Edit: I've never been as close to crying while watching MMA as I was after watching Islam squeezing the life outta Charles. I still can't believe what that Russian did to our boy. I'm hoping and praying that Volk can knock Islam out and take that lightweight strap in February. But we'll see.
Charles Oliveira was a dirtpoor kid from a Brazilian favela. And if you don't know what a favela is, it's why like a slum but 20 time worse. Imagine the worse projects in your city but with no police, and twenty times bigger. Favelas can't even happen in most countries because of the Industrial Revolution. Those things are third world exclusives.
And I wasn't trying to be offensive when I said slum but 20 times worse. The man who introduces Charles to BJJ wound up murdered before Charles even got his first belt. These places are fucking dangerous, and it'd server you best to get the hell out of there. Which Charles did. And not only did he do that, but he made it to America and used his fighting skills to get to the biggest MMA promotion in the world. As a kid from a not so nice area (that isn't as bad as a favela, but still) coming from a place like that, making it on TV once would be enough. This guy came to Amercia, made it to the UFC, and eventually became the champion of one of the most competitive mixed martial arts divisions ever. This guy has been through a lot.
Now, I'll admit to having been a little bit skeptical as to whether Charles could take Khabib Jr. Even though Islam hasn't fought anyone in the top 5 of the lightweight division. Even though Charles is a ten-year veteran in the UFC. Even though when you look up BJJ vs. Sambo on YT you see a BJJ black belt outstriking and submitting a Sambo champion.
Streetfights don't count though?
For some reason, I'm just finding out midway through writing this that this was a title fight. And that just reinforces the point I was going to make. You'd be a damn fool to fight Charles before he gets that belt back. Back in August, an article came out where Charles revealed that his father called him crying after he'd been stripped of the belt. I don't know if any of y'all have ever had to console your own father, but that provides a different kind of motivation. All of us have a little kid inside of us that just wants to make our dads proud. (I'd argue that it's why the last lightweight champ was so damn dominant.) And now that Charles has been put back into that place as little kid in the favela wanting to make his parents proud. That same mental place that fueled his journey to America, and to the UFC and to the top of the lightweight division. We saw how angry we was when he was fighting Justin Gaethje. I would be absolutely terrified to get into that octagon with him.
It's not that Islam is untalented or unmotivated. He's far as hell from that. He's not approaching this shit right at all. Unless he's going to try to immediately take Charles down, or immediately knock him out. I don't see Islam winning this one. I see him getting absolutely brutalized by an angry Brazilian.
