Alright, I admit this is me going down the route of Chael Sonnen's youtube videos, but it was a question that I legitimately asked myself. I'm actually hoping he doesn't put out a video on this between now and when I have this go live. It's currently 9:40 pm on Monday night and I'll have this life sometime Tuesday morning, so let's hope. Anyways, this all stems from an interview that Khabib Nurmagomedov did with ESPN. In this interview, he stated that Islam Makhachev and Beneil Dariush are the two best lightweights in the world, better than Justin Gaethje and Dustin Poirier. I don't think he meant it this way, but in a round about way, Khabib almost diminished his own legancy in MMA. Now, I'm not a complete moron, I realize that Khabib's legacy within the sport is solidified for the rest of time. However, I just want to talk about what he said and what is starting to get a little annoying if I'm being honest. For anyone who is already furious, I am a Khabib fan as I have stated on this site before, so realize that me being critical of Khabib isn't from a place of hate in the least.
What I mean when I say that Khabib unintentionally diminished his own legacy is that he has now stated that he walked away from the sport before fighting the two best lightweights in the world. If Khabib believes that Islam and Beneil Dariush are the two best lightweights in the world, better than his last two opponents, did he not just admit to walking away from the sport when they are on the cusp of a title shot? If he's right, which I don't believe he is, Khabib is almost insinuating that he got out of the sport right before he would have had to fight the two best fighters in the world at his weight class. Now, he never would have fought Islam Makhachev due to the relationship that they have and I don't have a problem with that, but what is the reason that he had to retire right before one of the two best in the world at 155 lbs got into the top 5, which apparently Dariush is according to Khabib himself. Did Khabib just unintentionally admit to running from Beneil Dariush?
Alright, before I get reported to the MMA police, I'm being intentionally a little obtuse here, but my point remains. If anyone reading this genuinely believes that I think Khabib is running from Dariush, you must now know me very well. However, I think this is a potentially important lesson. I know Khabib is doing everything he can to push his friend to the top and you can't blame the guy, but he's trying too hard here. They believe that they can beat Dariush, which Islam definitely can and if Khabib says that Dariush is the second best in the world and Islam beats him, that kind of stamps home the point that Islam is the rightful number one contender. The problem with this is that Khabib is not that far removed from his own career. When he says someone that he never fought, who is one fight away from a title shot, is one of the two best fighters in his class, along with someone else he's never fought, it directly implies that all of his wins came against people who weren't in the top 2 of the division. I'm not really sure where I'm going with this, just the logical person in me immediately thought this was a a not that smart thing to say and it was said for really no reason. Everyone knows if Islam wins this fight then he's getting the title shot regardless of if Dariush is in the top 2 in the world or not, so what was the benefit? He tried to give the rub to Islam, but in the process he made his own wins less impressive from an opponent perspective. If we're to be 100% honest here, no one cares about this point I just made because it isn't really that important in the grand scheme of the sport. Khabib's legacy isn't being changed, at least not yet. It really is just a lesson to watch what you say because it could really come back to hurt you. Ultimately, if Islam goes on to win the title, none of this matters, but if he can't capture UFC gold, Khabib just put himself out there and would look bad if he were to speak this strongly on someone and then they aren't as good as he said they were. Again, even if Khabib is wrong, he's a legend of the sport, who will live on well after his career is done and everyone who watched him fight in real time is old and gone.
I think what I really wanted to talk about is the incessant need for everyone who's ever trained at American Kick Boxing Academy to crown Islam the champion in every single interview they do. I really like both Khabib and Daniel Cormier, but the way they talk about Islam is getting a little tired. I know they're just doing everything in their power to help their friend, which is the type of friend we all strive to have, but enough is enough. Anyone who follows MMA and has two eyes can tell you that Islam Makhachev is one of the best 155 lbs MMA fighters in the world and will almost assuredly fight for a UFC title at some point in his career. We all know this is the case, so why do these two legends feel the need to pound the desk at every opportunity? It's almost starting to take away from their credibility at this point because everyone knows they're just pushing their teammate. If they didn't bring him up every time they spoke, it would actually be meaningful when they did talk about him. However, since they have to talk about him in every interview, it just becomes white noise and I almost roll my eyes at this point. It was one thing when Islam literally couldn't get a fight and was left to fight Drew Dober and Thiago Moises even though he was clearly a top 8 or top 5 lightweight in the promotion. He was booked 3 times in a cursed fight against Rafael Dos Anjos that must be destined to never happen, even though only one of those was Islam's fault and he's finally beat a fighter with a nice ranking in Dan Hooker. He's still never had a top 5 opponent yet all of AKA is outraged that Islam isn't getting the title fight. Meanwhile, had Dariush been given the title fight despite having basically the exact same resume and story, they would have been just as upset. Everyone would support DC and Khabib sticking up for their teammate, but, at least in my opinion, arguments hit home harder when you just let the facts stand. State your case, use evidence to back yourself up, and let the chips fall where they may. When you need to constantly restate you argument every couple of weeks, you must not be very confident in it, at least for me. Obviously, when you have new information, you can update what you say. When Islam defeats Dan Hooker, that adds new fuel to the fire, so I understand why it gets talked about. The following week when Gaethje has his great performance, it becomes a debate. We're now a month removed and Khabib is still tweeting, commenting on instagram, and talking about how Islam needs that shot, while Justin Gaethje has let his case rest. Our lasting memory of Justin Gaethje is his performance in the cage, letting it speak for itself, not arguing with random people in the comments of an instagram post.
The insinuation that UFC is somehow being unfair to Islam is what really gets me. Everyone else needs to check all of these boxes before they can get their title shot, but when it comes to Islam, he should just get one fight against the number 6 ranked guy who's lost 3 of his last 4 and that's enough for the title shot. Meanwhile, Dariush has won 7 in a row against at least equal, if not better competition than Islam's last 7 wins and no one seems to care about him getting a title shot. Leon Edwards has 9 wins in a row not counting the no contest against way better competition than Islam (albeit in a different weight class) and everyone is searching high and low for reasons to not give him a title shot. However, when it comes to Islam Makhachev, all of these things don't matter and he should just get it because Khabib says so? I don't know man, it just doesn't make sense to me. This is going to come across as if I don't like Islam or don't think he's good enough or worthy, which isn't true at all. Khabib almost gets a pass because he's just a coach and really his opinion doesn't carry much weight because he's not pretending to be unbiased, even though it makes him seem a little silly at times. Daniel Cormier is a member of the media and I just think he needs to be a little more careful with what he says. It was good at first when he was talking Islam up and trying to get him into the fights that he deserved. Now that he's getting those fights and they're basically complaining that he doesn't get special treatment to jump the line is just a little annoying. Islam will get his turn when he wins the fights that almost all other title challengers have to win. Corey Sandhagen and Rob Font have had to fight like 3 number one contender's fights in order to get a chance at the title, but Islam shouldn't even have to fight one? Just be honest with us. We know you want your friend to succeed, but when you're real and genuine in the public with what you say, it makes the things you say more impactful because now almost no one cares what they say when it comes to Islam because we know they're speaking with their heart and not their head.
I just want to make myself clear, I'm not even really upset with Khabib and DC, I just want them to be more careful with their words. I can't criticize them for helping out their friend and teammate every way possible, any of us would do the same. However, they need to realize the power they hold in the MMA world. When Khabib and DC speak, people listen. If for some reason they were to see this, I would just suggest that they be more particular with when and how they talk about Islam so that the public doesn't become desensitized to it like I feel is happening. Obviously, they've lived this life for almost their entire existence and I'm just some guy, but I'm also the one they're trying to get through to. The promotion already knows how good he is, the public is who needs to be sold so that the fight sells. As part of the public, I am personally feeling like they're doing too much to push Islam Makhachev and it's starting to do the opposite, but on the other hand, I consume way more MMA media than the average person I'm sure. Overall, I like DC and I like Khabib and don't want to disrespect them, but it's just gotten a little over the top in my opinion.
Does anyone else feel this way or am I just a crazy person? Do you think the UFC has wronged Islam Makhachev by making him fight Beneil Dariush? Does Khabib and DC constantly campaigning for Islam get old to you? What do you think of Khabib's comments? Don't they sort of diminish his own wins in a round about way? Let me know what you think and likely how stupid I am in the comments. Thanks for reading.
Comments
Post a Comment