UFC 298: Volkanovski vs. Topuria

The official Tapology discussion thread for the event!

Let the PRO talk my english is good enough for me to understand he's so stupid he can't get a simple joke about Costa being a pull out machine.

* Edited at 12.23.2023, 3:38 PM ET *

Not really? The assumption this entire time has been he'd be back sometime in 2024. We quite literally have 0 clarity about who he's fighting or what division it's in. 

How did we go from Allen being too little of a name for Khamzat because he's ranked #8 to Khamzat somehow being interesting to Izzy, who's ranked #9, when he hasn't even beaten a ranked MW yet? There is absolutely 0 incentive to Adesanya doing that if he wants to reclaim his MW title. He's not the one that has anything to prove. Khamzat does. 

We're not gonna agree on this because I personally don't think Izzy has to do anything to earn a title shot. If he wants to fight at MW, he's the #1 contender regardless of who wins between DDP/Strickland. Khamzat vs. Izzy is literally too big of a fight to not have a belt on the line. A fight of that caliber requires one of them having the belt first. It's not about Izzy being scared and more about good promoting. That would be the biggest mega fight with title implications since Khabib vs. Conor. 

I don’t think you understand the ufc promotion machine, this fight doesn’t need a belt to sell; it’s literally the two biggest draws in the ufc besides jones and conor. 

And your second paragraph makes no sense (and again shows you don’t understand how promotion works — not trying to be offensive). When you reach the level of stardom that Khamzat has, it doesn’t matter who he’s beaten, he can walk into any fight he wants. The fans don’t want to see him fighting someone like Allen, who has no charisma and isn’t very well liked by fans. Izzy’s accolades won’t get him a title shot because he wasn’t a dominant champ. Before you take this the wrong way, notice that Izzy was on his first title defense AFTER reclaiming the belt from poatan. He dominated the division for years, managed to win the title back, and lost it again; it’s time for the division to get moving. Just because Izzy was dominant in his prime doesn’t mean he can just keep getting title shots simply because he USED to be the best at the weight class

Now, let’s assume ddp/strickland has happened, why would Izzy get a title shot off of a loss? The Strickland fight wasn’t competitive at all and it seems pretty dumb to get a title shot off of sitting out for a year & off of a loss. If DDP wins, that’s also a big fight but then Izzy needs a win to justify a title shot. Just because there’s a potential good title fight doesn’t mean Izzy will get it simply because the right guy won, that would be such an undeserved title shot. However, beating Khamzat absolutely does that. There’s nobody else izzy can fight that makes sense & I think you’re the only person who thinks he deserves a title shot off of a loss

* Edited at 12.23.2023, 3:52 PM ET *

@77PK 

No worries man if your English aren't that good, we are quite a few members that English aren't our first language, and we can understand you very well... !
But be careful please, there are many troll-eys and ****-posters in the threads, and they think they think that the threads are their living-room... !
You already found the cream de la cream of them... !

Khamzat doesn’t need to fight Izzy, but he has to be in a title eliminator, he can fight either Whitaker, Cannonor or loser of Strickland vs Dricus,people want Khamzat to fight for title, give him win over top 5 guy so it’s way more justifiable,

I also think Izzy could fight for belt if they no clear contender, both Izzy vs Strikland 2 and Izzy vs Dricus are big fights

I’m a massive Brandon Allen fan, but I rather see other fight for Khamzat

Okay that’s true I didn’t think about the loser of ddp/ Sean being next. But I imagine if Izzy is returning, it’s on 300 (because they need big names for that card) and neither would be able to return that quick

It's obviously not about NEEDING the belt to sell the fight, its about the fight being so big that for a title to not be on the line almost feels criminal. Very rarely do the stars align for two guys of Izzy and Khamzats talent and star caliber to fight one another. The last time it happened was Conor vs. Khabib. You basically get one opportunity a decade to book a fight like that. 

I don't think I could disagree with your assessment of Adesanya's reign more and I say that as someone who can't ******* stand the guy. He cleaned out the division, was beating Poatan on the scorecards in the first fight, and then emphatically avenged that loss. I don't think him losing a decision to Strickland when it was his 4th fight in 14 months means as much as you think it does. 

Respectfully, your 2nd paragraph makes no sense. You literally said Izzy wasn't a dominant champ, and then two sentences later said that he "dominated the division for years". Which is it? I don't think anyone really understands the UFC promotion machine to be honest. I do however think I understand it enough to know that the UFC is probably going to be very cautious with trying to get Khamzat to a title shot, because he's now looked pedestrian at 170 against a lightweight as well as at 185 against a welterweight. 

You missed my point. He was not a dominant champion when he fought Strickland. He was someone who formerly cleaned out the division and regained the belt; by definition he is not a dominant champion in that moment & he isn’t now. There is a big difference between CURRENTLY dominating a division and FORMERLY dominating a division. As I said earlier, your accolades don’t allow you to repeatedly get title shots simply because you USED to be the man in that division. Izzy won the title back & immediately lost it in his first defense, that is by definition not a dominant champion

But like you said, this is going nowhere. We clearly have different understandings of when certain fights should happen. I’m just going to leave it at, don’t be shocked when Khamzat vs Izzy is the next fight booked. You say it should be for a title but it’s unlikely Izzy ever regains the belt and like you said, Khamzat looks like he won’t beat the elite of the divison. I say make the fight now at ufc 300 

* Edited at 12.23.2023, 4:28 PM ET *

UFC gave Chito a title shot over Sandhagen who made him his ***** and Merab, UFC give Colby a 3rd title shot after no good wins since 2018, Give Stipe a title shot with his last win being in 2020 and Stipe most likely getting a title shot over the interim champion, I’ll argue giving Izzy another title fight is more fair then my examples listed, even if Cannonor derserve it. UFC make dumb title fights a lot, UFC is in the money business, not the fairness business. Think they make Izzy title fight when he come back

Just thinking about it now, Khamzat vs Cannonor as a title eliminator is the fight to make. Both most derserving for the title, let them fight for that honour 

* Edited at 12.23.2023, 4:31 PM ET *

You know the difference between those three fights you mentioned? 

Chito - coming off of a win
Colby - coming off of a win 
Stipe - I really can’t justify this one, pretty awful & undeserved title shot 

Another difference for those title shots, they came AS A RESULT OF A NEW CHAMP BEING CROWNED. Izzy is no doubt one of the best 185ers ever, but his time at the top is over. It’s time to get the division rolling again. DDP winning is the only way I see Izzy getting the shot, because there’s a built in storyline (like the aforementioned fights) and genuine beef between the two. If Sean wins it’s a pointless rematch, he dominated Izzy and it wasn’t a remotely close fight. Izzy sitting out a year doesn’t help sell that fight either, as it only gives more time for challengers to make their way to the top 

* Edited at 12.23.2023, 4:34 PM ET *

Ah okay I see what you meant then. Fair enough. We'll agree to disagree. 

The 2nd part of your comment is interesting. I think I understand where you're coming from now. I'm genuinely asking: why do you think Izzy regaining his title sounds so farfetched? 

I need to see another performance like the one against Strickland before I believe Izzy is starting to truly decline. Otherwise, as much as I absolutely cannot stand the dude, I think he can still beat anybody at 185 on any given night. DDP, Strickland, Khamzat, you name it. I could of course be wrong and that Strickland fight was just maybe the first signs of cracks in the armor finally revealing themselves, but I'm not convinced just yet. I think Izzy was underprepared and thought he'd just walk through Strickland. I think he was burnt out and needed this break. 

@foppa well he’s 35 so statistically speaking he is out of his prime. Obviously it’s different for everyone but Izzy has shown a decline in his previous fights. He went from a super exciting guy who was dominating everyone, to barely winning close & boring decisions. It’s also important to note how taxing it is on the body to stay as active as Izzy did while also competing in 5 round title fights. All that activity could absolutely wear him out; I definitely agree with you that he needed a break but I simply believe his time at the top is over; nobody outside of Jon jones can stay dominant their entire career and I think people were starting to figure out Izzy, if that makes sense. In his prime you couldn’t stand with Izzy but now it seems like that aura is gone. Outside of the poatan rematch and Sean fight, every fight Izzy was having in the past few years was extremely close

* Edited at 12.23.2023, 4:39 PM ET *

All jokes aside, lets assume Costa not only shows up for this fight but actually makes weight again. Can he actually finish  Whittaker? He couldn't finish the shell of Luke Rockhold but Whittaker himself looked pretty terrible against DDP.

Hard to say in all honesty. I think costa is ******* awful but Rob has always been chinny

the point is UFC skip over rightful title contender to make money all the time, don’t be surprise when they make Leon vs Shavkat and Izzy title fight next.

And the number 1 contender in Jared Cannonor isn’t a clear number 1 contender like Merab and Belal was, and won’t sell nearly as much ticket as Izzy title comeback

* Edited at 12.23.2023, 5:39 PM ET *

Waths are the ods for Costa pulling out?

Bobby is in a weird position as per usual... if he wins against Costa, what would be his next fight? Sean if he loses to DDP or Allen basically. 

Costa will almost certainly ko Rob, if it was point Karate I pick Rob all day but power durability strength and speed all favor Costa.
That's all DDP needed to badly steam roll him, this is a horrible match for Rob.

Assuming he beats Costa and Usman is staying at 185, I think that's easily the fight to make. Whittaker said so himself he would love that fight.

@foppa420 

is there any info overall  about Usman at 185? think he can stir more **** at 185 then 170 and god knows 185 could use it.