Now watch Ilia continue to discuss saying he wants to fight other people after this. It's like a cycle, says he doesn't want to fight Holloway, fans say he's ducking, says he wants to fight Holloway, rinse and repeat.
Yep,I love the idea of the BMF belt and think it should only be a once maybe twice a year thing. I highly doubt the UFC would give him a shot at it at the same time he’s defending his belt(defeats the purpose of the BMF) it would earning potential that comes with a BMF title fight.
Yep, you don't win the BMF belt by just beating Max. You have to beat him doing something that's more badass than what he did to end the fight with Gaethje.
That belt will likely be retired
Let's not forget the legendary careers of Gaethje and Poirier, or the thuggish energy of Diaz and Masvidal. Max is definitely the BMF goat at the moment though
The BMF should not be defended, it should be a stand alone fight offered to two fighters who have earned the moniker and will put on an exciting fight. Otherwise, it gets trapped in a division. It's not a championship title, but more a trophy with status.
Who is BMF material at welterweight though, Usman is washed, Leon is point figter, same with Belal, Shavkat might qualify but his name isn’t as big as previous contenders, JDM not deserved it yet, Ian is boring and has negative charisma, MVP and Wonderboy are old
It doesn't have a normal lineage
It could be fought for at any weight by anyone, Max doesn't need to defend it to lose it, Masvidal didn't lose it to Usman he lost it by being inactive in BMF level fights
Whether Illia actually wins the BMF belt or not , it means nothing with it strapped on his waist because he isn't a BMF at all, not even close to it.
I think the BMF belt should just retire with Max. I don't think anyone else can top him for being a BMF. A close second would be Dustin or Justin. I can't think of anyone else in the conversation.
Totally agree with you first paragraph, but I think you're leaving out some pretty gnarly fighters in your second paragraph.
I think Charlie Olives, Michael Chandler, Usman, Bobby Knuckles, and Jiri Prochazka would all be good candidates to fight for the BMF belt one day. He's not there yet, but I have a feeling Jack Della Maddalena is going to be a candidate one day too.
Seriously. Usman? He's absolutely a rational, points fighter. I can't even remember him going to war. Shit, I can't really remember him getting busted up, really.
Maybe I'm misremembering but weren't both fights with Colby bangers? His fight against Gilbert was relatively short but great. His KO of Masvidal in the rematch was classic and won knockout of the year. Hell, even his fight against Khamzat was pretty good.
A requirement for BMF for me is that there has to be a very high priorization of knocking out vs points fighting, the fighter has to lean hard towards risk, because of their love of either the show or the sport.
If Usman is up 3-1 he's not gonna give away an opening to go for a knockout in round 5. If he can grab you and stomp your foot 3 minutes, he will. If he can stay on the outside behind his jab you when you inevitably have to come in and win because of significant strikes, he will.
And he should! He's there to win. But a BMF-minded mf doesn't think like that. Don't get me wrong, this is not a judgement as a fighter. GSP would've never been a BMF contender, neither would Khabib. It's not about having bangers or not.
Of the ones you named I feel like only jiri and to a lesser extent Chandler has a shot at being a bmf. Charles has missed weight too often, usman has had half a dozen stinkers in his ufc career minimum, and knuckles is a bad ass but he doesn’t finish anyone.
Theres many BMFs I like the idea of this belt. See what combat sports got wrong is that it's all about "title fights" which is literally 2 guys in a weight class. There needs to be more athletes being valued even the Olympics have 3 medals not 1.
The BMF belt shouldn't be defended.
I would personally make it an annual title where you look for two guys at least close in weight that have had a BMF year and have them cap it off with a BMF title fight.
But if he KO's Max, it's going to make the whole BMF meme even funnier, if the loser continues to have the "BMF" belt.
Imagine the "BMF" getting KO'd (could even happen multiple times in a row) but the fights weren't for the title, and belt holder still being called the "BMF" - at that point they would have to retire the meme entirely, so maybe that's a good thing. Lets go Ilia! Retire the meme belt.
I agree that imho it should all be up to Max. If he wants another LW fight, give it to him. If he wants to fight for the FW title, no way to deny him. I honestly don't see how Ilia has any say on who he defends against next. He will have to wait and see what Max decides to do.
Yeah, Ilia has no power here. Only way he gets some picking power is if he knocks out Max. That's the only way he gets that kind of power he wants; he has to knock out another of the featherweight GOATS.
I felt like he had some say with his knockout of Volk, who's a bonafide superstar in the UFC. It's just that Max surpassed that by like a factor of 3 so here we are.
Yep it’s Joe Rogan who said he turned down Volk in Australia. A man who’s brain is pretty scattered these days and struggles with facts when it comes to mma. I’m sure Volk would have said something if he’s just lost an opportunity to main event in Australia.
> “I’m going to beat a guy that whooped his ass three times, how? It doesn’t make any sense,” Topuria said. “Max, Yair, Brian Ortega, all of them, they can go and retire. I’m never going to give them the chance to fight for the title – never.
https://youtu.be/XpsvnCuHMac?t=685
This guy can't remember previous mouth farts each time he pushes out a new one. He doesn't want to fight the guys in the front of the line for the belt, but changes his story repeatedly when challenged.
He also recently said that in 2025 he will be the highest paid athlete. Athlete, not fighter. Not that he has a remote shot to be paid Mcgregor money. The guy talked shit about Mcgregor before he fought Volk, called him out post Volk, then changed his tune and spoke nicely about him post Volk. Ilia is all over the place right now. Him, Garry and Suga are trying to mimic Conor and they think it's low key, but it isn't. Ok not Garry, he's too obvious and dumb.
I said this to someone else. Ilia thinks all shit talk is good shit talk and will automatically make him the biggest athlete in the sport. But that's not the case. This non committal half ducking, half not, half wanting to fight people, half not wanting to fight them, it has a limit and a ceiling imo to how popular he can get.
Chael for example was a huge star despite losing because his trash talk was entertaining AND super over the top confident. So even after he lost, his stock didn't really drop much because he at no point tried to come across as scared.
But Ilia is building this whole persona around not wanting to fight Max, and making it seem like he's only fighting Max because he feels pressured into it etc. and all that does is build a narrative where IF he loses, now people say "Welp, that's why he was ducking him, he knew he couldn't win" and Ilia's star potential and public perception would plummet.
It's such an unnecessarily risky style of trash talk that only works as long as you look dominant.
I see people say O'malley tries to mimic conor and I honestly just don't see it... He doesn't talk near the same amount of shit, he's actually a pretty chill dude. He lives a flashy lifestyle but it is not like Conor's, it's his own Suga brand stuff. How does he mimic conor?
People are taking it personally because they love Max and adore his 300 performance, but nothing Topuria is saying or doing is particularly novel or unique here.
Idk, saying max has to bring the bmf belt to get the fight is pretty unique. Idk if he walked that back or not but that sounds like ducking with extra steps to me.
1.1 Personal Attacks
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Basically anytime Ilia says anything there's a reddit post about it with multiple people bitching and saying he's too cocky. Like man literally told Volk he respected him and what he's done he's just chasing his dreams. Mf in here clearly never made a documentary about something they willed into existence and it shows.
Evloev and Allen are #5 and #6. Allen is coming off of two losses, has never beaten a top guy and definitely doesn't deserve a shot, and he's Evolev's best win. There are four guys ahead of Evloev. Before Topuria even got the belt, he was saying he didn't want to face the top guys. So okay, drop down and face guys who haven't proven themselves at the top level, I guess, or chase a Conor $tunt gimmick fight. It's Max next or drop the belt and go back home to the hair gel and fancy loafers.
Yair is coming off 2 losses.
Yair got finished in his last 2 fights, Allen's last 2 fights were competitive fights that went to decision.
Before Allen's last 2 fights he was on a 12 fight win streak, before Yair's last 2 fights he was on a 2 fight winstreak.
Evloev is on a 18 fight winstreak, 8 fights in the UFC, and just beat a top 5 fighter in Arnold Allen.
Brian Ortega just got 1 win and was on a 2 fight loss streak before that. It's Ortega's first win in 4 years.
Talking about their rankings is as credible as talking about Colby Covington's ranking so he got a titleshot against Leon Edwards.
Doesn’t matter who he fights next, the fight won’t be before August anyways. He and especially both possible opponents need the time to rest and heal up
Look I liked the BMF belt, it’s a fun way to recognize exciting fighters. But if we are at the point in which people think it’s a real belt, then just get rid of it
IF there was a lineal champ it might make sense.
But so far - Masvidal, Garth and Max have had the belt. Masvidal never won it off Garth.
I enjoy Ilia and his fighting. I think a lot of us North American fans fail to understand his fame (and value to the UFC to open a market - kinda like GSP in his day). His fame in Spain and the EU does seem significant. I’m happy for the guy. Good to see regime change in the sport - then again I’ve been watching it for decades so I’m often less tied to current players.
I also think he comes across as arrogant at times (Conor anytime?) but so far has backed it up.
I’d like to see him mature his public persona and get back to - defend what you have against ANYONE that makes sense. THAT leads to the BMF opportunity - not just fighting someone who had or has that fake gold.
Ilia needs to defend 3 times. Then I think (maybe) he gets a BMF shot if he wants one.
*edit - mistook the lineal part - Max did win it off Garth but Garth never won it off Masvidal
Just forget that Usman knocked Masvidal into orbit. Masvidal was never going to defend his participation belt anyway. He was in love with that thing and had no chance of a real belt.
I like Ilia a lot more than his countryman, Mr. "I act like a thug and can't control my temper" Tsarukyan.
At least Ilia you can tell he's saying this shit because he feels like he has to to stir the pot. He's not jumping people even if they throw shit at him, nor is he 10v1ing some a fighter to intimidate them, and certainly isn't throwing hands because a fan flipped them off.
If he knocks out Max in brutal war, he will deserve BMF. If he just beats Max, he can have the belt but it will lose all meaning.
The UFC want this fight and the money is there I really wouldn't worry at all. The Volkanovski thing is strange too, people would have been furious if that killed the Holloway fight. He just trying to get the UFC to make it for the bmf belt, they can build this into a big PPV. He's also talked about more and more each time he riles fans up so I think he's riding the emotions of fans to the bank. If it were anyone but Holloway after that KO people wouldn't be nearly as annoyed.
You can’t be a BMF on a conditional call out. “I’ll fight Max on the condition that his belt is on the line too”. Either the UFC offers you a BMF belt fight or they don’t.
All this talk about fighting other guys that you believe deserve the opportunity before or instead of the man that the fans believe can beat you in a very convincing way is the definition of ducking.
Yeah, I don't like having the BMF title on the line for this fight. BMF fighters are very much established as "just bleed" who bring the dog out in the octagon. It's not a tactician belt.
I know it's a gimmicky belt, but let's keep the gimmick going. No need to devalue the title's faux value by having it thrown to counter punchers, wrestlers, submission artists, etc.
The BMF title should only be fought by two guys who have no problems in throwing hands the entire fight.
And people might argue that Jorge was a decision bot for the majority of his career, but at the time of his BMF fight, he was considered a knockout artist.
Max can keep the BMF belt while becoming a champion if he wins
If ilia wins, hes only still champion but doesn't get the BMF belt, do you realize the risk difference?
Of course there’s a risk difference but the BMF doesn’t go by ordinary belt rules. The UFC decides which fights are for the BMF belt not the fighters. If that were the case then Usman would’ve had the belt after he KO’d Masvidal.
Obviously but its ridicolous to think Ilia isn't justifed in what hes asking when its an unfair advantage, the whole BMF rules from the first place is just absurd
Ilia isn’t deserving of the shot at the BMF belt. He doesn’t bring that BMF aura, hasn’t been in multiple dog fights and wars like other BMF holders. And his personality recently is the opposite of a BMF.
It doesn’t take a genius to identify a BMF. Ilia is an incredible fighter, one of the best in the world. He’s not even kind of a BMF. Not even a little bit.
Exactly. Topuria will do what he’s told.
Max on the other hand is in the Catbird seat. I don’t see him making a decision on who he fights next until after the McGregor/Chandler Fight and the Dustin/Islam fight.
Topuria is honestly 3rd in line in money fights for Max.
Conor wins, then Conor and Max rematch for the BMF is a huge payday.
Dustin wins, then a rematch at 155 for the belt and a chance to be a two division champion is HUGE.
If both of those guys lose, then the topuria fight makes sense.
Max is in a once in a career spot right now. He should let things play out.
What the fuck are you even saying /u/MAL-XCIV? Your argument is to take what Ilia says here at face value right? That he wants to fight Max next? Well... The same Ilia just said in an interview that he wants to fight Ortega, not Max. So, you can't just pick some of his statements then mock people who also believe his prior statements.
So ducking is saying I want to fight for your bmf belt since I’m putting my fw title on the line?
Literally the only requirement for ilia to fight max is to have the bmf title on the line
Topuria thinking he’s BMF, nah bro it doesn’t stand for Bitchiest Mother Fucker.
Ilia has X’d his way out of any BMF consideration past, present or future. Dude sounds like a joke, not a champion.
The BMF belt is a one and done every fight. There should be no “defending” it. We do not need to go the route of boxing with too many belts. Then you get situations like this with Ilia acting like a diva. Defend your divisional belt or you are not the champ.
Remember when y’all were saying Max was gonna get slept by Gathje at 300? Then he pieced Gathje up and made it look easy? Now you wanna pretend like Ilias ducking him and you always knew Max was a BMF 🤣 Illia has much influence over your daily lives and thoughts it’s hilarious. Y’all are not mma fans, you’d be better served going to real housewives were you belong and letting normal people enjoy the sport.
Ilia doesn't understand how the BMF belt works. Max has been fighting for the UFC since he was 20 years old. His first fight was Dustin Piorier. A few fights later he faced Conor McGregor. He's been in the game since 2012. The BMF belt isn't a classic belt. It doesn't represent the best fighter of a certain division. It represents a fucking dog. Someone who probably lacks skills, but carries toughness and heart. Max deserved to fight for the BMF belt. Did he ever duck anyone? No! He even tried to fight Khabib at LW. Ilias behaviour is the exact opposite of a BMF.
I like Ilia a lot, but this is weird behavior. Luckily, he doesn’t actually call the shots. I’m sure the UFC sees that this is the obvious fight to make, so they will make it.
And we will watch it, and enjoy it. Haha
Ilia is such a insufferable little cunt, many of these fighters are assholes. But he really seems to be a special brand of asshole, hopefully one of the challengers do him a favour and relieve him of that belt. He doesn’t deserve to be a champ
BMF should be won and is relinquished if the holder is defeated. A new matchup will come up for two BMFs [to figth for the belt. Simple, easy PPVs everytime!
If Max doesn't want to put his bmf title on the line, he is showing the lack trust he has in himself, if he really thinks he should be the champ, he would risk that bmf belt without hesitation
Dana is not letting the BMF belt be on the line anyway this is just a tactic for Ilia to get an easy fight with Ortega, which he's not going to get anyway bc the UFC will do what it wants, the era for superstars having ANY leverage (ie Conor's peak) is fuckn over, Dana is the "star" now the UFC is the "star", that's how they want it
Am I reading something wrong here or the ball is in Max’s/UFC’s court to put up the BMF belt for the fight?
Deserving or not is not a question here. If Ilia beats the BMF, he is the BMF.
lol mfs really arguing about that made up ass belt being legitimate and not some marketing garbage. Y’all wwe and you just pretend you ain’t. You all marks.
Also, aspinall would beat the fuck outta both these mfs at the same time. “Baddest mother fucker” lol nah.
It’s pretty clear that Ilia is just playing a heel to hype up his fights. The template was set by McGregor — talking shit is how you get attention. None of this means anything. I think he believes in himself immensely, but I think he has nothing but respect for his fellow fighters. It’s the same thing with O’Malley — it doesn’t matter what we say as long as we’re talking about him.
UFC should make a statement and clear all this up. If they came out and just said, "dorks are ineligible to fight for the BMF belt" it would stop all the confusion with randos thinking they can challenge for it.
Now watch Ilia continue to discuss saying he wants to fight other people after this. It's like a cycle, says he doesn't want to fight Holloway, fans say he's ducking, says he wants to fight Holloway, rinse and repeat.
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It is interesting, the BMF now has a legitimacy to it and irregular path to fight for it.
which will be trashed if Illia gets a shot at it in his next fight
Yep,I love the idea of the BMF belt and think it should only be a once maybe twice a year thing. I highly doubt the UFC would give him a shot at it at the same time he’s defending his belt(defeats the purpose of the BMF) it would earning potential that comes with a BMF title fight.
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Yeah i kinda like that there isn’t hard set criteria for the bmf belt and it’s more of a you know it when you see it. And Topuria ain’t it right now
Yep, you don't win the BMF belt by just beating Max. You have to beat him doing something that's more badass than what he did to end the fight with Gaethje. That belt will likely be retired
*More* badass is pretty impossible, but it's gotta at least get a similar reaction in the moment
Nah, it’s possible. He just has to do the same thing, but at the start of round 1.
Just imagine, Topouria points down in the first 10 seconds and neither moves until one is KOd. I bet Max would be down
Let's not forget the legendary careers of Gaethje and Poirier, or the thuggish energy of Diaz and Masvidal. Max is definitely the BMF goat at the moment though
You win the BMF off max by being a BMF and beating max. If you're not a BMF even if you beat max you don't get the belt.
Yeah, when Nate fought it was for the "Bleeding'est Mo Fo" title.
Yeah Nate was never gonna win that fight lol
The BDubs I watched this fight at nearly rioted lmao
Dude i imagine, Bdubs crowds are feral
He starts bleeding during the warm ups. He & Nick are the scar tissue kings.
Dude, it's just marketing...
Oh because Nate and Masvidal didn't earn that reputation by fighting everybody for 10 years BEFORE HOLLOWAY DEBUTED. Young fans have no respect.
Yeah, as soon as Max pulled that off I thought 1) that's the best thing I've ever seen in MMA 2) the BMF actually means something now.
And only the lower half of the weight divisions will ever have a crack at it unless Max magically challenges a welterweight.
The BMF should not be defended, it should be a stand alone fight offered to two fighters who have earned the moniker and will put on an exciting fight. Otherwise, it gets trapped in a division. It's not a championship title, but more a trophy with status.
That’s a fair point but also at the same time I believe Max to be a bad enough motherfucker to actually challenge a welterweight
Who is BMF material at welterweight though, Usman is washed, Leon is point figter, same with Belal, Shavkat might qualify but his name isn’t as big as previous contenders, JDM not deserved it yet, Ian is boring and has negative charisma, MVP and Wonderboy are old
It doesn't have a normal lineage It could be fought for at any weight by anyone, Max doesn't need to defend it to lose it, Masvidal didn't lose it to Usman he lost it by being inactive in BMF level fights
You said it
I feel like whining this much about the BMF belt automatically disqualifies you from BMF status.
Whether Illia actually wins the BMF belt or not , it means nothing with it strapped on his waist because he isn't a BMF at all, not even close to it. I think the BMF belt should just retire with Max. I don't think anyone else can top him for being a BMF. A close second would be Dustin or Justin. I can't think of anyone else in the conversation.
Totally agree with you first paragraph, but I think you're leaving out some pretty gnarly fighters in your second paragraph. I think Charlie Olives, Michael Chandler, Usman, Bobby Knuckles, and Jiri Prochazka would all be good candidates to fight for the BMF belt one day. He's not there yet, but I have a feeling Jack Della Maddalena is going to be a candidate one day too.
Jiri vs Whittaker at MW for the BMF is a sick fight
Any Jiri fight at middleweight will be sick. He’s a smaller lhw
His chin will be badly weakened though. And Jiri loves eating punches.
He weighs less than DDP, don’t think it’ll be too bad
Footstomper usman????
Seriously. Usman? He's absolutely a rational, points fighter. I can't even remember him going to war. Shit, I can't really remember him getting busted up, really.
Maybe I'm misremembering but weren't both fights with Colby bangers? His fight against Gilbert was relatively short but great. His KO of Masvidal in the rematch was classic and won knockout of the year. Hell, even his fight against Khamzat was pretty good.
Not all great fights are wars. Usman is one of the greats, but I won't remember him as a BMF type.
That's fair. I just think he's had a lot more bangers than people give him credit for.
A requirement for BMF for me is that there has to be a very high priorization of knocking out vs points fighting, the fighter has to lean hard towards risk, because of their love of either the show or the sport. If Usman is up 3-1 he's not gonna give away an opening to go for a knockout in round 5. If he can grab you and stomp your foot 3 minutes, he will. If he can stay on the outside behind his jab you when you inevitably have to come in and win because of significant strikes, he will. And he should! He's there to win. But a BMF-minded mf doesn't think like that. Don't get me wrong, this is not a judgement as a fighter. GSP would've never been a BMF contender, neither would Khabib. It's not about having bangers or not.
Of the ones you named I feel like only jiri and to a lesser extent Chandler has a shot at being a bmf. Charles has missed weight too often, usman has had half a dozen stinkers in his ufc career minimum, and knuckles is a bad ass but he doesn’t finish anyone.
Olivera or Dustin could fight Max for it
Theres many BMFs I like the idea of this belt. See what combat sports got wrong is that it's all about "title fights" which is literally 2 guys in a weight class. There needs to be more athletes being valued even the Olympics have 3 medals not 1.
The BMF belt shouldn't be defended. I would personally make it an annual title where you look for two guys at least close in weight that have had a BMF year and have them cap it off with a BMF title fight.
But if he KO's Max, it's going to make the whole BMF meme even funnier, if the loser continues to have the "BMF" belt. Imagine the "BMF" getting KO'd (could even happen multiple times in a row) but the fights weren't for the title, and belt holder still being called the "BMF" - at that point they would have to retire the meme entirely, so maybe that's a good thing. Lets go Ilia! Retire the meme belt.
BMF should only be passed if you get KO’d
He's going to fight Max next. There's no way Max doesn't get the shot after what he did at UFC 300.
I agree that imho it should all be up to Max. If he wants another LW fight, give it to him. If he wants to fight for the FW title, no way to deny him. I honestly don't see how Ilia has any say on who he defends against next. He will have to wait and see what Max decides to do.
That's more or less what Max himself said, too. That winning the Gaethje fight opened up a ton of options for him going forward.
Yup. Max is the one with cards here. I'm sure we'll see them fight at the end of the year.
Yeah, Ilia has no power here. Only way he gets some picking power is if he knocks out Max. That's the only way he gets that kind of power he wants; he has to knock out another of the featherweight GOATS.
I felt like he had some say with his knockout of Volk, who's a bonafide superstar in the UFC. It's just that Max surpassed that by like a factor of 3 so here we are.
Some say, yes. But he's going beyond that say right now. Max is the one calling the shots for this one indeed.
There is another option: if Connor wins his bout with Chandler he could fight with Max and it would be for BMF belt.
If only his shit talking was as precise as his striking
Man that's a pretty short cycle, last one was this morning
the guy is truly the best boxer in the UFC. Not only for his actual technique but his approach to taking fights too lol
Ilia really needs to discuss this out with Ilia, they clearly are of two very different minds on this.
I got downvoted right after max won for saying Ilia is shook. It’s clear he doesn’t wanna fight Max despite all that talk.
I believe him about the Volk rematch. Man needs to rest after getting knocked out in back-to-back fights and Dana knows that as well.
Yep it’s Joe Rogan who said he turned down Volk in Australia. A man who’s brain is pretty scattered these days and struggles with facts when it comes to mma. I’m sure Volk would have said something if he’s just lost an opportunity to main event in Australia.
I think Ilia mentioned in an interview that they were targeting him main eventing the sphere too
He’s going to fight everyone and no one. His opponents will all fall to his power and he will fight none of them because none of them are deserving.
> “I’m going to beat a guy that whooped his ass three times, how? It doesn’t make any sense,” Topuria said. “Max, Yair, Brian Ortega, all of them, they can go and retire. I’m never going to give them the chance to fight for the title – never. https://youtu.be/XpsvnCuHMac?t=685 This guy can't remember previous mouth farts each time he pushes out a new one. He doesn't want to fight the guys in the front of the line for the belt, but changes his story repeatedly when challenged.
He also recently said that in 2025 he will be the highest paid athlete. Athlete, not fighter. Not that he has a remote shot to be paid Mcgregor money. The guy talked shit about Mcgregor before he fought Volk, called him out post Volk, then changed his tune and spoke nicely about him post Volk. Ilia is all over the place right now. Him, Garry and Suga are trying to mimic Conor and they think it's low key, but it isn't. Ok not Garry, he's too obvious and dumb.
I said this to someone else. Ilia thinks all shit talk is good shit talk and will automatically make him the biggest athlete in the sport. But that's not the case. This non committal half ducking, half not, half wanting to fight people, half not wanting to fight them, it has a limit and a ceiling imo to how popular he can get. Chael for example was a huge star despite losing because his trash talk was entertaining AND super over the top confident. So even after he lost, his stock didn't really drop much because he at no point tried to come across as scared. But Ilia is building this whole persona around not wanting to fight Max, and making it seem like he's only fighting Max because he feels pressured into it etc. and all that does is build a narrative where IF he loses, now people say "Welp, that's why he was ducking him, he knew he couldn't win" and Ilia's star potential and public perception would plummet. It's such an unnecessarily risky style of trash talk that only works as long as you look dominant.
I see people say O'malley tries to mimic conor and I honestly just don't see it... He doesn't talk near the same amount of shit, he's actually a pretty chill dude. He lives a flashy lifestyle but it is not like Conor's, it's his own Suga brand stuff. How does he mimic conor?
Fighters talk shit, more news at 11
People are taking it personally because they love Max and adore his 300 performance, but nothing Topuria is saying or doing is particularly novel or unique here.
He's def being more annoying about it haha but yea fighter talks trash, nothing that notable
Idk, saying max has to bring the bmf belt to get the fight is pretty unique. Idk if he walked that back or not but that sounds like ducking with extra steps to me.
I mean it's also kind of a unique situation for him to find the next title challenger holding said belt.
McGregor, for instance, *was* at least good at it. Ilia just a little bitch boy.
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1.1 Personal Attacks Personal attacks, insults, hostile, uncivil, and disruptive comments or posts will be removed. If things do get out of hand you will be warned or even banned for a few days. Repeatedly breaking this rule will lead to a permanent ban.
It’s the WWEification of the UFC
People don’t wanna see the best fight the best. They just wanna see cocky fighter gets humbled
Crazy isn’t it the mildest trash talk gets Redditors stewing lol.
Basically anytime Ilia says anything there's a reddit post about it with multiple people bitching and saying he's too cocky. Like man literally told Volk he respected him and what he's done he's just chasing his dreams. Mf in here clearly never made a documentary about something they willed into existence and it shows.
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He mentions Yair and Ortega but not Evloev or Allen.
Evloev and Allen are #5 and #6. Allen is coming off of two losses, has never beaten a top guy and definitely doesn't deserve a shot, and he's Evolev's best win. There are four guys ahead of Evloev. Before Topuria even got the belt, he was saying he didn't want to face the top guys. So okay, drop down and face guys who haven't proven themselves at the top level, I guess, or chase a Conor $tunt gimmick fight. It's Max next or drop the belt and go back home to the hair gel and fancy loafers.
Yair is coming off 2 losses. Yair got finished in his last 2 fights, Allen's last 2 fights were competitive fights that went to decision. Before Allen's last 2 fights he was on a 12 fight win streak, before Yair's last 2 fights he was on a 2 fight winstreak. Evloev is on a 18 fight winstreak, 8 fights in the UFC, and just beat a top 5 fighter in Arnold Allen. Brian Ortega just got 1 win and was on a 2 fight loss streak before that. It's Ortega's first win in 4 years. Talking about their rankings is as credible as talking about Colby Covington's ranking so he got a titleshot against Leon Edwards.
Pillow is needed because it will take a while before this guy decides if he actually wants to fight or not.
Doesn’t matter who he fights next, the fight won’t be before August anyways. He and especially both possible opponents need the time to rest and heal up
He just fought 2.5 months ago, no need to rush
Look I liked the BMF belt, it’s a fun way to recognize exciting fighters. But if we are at the point in which people think it’s a real belt, then just get rid of it
Realistically do you think we will ever see a better performance than max has given for the belt? Probably not, just retire it lol
Max Vs Dustin?
Good fight that we’ve seen twice, but it’s not topping Max’s last fight.
maybe if dustin beats islam
IF there was a lineal champ it might make sense. But so far - Masvidal, Garth and Max have had the belt. Masvidal never won it off Garth. I enjoy Ilia and his fighting. I think a lot of us North American fans fail to understand his fame (and value to the UFC to open a market - kinda like GSP in his day). His fame in Spain and the EU does seem significant. I’m happy for the guy. Good to see regime change in the sport - then again I’ve been watching it for decades so I’m often less tied to current players. I also think he comes across as arrogant at times (Conor anytime?) but so far has backed it up. I’d like to see him mature his public persona and get back to - defend what you have against ANYONE that makes sense. THAT leads to the BMF opportunity - not just fighting someone who had or has that fake gold. Ilia needs to defend 3 times. Then I think (maybe) he gets a BMF shot if he wants one. *edit - mistook the lineal part - Max did win it off Garth but Garth never won it off Masvidal
Masvidal retired though. The belt was effectively vacant, which is no different than any other UFC belt.
Just forget that Usman knocked Masvidal into orbit. Masvidal was never going to defend his participation belt anyway. He was in love with that thing and had no chance of a real belt.
That wasn’t for the BMF belt though. That would be like if Islam lost to Leon Edwards at 170, he wouldn’t lose his 155 belt.
That’s cause that’s a real belt. Silly to bring it up. I woudnt bring up Usmans real belt.
I like Ilia a lot more than his countryman, Mr. "I act like a thug and can't control my temper" Tsarukyan. At least Ilia you can tell he's saying this shit because he feels like he has to to stir the pot. He's not jumping people even if they throw shit at him, nor is he 10v1ing some a fighter to intimidate them, and certainly isn't throwing hands because a fan flipped them off. If he knocks out Max in brutal war, he will deserve BMF. If he just beats Max, he can have the belt but it will lose all meaning.
I believe Leon Edwards would be the lineal BMF champ
Especially an actual champion talking about wanting the BMF belt just seems weird.
This joke isn't funny anymore. Actually, it never was.
Whole situation is played out and corny Just fight, idc
One of the more annoying characters to arrive on the scene recently
Yeah this dude sucks. I just don’t like him. Hurts that he knocked out volk.
The UFC want this fight and the money is there I really wouldn't worry at all. The Volkanovski thing is strange too, people would have been furious if that killed the Holloway fight. He just trying to get the UFC to make it for the bmf belt, they can build this into a big PPV. He's also talked about more and more each time he riles fans up so I think he's riding the emotions of fans to the bank. If it were anyone but Holloway after that KO people wouldn't be nearly as annoyed.
You can’t be a BMF on a conditional call out. “I’ll fight Max on the condition that his belt is on the line too”. Either the UFC offers you a BMF belt fight or they don’t. All this talk about fighting other guys that you believe deserve the opportunity before or instead of the man that the fans believe can beat you in a very convincing way is the definition of ducking.
Yeah, I don't like having the BMF title on the line for this fight. BMF fighters are very much established as "just bleed" who bring the dog out in the octagon. It's not a tactician belt. I know it's a gimmicky belt, but let's keep the gimmick going. No need to devalue the title's faux value by having it thrown to counter punchers, wrestlers, submission artists, etc. The BMF title should only be fought by two guys who have no problems in throwing hands the entire fight. And people might argue that Jorge was a decision bot for the majority of his career, but at the time of his BMF fight, he was considered a knockout artist.
Hold on I'm failing to find your fight brotha. [Troubleshooting](https://s3.amazonaws.com/decision-bot/error_message.txt)
Shut up before I ankle pick you.
Max can keep the BMF belt while becoming a champion if he wins If ilia wins, hes only still champion but doesn't get the BMF belt, do you realize the risk difference?
Of course there’s a risk difference but the BMF doesn’t go by ordinary belt rules. The UFC decides which fights are for the BMF belt not the fighters. If that were the case then Usman would’ve had the belt after he KO’d Masvidal.
Obviously but its ridicolous to think Ilia isn't justifed in what hes asking when its an unfair advantage, the whole BMF rules from the first place is just absurd
All this guy does now is give excuses as to why he can't fight contenders. He's losing a lot of his respect and aura
I hope Dana denies the BMF belt being on the line
Dude's spiraling. Max is starting to win this even before they're in the cage. If this keeps up I'm betting big on Max.
Ilia isn’t deserving of the shot at the BMF belt. He doesn’t bring that BMF aura, hasn’t been in multiple dog fights and wars like other BMF holders. And his personality recently is the opposite of a BMF.
Ah yes, the Reddit basement dweller. Truly the most qualified individual to determine what it means to be a BMF 🤣
It doesn’t take a genius to identify a BMF. Ilia is an incredible fighter, one of the best in the world. He’s not even kind of a BMF. Not even a little bit.
He's such an arrogant arsehole.
This guy should never sniff the bmf belt he's the opposite of bmf
Yea figured. Anyone who believes this guys isn’t going to fight who they put in front of him just bought into the trolling to much.
to be fair he was literally on camera in an interview saying he will fight Ortega instead lmao
Was also literally on camera saying Max was next. This is all just PR shit talking that doesn't matter.
Exactly. Topuria will do what he’s told. Max on the other hand is in the Catbird seat. I don’t see him making a decision on who he fights next until after the McGregor/Chandler Fight and the Dustin/Islam fight. Topuria is honestly 3rd in line in money fights for Max. Conor wins, then Conor and Max rematch for the BMF is a huge payday. Dustin wins, then a rematch at 155 for the belt and a chance to be a two division champion is HUGE. If both of those guys lose, then the topuria fight makes sense. Max is in a once in a career spot right now. He should let things play out.
actually a good take. hopefully max's management is thinking the same
What the fuck are you even saying /u/MAL-XCIV? Your argument is to take what Ilia says here at face value right? That he wants to fight Max next? Well... The same Ilia just said in an interview that he wants to fight Ortega, not Max. So, you can't just pick some of his statements then mock people who also believe his prior statements.
Y’all hang on to Ilias every word…like some psychotic ex type shit 🤣
Of course they gonna fight but r/MMA thinks the guy that knocked out Volk cold is scared to death
He's literally ducking max harder than vitor ducked jacare
Whatever makes you sleep at night
So ducking is saying I want to fight for your bmf belt since I’m putting my fw title on the line? Literally the only requirement for ilia to fight max is to have the bmf title on the line
Not going to lie. I tried liking him, but now I don't know. Actually as I write this fuck him. I don't like him. Don't disrespect my boy Max Broddah!
Topuria thinking he’s BMF, nah bro it doesn’t stand for Bitchiest Mother Fucker. Ilia has X’d his way out of any BMF consideration past, present or future. Dude sounds like a joke, not a champion.
„I will be the first to ko Holloway“ by not fighting him?
This man has put his foot in his mouth a hilarious number of times lmao
This man is all in his feelings. Max beating that ass
Hates a strong word, but I kinda fuckin hate this dude lol. He’s just a yappy little twerp that still ain’t learned his lesson yet.
He’s not a BMF title contender yet though, why should that title be on the line?
Lmao Max has already said he wanted the fight?
Needs his own belt for king of cringe
I see we're back into the "I'm not ducking Holloway" part of the cycle.
Why is this guy so cringe? Iz he a bitch?
The BMF belt is a one and done every fight. There should be no “defending” it. We do not need to go the route of boxing with too many belts. Then you get situations like this with Ilia acting like a diva. Defend your divisional belt or you are not the champ.
Ilia is fucking Max by trying to force a shot at the BMF belt (which he knows he hasn't earned)
Liking this guy less and less over time. Hopefully he isn't around too long I'm still salty about volk
What a fucken weirdo
"bring my belt and your pillow" goes kinda hard ngl
A little too sexual for me
It's okay they exchanged bible verses before 🙏
sounds like something high school kids say
I though pillow meant Max’s hands
> I though pillow meant Max’s hands For sure made Justin sleepy.
If you are politicking your way to a BMF, You are not a BMF.
Remember when y’all were saying Max was gonna get slept by Gathje at 300? Then he pieced Gathje up and made it look easy? Now you wanna pretend like Ilias ducking him and you always knew Max was a BMF 🤣 Illia has much influence over your daily lives and thoughts it’s hilarious. Y’all are not mma fans, you’d be better served going to real housewives were you belong and letting normal people enjoy the sport.
I guess he read some of the comments about him saying Ortega should be his next fight.
Looking forward to it.
Why do you mofos post and add what's being said to the screen shot that says the exact same thing? Lol
Ilia doesn't understand how the BMF belt works. Max has been fighting for the UFC since he was 20 years old. His first fight was Dustin Piorier. A few fights later he faced Conor McGregor. He's been in the game since 2012. The BMF belt isn't a classic belt. It doesn't represent the best fighter of a certain division. It represents a fucking dog. Someone who probably lacks skills, but carries toughness and heart. Max deserved to fight for the BMF belt. Did he ever duck anyone? No! He even tried to fight Khabib at LW. Ilias behaviour is the exact opposite of a BMF.
My dyslexia thought this was a post about lil nas x at first
I hope Max just waits it out to see if Dustin or Conor can win in June and then angle for one of those fights next.
P
Dude's so cringe I nearly died of 2nd-hand embarrassment.
He's using BMF belt to run away from Holloway.COWARD NO respect
I don't even mind his trash talk as much as this sub does and I'm fuckin over it now. Just fight max you bitch. The smallest dogs bark the most.
Ilia wanna be tmf, but he isn't. His character is so cringed but obviously a great fighter.
I like Ilia a lot, but this is weird behavior. Luckily, he doesn’t actually call the shots. I’m sure the UFC sees that this is the obvious fight to make, so they will make it. And we will watch it, and enjoy it. Haha
Shut the fuck up already
Ilia is such a insufferable little cunt, many of these fighters are assholes. But he really seems to be a special brand of asshole, hopefully one of the challengers do him a favour and relieve him of that belt. He doesn’t deserve to be a champ
People really think this dude is scared of Max 😭😂
Talks more than he fights
Whenever someone becomes champ they becomes mad cringe
Ilia is weird
Somebody take this FOOL OUT FFS
I’m already sick of Ilia… Now he’s one of the fighters I’ll watch and hope they get smashed. He talks like a HOF fighter without the career. Douche
This guy thinks he's the GOAT after beating a Volka that wasn't his 100%.
I think uncle Dana has to sit him down to tell him what a BMF is hmm
Hope max wins so we don’t have to hear this dude talk anymore
BMF should be won and is relinquished if the holder is defeated. A new matchup will come up for two BMFs [to figth for the belt. Simple, easy PPVs everytime!
Illiya’s in way shape or form worthy of a BMF match.
If Max doesn't want to put his bmf title on the line, he is showing the lack trust he has in himself, if he really thinks he should be the champ, he would risk that bmf belt without hesitation
I’m íp
He became like aljamain sterling to me, i dont care about anything he says.
Can we stop posting about this annoying delusional idiot.
Dana is not letting the BMF belt be on the line anyway this is just a tactic for Ilia to get an easy fight with Ortega, which he's not going to get anyway bc the UFC will do what it wants, the era for superstars having ANY leverage (ie Conor's peak) is fuckn over, Dana is the "star" now the UFC is the "star", that's how they want it
Ilia saw everyone complaining about Jones holding up his division and decided it was unfair that he wasnt the center of attention.
I can't stand his attitude that he'd somehow refuse to fight the number 2 contender in his division. Are you undisputed FW champ or not?
Am I reading something wrong here or the ball is in Max’s/UFC’s court to put up the BMF belt for the fight? Deserving or not is not a question here. If Ilia beats the BMF, he is the BMF.
I've never seen someone with such great fights get so much hate lol
lol mfs really arguing about that made up ass belt being legitimate and not some marketing garbage. Y’all wwe and you just pretend you ain’t. You all marks. Also, aspinall would beat the fuck outta both these mfs at the same time. “Baddest mother fucker” lol nah.
Anybody who thinks Ilia is genuinely afraid of and ducking Holloway is delusional
It’s pretty clear that Ilia is just playing a heel to hype up his fights. The template was set by McGregor — talking shit is how you get attention. None of this means anything. I think he believes in himself immensely, but I think he has nothing but respect for his fellow fighters. It’s the same thing with O’Malley — it doesn’t matter what we say as long as we’re talking about him.
UFC should make a statement and clear all this up. If they came out and just said, "dorks are ineligible to fight for the BMF belt" it would stop all the confusion with randos thinking they can challenge for it.