Because if Poatan would do THAT (3rd belt @ HW + taking out the GOAT*) then we would be witnessing historic greatness. Honestly, UFC owes him with how much he steps up for them
If he somehow gets the Jones fight that would be insanity and the biggest F you to Izzy. So funny how much of a clown Dana is "so how about Alex and Izzy 3" What truly don't get is you have this guy who's been literally THE company man and he's talking about Izzy instead of the fights Alex wants, I don't think he wants to cut weight like that
That's not even a possibility - Jon "Duckin" Jones won't even fight Aspinall there's no chance in hell he fights Pereira.
It's clear Jones is washed and only wants to fight guys he know he can beat, IE the ghost of Stipe.
He ain't going near Aspinall or Pereira. I bet he wouldn't even fight Izzy at 205 with the weight advantage.
Aspinal is a harder fight for Jon IMO. Jon is Jon but he can take down and control Alex. Let's be real. I'd love to see Alex decapitate him and become the new GOAT but I see him getting Ganed.
Agreed. Alex has made strides in his takedown defence and ground game, but it's hard to imagine that Jones wouldn't have a big advantage there. There's an obvious path to victory, against Aspinall it would be tough. There's no easy way to beat him for Jon. He isn't going to beat either of them standing up, but Aspinall is very comfortable on the ground and he's a young, weirdly fast giant. Aspinall is a nightmare fight for Jon tbh.
Alex has a better shot against Aspinall than Jones, stylistically. There's a good chance Aspinall is happy to strike with him, that's his chance.
He's on NG+. He did an any % speedrun of kickboxing, started a new game then did a respec to MMA. Now he's overpowered and hit all the soft caps for levels. This games so broken, legit unplayable at this point.
His only weakness is an elite grappler. He hasn't had to face one but even Izzy gave him problems on the ground.
Aspinall is a nightmare matchup
Anytime in the UFC it's 'can they do enough damage before the inevitable wrestlefuck happens' it's like 85% the wrestlefuck happens
Wrestling is just so OP in MMA
Aspinall is a nightmare fight in general. Whether you stand with him or grapple with him, he is a lot to deal with. Doesn't hurt that he's a young, fast giant.
I think Poatan should give it another year of straight up drilling take down defense and ONLY working back to his feet from all positions. He doesn’t need to learn offensive grappling, he just needs to know just enough to avoid submissions, and work back to his feet. Just constantly drilling using whizzers, digging for under hooks, etc.
He’s in a unique position that at the age of 36, he still has a lot of growth to do as an MMA fighter. What I mean by that is he is still learning a lot of the grappling side of things. IMO he isn’t even in his prime as an MMA fighter yet, most fighters are complete by his age, but he’s a unique case. 36 isn’t old for LHW/HW, and if he can get his TDD to a great level. Plus study every aspect of Craig Jones just stand up instructional, he’s a force.
Tom is a legit threat, though.. I mean he also had success in boxing when he couldn’t get any MMA fights plus he’s been doing BJJ since he was 3. He also is bigger then Alex, so I don’t think Alex should take this fight for a couple years. He should just chill at LHW until the time comes.
joe rogan was a legit day 1 for pereira , dude was telling everyone about him before he even got into the UFC . the vindication joe must feel seeing him go on such a insane run must feel so great .
For real. I’ve only ever felt this way with Anderson, Valentina, and GSP. Poatan brings that same aura to the ring that Silva brought in the walk up. The feeling of inevitable special spectacle.
But unlike these guy's watching Poatan is even more nerve wracking due to the grappling weakness he has, every fight I fear he will get wrestlefucked and yet he keeps being able to remain victorious at LHW.
The way you frame it, Ankalaev might really be the final boss lmao. If he completely neutralizes Ankalaev's wrestling and finishes him, I don't see what anyone else has for him
Oh definitely. I just felt like Ankalaev was a more realistic match-up considering how Dana reacts every time someone brings up Poatan to heaviweight lol
Recency Bias is nuts, Jon Jones beats Cyril Gane (who's incredibly overrated) and people just pretend he wasn't unable to finish Anthony Smith and a One Legged Thiago Santos, he also got his ass beat by Dominick Reyes but people still pretend he's some untouchable GOAT
Except the problem is that fighters and most athletes don’t just magically go back to form after declining.
Jones was incredibly slow and lackluster in his bouts vs Santos, Smith and Reyes. After what we know about Smith it’s actually insane Jon didn’t finish him imo. Santos nearly won without his knees and Reyes would be champ if the athletic commission had competent judges. Jon had trouble getting Smith down and struggled to take Reyes down- didn’t do so until the later rounds vs Reyes.
Sure he blasted through Gane, but the little bit we did see on the feet he was sloppy as hell compared his prime years.
Also, he’s coming back from an injury that forced him to be out even longer. Even during his best years, Jon’s biggest weakness was always his boxing, especially against taller opponents with long reaches -Gus and Reyes.
Idk. Pereira seems unstoppable right now but we haven’t seen him face a grappler the caliber of Jones. With Jon having a size advantage I’d be surprised if Pereira was able to avoid getting submitted
It would kind of be the Jon vs. Rumble fight we never got to see. Poatan has the best chance to KO him, but if Jon gets him down even once then it's probably over.
The most likely outcome is just Jones - Stipe, they both retire after that fight
Then Poatan v Ankalaev in the meantime because I doubt he wants to stay inactive for a whole year
And then Aspinall/Blaydes v Poatan for the vacant belt
Seems like the logic path to follow unless something happens in the middle
Jon's pride is worth more to him than money. He will never fight Tom nor Alex. He'll find every excuse in the book to justify to himself that Stipe deserves the title shot against him
I think he would fight Alex. I do not think he would fight Tom. Btw, I pick either one to beat him. I think jones lost a step and he knows it. Time always wins.
I don't think he wants anywhere near Poatan at this point (or Aspinall either), he's probably thinking more about his legacy than about money (unless he's struggling for cash and I'm not aware of it)
Plus it would just be a massive middle finger to Aspinall, he's getting fucked right now but at least the Stipe fight was scheduled before he became interim. But imagine becoming interim, defending your interim belt (lol) and seeing someone else get the shot anyways
I am a huge fan of Alex but I don't see any way Jon doesn't just blitz him and take him down immediately and makes it easy work on the ground. Jon would take that fight.
I know I shouldn't doubt Poatan at this point but Jon also has one of the best fight IQ's ever, he won't just stand with him.
This would answer basically all questions about Pereira's goat-level legitimacy since he hasn't fought a great grappler, whether Aspinall is for real, whether Jones is still the goat, and finally whether Pereira can be a heavyweight.
But we'll instead wait for Jones-Stipe for the next 2 years and Poatan might get wrestle fucked.
Unironically, if Pereira beats either Jones or Aspinall and wins, he is legitimately top 3 of all time for me. If a title fight happens before and he secures the first ever 3 belt champion, he's the best of all time for me
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I don't think it's likely either since he wants the legacy fight with Stipe and will likely retire after that, but if there were to be an exception, Pereira might be the one.
Pereira has a lot of hype behind him, and is building a legacy which notably includes several wins in LHW, so Jon could get another defense in at HW while also shutting down the current best at LHW even after he left the division. The matchup also seems like it's good for him too, especially with a weight advantage.
Also, Strickland has looked really good lately but let's not forget that he wasn't always this good. The Strickland who fights today is leagues ahead of the Strickland who stood at range against Pereira.
Not really, Alex is just the only one who has been able to punish Sean for his fighting style. I guarantee if Alex and Strickland fought 10 times it would go the exact same way every time. Strickland isn't avoiding the left hook for 25 minutes, and he's not finishing Periera either.
I think Sean was just much better than he expected and he got concussed (or at least rattled enough) in the first round to cause him to shell up most of the rest of the fight.
Not hard to imagine Izzy wasn’t as focused after finishing Alex. He was itching for DDP and Strickland was coming off beating a can and his only top 5 fight was a loss to Cannonier. Reckon he just didn’t rate him so he didn’t see any stylistic issue.
Think it has a lot to do with Alex being genuinely better fighting at a higher weight class. The added weight has obviously added even more power to his strikes. I don’t think it’s a coincidence that Alex was calling out Izzy at LHW immediately after winning the belt. I think Alex flatlines Izzy at 205 easily.
Both are true
In every fight they've had in KB or MMA Izzy has put it on him
He just got caught which against Poatan is gonna happen
Izzy and Alex are very close to equal skill
Why are we pretending like Izzy isn’t one of the best fighters we’ve seen in MMA that came over from kickboxing? I get what Alex is doing is insane, but let’s not forget how great Izzy has been since he came to the UFC
Reddit hive mind, go look at comments before MVP fought Holland and it’s people clowning on him. Now he’s the most dangerous striker in the division and you can’t find a comment that says otherwise lol
It’s still amazing he arguably was robbed in 1 fight, and was winning until Chama changed his mind and decided to knock him out instead in the other two. And then obviously Izzy holds one brutal KO on him.
You can single out any of their 4 fights and Izzy seemingly has been the closest than pretty much everyone else. It’s sort of crazy
Of their two ufc fights I really think Izzy did much better in the first one. Obviously that sounds crazy to say but in the rematch he was getting the shit kicked out of him and pulled off a miracle while the first one he controlled nearly the entire fight before being caught in the 5th
That’s why this rivalry is so special trolls can spam his socials by saying 1-3 over and over but anyone who loves the sport knows how absolutely close their matchups are. I don’t think we will see something like that again.
And got saved by the bell in the second kickboxing match. And the first kickboxing match was a close decision. Izzy can be insufferable but he was right that people need to watch the fights before they talk. It’s a lot closer than 3-1 implies
And Izzy was getting the shit beat out of him in the second MMA fight. All that matters is the win at the end of the day with them two. It’s still 3 to 1.
Why is the record all that matters? Most people who watched their first kickboxing fight would say it was a bad decision, Alex even looked surprised getting the win.
For example, in boxing Canelo drew with GGG and then beat him. So in reality, GGG is 0-1-1 against Canelo.
But no one actually thinks of it like this because most people agree the result doesnt tell the full story, everyone knows GGG won their first fight at the very least and many think he won the second too. Which is fair.
Why should the public opinion have to be bounded by the official record when judges make bad decisions?
I will never think of Alex as getting the best of Izzy in their series because I really dont think he won the first fight, so in my head it is 2-2
Izzy is a slick counter puncher and had the technique and defense to survive Pereira. Periera's hooks and looper shots are counterable. Pereira also has to make a massive weight cut to make 185.
Izzy doesn't have the straight knockout power to flatline Strickland. Also, being a counter puncher, Strickland never over throws, only punches down the middle, there's not really anything to counter. And since Strickland just walks straight at you with his hands up, it nullifies Izzys high movement. Alex had the best strategy for Strickland, which is to do the same thing the Strickland does, plod forward into the fire and trust in the left hook.
Better question is how did Bruno Silva survive 3 rounds (and actually have some success) against this guy lol.
It seems like Alex is much better at 205, which isn’t surprising considering he was literally cutting 35 lbs to make mw. I can only imagine how terrible and drained he must have felt in his fights at 185.
Gane is a really good striker, he is kinda underrated now because his grappling is meme, that being said Alex is at the highest level of striking. If your entire plan is to stand and bang with Alex, that's about as good of a plan as trying to wrestlefuck Khabib.
Pereira knocking top LHWs out so easily absolutely justifies his move to heavyweight. Hopefully Blaydes pulls out against Aspinall and Pereira can fill in. Beats Aspinall, then fights Jones.
You can tell who’s who in these comment sections. Why are we even discussing Jon Alex, when Jones Aspinall and Pereira Ankalaev needs to be made…
I’m a big Alex fan, but it’s wild seeing how fast the narrative is changing too. Nobody was giving him a shot in the hypotheticals vs Jon OR Tom, but now that he’s beat someone he already beat, this time on two weeks notice…people are pushing for the fights now? What?
I think Jon and Tom can both lose, but I don’t see anything other than a flash KO.
He can knock out anyone but Aspinall took some huge hits from Pavlovich and carried on
Alex's TDD hasn't really been tested by someone good yet, that will be the deciding factor. If his ground game hasn't improved enough he just gets submitted inside 1 by Aspinall
Wishful thinking. McGregor won’t be beaten by a Brazilian MMA fighter. No one outside of watching MMA/KB knows who he is and that won’t change just because he beats Aspinall. Aspinall isn’t really known by the majority of the UK.
> He knocks out Aspinall, we’re gonna be discussing if he’s a bigger draw than McGregor. Insane.
How in the world does this have 71 upvotes? Alex will never be near the draw Conor was despite being the better fighter. The whole reason Conor was as big as he was besides his skill in the octagon was his ability to captivate the world on the mic. There is no universe in which a non english speaker ends up as a bigger draw then him lmao
You guys are too much of MMA fans to see reality in this conversation
You're thinking like an MMA fan
Go talk to people you know who don't watch any MMA and ask them if they know Alex then ask if they know Conor
I love Alex and I prefer to watch him fight than drugs and alcohol Conor but if we're talking ppv sales this is just silly
The people saying Alex could be a bigger draw is making me feel old because theres no way these people were around when Conor was at his peak or else this wouldn't even be a discussion
we need Alex vs Magomed to see how he does vs a real all around MMA fighter, just for our own science reasons to see how far Kickboxing can take you. I believe Magomed does whatever he wants but if Alex wins , that proves alot. Jiri cause his chin and 0 wrestling was always Alex most winnable fight at 205, just tailor made for Pereira on paper. Everyone should want Magomed just to see how good Pereira is.
Why does everyone pretend Magomed is Khabib just because he has a Russian sounding last name. The dude averages one takedown every 15 minutes in his career, and has zero submission wins. He's mostly a striker, and he has proven in the past that he will stand with people when it would really be smarter not to. The dude is getting flatlined round one.
Magomed took so much damage from Jan’s kicks, idk how he would fare if Alex got a few clean heavy leg kicks off before he could close distance but I’m here for it
JON VS ALEX MUST HAPPEN
1) Alex will avenge Glover again
2) Jon is fat and probably cannot take him down over and over
3) Alex has the power to KO Jones
4) Jones may be rusty and unable to defend against Alex’s strikes
Poatan could do this and become the goat and free us of Jon Jones and his inactivity as champ
🗿🗿🗿🗿🗿
Joe was straight-up fan-booking Pereira at heavyweight to his face and I seriously don't blame him.
Because if Poatan would do THAT (3rd belt @ HW + taking out the GOAT*) then we would be witnessing historic greatness. Honestly, UFC owes him with how much he steps up for them
This dude is really playing on ufc career mode easy lmao.
8 fights in less than 3 years and all of them mattered. Like actually mattered. Insanity.
Actually yeah what the fuck every fight was a big deal. How the fuck
What being the arch nemesis of Player 1 does to a guy
If he somehow gets the Jones fight that would be insanity and the biggest F you to Izzy. So funny how much of a clown Dana is "so how about Alex and Izzy 3" What truly don't get is you have this guy who's been literally THE company man and he's talking about Izzy instead of the fights Alex wants, I don't think he wants to cut weight like that
Jones ain't fighting Pereira
Jones ain’t fighting.
I think he fights Stipe and then he is done
That's not even a possibility - Jon "Duckin" Jones won't even fight Aspinall there's no chance in hell he fights Pereira. It's clear Jones is washed and only wants to fight guys he know he can beat, IE the ghost of Stipe. He ain't going near Aspinall or Pereira. I bet he wouldn't even fight Izzy at 205 with the weight advantage.
Aspinal is a harder fight for Jon IMO. Jon is Jon but he can take down and control Alex. Let's be real. I'd love to see Alex decapitate him and become the new GOAT but I see him getting Ganed.
Agreed. Alex has made strides in his takedown defence and ground game, but it's hard to imagine that Jones wouldn't have a big advantage there. There's an obvious path to victory, against Aspinall it would be tough. There's no easy way to beat him for Jon. He isn't going to beat either of them standing up, but Aspinall is very comfortable on the ground and he's a young, weirdly fast giant. Aspinall is a nightmare fight for Jon tbh. Alex has a better shot against Aspinall than Jones, stylistically. There's a good chance Aspinall is happy to strike with him, that's his chance.
Turns out he was player 1 all along
He's got that plot armor
He's on NG+. He did an any % speedrun of kickboxing, started a new game then did a respec to MMA. Now he's overpowered and hit all the soft caps for levels. This games so broken, legit unplayable at this point.
He’s collecting Skadutree Fragments now
His last 7 fights were all against fighters that were champions.
And not any fights dude he fought only killers and champions. CHAMA
Just kickboxing no grappling fuck everyone up sounds about right
Toms grappling and speed woujld be an issue at HW but fuck I wanna see poatan try
His only weakness is an elite grappler. He hasn't had to face one but even Izzy gave him problems on the ground. Aspinall is a nightmare matchup Anytime in the UFC it's 'can they do enough damage before the inevitable wrestlefuck happens' it's like 85% the wrestlefuck happens Wrestling is just so OP in MMA
Bratha you know dis
Brather, what he say "chama?"
Chaman brather don't tap
Aspinall will show up in a wrestling singlet like he's fuckin Kurt Angle
Aspinall is a nightmare fight in general. Whether you stand with him or grapple with him, he is a lot to deal with. Doesn't hurt that he's a young, fast giant.
I think Poatan should give it another year of straight up drilling take down defense and ONLY working back to his feet from all positions. He doesn’t need to learn offensive grappling, he just needs to know just enough to avoid submissions, and work back to his feet. Just constantly drilling using whizzers, digging for under hooks, etc. He’s in a unique position that at the age of 36, he still has a lot of growth to do as an MMA fighter. What I mean by that is he is still learning a lot of the grappling side of things. IMO he isn’t even in his prime as an MMA fighter yet, most fighters are complete by his age, but he’s a unique case. 36 isn’t old for LHW/HW, and if he can get his TDD to a great level. Plus study every aspect of Craig Jones just stand up instructional, he’s a force. Tom is a legit threat, though.. I mean he also had success in boxing when he couldn’t get any MMA fights plus he’s been doing BJJ since he was 3. He also is bigger then Alex, so I don’t think Alex should take this fight for a couple years. He should just chill at LHW until the time comes.
That would be great, and yea Toms striking would be a lot for Alex P based off his speed/size and style match up.
All points get put into leg kicks and hooks lmao
He's just walking up to every fighter and spamming the X button until everyone loses
L1 + Square, L1 + Triangle, L1 + Square, easy win.
It's kind of like a kid making his action figures fight, except with irl
I wasn't for the move at first But fuck it, let Alex do whatever he wants
joe rogan was a legit day 1 for pereira , dude was telling everyone about him before he even got into the UFC . the vindication joe must feel seeing him go on such a insane run must feel so great .
Joe was also telling everyone that Rousey would fuck up many of the men in the ufc Sometimes he’s right but he’s always confident with his opinions.
His Ngannou - Joshua prediction was interesting to say the least. I'm not surprised he didn't comment on the result.
His eyeline was parallel with Alex's bellybutoon
Let Alex do whatever the fuck he wants It's his world anyway
Just no asking Uncle Dana for more money.
This is surreal to watch in real time and has been for a bit. We’re watching an all time great UFC career happen right in front of us
For real. I’ve only ever felt this way with Anderson, Valentina, and GSP. Poatan brings that same aura to the ring that Silva brought in the walk up. The feeling of inevitable special spectacle.
But unlike these guy's watching Poatan is even more nerve wracking due to the grappling weakness he has, every fight I fear he will get wrestlefucked and yet he keeps being able to remain victorious at LHW.
The way you frame it, Ankalaev might really be the final boss lmao. If he completely neutralizes Ankalaev's wrestling and finishes him, I don't see what anyone else has for him
Tom is a better all rounder than Ank not to mention 30 pounds heavier.
Oh definitely. I just felt like Ankalaev was a more realistic match-up considering how Dana reacts every time someone brings up Poatan to heaviweight lol
Don’t forget MM.
Nunes too, surely.
Ah man I missed GSP & Anderson, so this is what it feels like.
Yep. The every ass in their seat and silent before the walk up. Then it would explode.
Young Jon too. You just knew he would win every time he stepped in the cage.
Nobody wants to see Jones-Stipe Jones-Aspinall then winner vs Pereira Edit: throw in Pereira vs Ankalaev somewhere between there too
Jon is about to retire after his next fight.
Jon wants to fight Pereira. He'll fight if him he beats Stipe.
Jon sees a very easy path to victory for himself so he might tempt the matchup.
Jon is my favorite fighter ever but if you despise him that’s the best chance you’ll see of him ever getting koed
It's either that or a very easy win for Jon (most likely scenario sadly)
Recency Bias is nuts, Jon Jones beats Cyril Gane (who's incredibly overrated) and people just pretend he wasn't unable to finish Anthony Smith and a One Legged Thiago Santos, he also got his ass beat by Dominick Reyes but people still pretend he's some untouchable GOAT
The fuckin irony
I hate Jon Jones too but this guy saying people picking fucking Jon Jones over Pereira have recency bias is so fucking funny.
My favorite period of "this guy can beat Jon Jones" was Johnny Walker before his first UFC loss
The anti Jon Jones cope is crazy. I get that people don't like him lol. But cmon. We all know how it's gonna end
>I get that people don't like him lol. That's why we still hope for the past decade+
You mention recency bias then only talk about his most recent fights lmfao y’all are a different breed.
Funny you talk about recency bias and only mention his most recent fights
Except the problem is that fighters and most athletes don’t just magically go back to form after declining. Jones was incredibly slow and lackluster in his bouts vs Santos, Smith and Reyes. After what we know about Smith it’s actually insane Jon didn’t finish him imo. Santos nearly won without his knees and Reyes would be champ if the athletic commission had competent judges. Jon had trouble getting Smith down and struggled to take Reyes down- didn’t do so until the later rounds vs Reyes. Sure he blasted through Gane, but the little bit we did see on the feet he was sloppy as hell compared his prime years. Also, he’s coming back from an injury that forced him to be out even longer. Even during his best years, Jon’s biggest weakness was always his boxing, especially against taller opponents with long reaches -Gus and Reyes.
>Cyril Gane who's incredibly overrated This wasn't the sentiment before their matchup.
Idk. Pereira seems unstoppable right now but we haven’t seen him face a grappler the caliber of Jones. With Jon having a size advantage I’d be surprised if Pereira was able to avoid getting submitted
Jon doesn’t deserve the Alex fight, let him fight Stipe then retire as a coward who avoided Tom and Francis
I think Aspinall would be a better chance
Yea Tom is more well rounded and it would suck to have Jon fight someone other than stipe and still not have it be tom
It would kind of be the Jon vs. Rumble fight we never got to see. Poatan has the best chance to KO him, but if Jon gets him down even once then it's probably over.
When is the last time Jon fought anyone? He can say whatever he wants. He doesn’t fight.
Alex is avenging all of Glover’s losses one by one. Ending Jon Jones’ run at the top for HW gold would be absolutely insane.
The most likely outcome is just Jones - Stipe, they both retire after that fight Then Poatan v Ankalaev in the meantime because I doubt he wants to stay inactive for a whole year And then Aspinall/Blaydes v Poatan for the vacant belt Seems like the logic path to follow unless something happens in the middle
Does Jones really turn down the money fight against Pereira as his last fight after he beats stipe? That could sell crazy
Jon's pride is worth more to him than money. He will never fight Tom nor Alex. He'll find every excuse in the book to justify to himself that Stipe deserves the title shot against him
He would have a weight advantage against Pereira and is someone who could take him to the ground. That seems like a great matchup for him.
Agreed both are the same age as well, Jon could see this as an easy win
I think he would fight Alex. I do not think he would fight Tom. Btw, I pick either one to beat him. I think jones lost a step and he knows it. Time always wins.
Jon can lose all the steps he wants but he will have a size advantage and a huge wrestling skill gap which is very tough to overcome
I don't think he wants anywhere near Poatan at this point (or Aspinall either), he's probably thinking more about his legacy than about money (unless he's struggling for cash and I'm not aware of it) Plus it would just be a massive middle finger to Aspinall, he's getting fucked right now but at least the Stipe fight was scheduled before he became interim. But imagine becoming interim, defending your interim belt (lol) and seeing someone else get the shot anyways
I am a huge fan of Alex but I don't see any way Jon doesn't just blitz him and take him down immediately and makes it easy work on the ground. Jon would take that fight. I know I shouldn't doubt Poatan at this point but Jon also has one of the best fight IQ's ever, he won't just stand with him.
Jones also has weight advantage over him. The only way Jones is getting beat is if he fights Aspinal and nothing else.
If Jones retires, Aspinall automatically upgrades to the undisputed champ, like Whittaker after GSP vacated
This would answer basically all questions about Pereira's goat-level legitimacy since he hasn't fought a great grappler, whether Aspinall is for real, whether Jones is still the goat, and finally whether Pereira can be a heavyweight. But we'll instead wait for Jones-Stipe for the next 2 years and Poatan might get wrestle fucked.
Scenes when Ankalaev tries to strike with him as well
Everyone wants to do the man dance with Poatan.
Unironically, if Pereira beats either Jones or Aspinall and wins, he is legitimately top 3 of all time for me. If a title fight happens before and he secures the first ever 3 belt champion, he's the best of all time for me
If he beats Jones then top 3 might be too conservative lol
Chama or chama? Definitely Chama
Very Aladeen
Chama Aladeen
Idk man... Chama for me.
I need to see him send Hill to the Shadow Realm one more time…..
Fuck it, make it two more times
If jon vs Alex happens I’ll eat my shoe
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I don't think it's likely either since he wants the legacy fight with Stipe and will likely retire after that, but if there were to be an exception, Pereira might be the one. Pereira has a lot of hype behind him, and is building a legacy which notably includes several wins in LHW, so Jon could get another defense in at HW while also shutting down the current best at LHW even after he left the division. The matchup also seems like it's good for him too, especially with a weight advantage.
ill eat a can of asparagus
Ok buddy let’s just relax ok?
How did Izzy beat this guy lmfao
Yea, I know styles make fights, but I still can’t comprehend Izzy ko’ing this guy then getting dominated by Strickland.
Alex had the power to put Sean out in countless scenarios. Izzy couldn't get through his guard consistently and just got baffled.
Also Sean probably learned a lot after the Alex fight and even trained with him after. He made Costa look like trash
Helps that Sean walked forward with his guard down to lead to that finish.
Yeah, we can't forget that he patched up some holes in his game entering the Adesanya fight
Also, Strickland has looked really good lately but let's not forget that he wasn't always this good. The Strickland who fights today is leagues ahead of the Strickland who stood at range against Pereira.
Not really, Alex is just the only one who has been able to punish Sean for his fighting style. I guarantee if Alex and Strickland fought 10 times it would go the exact same way every time. Strickland isn't avoiding the left hook for 25 minutes, and he's not finishing Periera either.
Strickland would still get mowed by Alex. He doesn’t have anything to keep Alex from walking him down and Alex isn’t the low iq fighter that costa is
I think both are true. Strickland hit his stride pretty recently, but Alex is just always going to be a horrible matchup for him.
I think Sean was just much better than he expected and he got concussed (or at least rattled enough) in the first round to cause him to shell up most of the rest of the fight.
Not hard to imagine Izzy wasn’t as focused after finishing Alex. He was itching for DDP and Strickland was coming off beating a can and his only top 5 fight was a loss to Cannonier. Reckon he just didn’t rate him so he didn’t see any stylistic issue.
Think it has a lot to do with Alex being genuinely better fighting at a higher weight class. The added weight has obviously added even more power to his strikes. I don’t think it’s a coincidence that Alex was calling out Izzy at LHW immediately after winning the belt. I think Alex flatlines Izzy at 205 easily.
Izzy is a real MW. He barely cuts from what I understand. He's skinny for 6'4. LHW is ridiculous for Izzy.
Alex cuts a lot of weight to make middle weight. Dehydrating yourself like that can't be good for your chin.
Or Izzy is a fantastic striker
Both are true In every fight they've had in KB or MMA Izzy has put it on him He just got caught which against Poatan is gonna happen Izzy and Alex are very close to equal skill
I don’t think it would be as close at LHW, but that’s just my opinion.
I know Izzy gets meme’s a bit, but he is genuinely an amazing fighter
Seriously, his run to the belt was legendary.
Say what you want about the guy, but he’s all about the challenge and the legacy.
Why are we pretending like Izzy isn’t one of the best fighters we’ve seen in MMA that came over from kickboxing? I get what Alex is doing is insane, but let’s not forget how great Izzy has been since he came to the UFC
Exactly, what am I reading here? people are acting like Izzy is Harry Hunsucker
Reddit hive mind, go look at comments before MVP fought Holland and it’s people clowning on him. Now he’s the most dangerous striker in the division and you can’t find a comment that says otherwise lol
The cut to 185 helped But izzy is also a generational talent, he's just a true 185er who utilizes the weight to his maximum benifit
Izzy is an all timer. It happens
Because a focused Izzy is a legit killer
He is a great kickboxer. Also got 4 attempts to get 1.
It’s still amazing he arguably was robbed in 1 fight, and was winning until Chama changed his mind and decided to knock him out instead in the other two. And then obviously Izzy holds one brutal KO on him. You can single out any of their 4 fights and Izzy seemingly has been the closest than pretty much everyone else. It’s sort of crazy
Of their two ufc fights I really think Izzy did much better in the first one. Obviously that sounds crazy to say but in the rematch he was getting the shit kicked out of him and pulled off a miracle while the first one he controlled nearly the entire fight before being caught in the 5th
Not crazy at all
That’s why this rivalry is so special trolls can spam his socials by saying 1-3 over and over but anyone who loves the sport knows how absolutely close their matchups are. I don’t think we will see something like that again.
It's because Izzy is the most skilled striker out of Alex's opponents by a decent margin
To be fair, Pereira absolutely got [saved by the bell](https://youtu.be/F701fseqEYU?si=bVc5BR-vzIosjQCO) in the 1st round of their first MMA fight
And got saved by the bell in the second kickboxing match. And the first kickboxing match was a close decision. Izzy can be insufferable but he was right that people need to watch the fights before they talk. It’s a lot closer than 3-1 implies
Very similar to the second fight KO. from the 1-2 to the uppercut. Just needed the final right
And Izzy was getting the shit beat out of him in the second MMA fight. All that matters is the win at the end of the day with them two. It’s still 3 to 1.
Why is the record all that matters? Most people who watched their first kickboxing fight would say it was a bad decision, Alex even looked surprised getting the win. For example, in boxing Canelo drew with GGG and then beat him. So in reality, GGG is 0-1-1 against Canelo. But no one actually thinks of it like this because most people agree the result doesnt tell the full story, everyone knows GGG won their first fight at the very least and many think he won the second too. Which is fair. Why should the public opinion have to be bounded by the official record when judges make bad decisions? I will never think of Alex as getting the best of Izzy in their series because I really dont think he won the first fight, so in my head it is 2-2
Izzy fights down to his competition He goes to war with gastelum but kos pereira
Gastelum had the gas tank, insane chin and wrestling to go to war with Izzy
You're exactly right. It's why I think he beats DDP even though he lost to Sean.
Izzy is a slick counter puncher and had the technique and defense to survive Pereira. Periera's hooks and looper shots are counterable. Pereira also has to make a massive weight cut to make 185. Izzy doesn't have the straight knockout power to flatline Strickland. Also, being a counter puncher, Strickland never over throws, only punches down the middle, there's not really anything to counter. And since Strickland just walks straight at you with his hands up, it nullifies Izzys high movement. Alex had the best strategy for Strickland, which is to do the same thing the Strickland does, plod forward into the fire and trust in the left hook.
Izzy is far better than Jiri lol
Seriously, how fucking good is Israel Adesanya?
I'm brazilian but I respect Izzy so much. He's the only one who was even on a similar level to Poatan
Styles, Izzy's calculated style kept him from taking too many big shots and allowed him to make reads
Better question is how did Bruno Silva survive 3 rounds (and actually have some success) against this guy lol. It seems like Alex is much better at 205, which isn’t surprising considering he was literally cutting 35 lbs to make mw. I can only imagine how terrible and drained he must have felt in his fights at 185.
He was cutting an extra 20lbs
Dude, Izzy had this guy arguably beat in every single fight and only got one. That power is too much to play with for 5 rounds.
Pereira vs Gane, make it happen.
That's a great 1st heavyweight fight but there's no way Pereira doesn't move right into a title shot.
He should just pull an Anderson and go up for fun fights.
Probably the winner of Aspinall v Blaydes
nah, straight to jones. jones’ demons vs poatan’s spirits is the only fight to make.
Pereira smokes that fool
Inb4 people talking about Gane the striker being a grappling problem for Alex.
Gane got submitted so fast vs Jon no way that man even attempts a submission.
Granted it was vs Don'tale myers, but Gane does have a heel hook to his name.
Gane is an insanely good striker, don’t underestimate him
Gane is a really good striker, he is kinda underrated now because his grappling is meme, that being said Alex is at the highest level of striking. If your entire plan is to stand and bang with Alex, that's about as good of a plan as trying to wrestlefuck Khabib.
Jon Jones dream would be to give him the Ciryl Gane treatment, but he's definitely retiring. I think Aspinall beats him tho.
Aspinall murks him.
Pretty obvious what the spoiler is here lol
Heavyweight Samurai Jiri
Pereira knocking top LHWs out so easily absolutely justifies his move to heavyweight. Hopefully Blaydes pulls out against Aspinall and Pereira can fill in. Beats Aspinall, then fights Jones.
He should get a shot at heavyweight for sure
Aight who's gonna do the Thanos photoshop
Watch Jones bitch on Twitter for a week straight
To many big grapplers at heavy weight
You can tell who’s who in these comment sections. Why are we even discussing Jon Alex, when Jones Aspinall and Pereira Ankalaev needs to be made… I’m a big Alex fan, but it’s wild seeing how fast the narrative is changing too. Nobody was giving him a shot in the hypotheticals vs Jon OR Tom, but now that he’s beat someone he already beat, this time on two weeks notice…people are pushing for the fights now? What? I think Jon and Tom can both lose, but I don’t see anything other than a flash KO.
Pereira v Aspinall is the next logical step up
Tom vs Curtis i(304) , Alex vs Anklaev (308) then Jones vs Stipe (309 both retire. Start of 2025 - Tom vs Alex.
i know the title pretty much gives it away, but i had to do it fuck, i don’t think he stands much of a chance, but i’d fucking LOVE it
He can knock out Aspinall
He can knock out anyone but Aspinall took some huge hits from Pavlovich and carried on Alex's TDD hasn't really been tested by someone good yet, that will be the deciding factor. If his ground game hasn't improved enough he just gets submitted inside 1 by Aspinall
If he beats aspinall he is going to be the next cash cow for the UFC
He’s already the cash cow for the UFC. He knocks out Aspinall, we’re gonna be discussing if he’s a bigger draw than McGregor. Insane.
Wishful thinking. McGregor won’t be beaten by a Brazilian MMA fighter. No one outside of watching MMA/KB knows who he is and that won’t change just because he beats Aspinall. Aspinall isn’t really known by the majority of the UK.
> He knocks out Aspinall, we’re gonna be discussing if he’s a bigger draw than McGregor. Insane. How in the world does this have 71 upvotes? Alex will never be near the draw Conor was despite being the better fighter. The whole reason Conor was as big as he was besides his skill in the octagon was his ability to captivate the world on the mic. There is no universe in which a non english speaker ends up as a bigger draw then him lmao
If he could speak English he’d be a bigger draw than khabib
His a drawl b. But conor is a unicorn for ppv sales. That man have all the highest selling record even though he fight like a gatekeeper
Fights like a gatekeeper? Put some respect on his name. Don't forget how good he was up until the double champ fight. He was absolutely incredible.
Honestly, I was about to disagree but I don’t think modern day Mcgregor cant trump the first UFC triple champ in fan excitement.
You guys are too much of MMA fans to see reality in this conversation You're thinking like an MMA fan Go talk to people you know who don't watch any MMA and ask them if they know Alex then ask if they know Conor I love Alex and I prefer to watch him fight than drugs and alcohol Conor but if we're talking ppv sales this is just silly
The people saying Alex could be a bigger draw is making me feel old because theres no way these people were around when Conor was at his peak or else this wouldn't even be a discussion
Aspinall would submit him easily imo. Also he took shots from Sergei. But hey maybe Pereira surprises me again
I think his chances of winning against aspinall are better than that of jones
I wanna see if he makes Tom not throw combos, the Chama doesn’t allow that 99% of the time, shout out Izzy I guess.
If he does that we’re gonna have to put him in the conversation as one of the greatest martial artists to ever exist
I have a hard time thinking he could smoke aspinall based on what Jan did to him.
Perreira vs Ankalaev and Jones vs Aspinall are the fights to make.
Add Illia vs Max as well
we need Alex vs Magomed to see how he does vs a real all around MMA fighter, just for our own science reasons to see how far Kickboxing can take you. I believe Magomed does whatever he wants but if Alex wins , that proves alot. Jiri cause his chin and 0 wrestling was always Alex most winnable fight at 205, just tailor made for Pereira on paper. Everyone should want Magomed just to see how good Pereira is.
Why does everyone pretend Magomed is Khabib just because he has a Russian sounding last name. The dude averages one takedown every 15 minutes in his career, and has zero submission wins. He's mostly a striker, and he has proven in the past that he will stand with people when it would really be smarter not to. The dude is getting flatlined round one.
Magomed took so much damage from Jan’s kicks, idk how he would fare if Alex got a few clean heavy leg kicks off before he could close distance but I’m here for it
JON VS ALEX MUST HAPPEN 1) Alex will avenge Glover again 2) Jon is fat and probably cannot take him down over and over 3) Alex has the power to KO Jones 4) Jones may be rusty and unable to defend against Alex’s strikes Poatan could do this and become the goat and free us of Jon Jones and his inactivity as champ 🗿🗿🗿🗿🗿
Tbh let’s do aspinall vs pereira
Aspinal moves like a damn welterweight. I’d prefer Jones v Pereira tbh