ask him to. With Poirier, every other fight he’s talking about wanting a new deal, or maybe I’m changing weight classes, maybe I’m retiring. At this point in his career, he’s not really someone they can put a ton of promotional effort into.
And before anyone flames, I’ve posted about it before and don’t have the patience to find it all. There have been several times he’s publicly turned down fights, asked for his release, demanded new contracts etc. He’s certainly not as bad as someone like Nate Diaz to negotiate with, but he’s not easy to negotiate with either…and he’s already talked about not being sure he wants to try to climb the ladder back to a title shot.
So I don’t think the UFC puts him in a title fight unless they absolutely can’t avoid it.
I agree, Chandler likely gets the shot…he’s also older so his earning window is smaller…the UFC would know they have Gamrot for a while.
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I agree 100% and yeah, you started to point out the issues with Poirier and the UFC a while ago, I remember reading it in this thread. He is 0-2 in title fights, 33 years old and has been pro for 13 years and really… how many fights are out there for you that don’t feel like a backwards step after you just beat Conor 2x? Its not like he is gonna lose his next fight and then turn around and be willing to fight someone like Tsarukyan climbing the ranks. I don’t think he wants to go out like Tony and Diaz either. He really has had a very impressive run here the past five years. I’ve enjoyed it.