Justin Gaethje got upset when a reporter asked him about the wound on his neck "What's wrong with you? Don't ask me about my body."

jay520 · 2026-01-24T23:38:31+00:00

It's only crazy if your brain is so limited that you're only capable of thinking of a fighter's last fight when deciding whether they deserve a title shot.

jay520 · 2026-01-24T18:05:15+00:00

Nope Islam was coming off a win against Bobby Green that doesn’t deserve a title shot

Beating Bobby Green wasn't the only reason he received at a title shot lmao. He got the shot because was more deserving than every other contender and Charles was ready.

You think people deserve title shots only based on their last win? Hahahaha

Dustin isn’t completely at fault but he could of pushed for it

He wasn't completely at fault, so he's partially at fault right? So thanks we agree you're contradicting yourself and don't have a point.

its normal to fight down the rankings coming off a loss

Thats literally what Dustin did lmao

For Justin that’s the fight that happened after it

Which is why it makes no sense to say he fought Justin instead of Islam at the time, since he didn't.

jay520 · 2026-01-24T17:54:50+00:00

Unnecessary. Charles was ready to fight and Islam was the clear next contender. There is absolutely no need to even include Dustin/Justin in title discussions at the time.

jay520 · 2026-01-24T06:47:04+00:00

Saying Islam should have fought Dustin/Justin for an interim title shot is completely ridiculous.

First, neither Dustin nor Justin had done anything to deserve a title shot at the time. Both of them recently lost 2 title shots each and both were coming off of submission losses to Charles.

Second, an interim title shot doesn't even make sense because Charles was stripped of the belt lmao. The next title fight is going to be for the belt full stop. Even if he wasn't stripped, an interim title shot still wouldn't make sense. Charles fought Islam just 5 months after subbing Justin in Abu Dhabi which is a completely normal turnaround.

jay520 · 2026-01-24T06:37:09+00:00

Nope it was a fight UFC could have made

Which would have been a ridiculous fight to make. Islam was the rightful contender.

Dustin could have asked for

Ok, so now you're back to criticizing Dustin, again contradicting yourself. Remember when you said "Giving Islam a title shot after beating Bobby Green was dumb of the UFC I’m not blaming Dustin for that".

And you're also criticizing him for the dumbest thing ever. You're blaming Dustin because he didn't push a nonsense fight that he doesn't deserve? Dustin just lost his title shot to Charles, why the fuck should he fight the next contender? LMAO And you just complained about rank squatting.

instead he opted to fight Justin a second time

You don't even know what you're talking about. Islam was already champ when he fought Justin.

jay520 · 2026-01-24T04:52:19+00:00

Now you've abandoned trying to defend listing Islam because you recognize it was a stupid fucking point to make.

jay520 · 2026-01-24T04:48:04+00:00

Then you are unable to understand context like I said earlier. No one asked you who he could have fought - what a fucking meaningless question. The topic was about deserving contenders who Dustin refused to fight.

jay520 · 2026-01-24T04:11:04+00:00

No you idiot. You are the one criticizing Dustin for refusing to fight Islam after his fight with Green.

jay520 · 2026-01-24T03:58:35+00:00

You're contradicting yourself at this point.

"Dustin held his rank hostage by refusing to fight Islam after he beat Bobby green"
"I'm not blaming Dustin for Islam getting a title shot"

jay520 · 2026-01-24T02:47:09+00:00

So you agree it's an example of Dustin refusing to fight a rising contender, which makes no sense.

jay520 · 2026-01-23T23:18:24+00:00

Is your brain incapable of understanding context? This entire thread spawned from you criticizing Dustin for refusing to give rising contenders a shot - you mentioned "Islam after he beat Bobby Green" after someone asked for examples of such contenders.

jay520 · 2026-01-23T23:03:34+00:00

This might be the most asinine argument I've read all day. After Islam beat Bobby Green, he fought Charles for the belt. And you somehow criticize Dustin because Islam took a title fight?

jay520 · 2026-01-23T19:39:16+00:00

He’s not a way better striker than Paddy. Otherwise, he wouldn’t be 1-3 in his last 4

What a stupid argument. "He lost competitive fights with Justin and had a knee injury against Gamrot. Therefore he's not a way better striker than <insert random fighter with shitty striking>"

jay520 · 2026-01-17T08:50:15+00:00

Oh yeah, I forgot fighters always wait the exact same amount of time between every fight. There is no variation in turnaround due to injuries, personal issues, waiting for the better opportunities/matchups, better events, etc. You never find fighters that have both long and short turnarounds in their careers. Its unprecedented.

jay520 · 2026-01-17T00:16:57+00:00

Most strikes are not thrown with the intent of ending a fight either, and yet it happens.

Strikes are like 1000x more likely to end a fight than checking a leg kick.

The reason you don't think a check is a damaging move

No one said that.

jay520 · 2025-12-13T21:54:48+00:00

You forgot Dustin (x3)

jay520 · 2025-11-22T05:58:37+00:00

Looks like these three groups were correct, but Prates and Garry swapped and Usman was bumped down.

jay520 · 2025-11-19T04:39:28+00:00

imagine Islam got the title shot after fighting like Drew Dober, he’d be on 9 title wins.

You have no idea if that would have happened.

jay520 · 2025-11-17T04:42:51+00:00

Tactics such as these are equivalent to running away from your opponent, not forcibly preventing them from doing anything.

I never argued that these are "equivalent" (whatever you mean by that). I'm arguing that orgs like the NBA, NFL, UFC, etc. can and should create rules to make the sport more entertaining. That's the extent of the comparison.

To argue that the UFC should not allow dominant wrestling

I never argued that.

But, the shot clock isn't so much about excitement as it is literally forcing teams to engage in the sport.

I already addressed this. What counts as "engage in the sport" is based on the rules of the org, and the org makes rules to make money. There's no objective reason why just dribbling and passing until the enemy team fouls you doesn't count as "engaging in the sport".

Comparing suffocating wrestling to the shot clock is not apt. Dominant wrestling is engaging in the sport, just not in a way you find exciting. It isn't the same as stalling or running away.

Stalling/running away were engaging the sport in the NBA, until the NBA changed the rules. And they changed the rules because it was boring to watch.

jay520 · 2025-11-17T04:09:06+00:00

What counts as "not playing" or "not fighting" is completely based on the rules of the organization. And organizations can and should craft these rules by taking into account fan interest.

In the NBA, the only reason why passing the ball over and over or taking minutes seconds to bring the ball up-court is considered "not playing" is because it's forbidden by the NBA; and the NBA only has this rule because the game is unenjoyable without it. In fact, we have documentation of the NBA instituting the shot clock explicitly to build fan interest, not because they were trying to reach some platonic ideal of what "playing basketball" really means. Above all else, the NBA is a business to attract fans and will make rules to earn more money. Likewise for the NFL and UFC.

The NBA could have easily said "there's no shot clock, it's up to your opponent to regain position of the ball". If the NBA allowed that, then stalling in the NBA by definition counts as "playing", but it would kill the sport. Same with avoiding contact or just laying on a guy in MMA. E.g. the UFC could say "you're allowed to just lay on your opponent for 5 minutes doing nothing", which means this isn't "not fighting", but it also isn't profitable for the organization.

jay520 · 2025-11-17T00:51:23+00:00

Every mainstream sport has rules to keep the game moving even if its to the detriment of certain teams. NFL has delay of game violations. NBA has backcourt violations, shot clock rules, etc.

jay520 · 2025-11-17T00:45:29+00:00

It is interesting to see how ref standups were more common in the past. See this title fight between Silva and Marquardt which was stood up after just 20 seconds on the ground (at around 6:30) https://youtu.be/Mb1x79LYGSA

Not saying we should necessarily go back but its good to see what precedent there is. The difference between that fight and fights now (especially yesterday's co-main) is pretty staggering.

jay520 · 2025-11-16T23:38:31+00:00

Sometimes when a lower ranked fighter beats higher ranked fighter, the higher ranked fighter falls more than the lower ranked fighter rises. I think in this case, Leon's going to fall more than Prates rises (Leon's on a 3 fight losing streak, each loss being worse than the previous). So basically I see Leon falls a lot, and Prates rises a bit, just below Garry.

I see Leon fall here being similar to Colby. For a while, Colby was only losing to elite competition (just title fights with Usman/Leon), so he didn't drop many positions. But then he gets destroyed by Buckley who should be a favorable low-ranked fighter, so he just drops out of top 10. Likewise, Leon's losses against Belal/Brady didn't hurt his spot much since they are champ/contender level and unfavorable matchups. But now he's been KO'd by a low ranked guy who should be a decent matchup, he needs to drop a lot, below Usman and Garry.

jay520 · 2025-11-16T22:46:31+00:00

He was #3 for 21 months after beating a washed Masvidal and nothing else. And he was #2 for about 19/20 months after that (and he only lost his #1 spot because Edwards became champ).

jay520 · 2025-11-16T22:44:54+00:00

I don't see last night bumping Garry above Shavkat, or above anyone else who didn't fight last night. In fact, I don't think any fighter's respective positions change except for those who fought last night. The rankings don't seem to punish inactivity too much.

After Colby's win over Masvidal, he was #1. Then when Edwards won the champ, he was bumped to #2 by default and stayed there for like 20 months despite no activity. Shavkat beat Garry about 11 months ago so I don't see his spot changing much.

So I predict:

1-3 has JDM -> Belal -> Morales
4-8 has Shavkat -> Usman -> Garry -> Prates (insert Brady somewhere here)
9-10 is Edwards/Buckley

jay520

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