Unless Poirier has regressed, Chandler is pretty close to a tailor made opponent for him.
Realistically speaking, with all the up-and-coming talent at LW, I think both guys time near the top of the division are very limited.
It is nuts to think that longtime training partners Khabib and Islam are a combined 24-1 in the UFC and 51-1 in MMA overall.
A bold statement from the American Kickboxing Academy head coach, who also trained former UFC lightweight champion and Hall of Famer Khabib Nurmagomedov. But when breaking down all the skills and disciplines, Mendez says no one matches Makhachev (22-1 MMA, 11-1 UFC).
“You don’t know what you’re dealing with until you’re dealing with him,” Mendez told Submission Radio. “That’s what everybody that’s dealt with Islam, they thought they could do better, until they get in there and they didn’t. He is so well-rounded. I am going on record saying as the lightweight, he is hands down the No. 1 of all time, best in all areas.
“No. 1 of all time, Islam Makhachev. Best defense, best striking, best everywhere. The best all-around athlete. Way, way back in the day I thought it was Frank Shamrock that was the best well-rounded athlete, and he was in all divisions. But in the lightweight division, for me, the person that’s the best-rounded in every single area is Islam Makhachev.”
Nurmagomedov, who is Makhachev’s mentor, is widely regarded as the most dominant force in UFC history. He retired as an undefeated and undisputed lightweight champion, who never faced adversity inside the octagon. However, Mendez says the only man to ever give him trouble in a practice room is Makhachev.
“In all the history, since 2012, since Khabib’s been doing sparring with me in front of my eyes, there has been nobody that’s ever taken a round from him,” Mendez said. “No one’s ever won a sparring session. Not a sparring session with Khabib ever. Except one man. Islam. He’s the only one that has won rounds from Khabib. Never won a session, but he’s won rounds. And I’ve never seen that. So, obviously, when Khabib talks about the next heir, he’s not saying something that he’s trying to make up and make people believe.
“He knows, like I know, how good his Islam is. That’s why he’s so confident in what he’s saying. Khabib’s not known to say something that he doesn’t mean. And he means it, I mean it. And now it’s time for Islam to go out there and shine and let everybody know what Khabib already knows and I know, that he’s the best right now. He is the best. And we have to prove it and we will prove it.”
In other ONE LW news, former 3 weight ONE champ Martin Nguyen fights Freymanov at LW tonight.
I see Nastyukhin has actually moved up to WW for this fight tonight per tapology.
One more thing on those four fighters. I see Gamrot is ranked 9, Tsarukyan 10 and Ismagulov 11.
No ranking for Kutateladeze who beat #9 Gamrot in his UFC debut and then just dropped a split decision to Ismagulov.
Tony is one a five fight losing streak meanwhile Ismagulov is 5-0 in UFC and has not lost a fight in seven years! Yet they are ranked close to one another?
So Kutateladze can beat #9 and not get ranked but Tony can stay ranked while he has not beat a top 15 ranked fighter in five years and is on a 0-5 streak? These are not “all time” rankings but 2022 rankings.
Looking at the current top 15 UFC LW rankings it is very clear that Conor, Tony and Hooker are in the rankings based on fights they won years and years ago. Its been years since Hooker has won a big fight as well.
These are the 2022 rankings, not the 2017 rankings or all time rankings. There is a reason I don’t look at UFC rankings very often.
Halil Amir was only the 357th ranked LW yesterday and he just upset Nastyukhin who was the man who KOed Alvarez less than a year after he had beat Gaethje and Nastyukhin has also recently fought for the ONE LW title.
Ilya Fremanov was only the 272nd ranked LW yesterday and he just upset Nguyen who is a former 2 division ONE champ who had also competed for and lost a close SD in his bid for a 3 weight class title.
Two big upsets there.
I can’t believe I haven’t checked out this thread before, you guys are legends for the information dropped in here.
Thank you all for your time and efforts, it’s appreciated.
Why do you keep saying Conner & title shot in the same sentence? Thats absolute rubbish.
I’d like to see fights booked for Pimblett, Dawson, Madsen etc… soon. Expect all three of those guys to make some waves in that UFC LW division in 2023.
I see 2x PFL champ Natan Schulte now fights Stephens on the PFL finals. Davi Ramos is now in ACA and fighting Kokov.
Upcoming fights for fightmatrix top 100 ranked fighters:
UFC
Oliveira vs Makhachev for the title
Dariush vs Gamrot
Poirier vs Chandler
Moicano vs Riddell
Azaitar vs Frevola
Hooker vs Puelles
Johnson vs Diakiese
Guida vs Holtzman
Hernandez vs Quarantillo
Bellator:
Henderson vs Queally winner: Henderson
Picollotti vs Barnaoui
Patricky vs Usman for the title
AJ McKee vs Carlyle winner: McKee
Mamedov vs Browne winner Mamedov
Rogers vs Wilde
ACA
Vartanyan vs Raisov
Ramos vs Kokov
PFL finals:
Ray vs Aubin-Mercier
Stephens vs Schulte
KSW
Ziolkowski vs Parnasse for the title
ONE
Nastyukhin vs Amir winner Amir
You don’t put it past Dana/the ufc to give Conor a title shot without earning it?
What I didn’t realize until today because I have not been following the promotion is ACA has been running a LW GP. Here was the quarters and now the semis… I guess when Bogov and Mogomedov got their fight stopped, they both got kicked out of the tourny in the process.
Thats a deep tournament considering ACA has only the 3rd or 4th best LW division in the sport.
Quarters:
- Dias vs Raisov
- Ilunga vs Vartanyan
- Bagov vs Magomedov
- Ramos vs Reznikov
Semis:
Raisov vs Vartanyan on 11/5.
Reznikov vs Koshkin
Interesting to see ACA get on board with the LW GP format. ROAD, RIZIN and ONE have done LW GPs in the past few years, PFL runs their tourny every year, ACA has this running right now and then of course Bellator will run theirs next year.
I’m with you. I think with just about ANY win, Conor winds up in a title fight. Given Tony Ferguson just headlined a PPV at 170 against Diaz, I think he’s the obvious choice for Conor’s return fight. If Conor looks good and stops Tony, I wouldn’t be shocked at all to see him getting a title fight.
I think it would have to be the right set of circumstances, though. Meaning, I think there would have to be a big money fight available for the title (Islam would be perfect because of the Khabib history, combined with Khabib vs Conor being the biggest UFC PPV ever) as well as no clear #1 contender.
So if Dariush loses, I could certainly see Conor vs Islam for the belt instead of Islam vs Chandler. I think it’s harder to justify of Poirier wins, because how do you give Conor the shot over the guy who beat him twice, but it wouldn’t be a shocker to see Conor in a title fight at all. It’s the difference between 300K buys and 1.3M buys.
I would love to see Connor vs Gaethje.
I think Tony has run his course and needs to retire today.
Dropping 5 in a row is a sign
I don’t think he’s going to fight welterweights, though. He might fight at 170, but it’ll be guys like Ferguson, Chandler, Poirier or other 155 pounders who agree to fight at 170 to get paid. He’s not fighting guys like Rakhmonov or Brady, no chance. Masvidal is the only guy currently ranked in the top 15 at 170 that he’d even consider.
It will be the typical formula of only fighting guys he thinks he can beat or a title shot. This isn’t a strategy unique to Conor, though. Guys like Covington and Diaz have used it for years.
???
Idk which diaz you’re referring to but either one of them with fight literally anyone. Nate had no reason to fight Khamzat but he accepted it. Fought Leon and fought Jorge etc.
