He fought Yoel, who is a far better wrestler than Khamzat. The fight ended up being boring as hell, but people seem to forget that Israel was the one calling out Yoel, even though he was the worst stylistic matchup in the division at the time, and everyone else was trying to avoid him. Yoel was coming off 2 straight losses at the time, Israel didn't have to give him a title shot, he could have easily avoided him, but he wanted to specifically because he was the worst matchup for him in the division.
Same thing with Pereira. He was nowhere near deserving a title shot, but Israel gave him one, even though he already lost twice to him in kickboxing, because he wanted to for his legacy.
I'm not a fan of Israel, but the guy fights all comers. He's never ducked anyone.