Thiago Santos vs Rumble, Who Wins?

[JustBleed69]

Thiago "Merreta" Santos vs Anthony "Rumble" Johnson, who gets it done?

205 lbs, Prime vs Prime

 

[Ares Black]

 

[Question]

If were doing prime vs prime I'd pick Rumble, that dude was a monster at his peak, more well-rounded, overall better standup and hits way harder.
He also has a great chin.

 

[G10]

If we're talking both guys in prime form, I give it to Santos. He was faster, tougher, and more dynamic than Rumble, who had a tendency to quit pretty easily when he couldn't get the early KO.

If they fought now, most likely Rumble, assuming he can still make 205.

 

[ShaoKahn34]

Are we talking prime Marreta or current Marreta? Regardless i got Rumble

 

[Pierced7681]

Rumble takes it, though Thiago would make it a tough fight

 

[Raymundo Alvarado Guevara]

Rumble

 

[Uncommon Valor]

Thiago was stopped by Mousasi, Rumble kills him.

 

[FreddieRoachsVoice]

Rumble easily. He could even keep Thiago guessing with the threat of the takedown and eventually, it'd be lights out. Thiago was more of a product of a depleted division and would not have been a title contender in a stronger era IMO

 

[Street Bishop]

This thread gets moved. Meanwhile there's at least 6 different Islam threads stuck to the front page of the heavies every fucking day with no sign of a merge. Get your shit together, mods.

 

[witt1021]

the only way you finishing rumble is by rear naked choke or poking him in the eye. as 5 out of 6 of loses are by that. if santos takes him down...if. rumble by TKO round 2.

 

[Tweak896]

Probably not now while Rumble is sick, but yeah if he was in fighting shape he has that fight.

 

[laleggenda27]

Thiago is a career-journeyman who beat one high-end opponent (Jan) and became wildly overrated. Mediocre fighters with huge power often trick people into thinking they're better than they actually are because they'll occasionally land a highlight reel KO. But in the end, they regress to their mean.

At LHW, prime Rumble had more power than Thiago, was more technical on the feet, and had better wrestling. Outside of having a puncher's chance, it's a bad matchup for Thiago.

 

[HeDidn'tWantTheFight]

Currently-Thiago

Prime for Prime-Rumble

 

[JustBleed69]

Thiago was stopped by Mousasi, Rumble kills him.

205 lb Santos is a much different fighter from drained 185 Santos

 

[Safton]

Prime for prime at 205 I'd take Rumble all day. Dude has never been stopped by strikes and never got knocked down in the UFC IIRC. His striking wasn't quite as well-rounded and technical as that of Marreta, but he had more than a few weapons up his sleeve and is one of the few guys who would be able to match (or arguably exceed) him in terms of raw athleticism and "fuck you power". Furthermore, he wasn't afraid to mix in his wrestling to take guys down and hold them down if needed. Thiago is somewhat susceptible to that. I just don't see Anthony backing down from Santos or letting Marreta impose his will on him as others did during Thiago's run when he captured lightning in a bottle. He would put Santos on the back foot and crowd the Brazilian's kicks with big power inside the pocket at boxing range and threaten the takedown until he found his shots.

 

[ferrisjso]

Thiago Santos. 205 pre injury Santos wasn't with us long but he's one of the best fighters we've seen even if in that terrible era there wasn't much showcasing that. Santos and Rumble were both better off at 205 but Santos was the better athlete. While it's heresy to say Santos beat Jones when he got hurt in the second round if he HADN'T gotten hurt he'd be up 2-0 and Jones would be limping around unable to mount his trademark comeback. Jones would have been very screwed if not for the injury.

People got to remember if Rumble doesn't get the first round finish he's pretty much done. He beat Davis only because Davis did not have a standup game at that point and had no plan B if he couldn't take someone down.

 

[Magrabie1988]

Rumble