Media Chris Weidman compares Alex Pereira to Ben Askren: ‘It’s such a deficiency in what we’ve seen so far’

[Vil7]

Too many people are still living in the early 90's where we had juiced up Olympic wrestlers fighting overweight Karate black belts.

 

[CrimsonFan]

Well, to be fair theres just not really any elite wrestlers at 185 and 205 these days who are able to win enough fights to stay high in the rankings.

I could see someone like Cory Anderson really giving Alex a hard time.. thats just a style example. But those types of guys the UFC will get rid of them after a couple losses.

 

[StonedLemur]

Spot on by the Chris.. He's basically kick boxing with guys who have 1/8 of his kick boxing experience in 4 oz gloves..

It's weird how all of a sudden everyone is cool with a striker of his caliber not having to test his TDD before everyone crowning him the GOAT.

If Michael Venom Paige was given the Poatan experience I'd give him a great shot at being the WW champion.

So they're giving MVP a hard wrestling test with Holland?
Jan tested Poatans grappling a bit and he passed the test

They're most likely giving him Ank next, and he'll test it further.

 

[kahiljabroni]

True story...izzy made him look like a novice on the ground

 

[StonedLemur]

He's right: Perreira has never faced someone who's equipped to expose a wrestling weakness. The UFC really employs favourable matchmaking for certain fighters so it's just one more aspect of how the UFC isn't trustworthy as a sporting organization. I'm finding it hard to be enthused for anyone in the UFC unless I can trust they've actually been challenged without the UFC's thumb on the scale.

Im pretty sure they're going to give him Ank next, and he has the best wrestling in the division.
If Alex beats him it should go a long way into silencing the critics to be fair sir.

 

[StonedLemur]

True story...izzy made him look like a novice on the ground

And the guy that made Izzy look foolish on the ground (Jan) couldn't do much at all on the ground sir.

 

[ElLunico]

So they're giving MVP a hard wrestling test with Holland?
Jan tested Poatans grappling a bit and he passed the test

They're most likely giving him Ank next, and he'll test it further.

Im saying if they give MVP just strikers en route to a title shot and just completely protect him from wrestlers/grapplers to showcase his skills there would be a lot of complaints from shertards.

 

[kahiljabroni]

And the guy that made Izzy look foolish on the ground (Jan) couldn't do much at all on the ground sir.

Fair point. Still think he's highly susceptible to a grappler.

 

[humdizzle]

the thing is defensive grappling can be trained pretty quickly. we saw jan b blow his load trying to keep pereira down. jiri got him down but couldn't really do much with it. izzy has stuffed many TDs as well.

 

[amok attitude]

You don't have to be a wrestler. You just have to stop the takedowns.

Just ask Leon Edwards, who fought the two best wrestlers in the division (with Usman twice)

Edwards is an exceptional mixed martial artist though.
In the same time, i hate his conservative style but he has skills than Poatan is far from getting in the near future

 

[Kevster]

Half of Sherdog picked Jan to take him down and pound him out with ease.

Now we’re on Ank to really truly expose how one dimensional Pereira is.

 

[StonedLemur]

Fair point. Still think he's highly susceptible to a grappler.

I think he's getting better to be fair, and I think we'll see how he does with a wrestler when he faces Ank.
He gets by him then I think we can say he has definitely approved.

 

[MDoza]

Pereira is also massive for MW, and even still a big LHW. He's physically strong, has years of grappling experience. I think he's tougher to take down than people think, especially when you have to close the distance with his powerful knees and punches coming at you.

Ben Askren completely ignored striking, whereas Pereira is actually developing his ground game.

 

[chiefwiggum]

Campbells soup kid all grown up. I remember when he used to walk out with an apple pie a hot dog and a half yankee half Dallas cowboy flag a true all American

Goat gimmick. A bunch of red rouge on his cheeks. Love it!

 

[amok attitude]

Half of Sherdog picked Jan to take him down and pound him out with ease.

Now we’re on Ank to really truly expose how one dimensional Pereira is.

Waiting to see him against a grappler does not mean you dont like the dude, his fighting style etc...i personaly love the guy but i d also love to see him being tested a bit more

 

[StonedLemur]

Im saying if they give MVP just strikers en route to a title shot and just completely protect him from wrestlers/grapplers to showcase his skills there would be a lot of complaints from shertards.

My point is he is going to face the best wrestler in the division with Ank.
He has shown good defensive wrestling and we'll see how he handles Ank.

I think it's fair to say if he handles Ank then we can say that he has improved...yes?

 

[mkt]

I mean he’s not wrong. Ben in his prime would have never been WW champion because that division is/was stacked full of great wrestlers.
MW and above has always been weaker.
He’s speaking facts but Pereira is an excellent champion and a cut above Askren especially in fight IQ and stopping power. And coming from Weidman it does sound like he’s hating

Yeah, Ben never would've been a UFC WW champ, especially in an era with GSP, Koscheck, Shields, Fitch, Palhares, Maia, etc. But I really can't see any divisions in recent years where someone that 1-dimensional could win a belt. Maybe there's a very small chance a MW Askren could UD Izzy, but he wouldn't beat Whittaker, DDP, Khamzat, etc. In Chael's first fight with Anderson, he stood toe-to-toe at times to set up TDs. He got away with it cause he had a great chin and okay boxing (not great, but much better than Askren). Ben would've been matrixed by Anderson at some point.

I can't think of a UFC wrestler as one-dimensional as Ben being a champ except possibly Brock (who had a size/strength advantage Ben lacks) or going way back, Dan Severn. And while Severn won a tournament or two, he also had some losses in the 90s UFCs.

 

[mkt]

Chis is accurately describing how shitty Alex was at grappling in the first fight with Izzy.

He's a consummate professional however and well trained by Glover, so his counter wrestling has massively improved in the last two years.

At this point Alex is going to be a problem for everyone, and Chris sounds like a moron. You need a certain type of self belief that borders on delusion to try and be a cage fighting world champion - and Chris has that like many of his peers - but the way his career spiraled into darkness, its nuked his brains.

His comments on fights and fighters is pretty out of wack these days.

You be right, though I don't think prime Jones or Cormier would've had any problem taking Pereira down and keeping him there. Other than maybe Ank, there are no really competent wrestlers at LHW right now. Even younger prime versions of Bader, Phil Davis, Tito and Rashad could've been unfavorable style matchups for Poatan.

 

[caesar]

I'd say Poatan has a better ground base vs Askren's stand up base, to put it bluntly, Ben Askren had the worst jab ever, and sure Poatan maybe can't do a judo throw but he'll learn it faster than Askren throwing a proper one two lol.

 

[chinarice]

Prime The Chris KOs Pereira in the 2nd round with GnP

Today's The Chris meets the shadowrealm early